The Documentary Podcast

A new farming method is having a dramatic effect on maize crops in Malawi, and assistance is coming from a solar-powered tractor. In the last of her visits to Malawi, Myra goes to a village where they are using a new method called Deep Bed Farming. It has more than doubled the yield of some of the farmers and improved their standards of living. The method involves digging deep into the hard earth. This can be tough work but a new solar-powered tractor designed in the UK called Aftrak is helping the farmers. Malawi has been hit hard by the changing climate and often struggles to feed its population. So making it more food secure could improve the lives of millions.

When Linda Pressly met them in 2024 in the Netherlands, Els and Jan had fewer than three days left on Earth. Els was living with dementia. Jan was in continual physical pain. A married couple, they chose to die together by lethal injection in a hospice. Euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands. But duo-euthanasia – dying together – is still rare. In The Documentary, Els and Jan discuss the reasons why they will end their lives. And then, two years later, Linda returns to the Netherlands to talk their son. Bas talks candidly about the experience of his parents choosing death, not life.

This episode contains discussion around euthanasia.

China's booming export figures, driven in part by demand for AI-related products, suggest a high-tech economy that's thriving. Yet many consumers at home continue to face economic pressures. Ed Butler asks whether there's a link between weakness at home and strength abroad, and what China's export surge could mean for other countries and trading partners.