The Documentary Podcast Folgen

In one of his final official acts before he died, Pope Francis put Antoni Gaudí, Spain’s most famous architect, onto the path to sainthood. Gaudí's masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia, is a towering basilica, strangely designed and bursting with colour. It stands in the heart of Barcelona and its walls recount the entire story of the Catholic religion. After 140 years, having survived wars, arson attacks and dictatorship, it is still under construction. As Gaudí worked on it throughout his life, he became obsessive and it intensified his devotion. By the end of his life he was living like a monk. The BBC's Max Horberry has been to Barcelona to see Gaudí's work and speak to the people who have been working to finish the Sagrada Familia and campaigning for Gaudí's sainthood. He finds out more about the path to sainthood and how architecture, nature and religion intertwine in Gaudí’s life. This episode of The Documentary, comes to you from Heart and Soul, exploring personal approaches to spirituality from around the world.

Science journalist Roland Pease asks whether the rounds of cuts, reorganisations and political strong-arming in US science can be weathered, and how they will likely affect us all. Eighty years ago Vannevar Bush proposed what became the pact between government and universities that led to decades of global scientific dominance. Today, US scientists fear the Trump administration is ripping up that agreement, mandating what and what can’t be studied, who can study it, and redefining expertise. The specialist agencies are either being closed down or defunded to the extent that tens of thousands of government scientists are already unemployed. Multi-year experiments are being closed down uncompleted. Top universities are besieged by mandates on who and how they hire, tied to their future funding. Data streams that benefit researchers around the globe are being switched off. Even definitions of what counts as evidence are being redrafted. Can the administration's declared aim of "restoring gold standard science", be achieved?

The inaugural premier league football match at Everton’s much anticipated new stadium will kick-off on 23 August 2025, as the home side play against Brighton & Hove Albion. Everton Football Club's radical new home was designed by innovative sports architect Dan Meis, who has developed a reputation for out-of-the-box, innovative thinking while creating projects that redefine their respective building types. This includes the design for the Staples Centre in Los Angeles and “transformable” venue in Japan that mechanically changes from arena to stadium. In 2021, former professional footballer Neil Danns joined Meis as he commenced the design process for the Everton's new football stadium. This episode of The Documentary, comes to you from In the Studio, exploring the processes of the world’s most creative people.