BBC Witness History

Luna Silva invites us to a traditional Georgian Supra, where food, wine and polyphonic singing blend together.

This programme won a Special Commendation at Europe's most prestigious audio awards the Prix Europa, in 2025.

The judges called it 'joyous and beautifully crafted' and 'an unforgettable, immersive, and enriching listen'.

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One doctor dies by suicide every three weeks, according to figures from the British Medical Association.

In 2021, Dr Lalith Wijedoru left his role as consultant paediatrician in emergency medicine, to focus on supporting workforce health and wellbeing, including those working in healthcare.

Given rare access to a wellbeing and recovery retreat, we hear emotional testimonies from the four groups of doctors at greatest risk of suicide - General Practitioners, anaesthetists, surgeons and psychiatrists.

Their stories - of workplace bullying, isolation, fatigue and fear of patient complaints - suggest a system in which doctors are made to feel like machines, rather than human beings. The concept of 'moral injury' is also a factor - where a doctor is unable to provide the care they wish to give to their patient, due to lack of resources or system breakdown.

These stories take us to the heart of issues being faced by many or most NHS professionals - and by the ‘system’ more generally.

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Presenter: Dr Lalith Wijedoru

Producer: Amanda Hargreaves

Sound design: Joel Cox

Location recordings: Jon Calver

Executive producer: Dave Howard

A Bespoken Media Scotland production for BBC Radio 4

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Campaigner Louise Lancaster has gone from law-abiding teacher to law-breaking eco-activist, and been jailed for her actions. Is she a concerned campaigner or a reckless fanatic?

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In the summer of 1978, many Swedish workers relished the chance to take longer, paid vacations than ever before.This was thanks to an update to Sweden’s Annual Leave Act - or Semesterlagen in Swedish - passed the previous year.

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The law guaranteed all employees four consecutive weeks of vacation, and increased their total annual leave to five weeks, giving them some of the longest paid holidays in the world.These policies transformed the way Swedes do business. Many factories and offices shut down for an entire month during the summer. Today,Sweden retains its strong reputation for work-life balance, and the annual leave act has given rise to the 'sommar jobb' - short summer jobs that help cover holiday absences.

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(Photo: Inga Persson. Credit: Inga Persson)

Producer: Maddy Savage

A Bespoken Media production for BBC World Service.

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