The Radio 3 Documentary Podcast
In-depth documentaries which explore a different aspect of history, science, philosophy, film, visual arts and literature. The Sunday Feature is broadcast every Sunday at 6.45pm on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3.
Episodes to download
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Time Canvasses - Morton Feldman and Abstract Expressionism
Wed 7 Feb 2024
How friendship with Philip Guston and Mark Rothko took American music in new directions
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Tuner of the World
Mon 12 Jun 2023
A portrait of pioneering Canadian composer and soundscape maestro R Murray Schafer.
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Supply Lines
Sun 4 Jun 2023
Aidan Tulloch reimagines the journey an item goes on in the age of the 24/7 supply chain.
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New Generation Thinkers: The Perfect Balance
Mon 15 May 2023
Dr Anindya Raychaudhuri searches for different perspectives on the idea of balance.
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The Pleasures and Pains of Denton Welch
Sun 7 May 2023
New arts feature exploring the brief but brilliant career of writer Denton Welch.
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The Black Cantor
Sun 23 Apr 2023
The story of a Black tenor who sang Jewish music in America in the early 20th century
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Sunday Feature - Shakespeare's Brum Ting
Sun 26 Mar 2023
Islam Issa celebrates Birmingham's unique public ownership of Shakespeare's first Folio.
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X-Ray Vision: Rudolph Fisher in Harlem
Sun 19 Mar 2023
Lindsay Johns makes the case for writer Rudolph Fisher's portraits of Black American life
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Heinrich Heine: The First Modern European
Mon 13 Mar 2023
Michael Goldfarb tells the story of playwright, poet and essayist Heinrich Heine.
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Government Song Woman
Sun 5 Mar 2023
Rhiannon Giddens investigates the folk song collector Sidney Robertson Cowell.
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Tutu - A Portrait of Nigeria
Sun 12 Feb 2023
Chibundu Onuzo tells the fascinating story of ‘Africa’s Mona Lisa’ and artist Ben Enwonwu
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O Sole Mio
Thu 9 Feb 2023
On the streets of Naples, Joanna Robertson celebrates the city's unique musical tradition
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Metal City
Sun 5 Feb 2023
How has metalworking affected the culture of Birmingham over hundreds of years?
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Rebel Sounds: Musical Resistance in Barbados
Sun 29 Jan 2023
Peter Brathwaite discovers the music of his black enslaved & white slave-owning ancestors
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Yiddish Glory
Fri 27 Jan 2023
Musician Alice Zawadzki explores long-lost Yiddish songs from World War II
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Scott Ross - Harpsichord Rebel
Sun 15 Jan 2023
Phil Hebblethwaite traces the complex life of an early music maverick.
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Unlocking Anne
New Year's Day 2023
Poet Clare Pollard introduced us to forgotten female sonneteer, Anne Lock.
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What Walls Hold
Christmas Day 2022
Charles Dickens’ life was shaped by an extraordinary house. Docudrama with Alex Jennings.
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Sunday Feature: Shostakovich and the Battle for Babi Yar
Tue 13 Dec 2022
The story of Shostakovich's Symphony No 13 and the trailblazing poem which inspired it
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Briggflatts - A Northern Poetic Odyssey
Mon 28 Nov 2022
Rory Stewart in search of Basil Bunting’s neglected masterpiece about love, loss and time
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Sunday Feature: Florence Price’s Chicago and the Black Female Fellowship
Sun 6 Mar 2022
The remarkable female musicians and activists who helped Florence Price's music to thrive
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Tchaikovsky's Island of Inspiration
Sun 2 Jan 2022
How a trip to a remote island monastery inspired Pyotr Tchaikovsky's First Symphony
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Then there was Light - Stockhausen and LICHT, his opera cycle based on the seven days of the week
Mon 12 Jul 2021
How famous German avant-garde composer Stockhausen wrote an opera for each day of the week
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Even more Kershaw Tapes
Sun 9 May 2021
Andy Kershaw introduces his own cassette recordings of music from his travels.
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More Kershaw Tapes
Tue 4 May 2021
Andy Kershaw introduces his own cassette recordings of music from his travels.
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New Generation Thinker short feature: Hilltop Histories
Sun 14 Mar 2021
Archaeologist Seren Griffiths tells the multiple stories of a Sandstone ridge in Cheshire
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NGT The Balcony
Sun 28 Feb 2021
Dr Islam Issa celebrates the importance of Balconies, from Cairo to the Capulet's garden.
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The Apple and the Tree
Sun 17 Jan 2021
Carlo Gébler, son of Edna O’Brien, asks why the children of writers often become writers
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Sunday Feature - Dissecting Beethoven
Tue 15 Dec 2020
An exploration of Beethoven’s music through the body that gave him so much trouble.
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Sunday Feature: The Fake Poet
Sun 29 Nov 2020
Why does the image of the forlorn and abandoned poet Thomas Chatterton haunt us today?