India: Our trains, electric

India aims to have electrified the entirety of its rail network by the end of 2023

• 26 mins

Living in space

Human beings will soon be living in space - but who will go and what will it be like?

• 49 mins

Asylums of Japan: Makiko's story

What is being done to change Japanese attitudes toward mental health?

• 26 mins

First contact

Farrah Jarral on preparing for first contact with extra-terrestrials

• 49 mins

The World Service is 90

Calling the world since 1932. Meet the journalists and hear the treasured archive

• 49 mins

Sweden's green power struggle

The indigenous Sami people who say carbon-cutting technology is harming their way of life

• 26 mins

Nelson Mandela: A legacy in music

Joan Armatrading gives an account of Mandela's life as a lover and an inspirer of music

• 49 mins

The people v J Edgar Hoover: Part one

How J Edgar Hoover built and then ran the FBI for almost five decades

• 49 mins

The people v J Edgar Hoover: Part two

The life and legacy of J Edgar Hoover, who ran the FBI for almost five decades

• 49 mins

Happy news of 2022

A look back at the most uplifting, joyous, positive news stories of the year

• 26 mins

Escape from the Taliban: Point of no return

Sana Safi returns to the story of two Afghan women judges trying to escape the Taliban.

• 26 mins

Women pro surfers: Battling the waves

How women surfers fought the sexism of the 1970s to create the first pro-surf world tour

• 49 mins

Kids who care

Oritsé Williams hears from children who are unpaid carers for family members

• 26 mins

This Cultural Life: Sting

Sting reveals the experiences and influences that shaped his songwriting

• 26 mins

What do you think you are? Part one

The scientific evidence that animals are not only conscious but also have a sense of self

• 26 mins

This Cultural Life: Florence Pugh

Actor Florence Pugh talks to John Wilson about her career and formative influences.

• 26 mins

The price of citizenship

What does it mean to be a citizen? Is it about belonging, or about convenience?

• 49 mins

What do you think you are? Part two

Are animals 'sentient' beings? Sue Armstrong reports on the latest scientific evidence

• 26 mins

This Cultural Life: Akram Khan

Dancer and choreographer Akram Khan on the cultural turning points of his life

• 26 mins

Yiddish glory: Jewish refugees in Central Asia

A journey to discover Yiddish songs confiscated by the KGB

• 49 mins

The Black Book

Why was the Black Book, a chronicle of the Nazi extermination of Soviet Jews banned?

• 49 mins

Sierra Leone's children of war

What happened to Sierra Leone's child soldiers?

• 26 mins

This Cultural Life: Abdulrazak Gurnah

Nobel Prize-winning author Abdulrazak Gurnah on his cultural influences

• 26 mins

A short history of sadness

Author Helen Russell explores a history of gloom, and how different cultures tackle it

• 49 mins

Brexit: Three years on

Three years after leaving the EU, what does Brexit mean for Britain's place in the world?

• 26 mins

The Night Witches of World War Two

The all-female Soviet combat unit which terrorised German forces using wooden biplanes

• 26 mins

The travelling speech therapist

Travelling speech therapist Mary Weinder travels to the Turks and Caicos islands

• 26 mins

World Wide Waves '23: The sounds of community radio

How Rumphi FM in Malawi and Inuit radio in Canada are supporting marginalised communities

• 49 mins

America's first black bank

Szu Ping Chan looks at the the history and collapse of The Freedman’s Bank and its legacy

• 26 mins

Fishrot: Clear waters, murky dealings

How journalists in Namibia and Iceland broke an epic corruption scandal, all about fish

• 26 mins