The Documentary Podcast Folgen

How is a new Pope chosen? How long could the conclave last? In a special edition of the Global News Podcast, the BBC’s Religion Editor Aleem Maqbool answers listener questions on the conclave at the Vatican.

Not that long ago many church-going Americans saw Russia as a godless place, an “evil empire” in the words of Ronald Reagan. But in President Trump’s second term, US-Russia relations have been turned on their head. The White House sided with the Kremlin at the United Nations, voting against a resolution to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine.This seismic shift is also being felt in parishes across America. Increasing numbers of US Catholics and Protestants are embracing Eastern Orthodoxy. Many converts disillusioned by the showbiz elements in many megachurches, say they are drawn to a faith with enduring traditions. Some, uneasy with social and demographic change, believe the churches they were raised in have lost their authority by going “woke” – shorthand for supporting equal marriage, female clergy, pro-choice, Black Lives Matter and other liberal issues.Some converts have hundreds of thousands of followers online, and push Kremlin narratives that Russia is the world's last bastion of true Christianity - a few of the most radical have even emigrated there. Lucy Ash has been to Texas – one of the most religious states in the US – to meet some new converts.

In Dhaka, Bangladesh, artist Bishwajit Goswami creates a powerful new installation that captures the spirit of his homeland’s rivers, lifelines darkened by pollution, yet still full of energy, beauty, and memory. Reporter Sahar Zand follows Bishwajit as he prepares for a major international exhibition in Paris. From his artist-led rooftop community space in a former tannery, to the crowded, chaotic riverbanks of Dhaka, Sahar traces the origins of a deeply personal artwork shaped by conversations, rituals, and found materials gathered along the river’s edge.