Schedule

2,100 kilometres across Kamchatka’s vast, snowy wilderness in a month! It’s the annual Beringia dog sled race that pits 15 teams against each other on grueling terrain in subzero temperatures and ferocious winds. The mushers and dogs are nevertheless ready to face off and fight for a prize of nearly $50,000. Ready, steady, mush mush!

A growing number of Japanese people are giving up on relationships with living humans and turning to silicone sex dolls for company. Many use their dolls for sex, but also treat them as real-life companions. RTD follows some of the owners to find out what it’s like to go out on a date with a silicone doll.

Endemic poverty in the West African country of Togo is putting crushing pressure on families. Children as young as five toil long hours breaking stones, picking coffee beans, and other manual labour. Their parents are aware of the hard and often dangerous conditions but must send them to work to help the family survive. Many children seek more promising opportunities abroad but end up falling into slavery and prostitution.

Fyodor Yurchikhin always wanted to become a cosmonaut. As a senior engineer in Russia’s space programme, he wasn’t satisfied playing a supporting role. After 11 years of trying, Fyodor was accepted as a cosmonaut candidate at the ripe old age of 38. Five missions and 672 days in space later, his family still worries when he’s away ‘at work.’ But 59-year-old Yuri’s not so sure he’s had enough.

They are forced out of society into involuntary seclusion, away from civilisation. Their tormentor is invisible – and it’s gaining power and expanding its reach day by day. However, most people consider it to be harmless, and look upon those claiming otherwise with distrust. The victims are called electrosensitive people, and they are running out of places where they can hide from the waves produced by wireless and cell phone technology. 

Leopard Land’s rangers are on high alert after learning that there may be armed poachers in the national park. Any kind of poaching here has an impact on the leopards themselves. The inspectors recruit a wild life photographer to help locate all their leopards and make sure they’re safe. 

The Amur leopard is one of the rarest cats in the world. There are no more than seventy still alive in the wild.  With the beasts on the verge of extinction, wildlife photographer Vasily Solkin spends his days in Russia’s Far East tracking and documenting the lives of Amur leopards in Leopard Land National Park.

Catching poachers in Leopard Land National Park is a dangerous business. The rangers have to camouflage themselves so they can trap poachers hunting deer and other wildlife in the forest. On one mission, one ranger team bags a poacher without a fight, while another loses their quarry as he runs through the woods, but they do recover his gun.

Dina and Elena are tasked with showing newly-arrived researcher Yulia the ropes at Leopard Land National Park. They trek into the forest to teach the new girl how and to safely look for signs of endangered Amur leopards in the national park. Elsewhere, rangers intercept a group of motorcyclists trespassing in a restricted area.

After examining hours of video footage from the national park’s surveillance cameras, one Amur leopard cub appears to be missing. The cub’s sponsor, Olympic skier Jean-Claude Killy, offers to fund a helicopter search. The chopper also proves useful in tracking down a gang of poachers, who don’t go down without a fight. The missing cub is eventually spotted alive and well.

Sklifosovsky Institute, aka Sklif: Europe's largest research and development facility for emergency medical care, complete with a hospital, research labs, surgery rooms, burn treatment facility and much more. Here, battles against death are fought every minute of every day. It takes the best to win.

Where can Russians learn how to sell a hundred rubles for two hundred, or start a business from nothing? Join RT as we go on a tour of Moscow's Higher School of Economics.

In one of the most poverty-stricken slums in Kenya’s capital, elderly women are increasingly preyed upon by young men who believe that raping them can cure HIV. Things are starting to change, however. With the launch of self-defence courses, women are learning physical and psychological techniques to thwart predators, empowering victims to venture outside again.

In peaceful Nepal a sinister black market is flourishing. Kavre province has become infamous for the shocking numbers of people who have sold a kidney. Poverty and lack of education about the potential impact on health mean villagers are easy prey for unscrupulous dealers. Tricked into undergoing risky surgery and paid a pittance, donors are often left with debilitating consequences.

Water shortages, movement restrictions, and the constant presence of the Israeli military – this is what life looks like for millions of Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. With no end in sight to the decades-long conflict, protests and clashes continue. RTD travels to the occupied territories to meet people of the Palestinian resistance, from members of the Tamimi family to activists expressing their anger and pain through art.

For over 25 years, six friends pushed the limits, making the most challenging BASE jumps imaginable. No building was too tall, no jump too risky, no environment too extreme. Zooming through canyons in wingsuits like birds in flight, the daredevils felt unbridled joy and freedom. Over four years, half would pay the ultimate price for their addiction to flight. 

2,100 kilometres across Kamchatka’s vast, snowy wilderness in a month! It’s the annual Beringia dog sled race that pits 15 teams against each other on grueling terrain in subzero temperatures and ferocious winds. The mushers and dogs are nevertheless ready to face off and fight for a prize of nearly $50,000. Ready, steady, mush mush!

Russia’s Prirazlomnaya oil platform in the Arctic is the first to produce a new type of oil, known as ARCO. Almost 200 people work around the clock to ensure the production flow never stops. Explore life on an Arctic oil rig with RT Doc.

Drifting competitions involve drivers vying to perform hair-raising turns at top speed before judges. In the Russian winter, when competitors slide on the snow, drift car racing comes close to a motor enthusiast’s version of ice-dancing. RTD follows three racers around the country in the Russian Drift Series to understand the appeal of this crazy, fun motorsport with few rules and maximum creative freedom. 

Veteran cop. John Mark Dougan left the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, appalled by endemic corruption within the force. He later started a blog for honest cops to expose criminal police activity anonymously. A fierce backlash eventually forced the whistleblower to flee the US and seek refuge in Russia. This is his story.

A growing number of Japanese people are giving up on relationships with living humans and turning to silicone sex dolls for company. Many use their dolls for sex, but also treat them as real-life companions. RTD follows some of the owners to find out what it’s like to go out on a date with a silicone doll.

Since its founding in 1948, the State of Israel has witnessed many wars and almost daily tension with Palestinians. Numerous rocket and terrorist attacks have made the word ‘security’ almost holy for Israelis. This security is usually achieved through military force, but some Israeli activists think only reconciliation with the Palestinians will bring a lasting peace. They are ready to fight for their cause regardless of the vitriolic reactions their fellow citizens.

Endemic poverty in the West African country of Togo is putting crushing pressure on families. Children as young as five toil long hours breaking stones, picking coffee beans, and other manual labour. Their parents are aware of the hard and often dangerous conditions but must send them to work to help the family survive. Many children seek more promising opportunities abroad but end up falling into slavery and prostitution.

Thousands of indigenous Brazilians live in remote villages scattered along the Amazon River with no access to modern medical care. Government support is scarce. But now, one of the country’s top neurosurgeons, Erik Jennings, has taken it upon himself to fill this gap. His family has lived on the Amazon for generations, and he pays ‘house calls’ to these isolated tribes out of a sense of affinity with the native peoples that live in the rainforests along the river.

They are forced out of society into involuntary seclusion, away from civilisation. Their tormentor is invisible – and it’s gaining power and expanding its reach day by day. However, most people consider it to be harmless, and look upon those claiming otherwise with distrust. The victims are called electrosensitive people, and they are running out of places where they can hide from the waves produced by wireless and cell phone technology. 

Where can Russians learn how to sell a hundred rubles for two hundred, or start a business from nothing? Join RT as we go on a tour of Moscow's Higher School of Economics.

These rats defy stereotypes: they’re friendly & cute, but most importantly they save human lives. Thanks to their sharp sense of smell, the African giant rats are used to detect explosives. Trained in Tanzania, these clever rodents are sent to countries where landmines left over from war threaten local populations.

Drifting competitions involve drivers vying to perform hair-raising turns at top speed before judges. In the Russian winter, when competitors slide on the snow, drift car racing comes close to a motor enthusiast’s version of ice-dancing. RTD follows three racers around the country in the Russian Drift Series to understand the appeal of this crazy, fun motorsport with few rules and maximum creative freedom. 

In peaceful Nepal a sinister black market is flourishing. Kavre province has become infamous for the shocking numbers of people who have sold a kidney. Poverty and lack of education about the potential impact on health mean villagers are easy prey for unscrupulous dealers. Tricked into undergoing risky surgery and paid a pittance, donors are often left with debilitating consequences.

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.

For over 25 years, six friends pushed the limits, making the most challenging BASE jumps imaginable. No building was too tall, no jump too risky, no environment too extreme. Zooming through canyons in wingsuits like birds in flight, the daredevils felt unbridled joy and freedom. Over four years, half would pay the ultimate price for their addiction to flight. 

They joined the army driven by a desire to serve their country and its people. However, the wars they were sent to made them re-evaluate everything they believed in. Now, US veterans are trying to come to terms with their past and learn how to live among civilians again.  It turns out, they’ve no one to rely on but each other.

Pancakes, known as blini, are Russia’s signature dish. They can be eaten with just about anything, from jam to caviar. To find out how they used to be made, Oscar takes Glen to a village to learn the old secrets of baking blini in a wood-fired oven. Oscar shows off his ninja cooking skills by frying eight at once on an open fire outside. As a reward, the friends sit down to a blini feast. 

Beetroot soup, aka borsch, is one of Russia’s most famous dishes. Oscar and Glen go to a medieval town to make one of the most authentic versions: tsar borsch. This centuries-old recipe includes four kinds of meat and takes six hours to make. While it simmers in a wood-fired oven, the two take on the local Cossacks in an unusual duel before returning to a truly royal meal. 

It’s the battle of BBQs! Glen and Oscar have a cook off to see which style of barbecue is better – Russian or American. After scurrying around Moscow looking for the best meat, Glen throws a ribeye steak on the grill and Oscar works up a sweat making lamb shish kebabs and tandoori chicken. In the end, it’s clear they have very different ideas about how cooked is done.

Oscar and Glen visit Borodino, the scene of an epic battle between Napoleon and Russian Tsar Alexander I in 1812. After getting into the spirit of the time, the friends face off in a battlefield cooking competition. Oscar makes French onion soup and Glen learns to make a classic Russian army dish: buckwheat kasha with meat. 

Oscar and Glen are in the Caucuses city of Esentuki, which is home to Russia’s largest Greek community. Oscar bumps into a Greek friend who invites them to a “small” family dinner. Not wanting to show up emptyhanded, the friends learn to prepare two classic Greek dishes: Stolen Lamb and Greek Salad. But they are later shocked to see what Greeks consider a “small family gathering.”

Oscar and Glen go to one of Russia’s premiere spas to take in the Caucuses’ legendary mineral water and treatments. They also check out one of Russia’s best hang gliding sites, where Glen flies like an eagle. After such a healthy and active day, the pair learns to make a “real man’s” meal, but Glen is shocked by what the main ingredient is.