Bolivian DNA: Russian traces / 2018
#Bolivia

Bolivia is best known as home to the largest indigenous population in South America. Few know that it also harbours a unique community of Russian religious dissenters, known as Old Believers. In this episode, host Pavel and his friend Ramiro meet the diaspora living in the village of Toborochi. The Old Believers keep the religious practices of the Eastern Orthodox Church prior to Patriarch Nikon’s 17th-century reforms. The episode provides an inside look at the closed community and their traditions.

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Aftershock: The Türkiye Earthquake
#Türkiye

‘I tried to save my wife, pull her out with my hands. I waited a couple of hours, but she died... It was raining at the time, and it was cold’, says Galib, a man who survived the strongest earthquake in Türkiye’s modern history. In the aftermath of the quake that hit the country this February, more than 45,000 people died and 300,000 lost their homes. Thousands of blocks collapsed across the country making it impossible to rescue all the people trapped under the rubble. Now many of those who have lost their loved ones are homeless and hope that the government will be able to find the culprits. Tune in for our premiere to find out how people are dealing with the tragedy.

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Black Lives: Addiction / 2019
#USA

Illegal drugs are everywhere and easily found in any US city. Episode 7 of the Black Lives series takes a look at the murky world of drug trading. A drug dealer, a former gang member, a former police officer and other activists share their views on why so many young people turn to selling drugs, if they even have an alternative and how easy it is to quit the illegal business.

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FRACK US / 2014
#USA

Fracking is a technique for recovering gas and oil that involves drilling deep into the earth. The discovery of fracking has increased the US production of oil and gas. The process is economically efficient and allows inaccessible resources to be collected. However, fracking is associated with a number of environmental problems. Contamination of water, air pollution, land degradation lead to loss of animal and plant habitat, as well as human health risks. Fracking is banned in numerous EU countries and Australia, but it takes place in more than 20 US states. People who live near fracking sites share their thoughts on how the “Shale Revolution” changed their lives for the worst.

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Occupy Tower / 2015
#Venezuela

One of Caracas’ infamous landmarks is a grim, half-finished, abandoned skyscraper. Nicknamed the Tower of David (Torre de David), it once provided shelter for hundreds of low-income families with nowhere else to go.

The vertical slum operated as a commune. Squatters gathered for meetings and various activities, including cleaning common areas. Residents had a gym, convenience stores, and barbershops so they could live without leaving their tower. However, the squatters had to leave in 2014 after the government deemed the Tower of David unsafe to live in. Then, the building began to lean in 2018 after an earthquake hit.

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Finnish Face of Fascism / 2023
#USSR #Finland

‘Galya died first, and about a month and a half later, Nina died, already in 1943. Both of my sisters died of starvation…’, recalls Lenina Makeeva, a Finnish concentration camp survivor. In December 1941 all of her family were incarcerated. Lenina, then a small girl, spent almost three years in Petrozavodsk concentration camp no. 5 and was the only member of the family to survive.

The exact number of deaths in the concentration camps set up by the Finns during World War II is still unknown. Watch the documentary to learn why people responsible for these crimes still go unpunished.

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In a Siberian Tiger’s Footsteps / 2020
#China

The Siberian tiger is known as the spirit of the forest in north-eastern China. The magnificent animal roams freely across the Russian-Chinese border. They are the world’s largest cats that can survive lengthy winters. Unfortunately, there are about 500 Siberian tigers left in the wild. Poaching, an anti-pest campaign and deforestation even caused the tiger to disappear from the Chinese borderland. In 2001, China created the Hunchun National Nature Reserve as part of a conservation plan. Did it help the population of Siberian tigers grow?

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Bolivian DNA: Titicaca, the lake of mystery / 2018
#Bolivia

Bolivia boasts many world records and one of them is the world’s highest navigable lake, Titicaca. In this episode, host Pavel Selin and his friend Ramiro are travelling to Titicaca to bring offerings to Pachamama, a goddess of earth and fertility and to get a boat building lesson. The two also visit the ancient city of Tiwanaku, believed to be part of the fabled island of Atlantis.

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Black Lives: Deadlock / 2019
#USA

Episode 8 of the Black Lives series investigates what is keeping Black and White Americans from living as one community. A white supremacist family involved in the Ku Klux Klan talks about their desire for separatism, while an African American radio host and Black Lives Matter activist discuss White flight and gentrification, and their effect on community mixing.

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Angels of Death / 2016
#Israel

The Israeli Defence Forces have a special messenger unit. Its task is to deliver tragic news to families of soldiers killed in action. Messenger service officers wear a distinctive uniform, and thus every Israeli knows why they are knocking on a particular door. The servicemen, known as ‘angels of death’, share what it takes to do their job and why the messenger service is needed.

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Red Alert Road to Deception / 2023
#USA

In 2022, the US military budget was almost $800 billion. 2023 will see an increase in the defence budget to $858 billion – an absolute world record for army maintenance and new weapon types production. The second episode of Red Alert explores America’s foreign policy and its national goals. “There is the illusion of democracy [in the US]. There is less democracy there than I’ve seen, for example, in Donetsk People’s Republic,” says John Mark Dougan. He’s a former police officer and whistleblower who fled Florida and moved to Moscow in 2016. John Dougan is certain that Washington and its military-industrial complex wins big from conflicts around the world, including the one in Ukraine.

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Little Miss Kung Fu / 2017
#China

Kung fu, or wushu, is a popular sport and an essential part of Chinese culture. There are still dozens of kung fu boarding schools in the country. The daily grind in the schools is harsh. Discipline is key in studying traditional martial arts, so children train from dawn till dusk and manage to squeeze in some studies too. Parents don’t come often, and students learn to be self-reliant. Life in the kung fu school sounds hard, so why do parents send their children away?

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Cobalt Hell / 2022
#Congo

Cobalt is an essential material used to make lithium-ion batteries for our smartphones and laptops. But the price workers in Congolese mines have to pay is high. Miners in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which contains two-thirds of the world’s cobalt, extract and process the ore by hand. It causes serious health problems and environmental pollution. Yet, none of the workers is ready to give up his job. Congolese cobalt miners agree to this backbreaking work to make ends meet.

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Our Big Russian Family / 2022
#Russia

The Falin family have fostered 30 kids. They take children from dysfunctional families, children’s homes or simply off the streets. Tatyana and Artyom Falins fostered their first child in 2003. A girl walked up to Tatyana on the street and asked to take her.

Tatyana and Artyom find a place in their home even for those kids who couldn’t adjust to other families because their psychological trauma was too much to handle. All the kids who the Falins have fostered see them as their parents and even want to come back to them from other countries. What does it feel like raising such a diverse family?

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Bolivian DNA: Amazonia / 2018
#Bolivia

The final episode of the Bolivian DNA series takes host Pavel Selin and his friend Ramiro to the Amazon. They brave the ‘Dead Road’ to get to the heart of the Bolivian Amazon, watch traditional cockfighting and meet the Pacahuara tribe.

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Black Lives: Doom / 2019
#USA

Growing up in a disadvantaged African American neighbourhood doesn’t necessarily mean you’re mired in a cycle of poverty, drugs and crime forever. An ex-gang member, a former inmate, and a postman who had drug-addicted family members discuss their experiences in this episode of Black Lives. They share personal stories of how they managed to escape the grim reality they were apparently predestined to exist in.

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Discovering China’s Agricultural Traditions / 2022
#China

The northeast plain of China is rich with black soil, the most fruitful soil on Earth. Lishu County is lucky to have such rich soil, which has made it a centre for corn growing in China. The largest autumn harvest festival, or the ‘Farmers’ Olympics’, is held here. This China episode takes a closer look at Chinese supply chains, agricultural traditions and the way Chinese farmers treat the environment.

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