In an old schoolroom in the Scottish Highlands, sculptor Michael Visocchi is working on Commensalis, a huge work that will be installed thousands of miles away, in Grytviken, an abandoned whaling station on the Antarctic island of South Georgia. Whaling ships and equipment were taken Grytviken and assembled there. Now it is an industrial scrapyard; ships rust on the shore, huge tanks decay and millions of left over rivets remain. Visocchi was struck by the similarity of shape of these rivets and the bumps of the barnacles on the bodies of living whales.Visocchi talks to presenter Julian May as he works on this project which is challenging in so many ways. South Georgia has no permanent population, so is a public artwork appropriate?

America through the looking glass, a world where nothing is as it seems. Gabriel Gatehouse follows a cast of characters who have propelled Trump into the White House – twice. Many of them are now set to take power and inject their reality-bending world views into America’s health, security and intelligence infrastructure.

When BBC Mundo journalist Ana Maria Roura found out she couldn't get pregnant, she decided to turn the camera on herself and document her struggle to become a parent through in vitro fertilisation, or IVF. Her documentary, Infertile, is available in Spanish and in English. Plus, the science of super-centenarians, with BBC World Service journalist Fernando Duarte.

Presented by Faranak Amidi. Produced by Alice Gioia and Caroline Ferguson.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Vast areas of Los Angeles have been destroyed since these fires began on 7 January. Thousands of homes and businesses have been lost, and tens of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate. We hear from Kelly, who had just minutes to gather a few possessions before her home was destroyed, and DJ describes seeing a nearby hillside glowing, the sky lit by flames, as he and his family fled. Teddy whose family had to abandon their house and lost their restaurant in the fire says “We landed in an Airbnb down in Mar Vista with our sons and grandkids,” Two firefighters from Los Angeles County Fire Department share their experiences of co-ordinating the response to the fires and explain why they are so difficult to put out.

Elie Wiesel, Nobel Prize winner and Holocaust survivor, once told Michael Goldfarb of people going to their deaths at Auschwitz asking who will say Kaddish for me? Kaddish is the Jewish prayer for the dead. On the 80th anniversary of Auschwitz' liberation Michael Goldfarb explores the origins and meaning of Kaddish. How did a prayer for the dead, in which death is not mentioned, become the centrepiece of Jewish mourning?

In many countries around the world, prison populations are bursting at the seams. However, in some Northern European countries, prisons are closing and reoffending rates are down, which many have attributed to a novel approach to justice - taking a mental-health first approach. Jenny Okolo, a forensic occupational therapist, seeks to determine whether global prison systems could benefit from a similar approach and whether the solution is as simple as it seems.

A mechanical engineer by day, Hania Zataari felt compelled to put her skills to use as the war intensified in Lebanon. Hailing from the south, one of the worst hit areas in the country, she has created a chatbot on WhatsApp that simplifies access to much-needed aid. BBC Trending follows Hania as she helps to bring aid to those affected by the war between Israel and Hezbollah. We also speak to people who have been helped by her chatbot and an aid volunteer to paint a picture of how Hania’s chatbot might be streamlining the service, as well as aid organisations who have shed light on the trials and tribulations of getting to people in south Lebanon.

Each year young people from the tiny West African nation of The Gambia try to reach Europe through “The Backway” - a costly, perilous journey over land and sea.

Many do not make it. In recent years, the EU has done deals with several North African nations to clamp down on irregular migration. Though human rights groups say the treatment of migrants can be brutal - allegations the authorities deny. But each year thousands of African migrants say they have no choice but to return home.

It can be a struggle to return. Some are traumatised by their experience and face stigma for having failed to reach Europe. Others are already planning to try again.

For Assignment, Alex Last travels to The Gambia to find out what happens to migrants who've risked everything to get to Europe, but end up back home.

Kiran Gandhi, aka Madame Gandhi, is an American artist, activist and producer who originally started out as a percussionist for popular British artist MIA, and American electronic music duo Thievery Corporation. She holds a masters degree in Music Science Technology at Stanford University and is on a mission to find innovative ways of using music to motivate and inspire people to care about climate change. Tom Raine follows Kiran on her journey to record brand new sounds in the North Pole, where she hopes to record everything from glaucous gulls, black-leg kittiwakes to common guillemots, as well as arctic foxes, seals and maybe polar bears. He then follows her to her studio in London to see exactly how Kiran sculpts these sounds into hi-hats, kicks, snare drums, bass tones, and more.

In Freetown, Sierra Leone, we join a group of African-Americans who have all taken a DNA test and discovered their ancestors came from this country on the West Coast of Africa, before they were trafficked to the US and enslaved. Over their two week trip, we explore the bustling city of Freetown, a very different experience to the US. They travel to remote villages where their ancestors may have lived. Here they are each adopted by a local family and given a traditional name according to the ethnic group indicated in their DNA test. There is also a boat trip to Bunce Island, where they find the ruins of a slave fort where men, women and children were held captive in appalling conditions. And we meet other returnees who have come back to Sierra Leone to make a difference.

Eunice Yang from BBC Chinese reports on the closure of over 400 maternity wards across China. Plus, South Korea's illegal tattoo parlours with BBC Korean's Yuna Ku, and why Ghana's traditional kente fabric has been recognised by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage, with BBC Africa's Jelilat Olawale.

Yuna's documentary is part of the BBC 100 Women series. To find out more about the other inspiring and influential women on this year's list go to bbc.co.uk/100women. You can also follow BBC 100 Women on Facebook and Instagram.

Presented by Faranak Amidi. Produced by Caroline Ferguson, Alice Gioia and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)