BBC Documentaries

The Last Cowboys

Loading player...
Humorous and tender, this BBC World Service documentary takes a long-haul view of the lives of modern truckers in Europe – exploring working-class masculinity on the road, all-nighters, and long journeys from inside a truck driver’s cab.

Truck drivers are often seen as symbols of freedom and independence. But how free is life on the road today, when the watchful eye of the system is always upon them?

One of them is Finnish truck driver Tiia Rajala, who has dreamed of the open road since childhood. As we follow her across Europe, she masters her powerful machine and reflects on the stereotypes surrounding truckers. Sociologist Timo Aho explores what these stereotypes reveal about masculinity, class, and identity.

Credits:

Produced by Suvi Tuuli Kataja, Elli Salo
Script: Elli Salo
Sound design and field recording: Suvi Tuuli Kataja
Music: Jussi Liukkonen, Roope Mantere
Background research: Pinja Korhonen, Roosa Stenroos
Thanks to: Jarno Nuutinen, Moving World, Sara Tuomola
22 Oct 4AM English United Kingdom Education

Other recent episodes

The mosque for Bangladesh’s transgender women

On the banks of the Brahmaputra River, a remote village in northern Bangladesh serves as a sanctuary for the hijra (transgender) community, a once-revered but now persecuted group. In March 2024, a mosque built by and for hijras offered a rare haven for worship without fear. After the August 2024…
5 Dec 6AM 26 min

Made in Russia: The Kremlin’s economic rebrand

How Moscow is working around international sanctions: promoting self-sustainability, elevating Russian brands and deepening trade with friendly countries. After Western companies retreated as the full-scale invasion of Ukraine started, Russian consumer habits and the economy began to shift. We explore how sanctions reshaped everyday life and ask the million-dollar question:…
3 Dec 8PM 36 min

From rocks to riches

Meteorites are pieces of space rocks, which having survived a fiery journey through the atmosphere, land on the earth’s surface. No-one knows the exact number which make it to the ground each year, but this extra-terrestrial material holds the secrets to the beginnings of our solar system. If you are…
2 Dec 8PM 28 min

Joana Vasconcelos: Mask of mirrors

The Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos is renowned for her large-scale sculptural pieces which have featured in galleries across the world. She has used materials such as fabric, plastic and even tampons to construct her works. In June 2018 her exhibition I’m Your Mirror opened at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao,…
30 Nov 8PM 28 min

Young and stateless

What does it mean to belong nowhere? Across the world, millions of people are denied citizenship and live without a country to call their own. It is estimated half of these are children. The majority of people become stateless or are born stateless through no fault of their own, but…
29 Nov 8PM 57 min
All episodes