The Documentary Podcast Folgen

George Antone is a member of the only Roman Catholic Church in Gaza, part of a dwindling Christian community whose roots in this area, go back to the 4th Century. When war broke out in October 2023, he is convinced that staying in Gaza City is the right option - for safety and to continue bearing witness to Jesus in this part of the world. His is the first family to move into the compound of the Holy Family Church and he helps lead the parish through the next months as they suffer deaths of loved ones, near starvation and destruction of their homes. Throughout it all, he keeps in contact with BBC Producer Catherine Murray sending her WhatsApp messages from a warzone.

Jusper Machogu is a farmer from south-western Kenya who describes himself as a “climate sceptic”. He wrongly claims that climate change is a “scam” or a “hoax” designed to hold Africa back. On social media, he has also become known as a staunch defender of fossil fuel exploration in Africa. His views have caught the eye of those in the West who, like him, deny the overwhelming scientific consensus on global warming. They have helped him grow his following and spread his message globally. But, in doing so, has Mr Machogu unwittingly become a tool for the fossil fuel industry? How dangerous is the message of social media influencers like him?

Greystones made global headlines a year ago when, concerned by rising anxiety levels among their pupils, the headteachers from all the primary schools in the town invited parents to sign a voluntary pact or code; not to buy their child a smartphone before they moved up to secondary school. In Ireland that’s usually at age 12. Beth McLeod talks to teachers, pupils and parents about their reaction to the initiative. Has there been any backlash? At one of the town’s secondary schools she meets an assistant headteacher who is passionately demanding a culture change around phone use for older students too, warning parents that although they think they are giving their children access to the internet, they are really giving the internet access to their children. She speaks to teenagers about their views on what is the right age to be on social media and asks the Irish Health Minister what the government is doing to hold tech companies to account.