Schedule

Sanctions, hostile rhetoric, and claims of election meddling have soured relations between Moscow and Washington, which some describe as presently worse than during the Cold War. But does this mean the American and Russian people are at odds too? RTD explores how ordinary Americans perceive Russia and its people amid the current political tensions.

RT Doc visits Angeles City in the Philippines, an infamous and popular sex tourism destination. The city is home to many children conceived by foreign holiday makers who took what they wanted and left offspring in their wake.

The Central African Republic's bloody civil war lead to the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians. Orphaned kids were recruited by both sides of the conflict, taught to fight, drugged and thrown into battle. After a ceasefire in 2015, the rehabilitation process began for many of them, but after all they’ve been through, they and their mentors face challenging times. 

As night falls in Athens, the city’s squares turn seedy, and middle aged European men can be seen chatting with teenage Syrian boys – a seemingly odd pairing of friends. Many of these youngsters are refugees who have resorted to selling themselves for as little as €10 just to eat. Some also choose drug pedaling and petty theft to survive. With no official documents or help from Greece’s immigration authorities, they are stranded in this horrific life. To escape, some consider abandoning their dream of living in Europe, and others even contemplate suicide.

Life in Tultepec revolves around pyrotechnics. Producing hand-made fireworks is a passion, an art form, and a source of livelihood for most residents of this Mexican town. But it’s also an extremely dangerous and unpredictable occupation, as those orphaned or widowed by fiery accidents will attest. Meet those willing to risk their lives for their explosive craft as RTD visits Tultepec’s annual pyrotechnics festival.

These girls are called Bacha Posh. They have to reject their femininity and pretend to be male. In Afghanistan’s traditional patriarchal society, many women can’t leave the house without a male accompanying them. For this reason, if a family has no son, a daughter is often appointed to play his role. Having tasted freedom, some of the girls never want to go back.

The ancient Greek island of Lesbos is where hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Africa and the Middle East first reach Europe. “Clowns without Borders” is an organisation that sends volunteers to entertain children in the refugee camps and offer a little comic relief.

They can hold their breath for several minutes and slow their heart rate to almost nothing. Free divers plunge to incredible depths with no scuba gear. They push themselves to the limit to break new records but despite the serious risks involved, they can’t resist the call of the deep.

Their death defying stunts are scary to watch. Their videos tempt young fans to emulate their exploits. However, these adrenaline junkies publish them anyway in pursuit of internet fame. Russia’s self-proclaimed ‘Spiderman’ even took on a 70-storey building without protection to promote his name. RTD spent a week with the craziest Russian ‘rooftoppers’ to find out what motivates them… and what price they are ready to pay for more likes.

Every working day they risk being wounded, abducted for ransom or killed. They experience war first-hand while being armed with nothing more than mics and cameras. These are the stories of Syrian war journalists who survived deadly encounters and yet still returned to work. This devotion to their vocation is their way of helping the Motherland.

Members of Japan’s feared Yakuza crime syndicate are often portrayed as grim-faced professional killers in sharp black suits and dark glasses, but the reality is somewhat different. Meet Mr. Makoto, a tubby tattooed Yakuza mobster and ‘old-fashioned guy’ who shows how the life of a gangster in modern-day Japan ain’t what it used to be. 

More than 20 years after the fall of apartheid in South Africa, racial injustice still runs deep. The white minority owns most of the country’s arable land, while the black majority can barely scrape by. Now, as the government seeks to redress land ownership disparity, and is considering seizing agricultural land without compensation, some white South Africans say they fear for their safety and report a spate of violent attacks against white farmers.

RT Doc’s Marina Kosareva returns to Greece two years after she was there as a reporter, covering the daily anti-austerity protests that accompanied the country's worsening economic problems. While the Greek crisis hasn’t been in the news much lately, it’s far from over. Ordinary Greeks explain how they're trying to adapt to their country’s new reality.

The Indian state of Punjab is undergoing a severe water crisis. Once an agricultural leader in India, it’s now turning into a desert. Farmers and other rural dwellers are going bankrupt over the need to pay for water delivered from other regions. In this drastic situation, the number of suicides has skyrocketed.

For years, music was banned in Afghanistan as sinful, but now one school for children is planting the seeds for traditional Afghan music’s rebirth. Conservative views have left their mark, however, and the school and its young musicians face threats from some elements in society.

14 women on a sail boat, but this is no pleasure cruise. The Sea Dragon is taking them on a scientific expedition to the Caribbean. On a mission to explore the extent of plastic pollution in the Atlantic Ocean, their main focus is the proliferation of micro-plastic that poisons fish and can harm humans. They also hope to educate children about how to reduce the use of plastic.

As China is setting a course to revive the Silk Road with its ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative, we visit the key cities on the renowned ancient trade route. Learn the story behind the discovery of the famous terracotta army in Xi’an, visit Lanzhou for a traditional tea ceremony, and find out what ailments are treated with acupuncture in Ürümqi.

Life was good for people in the Indonesian village of Semunying Jaya, comfortably living off the surrounding forests. That all changed when Duta Palma began to cut down the Dayak Iban people’s rainforest and replace it with oil palms. The corporation’s plantations have poisoned the environment, and now farming, fishing, and hunting are virtually impossible. But the villagers aren’t willing to give up without a fight.

As war rages on in Syria, many soldiers are badly wounded and have to face adjusting back to civilian life while overcoming disability. They’re forced to relearn simple tasks and have to work to provide for their families. Living a normal life is a daily struggle but they are determined to make it a happy one.

“Geological scandal” is a phrase often used to describe The Democratic Republic of Congo.  It is one of the world’s most resource-rich countries with extensive deposits of gold, diamonds, tungsten and uranium amongst many others. The abundance of internationally valued minerals has however failed to bring any kind of prosperity. It began with colonial exploitation of the land and its people and continued in bloody civil war, the Congolese have harvested nothing from their country’s natural riches but misery and poverty. 

Irina gets the group together to showcase their skills for people who have recently started using wheelchairs. Giving Aleksey the lead puts Evgeny’s nose out of joint and gets him thinking about his attitude. After a successful workshop, the group thinks they have recruited some new members, and Evgeny hints at turning a new leaf.

France’s Gypsies are unhappy: a new law threatens their nomadic lifestyle, and the influx of poor Roma from Eastern Europe is feeding anti-Gypsy racism. RTD visits a Roma shantytown to learn how they feel about France and meets a French Gypsy rapper, the ex-senator behind the law and the sister of a petty criminal gunned down by police.

Are ideas more dangerous than guns? This is the question that Maria Finoshina asks herself as she embarks on a risky mission to find and interview Al-Qaeda members in Tripoli, Lebanon.

Sanctions, hostile rhetoric, and claims of election meddling have soured relations between Moscow and Washington, which some describe as presently worse than during the Cold War. But does this mean the American and Russian people are at odds too? RTD explores how ordinary Americans perceive Russia and its people amid the current political tensions.

The Central African Republic's bloody civil war lead to the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians. Orphaned kids were recruited by both sides of the conflict, taught to fight, drugged and thrown into battle. After a ceasefire in 2015, the rehabilitation process began for many of them, but after all they’ve been through, they and their mentors face challenging times. 

As night falls in Athens, the city’s squares turn seedy, and middle aged European men can be seen chatting with teenage Syrian boys – a seemingly odd pairing of friends. Many of these youngsters are refugees who have resorted to selling themselves for as little as €10 just to eat. Some also choose drug pedaling and petty theft to survive. With no official documents or help from Greece’s immigration authorities, they are stranded in this horrific life. To escape, some consider abandoning their dream of living in Europe, and others even contemplate suicide.

Life in Tultepec revolves around pyrotechnics. Producing hand-made fireworks is a passion, an art form, and a source of livelihood for most residents of this Mexican town. But it’s also an extremely dangerous and unpredictable occupation, as those orphaned or widowed by fiery accidents will attest. Meet those willing to risk their lives for their explosive craft as RTD visits Tultepec’s annual pyrotechnics festival.

These girls are called Bacha Posh. They have to reject their femininity and pretend to be male. In Afghanistan’s traditional patriarchal society, many women can’t leave the house without a male accompanying them. For this reason, if a family has no son, a daughter is often appointed to play his role. Having tasted freedom, some of the girls never want to go back.

They can hold their breath for several minutes and slow their heart rate to almost nothing. Free divers plunge to incredible depths with no scuba gear. They push themselves to the limit to break new records but despite the serious risks involved, they can’t resist the call of the deep.

Their death defying stunts are scary to watch. Their videos tempt young fans to emulate their exploits. However, these adrenaline junkies publish them anyway in pursuit of internet fame. Russia’s self-proclaimed ‘Spiderman’ even took on a 70-storey building without protection to promote his name. RTD spent a week with the craziest Russian ‘rooftoppers’ to find out what motivates them… and what price they are ready to pay for more likes.

Every working day they risk being wounded, abducted for ransom or killed. They experience war first-hand while being armed with nothing more than mics and cameras. These are the stories of Syrian war journalists who survived deadly encounters and yet still returned to work. This devotion to their vocation is their way of helping the Motherland.

Members of Japan’s feared Yakuza crime syndicate are often portrayed as grim-faced professional killers in sharp black suits and dark glasses, but the reality is somewhat different. Meet Mr. Makoto, a tubby tattooed Yakuza mobster and ‘old-fashioned guy’ who shows how the life of a gangster in modern-day Japan ain’t what it used to be. 

RT Doc’s Marina Kosareva returns to Greece two years after she was there as a reporter, covering the daily anti-austerity protests that accompanied the country's worsening economic problems. While the Greek crisis hasn’t been in the news much lately, it’s far from over. Ordinary Greeks explain how they're trying to adapt to their country’s new reality.

The Indian state of Punjab is undergoing a severe water crisis. Once an agricultural leader in India, it’s now turning into a desert. Farmers and other rural dwellers are going bankrupt over the need to pay for water delivered from other regions. In this drastic situation, the number of suicides has skyrocketed.

For years, music was banned in Afghanistan as sinful, but now one school for children is planting the seeds for traditional Afghan music’s rebirth. Conservative views have left their mark, however, and the school and its young musicians face threats from some elements in society.

Irina gets the group together to showcase their skills for people who have recently started using wheelchairs. Giving Aleksey the lead puts Evgeny’s nose out of joint and gets him thinking about his attitude. After a successful workshop, the group thinks they have recruited some new members, and Evgeny hints at turning a new leaf.

France’s Gypsies are unhappy: a new law threatens their nomadic lifestyle, and the influx of poor Roma from Eastern Europe is feeding anti-Gypsy racism. RTD visits a Roma shantytown to learn how they feel about France and meets a French Gypsy rapper, the ex-senator behind the law and the sister of a petty criminal gunned down by police.

Are ideas more dangerous than guns? This is the question that Maria Finoshina asks herself as she embarks on a risky mission to find and interview Al-Qaeda members in Tripoli, Lebanon.

14 women on a sail boat, but this is no pleasure cruise. The Sea Dragon is taking them on a scientific expedition to the Caribbean. On a mission to explore the extent of plastic pollution in the Atlantic Ocean, their main focus is the proliferation of micro-plastic that poisons fish and can harm humans. They also hope to educate children about how to reduce the use of plastic.

As China is setting a course to revive the Silk Road with its ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative, we visit the key cities on the renowned ancient trade route. Learn the story behind the discovery of the famous terracotta army in Xi’an, visit Lanzhou for a traditional tea ceremony, and find out what ailments are treated with acupuncture in Ürümqi.

Life was good for people in the Indonesian village of Semunying Jaya, comfortably living off the surrounding forests. That all changed when Duta Palma began to cut down the Dayak Iban people’s rainforest and replace it with oil palms. The corporation’s plantations have poisoned the environment, and now farming, fishing, and hunting are virtually impossible. But the villagers aren’t willing to give up without a fight.

Evgeny gets his friends together so they can brainstorm ways to find him a job. After trying the internet, Evgeny goes to the job centre accompanied by Dmitry where he has to undergo a battery of tests. Disappointed, he didn’t get offered a job straight away, Evgeny is prompted by Dmitry to look for a job by asking around at the local shopping mall.

As war rages on in Syria, many soldiers are badly wounded and have to face adjusting back to civilian life while overcoming disability. They’re forced to relearn simple tasks and have to work to provide for their families. Living a normal life is a daily struggle but they are determined to make it a happy one.