The Documentary Podcast

We follow the Finnish comedian Ismo Leikola—known simply as Ismo—as he performs in both English and Finnish. We explore his distinctive brand of intellectual humour and how he enjoys creating theories about the world around him. ISMO was once named the funniest person in the world, and we gain a sense of his celebrity status, particularly in his hometown of Jyväskylä. He also reveals why he avoids politics and talks about his love life on stage.Produced and presented by Olga Smirnova

Nostalgia. That sentimental feeling of the past. Memory is a powerful thing and we tend to look back on our firsts fondly. Your first phone, your first best friend, your first kiss… But it turns out you can also feel nostalgic for things you weren’t around for.In the last few years, for Gen Z, there’s been a huge rise in things like y2k fashion, old school technology like flip phones and digital cameras, and even Kate Bush has made it back into the charts.So why do we care so much about old things? Speaking of the past, let’s go way back and find out about the ancient origins of kissing! Scientists at Oxford University in the UK now think that kissing evolved more than 21 million years ago, and it wasn’t humans that started it.Victoria Gill, our Science Correspondent, tells us all about the research and what we know about if animals can be romantic like humans can.What in the World helping you make sense of what's happening in the world.For more episodes, just search 'What in the World' wherever you get your BBC Podcasts.

Poetry about love between a man and a woman was banned by the Taliban in September 2025. For many Afghans, poetry is something which is very much a part of everyday life and has often been passed down in the oral, folk-law tradition. It weaves in and out of conversation effortlessly and is an important way of connecting with one another. In this episode of The Fifth Floor, we discuss one of the most venerated female love poets in Afghan culture – Rabia Balkhi. Rabia wrote her poetry in the 10th century, and the story goes that she fell in love with her brother's servant. When her love poetry for him was discovered, she was imprisoned, but even as she lay dying, she continued to write her poems in her own blood. Her determination to express her true feelings makes her a symbol of inspiration to people, and especially women, in Afghanistan today. We are joined by three BBC Afghan journalists Shekiba Habib, Aalia Farzan and Abdullah Shadan to tell us more about Rabia Balkhi’s story and Afghanistan’s love for poetry. This episode of The Documentary comes to you from The Fifth Floor, the show at the heart of global storytelling, with BBC journalists from all around the world. Presented by Faranak Amidi. Produced by Hannah Dean, Laura Thomas and Caroline Ferguson. (Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

The first crew arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) 25 years ago. Since then, almost three hundred people from some 20 nations have visited the orbiting laboratory. If you were born after November 2000, for your entire life, there has always been someone living in space.In our conversations astronauts Tim Peake and Nicole Stott share their experiences of life on the ISS.“It felt like I was coming to a second home when I got there, almost immediately,” Nicole tells us. “Floating and flying and having that extraordinary view out of the window, it’s like nothing else.”Nasa’s latest venture, Artemis II, is due for launch in the next few months. The ten-day mission will carry four astronauts further than any human has gone before, in a loop far beyond the Moon. It’s the latest stage of the US-led plan to eventually land humans on the lunar surface for the first time since 1972.To discuss the future of space exploration, we bring together astronaut Mike Massimino, he’s flown to space twice and starred (as an astronaut) in The Big Bang Theory. We also hear from former Nasa researcher and AI expert, Kiri Wagstaff, and Les Johnson, he was a senior engineer at Nasa and is now the CEO of Infinite Frontiers Consulting.Presenter: Luke Jones

The first crew arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) 25 years ago. Since then, almost 300 people from some 20 nations have visited the orbiting laboratory. If you were born after November 2000, for your entire life, there has always been someone living in space. Astronauts Tim Peake and Nicole Stott share their experiences of living on the ISS. Nasa’s latest venture, Artemis II, is due for launch in the next few months. The ten-day mission will carry four astronauts further than any human has gone before, in a loop far beyond the Moon. It’s the latest stage of the US-led plan to eventually land humans on the lunar surface for the first time since 1972. We bring together astronaut Mike Massimino, who has flown to space twice and starred (as an astronaut) in The Big Bang Theory. We also hear from former Nasa researcher and AI expert, Kiri Wagstaff, and Les Johnson, former senior engineer at Nasa and now the CEO of Infinite Frontiers Consulting. This edition of The Documentary is from BBC OS Conversations, where we bring people together to share their experiences of major events and news stories.