The Documentary Podcast Folgen

The United Nations says the war in Ukraine has provoked the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War Two. Leaving their homes and most of their possessions behind, many people have endured long, and often dangerous journeys across the country, before queuing for hours to cross the border. When they reach safety, they are welcomed by family, friends and also the generosity of complete strangers.

How do we learn to adapt when life doesn't go as we planned? Sometimes the life we believed we should be living and the expectation of the person we would become, no longer matches reality. Max, from Germany, became divorced during the pandemic. Therapist and author Dr Shefali, speaks to him about letting go of the idea of marriage as a ‘happily ever after’ and about how our own ego can stand in the way of personal growth.

Last year, San Francisco had twice as many deaths from drug abuse as Covid. In the central ‘Tenderloin’ district alone, where thousands of homeless people have pitched tents, three people a week are dying. Meanwhile drugs, including highly addictive and dangerous fentanyl, are sold and consumed openly on the street. Many types of crime are rising, and the city is struggling to entice people back after the pandemic exodus. The situation has led some politicians to ask if so-called progressive approaches to policing, homelessness and drug-taking are appropriate – or making things worse. In December, San Francisco’s Democratic Party Mayor said the city needed ‘tough love’ – and declared a state of emergency in the Tenderloin. For Assignment, the BBC’s James Clayton meets addicts and their families, politicians, and charities, to tell the story of how one of America’s most beloved cities is having a crisis of confidence.(Image: Homeless people sitting on the street in the Tenderloin district in San Francisco, California, United States. Credit: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)