CIJ Recommends 2025: Good Reads, Listens and Things to Watch
Each year we select the books, articles, podcasts, films, TV dramas and documentaries that we liked the most. Here is the 2025 lineup – in case you get bored of playing charades.
Books
The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People’s History of Afghanistan. By Lyse Doucet.
A modern history of Kabul and Afghanistan, told through the eyes of the people who worked and managed the Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul written by Lyse Doucet, the BBC’s Chief International Correspondent, who has been reporting on Afghanistan for decades.
Green Crime. by Julia Shaw.
Using insider sources and her expertise as a criminal psychologist, Dr Julia Shaw takes us deep into some of the worst environmental crimes of our time. She reconstructs the minds of the perpetrators in cases like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Dieselgate emissions scandal, and the Shuidong wildlife crime syndicate. From the Amazon forest to South African gold mines she follows the impact of green crimes right to our doorsteps, and meticulously profiles the work of the heroes bringing these criminals to justice.
Get in: The inside story of Labour under Starmer. By Gabriel Pogrund and Patrick Maguire.
The inside story of the rise of the British Prime Minister and his allies, co-authored by award-winning investigative journalist Gabriel Pogrund of The Sunday Times.
The Scarecrow, Fair Warning and The Poet by Michael Connelly.
All these crime thriller books by Connelly feature a fictional character, investigative journalist Jack McEvoy, as the main protagonist. Available on Bookshop.org
Who Cares About Wales? By Will Hayward. Pre-order now for publication in 2026.
The book breaks down how Cymru has been let down by successive governments both in London and Cardiff, while also demonstrating how the very system itself is set up for Wales to fail.
Documentaries
The Stringer: The Man Who Took the Photo
A controversial documentary about whether the famous photograph of Phan Thi Kim Phuc aka “Napalm Girl” during the Vietnam War was taken by the attributed photographer Nick Ut or a stringer Nguyễn Thành Nghệ.
This film by the Oscar-winning Ukrainian filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov, documents the toll of the Russia-Ukraine war from a personal and devastating vantage point. Available on most streaming channels.
Undercover. Exposing the Far Right
A BAFTA nominated documentary. An explosive look at the racist ideology and media-savvy tactics of the modern far right – featuring secret investigations by the anti-fascist group Hope not Hate. Watch on Channel 4 or 4+.
A British Press Awards 2025 winner in the Investigative Journalism category, this documentary investigates the allegations of rape and attempted rape by Mohamed Al Fayed, the former owner of Harrods. Watch on BBC iPlayer.
A 2025 International Emmy Awards winner. This documentary tells the story of the Israeli military assault on Gaza. Seen through the eyes of children, journalists and doctors. Watch on Channel 4 or 4+.
A British true crime documentary film , which tells the story of the Israeli conman Simon Leviev (born Shimon Hayut) who used the dating application Tinder to connect with individuals who he then emotionally manipulated into financially supporting his lavish lifestyle. He was uncovered first by the victims and then by journalists from Norwegian Verdens Gang, using OSINT techniques such as reverse image searching, open-source data analysis and geolocation. Available on Netflix.
TV Series
The Hack
Power. Lies. Corruption. David Tennant & Robert Carlyle lead an all-star cast in this explosive true crime drama about the phone hacking scandal that rocked Britain. Watch on ITVX or Apple TV.
Long Reads
Inside the disgraced Hampshire charity that propped up a global network of neo-fascists. By Patrick Sawer in The Telegraph. 23 November 2025.
A fascinating long read on the disgraced Hampshire charity which connects Roberto Fiore, the National Front and the European far-right, the 1980 Bologna train station bombing, MI6 and Hezbollah.
Morocco’s women’s co-operatives lose out as argan oil becomes global cosmetic must-have. By Juliet Ferguson, Julie Chaudier and Alice Facchini for Investigate Europe. 14 November 2025.
Argan oil has become a global beauty phenomenon, but the Berber women who have produced it for centuries are earning less from it than ever. As multinational companies take control of a market now worth more than $700 million, women’s cooperatives across the Sous Valley are struggling to survive, squeezed by climate change, rising costs, and the growing dominance of industrial producers.
How Synthetic Opioids Caught Up with the East End. By Agatha Scaggiante for The Slice. 7 April 2025
A shocking investigative series from Tower Hamlets outlet, The Slice, on the rise of the little known drug nitazenes, deadlier than both heroin and fentanyl.
Podcasts
By Heidi Blake for In The Dark at the New Yorker, on the Whitehouse Farm murders and the conviction of Jeremy Bamber.
A bit of an odd one: a weekly podcast that unpacks the complexities of recycling, whilst having a lot of fun. Each episode dives deep into the world of waste, exploring innovations and solutions to help you reduce, reuse, and recycle better.
The latest series from the BBC World Service podcast that investigates the hacks and heists of online organised crime digs into a shadowy Russian gang accused of stealing millions from victims around the world.