The Documentary Podcast Folgen

A guide to the history and context of the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Katya Adler and guests explain the key players and set out the background to help you get to grips with what’s going on today. They explain the history of the creation of the state of Israel and look at the experience of Palestinians. They take a closer look at Hamas, the group responsible for orchestrating the recent attacks on Israel. They are regarded as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US and the UK, but how are they seen by Palestinians? Of course outsiders have also played a crucial role. We take a tour of this Middle Eastern neighbourhood to set out the relationships with Lebanon, Hezbollah, Jordan and Egypt and explain the role global powers like the USA and Iran have had at times of war and peace.

Following a dramatic train accident, David Ditchfield was dragged under a speeding train in Cambridgeshire and nearly lost his life. As he lay in hospital, just before being taken into surgery, he had an extraordinary spiritual experience characterised by overwhelming love, white light and spiritual beings The experience awakened a previously hidden talent for painting and music. Despite his vision of angelic beings and a white tunnel of light, he doesn’t view his life-changing spiritual awakening as a religious experience. He tells his remarkable story and meets the founder of Near Death Experience UK who too had a profound spiritual awakening while in a critical condition.

A village in northern Portugal is fighting to prevent what could be the first large scale battery grade lithium mine in Europe from going into operation on its doorstep. For Assignment, Caroline Bayley travels to Covas do Barroso - the remote farming community with World Agricultural Heritage status and a tiny population - where villagers have formed a protest group which has gained international support. Portugal has one of the largest deposits of lithium in Europe and the Government is in favour of exploiting these resources as part of the green transition as lithium is used in electric vehicle batteries. The mining company needs to lease common land jointly owned by the villagers to access the lithium but the residents are holding out against this, in spite of the compensation on offer. They fear that the four open pit mines would destroy their agricultural way of life. The Barroso mine has been given the green light by Portugal’s environment agency subject to certain strict criteria being met. Owned by Savannah Resources, a London listed company, the mine aims to produce enough lithium for 500,000 electric car batteries a year. Produced and presented by Caroline Bayley Producer in Portugal Alison Roberts Editor: Penny Murphy Sound Engineer: Neil Churchill Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman(Image: Aida Fernandes, farmer in Covas do Barroso. Credit: BBC/Caroline Bayley)