Zohran Mamdani catapulted on to New York’s political scene this summer when he captured the Democratic nomination to run for Mayor this fall. A young politician, Mamdani campaigned on issues that mattered to New Yorkers including lowering the cost of living, but unlike other candidates, was not shy about making his Muslim faith a central talking point on the campaign trail. We explore how a single decision galvanized voters of different faiths across America’s biggest city, and delve into the social issues that divided those casting ballots – including the war in Gaza, Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, and the divisiveness of the phrase, “globalise the intifada,” which Mamdani refused on multiple occasions to denounce. What was it about Mamdani that led Muslim voters to feel like they had a voice who will represent them as Mayor of New York City? Do Jewish voters feel let down? We sit down with voters of varying views to find out.
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Fighting on two fronts
More than a third of Ukraine’s scientific institutions have been damaged or destroyed by Russian bombing. Many scientists have either fled the country or are internally displaced, and that Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences is trying to operate on half its pre-war budget. The funding may be reduced but the science still matters, even in wartime. Perhaps especially in wartime. It is something the country can be proud of. Climate change has no borders and Ukraine is making a key contribution to our understanding of the global warming crisis. We hear from the scientists of Ukraine’s National Antarctic Scientific Centre, torn between the frontlines of a prolonged national conflict whilst simultaneously attempting to arm the world with the latest research on a warming climate from the white wilderness of Antarctica.
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Sabotage by smartphone
Ukrainian teenagers are being recruited online to carry out sabotage against their own country in return for cryptocurrency, and for some the consequences are deadly. Ukraine accuses Russia of using Telegram to offer minors large sums of money to plant bombs or stage arson attacks. There have even been allegations that some recruits have been blown up while transporting explosive devices. This episode features a rare interview with a Ukrainian teenager who is currently awaiting trial after authorities claim they caught him planting a bomb in a vehicle used by the conscription service.
This episode of The Documentary, comes to you from BBC Trending in-depth reporting on the world of social media.
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Drugs, Overdose, Hope - North Carolina and Nevada
Drug overdose has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. Fentanyl – a synthetic opioid mass produced in Mexico and smuggled across the border – drove the increasing number of fatalities ever higher. But there’s a good news story that hasn’t been widely reported… Drug-related deaths fell year on year from 2023 to 2024 by around 25%. In some states, the decline was even more dramatic - North Carolina was one of them. In a two-part series for Assignment, Linda Pressly first visits the state capital of Raleigh to report on some of the reasons why fewer people are dying from illicit narcotics.But drug-related fatalities haven't fallen everywhere in the US. In Nevada, those mortality statistics have continued to tick up. In the second in this Assignment series, Linda travels to Las Vegas and Reno to find out why this desert state is bucking the trend.This episode of The Documentary comes to you from Assignment, investigations and journeys into the heart of global events.(Image: Kayla, a former fentanyl user and now a client of a LEAD programme (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion) in North Carolina that diverts substance abusers away from crime. Credit: Tim Mansel/BBC)
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Alexey Seliverstov: Bionic birdsong
How fixed is the borderline between human music and the sounds of nature? That is a question that guides the work of Los Angeles-based composer Alexey Seliverstov. In this programme, Regan Morris follows Alexey’s creative process from recording the dawn chorus in the Santa Monica mountains, through the ingenious transformations of the field recordings to the finished multi-channel and multi-sensory installation for the Shelemay Sound Lab at Harvard University.
There is more to Alexey’s music than first meets the ear: some of the ‘birds’ are actually the sounds of his own and his brother’s voices recorded when they were children and altered beyond recognition by Alexey’s sophisticated processing. Adding ear-prints of empty spaces to the sounds of chirping synthesisers, similar to the effect of repeated exposures on an old-fashioned camera film, draw us further into Alexey’s imaginary landscapes. Are these soundscapes artificial or still mostly natural? How does mixing the sounds of nature and sounds that we associate with humans, such as pianos, alter our idea of what music can be?
A window into our world, through in-depth storytelling from the BBC. Investigating, reporting and uncovering true stories from everywhere. Award-winning journalism, unheard voices, amazing culture and global issues. From Trump's new world order, to war in Sudan, to the legacy of football icon Mo Salah, The Documentary investigates major global stories.We delve into social media, take you into the minds of the world's most creative people and explore personal approaches to spirituality. Every week, we also bring together people from around the globe to discuss how news stories are affecting their lives. A new episode most days, all year round. From our BBC World Service teams at: Assignment, Heart and Soul, In the Studio, OS Conversations, The Fifth Floor and Trending.
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