Lives Less Ordinary
Have you ever locked eyes with a stranger and wondered, "What’s their story?" Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected. Extraordinary stories from around the world.
Sun, April 27, 2025
Painting faces in search of myself and my mum
Juano Diaz was taken in to care aged six, his mother was battling alcoholism and he wasn't being cared for. But Juano missed his mum and with no photos of her, he became obsessed by drawing her face so he wouldn't forget her. He was later adopted by a strict Catholic and Romany Gypsy family but when he came out as gay he was asked to leave. Now down-and-out on the streets of Glasgow, with his life spiralling, he started to search for his mother again. He would scan faces in the crowds, draw his own face to explore his features, feminise them to look more like his mum and soon he discovered his talent for portraiture. Today, he paints the faces of modern icons: Pharell Williams, Madonna, Vivienne Westwood. This would lead to artistic success and a very different lifestyle – including a friendship with Grace Jones and ultimately a whole new family. Juano’s memoir is called Slum Boy. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Andrea Kennedy Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Mon, April 21, 2025
The former wrestler who wants your brain
Former Harvard athlete Chris Nowinski turned World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) star after a reality TV show catapulted him into the world of professional wrestling. Performing as the obnoxious and slick-talking villain Chris Harvard, he worked alongside superstars like Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, John Cena, and Hulk Hogan. Chris lived the dream, until one fateful match left him suffering from post-concussion syndrome. With his career seemingly at its end, Chris began researching into sports-related head trauma and convincing athletes to donate their brains. His work helped usher in a scientific breakthrough and uncovered a silent epidemic affecting thousands of athletes. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Tommy Dixon (Photo: Chris Nowinski. Credit: Chris Nowinski) Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, April 13, 2025
Swimming blind: my journey to self-acceptance
From Paralympic pools to the English Channel, Melanie Barratt took on the toughest swim of her life — laying to rest her demons, and honouring her beloved mum. Melanie Barratt was born with congenital toxoplasmosis that left her severely visually-impaired. As a teenager she excelled academically but found it hard to keep friends. She found solace in the swimming pool where again she shone, earning a chance to represent Team GB at the 1996 and 2000 Paralympic Games. Despite winning gold medals at both, her confidence in the pool did not extend to her social life, where she struggled with self-loathing. One constant source of support however was her mother, who continued to inspire Melanie even after her death. It would take decades and a gruelling swim across the English Channel – earning a place in history – for Melanie finally to find peace. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Hetal Bapodra and June Christie Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, April 06, 2025
The painful secret I hid from my twin
After a terrible motorbike accident 18-year-old Alex Lewis was left with no memory of his previous life. The only person he could remember was Marcus, his identical twin brother. He became the person Alex most relied upon to rebuild his entire life and memories. But then Marcus made an extraordinary decision - to shield his brother from their traumatic past by re-writing history and creating a new reality. For over a decade, Marcus carried the weight of his secret. But when fragments of the past began to emerge, that carefully constructed narrative was shattered, leading to some deeply personal and difficult conversations. Please note this programme contains themes of child sexual abuse. Alex and Marcus' story features in a documentary called Tell Me Who I Am which is available on Netflix. Presenter: Andrea Kennedy Producer: Tom Harding Assinder Photo: Alex and Marcus Lewis Credit: Alex and Marcus Lewis Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Wed, April 02, 2025
Introducing Dear Daughter
A bonus episode from Dear Daughter - the award-winning podcast from the BBC World Service. You can find more episodes by searching for 'Dear Daughter' wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Bridgerton actor Adjoa Andoh joins Namulanta in the studio to share the letter she's written to her three children. She tells them the importance of trusting their bodies and following their instincts - a life philosophy which has sometimes led her into some unexpected situations, especially while pregnant... Dear Daughter is a podcast all about love, life, family, and raising children. It is the brainchild of Namulanta Kombo, a mother on a quest to create a 'handbook to life' for her daughter, through the advice of parents from all over the world. Each episode, a guest reads a letter they've written to their children (or their future children, or the children they never had) with the advice, life lessons, and personal stories they'd like to pass on. Expect extraordinary true stories, inspirational advice for parents, and moving accounts of families, relationships and raising daughters. Share your letter! What do you want to say to your kids? Or the next generation? Do you have thoughts on motherhood, fatherhood, or parenthood to share? Whether you are a mum or mom, dad or papa, grandparent, uncle, aunt, daughter, son or just want to write a letter, send us a Whatsapp message on +44 800 030 4404 or visit bbcworldservice.com/deardaughter. You can read our privacy notice here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3ZFHNV8v7qgTm1zbKbkwsvR/dear-daughter-privacy-notice
Sun, March 30, 2025
Rewind: An author, his cellmate, and a new beginning
How a book-loving prisoner showed a young Alex Wheatle the path to self-belief. Alex had been born in London to Jamaican parents, but grew up in care in the notorious Shirley Oaks children’s home. As a teenager, he was convicted of assaulting a police officer during the Brixton Riots. He felt totally alone and without hope. But as the door slammed on Alex’s prison cell, he met a book-loving man called Simeon who opened his eyes to the importance of his own history – and encouraged him to use his past to write a new and hopeful future. This was originally broadcast in December 2023. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Hetal Bapodra and Anna Lacey Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Mon, March 24, 2025
My hunt for the Gutenberg – the rare book that solved a family mystery
Michael Visontay thought he knew everything about his family’s past, but there was one shadowy character he was aching to know more about: his grandfather’s second wife, Olga. As Michael went through old papers, he uncovered a trail to the world’s most coveted book, the Gutenberg Bible – a rare antique printed in the 1450s – and the scandalous scheme to break it up. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Maryam Maruf Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Mon, March 17, 2025
Rewind: The spy who wanted to bring down apartheid Part 2
ANC spy Sue Dobson infiltrated the South African government. Then her cover was blown. After training, Sue had got a job within the government's propaganda unit, and she was feeding back good intelligence to her ANC handlers. Then she got a phone call. The security services were on to her, and she was a long way from safety. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Harry Graham Editor: Deiniol Buxton Sound design: Joel Cox
Mon, March 10, 2025
Rewind: The spy who wanted to bring down apartheid Part 1
Sue Dobson was a white South African who risked her life as an ANC secret agent Sue was a student when she was first recruited as a spy for the African National Congress liberation movement in the 1980s, and she knew that if she was caught she'd face prison, torture or death. Sue's mission would require her to infiltrate the pro-apartheid media establishment, but first she needed to learn spycraft and weapons handling. Her training would take place in Soviet Russia. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Harry Graham Editor: Deiniol Buxton Sound design: Joel Cox
Mon, March 03, 2025
Held hostage by al-Qaeda: my desert odyssey
Edith Blais was kidnapped by armed militants and held captive in the Sahara for 450 days. As a young French-Canadian who had overcome her teenage agoraphobia, Edith took several years to work up the courage to go travelling – but once she did it, she got the bug. In 2018 she backpacked to West Africa with her good friend Luca Tacchetto. When they got to Benin they were kidnapped by armed militants and taken to the desert in a lawless area of Mali, where groups linked to al-Qaeda were known to operate. The couple pretended to be husband and wife so they could stay together but Edith soon found herself held captive alone, kept in isolation for long periods of time. As well as suffering physically with dehydration and starvation, she had to find different techniques to keep her mind strong and stay sane. A borrowed pen enabled her to write poetry, and she sang songs to remind herself of her own voice. After agreeing to convert to Islam she was eventually reunited with Luca. By this time they had been held for 14 months, and they knew they had to break free. But with their captors never more than a few feet away from them, how would they do it? Edith spoke to Jo Fidgen in 2021 about how forces of nature aided their staggering escape. Edith's book about her time in captivity is called The Weight of Sand. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Katy Takatsuki Picture: Edith Blais Credit: Sara Mauve Ravenelle Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Mon, February 24, 2025
The unmaking of a child soldier
As a boy, Ishmael Beah was forced to kill. How do you turn a soldier back into a child? Ishmael Beah was just 13 when war reached his village in Sierra Leone and he was made to flee. In the chaos, he was separated from his family. He ended up with a group of other children at what they thought was the safety of an army base. But instead, he was taught to become a hardened killer and sent out to fight. Nearly three years went by before he was finally rescued by child protection specialists from Unicef, but he was so brainwashed that he didn’t want to leave. It took months of careful rehabilitation and the support of a very special woman to break down his defences. In 1996, at the age of just 16, he gave a speech at the UN in New York where he recalled his experiences. His testimony formed part of a pivotal report into the impact of armed conflict on children. A decade later, he would become the first Unicef Advocated for Children Affected by War. Today he is a bestselling author and married with three children. This interview was recorded in 2020. This interview contains disturbing descriptions of violence. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producers: Edgar Maddicott and Jo Impey Editor: Munazza Khan Photo: Ishmael Beah Credit: Priscillia Kounkou Hoveyda Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Mon, February 17, 2025
The WW2 spy and the little leaf that saved her
In 1942, several years into the Second World War, the British government sent out a series of bulletins requesting any personal photos the public might have of the French coastline. Odette Hallowes, a French woman living in the UK with her three young children, answered the call and was invited to London where she was offered a role in the Special Operations Executive (SOE). The SOE, formed under the direct orders of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, aimed to create a top-secret underground army to help local resistance movements and conduct espionage and sabotage in enemy-held territories. Odette eventually agreed and arrived in France in November 1942, where she worked undercover, under the code-name ‘Lise’. The following year, Odette was captured, interrogated, and tortured by the Gestapo. She was sentenced to death and transported to Ravensbrück, a concentration camp for women in northern Germany. In the midst of her suffering and isolation, Odette found solace in the most unexpected form – a tiny, beautiful green leaf on the otherwise desolate camp grounds. This leaf became her lifeline, a symbol of freedom beyond the prison walls. Shortly after her 33rd birthday and with the war coming to a close, Odette was handed over to the advancing American army and eventually reunited with her children. For her remarkable bravery and stark refusal to betray her fellow secret agents, she was awarded both the George Cross and France's Légion d'Honneur. She even had a major film made about her. Almost 80 years later, Odette’s granddaughter, Sophie Parker was looking through some of Odette's possessions when she rediscovered that tiny leaf. As Sophie recounts, this leaf wasn’t just a piece of foliage; it symbolised hope and survival and became a tangible connection to her grandmother's incredible story. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Thomas Harding Assinder Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Mon, February 10, 2025
How’d you get so rich? A dream to change my family’s fortune
Reggie Nelson grew up on an East London council estate in a British-Ghanaian family that struggled with alcoholism, domestic violence and money worries. After a brush with the law at a young age, he found direction through his Christian faith and then, as a teenager, being signed to play professionally for Woking Football Club. Following his dad's sudden death on Father's day in 2013, Reggie had to quit playing football and look for a more stable career to support his family. Inspired by words from the Bible "seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" and his sister’s favourite reality TV show 'How'd You Get So Rich?' starring Hollywood comedian Joan Rivers, Reggie set out on a mission to discover exactly how wealthy people got their money. He headed to one of London's most affluent areas, Kensington and Chelsea and started knocking on doors, boldly asking residents his million-dollar question. A number of chance encounters that day took him on a whirlwind journey involving; cash, an Aston Martin and the door that would take him on a path to a dream career in the world of finance. Reggie's autobiography is called Opening Doors. He spoke to Tommy Dixon in 2023. Presenter and producer: Tommy Dixon Editor: Rebecca Vincent Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Mon, February 03, 2025
The DNA request that revealed my child had gone missing
In April 2010, Cathy Terkanian received a letter that turned her world upside down. It revealed that her daughter, Alexis, whom she’d had to place for adoption in 1974, had gone missing. Then she was given more shocking news—the police had a new lead, could the unidentified body of a young woman found in Wisconsin be Alexis? They needed Cathy’s DNA to confirm it. As Cathy began to process this, her own painful past surfaced. She had run away from home as a teenager, joining a circus before getting pregnant with Alexis aged 15. In the years after Cathy was pressured to have Alexis adopted, she became a nurse and married, but never had any other children, always thinking about the daughter she had to say goodbye to. Following the news of Alexis’ disappearance Cathy couldn’t sit and wait for the DNA test results, she needed answers. Determined to find them she turned detective, connecting with Carl Koppelman, an amateur sleuth investigating cold cases. Together they started to unearth evidence that made Cathy suspect the worst—that Alexis’ adoptive father, Dennis Bowman, had something to do with her disappearance. Cathy had always hoped her daughter Alexis would come looking for her; instead she spent a decade searching for Alexis. This mother’s quest for truth and justice has also been made into a Netflix documentary called Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Thomas Harding Assinder Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Mon, January 27, 2025
My 'miracle baby', born 15 months after I lost my love
In 2020, Ellidy Pullin’s life was turned upside down when her partner, Olympic snowboarder Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin, died in a tragic accident. The couple had been trying for a baby, so in the deeply disorientating hours after his sudden death, when a friend suggested the possibility of a posthumous sperm retrieval – a complicated, and sometimes controversial procedure whereby sperm samples are taken within 36 hours of a person's death – Ellidy knew instantly that this was something she wanted to pursue. Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Zoe Gelber Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Mon, January 20, 2025
Stolen as a baby, I called my abductor ‘Mom’
On the night of December 15th, 1997, a fire broke out in the home of Luz Cuevas and Pedro Vera, a couple living in Philadelphia with their two young sons and their ten-day-old daughter, Delimar. She was asleep upstairs. In the aftermath, the fire was declared the result of faulty wiring. No trace of baby Delimar was ever found — she was presumed dead; “completely consumed by the fire”, according to the medical examiner’s report. Naturally, her parents were devastated, but there would be no closure because this was just the start of Delimar's story. In circumstances almost too extraordinary to believe, Delimar was alive and being raised only 20 kilometres or so across town. She had been renamed Aaliyah, and lived with Carolyn, a woman she thought was her mother. Delimar has made a documentary about her extraordinary experience called Back From the Dead: Who Kidnapped Me? Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Thomas Harding Assinder Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Mon, January 13, 2025
Black boy joy: defying stereotypes on the London stage
Ryan Calais Cameron dreamed of being an actor, but after a careers advisor told him this was unrealistic he took a different path as a tradesman. Unhappy, Ryan took a risk with acting and eventually landed himself a lead role on one of London’s biggest stages; this opened the door to a career in theatre and on TV. But as his acting progressed, Ryan often found himself playing clichéd and typecast roles like gangsters and drug dealers. Frustrated and wanting to challenge convention, Ryan turned playwright to create stories and worlds that fulfilled him, addressing race, misogyny and masculinity in his work. Ryan’s plays Queens of Sheba and For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy have transformed him into one of Britain’s most sought-after screenwriters and playwrights. Presenter and Producer: Tommy Dixon Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707
Mon, January 06, 2025
The long climb back
In 2017 Australian Gus Taylor lost his lower leg in a terrible climbing accident. The climbing community rallied, hauled him out of depression and got him back on the mountains again. But then in 2022 another serious accident had tragic consequences. Gus was out in the Blue Mountains with his friend Richard Mills when he dislodged a rock that struck Richard, standing below. Despite his injuries Richard held on tight to the rope that was securing Gus. Gus climbed down to help his friend and called for assistance but the weather had turned and it took hours for paramedics to arrive. Richard died on the mountain that day. It would take the love of Richard’s parents, time, therapy and ultimately climbing again, to bring Gus the beginnings of peace. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Andrea Kennedy Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784 (Photo: Gus Taylor. Credit: Slobodan Mišković)
Mon, December 30, 2024
The journalist who took down a billion-dollar company
Dan McCrum investigated a story at Wirecard that had him fearing for his safety. British journalist Dan McCrum usually writes about businesses for the London-based newspaper, the Financial Times. In 2014 he got a tip off alleging there were so-called gangsters behind a much-feted German company called Wirecard. The company had started small, taking care of the technical part of processing online payments. But by the time Dan starting looking into it, it was entering the big league. And what he discovered took him into unchartered territory: of international spies, underworld deals and fraud on a massive scale. The chief executive Markus Braun was arrested in 2020 and is now on trial in Germany. He denies all charges against him and says he himself was deceived. At the request of Germany, Interpol issued a red notice for the arrest of Wirecard’s former Chief Operating Officer, Jan Marsalek. He is believed to have fled to Russia. Dan's written a book about his investigation called Money Men: A Hot Startup, A Billion Dollar Fraud, A Fight for the Truth. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Jo Impey Editor: Munazza Khan Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Mon, December 23, 2024
The cricket star who learned to fly
Ricky Ellcock’s rollercoaster life as a fast bowler and airline pilot Barbados-born Ricky Ellcock had twin ambitions as a boy – to become a cricketer and fly airplanes. His father was, like Ricky, cricket-mad – but on the question of him becoming a pilot his answer was emphatic: black people don’t fly planes. Ricky’s talents as a fast bowler won him many plaudits and a scholarship to come to England. Before long he was playing at the top of the sport, but the stresses on his body meant he kept breaking down. When those injuries threatened to end his career completely, Ricky looked to disprove his dad and make history in the skies. Ricky's autobiography is called Balls to Fly. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Edgar Maddicott Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784 (Photo: Ricky in action for Middlesex. Credit: Middlesex CCC)
Mon, December 16, 2024
The bullet that ended our friendship
Paul Rousseau was accidentally shot in the head by his best friend and flatmate. When Paul met Mark in the first year of university in the US, they quickly became close. They moved in together, and spent most of the next four years in each other's company. But Paul did not know that Mark had been keeping a collection of guns in his bedroom. In April 2017 one of Mark's guns accidentally went off, the bullet passing through two walls before striking Paul in the head. In the months and years that followed, Paul had to deal not only with his brain injury, but also the devastating impact the event had on his friendship with Mark. Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Rebecca Vincent Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Mon, December 09, 2024
After doomsday: I outgrew a cult and became a professor
Jerald Walker grew up in the predominantly white, Worldwide Church of God – a doomsday cult that convinced its followers the world would end in 1972. Raised by blind, African American parents and under the cult's strict teachings, which preached racial segregation and an imminent apocalypse, Jerald’s life was dominated by fear, isolation, and the belief that his future didn’t exist. When the promised doomsday never came, Jerald and his family were left grappling with shattered beliefs. As his life unravelled, Jerald fell into addiction and crime, struggling to escape the mental and emotional grip of the cult. But through education, an extraordinary teacher and a passion for writing, he found a path to redemption. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Thomas Harding Assinder Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Mon, December 02, 2024
Naked and alone: the comedian trapped in a reality TV show
Nasubi had no idea his 15-month fight to survive was being broadcast on Japanese TV. In the late 1990s aspiring comedian Tomoaki Hamatsu, nicknamed Nasubi, lived inside a small room for 15 months surviving off sweepstake competition winnings. He was naked, alone and hungry. He was also completely unaware he had become the most famous television personality in Japan, his life broadcast to millions of viewers each week. A documentary about Nasubi's experience has been made called The Contestant. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: May Cameron Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Mon, November 25, 2024
How my mysterious childhood became a best-selling novel
Trent Dalton discovered he was on the fringe of one of Australia’s biggest crime stories. Back in the 1980s, when Trent was a kid growing up in Brisbane, he discovered that there was a secret underground room behind his stepfather's wardrobe. There were plenty of other strange things happening to him too. Like when he found a bundle of cash in the pocket of his bathrobe. Or there were the rumours that his babysitter was a murderer. It took Trent many years before he untangled these mysteries and found out the reality of his childhood. He used his life story as inspiration for his debut novel Boy Swallows Universe, which became the fastest selling in Australian history. Presenter: Saskia Collette Producers: Saskia Collette and Andrea Kennedy Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Mon, November 18, 2024
The sports scandal scoop that almost destroyed me
In 1998 Finnish journalist Johanna Aatsalo uncovered a huge news story: a member of the much-revered Finnish cross-country ski team had taken banned substances. After six months' intense investigation Johanna published her findings, and within just a few hours the backlash began. Johanna even received death threats. Because she wouldn't reveal her sources she was also taken to court and found guilty of defamation, but Johanna didn’t give up. Instead, she started a fight that would continue for the next 14 years. Presenter: Helena Merriman Producers: Emilia Jansson and Andrea Kennedy Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Mon, November 11, 2024
Saved by goats after my fall from the sacred mountain
When he slid off a 40-metre cliff in the jungle, Morgan Segui thought he was sure to die. Three minutes without air, three days without water, three weeks without food; that is the rule that every mountaineer knows by heart. For Morgan Segui, a French acrobat-turned-explorer, he knew it meant his chances of survival were vanishingly small. He lay at the bottom of a dry gorge in the Timorese jungle of South Asia, miles from help, after taking a dramatic fall which broke several bones and left a huge gash to his head. Dazed and without water, he spent three days and nights on the jungle floor trying to cling to life. Until, astonishingly, a herd of goats came to his rescue. Morgan's written a book about his ordeal: Cinq Jours au Timor, published in French by Premier Parallèle. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Edgar Maddicott Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Mon, November 04, 2024
Looking for my son for 58 years, part 2
Bestselling writer Lesley Pearse never stopped looking for her son. An agent once told Lesley Pearse to "write what you know", but her own story is more extraordinary than any of her bestselling novels. In this, the second episode of two, Lesley makes a selfless decision on behalf of her baby son Warren, and spends the six decades that follow searching for him. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Laura Thomas & Edgar Maddicott Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Mon, October 28, 2024
Looking for my son for 58 years, part 1
Bestselling writer Lesley Pearse's own story is wilder than any romance. An agent once told Lesley Pearse to "write what you know", but her own story is more extraordinary than any of her bestselling novels. In this, the first episode of two, we follow her from playground storyteller to lost teenage girl in 1960s London, to brave single mum determined to go it alone. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Laura Thomas & Edgar Maddicott Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, October 20, 2024
The Wicker Man: Learning to love the film that broke us
Dominic and Justin Hardy were young boys when their father, the director Robin Hardy, began a gruelling and obsessive quest to make The Wicker Man. Now the film is regarded as a masterpiece and beloved by fans across the world, but when it was first released in 1973, it was a major flop. The fallout for the Hardy family was painful, tearing them apart. It would take many decades, a bundle of lost letters and another burning effigy for Dominic and Justin to finally come to terms with the past – and this iconic movie. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Maryam Maruf Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Thu, October 17, 2024
Trailer: World of Secrets: Al Fayed, Predator at Harrods
Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed – former owner of one of the most famous shops in the world – is accused of rape and attempted rape by women who worked for him. For the full investigation, search for World of Secrets wherever you get your BBC podcasts. This is a story of power and control at the very top of British society. At the time of many of the alleged attacks, Mohamed Al Fayed was the owner of London’s luxury department store Harrods, and also the iconic Ritz Paris hotel and English football club Fulham FC. The BBC heard testimony of over 20 women. Harrods has condemned Al Fayed’s actions “in the strongest terms” and has told the BBC that “as a business we failed our employees who were his victims and for this we sincerely apologise.” Harrods says the organisation is different today to the one owned by Al Fayed, and it “seeks to put the welfare of our employees at the heart of everything we do.”
Sun, October 13, 2024
"He counted 3, 2, 1 – then stabbed me in the heart"
Kieran Quinlan was on his way to a party when a man with a knife attacked him. Kieran Quinlan was an aspiring boxer living in his hometown of Birmingham in the UK. When he was 17 he was on the bus heading to a party when a man confronted him. The man counted down: 3, 2, 1 – before stabbing Kieran through his lung and into his heart. Kieran should have died that night. But instead he survived, spending the next decade rebuilding his life, transforming his body and his mind in the process. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: May Cameron Editor: Munazza Khan Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, October 06, 2024
The US’s first black astronaut trainee reaches space at 90
In May 2024, 90-year-old Ed Dwight Jr. from Kansas City, Missouri travelled to the edge of space – he was an honoured guest in the Blue Origin rocket. His trip was 60 years overdue. Ed had been chosen by President John F Kennedy to be the first African-American astronaut at a time when racism was rife and segregation a reality. But JFK’s plans for Ed were scuppered – and Ed had to pick himself up and build a whole new career. Please be aware that this episode contains outdated racial language that may offend. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, September 29, 2024
Love, grief, and an AI chatbot
Joshua created an AI simulation of his deceased fiancée to help him deal with his loss. When gaming enthusiast Joshua Barbeau met Jessica, he knew he had found his soulmate. But his happiness didn't last. Jessica died from a rare health condition aged just 23, leaving Joshua struggling to cope with his grief, and his life. Eight years later, in 2020, while playing around with a website that used AI to create bespoke chatbots, Joshua had an audacious idea. He decided to create a chatbot based on his beloved Jessica. It's an experience that he says helped him finally to find closure. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Rebecca Vincent Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, September 22, 2024
A love story and a battle cry in the Ecuadorian rainforest
Nemonte Nenquimo’s passion for her rainforest home, and her love for an unlikely man, propelled her to achieve an historic victory for indigenous people in Ecuador. She took the national government to court to protect 500,000 acres of rainforest from destruction by the oil industry. Nemonte and her husband Mitch Anderson have written a book together called We Will Not Be Saved: A Memoir of Hope and Resistance in the Amazon Rainforest. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: May Cameron Voiceover: Cecilia Cruz Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, September 15, 2024
The boy who hid from Nazis in the woods, part 2
Maxwell Smart survived the Holocaust by living in a makeshift bunker on the forest floor. Maxwell Smart was just 11 years old in 1941 when the Nazis took over his town in eastern Poland. One by one his Jewish family were disappeared or killed, but his mother implored him to run for his life just as she and his sister were being loaded onto a German truck. Using his extraordinary ingenuity he managed to survive in remote woodland for the rest of the war, mostly alone, sleeping in improvised shelters and foraging for food. He eventually met another orphaned Jewish boy in the woods, Janek, whose friendship would come to have a profound impact on Maxwell’s life. In this second episode, Maxwell describes how his life changed again after the war was brought to an end and decades later is part of a shocking reunion. A feature film based on Maxwell’s life has been released, it’s called The Boy in the Woods. Presenter: Emily Webb Producers: Edgar Maddicott and Rebecca Vincent Editor: Munazza Khan Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, September 08, 2024
The boy who hid from Nazis in the woods, part 1
Maxwell Smart survived the Holocaust by living in a makeshift bunker on the forest floor. Maxwell Smart was just 11 years old in 1941 when the Nazis took over his town in eastern Poland. One by one his Jewish family were disappeared or killed, but his mother implored him to run for his life just as she and his sister were being loaded onto a German truck. Using his extraordinary ingenuity he managed to survive in remote woodland for the rest of the war, mostly alone, sleeping in improvised shelters and foraging for food. He eventually met another orphaned Jewish boy in the woods, Janek, whose friendship would come to have a profound impact on Maxwell’s life. A feature film based on Maxwell’s life has been released, it’s called The Boy in the Woods. Presenter: Emily Webb Producers: Edgar Maddicott and Rebecca Vincent Editor: Munazza Khan Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, September 01, 2024
Never ever give up: how Diana Nyad swam from Cuba to Florida
American endurance swimmer Diana Nyad faced down box jellyfish, cold and extreme fatigue to become the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage for protection, in 2013. She was 64 and had always been drawn by intense, seemingly unachievable feats of marathon swimming. It was after shooting to fame for swimming round the island of Manhattan in the 1970s that Diana first seized on an idea that had been planted in her head in childhood: she would swim the 112 miles from Cuba to Florida's Key West. Five attempts and more than thirty years later, she finally succeeded, wobbling unsteadily up the beach after nearly 53 hours in the water to tell a cheering crowd, "never, ever give up... you are never too old to chase your dreams." Archive from Diana's swimming and broadcasting careers appears courtesy of: Florida Keys TV; The Wolfson Archives, Miami Dade College; PBS; FOX Sports; ABC; Courage to Succeed (1977). This programme has been re-edited and corrected since first published. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Laura Thomas and Saskia Edwards Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, August 25, 2024
The hungry boy who devoted his life to muscle
Gilbert Alaskadi grew up in the African country of Chad. His family was poor, and he spent much of his childhood hungry, with people frequently making fun of his small stature. Then, when he was a teenager, he encountered a bodybuilding pamphlet, promising quick muscle growth in a handful of weeks. He wanted the physique, but first he'd need money and calories. At the first oppurtunity he ran away from home, left the country, and jumped head-first into the world of bodybuilding. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Harry Graham Editor: Munazza Khan Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, August 18, 2024
Buddhist chants and Ibiza trance: A Spanish boy’s odyssey
Osel Hita Torres was a Spanish toddler when he was recognised by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of a well-known Tibetan Buddhist monk and teacher called Lama Yeshe. As a child he was sent to a monastery in India to prepare for life as a monk and scholar. Many expected him to carry on Lama Yeshe’s work of teaching Buddhism around the world when he grew up. But Osel had other ideas. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Zoe Gelber Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784 (Photo: The Little Lama Osel with Geshe Gendun Choephel (left) and Lama Zopa Rinpoche (right): Credit: Jacie Keeley)
Sat, August 10, 2024
The Lost Boy: A never-ending journey, part 2
At the age of 11 in 1985, Salva Dut was separated from his family by the Sudanese civil war. After a decade moving between different refugee camps, and presumed an orphan, Salva was recommended for resettlement in the United States as part of a UN-backed programme to support some 4,000 so-called 'lost boys' who'd been displaced by conflict. Salva settled with a host family in Rochester, New York. But when he was in his late 20s, he found out that his father was in fact still alive. Salva travelled back to Sudan to find him. His father was in a clinic and sick with a waterborne disease. Salva decided to try to bring clean water to his home village. A few years later, he established an NGO, Water for South Sudan, and he returned to his birthplace to drill his first well. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Jo Impey Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784 (Photo: Salva Dut drilling for water; Credit: Water for South Sudan, Inc)
Sun, August 04, 2024
The Lost Boy: A never-ending journey, part 1
Salva Dut is one of Sudan's so-called 'Lost Boys.' Separated from his family at the age of 11 when the civil war reached his village in 1985, Salva walked for weeks to reach safety in a refugee camp in Ethiopia. There, he lived out most of his teenage years, amongst thousands of other orphans. Like most of them, Salva had no idea what had happened to his family. With little adult supervision, the boys developed their own systems of organisation. That was to prove vital when in 1991 they were driven from the camp by a new conflict. Salva was 17 by this point, and he'd become a leader amongst the boys. In total there were 17,000 of them. They set off in groups, first back towards Sudan, then south, towards Kenya. When they emerged from the wilderness after many months, aid workers were astonished to find them still alive. They shared their story with the world. The United Nations recommended almost 4,000 of the Lost Boys for resettlement in the US, and Salva's name was among them. By this point, in his early 20s, Salva had been separated from his family for a decade. A reunion seemed impossible. He would be boarding a flight and leaving the continent of his birth behind. The second part of Salva's story will be broadcast on the next edition of Lives Less Ordinary Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Jo Impey Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, July 28, 2024
Britain’s infected blood scandal, my quest for the truth
In the early 1980s Jason Evans' father was given a blood product called Factor 8 to treat his haemophilia, which infected him with HIV. He was one of thousands of people in the UK who were unwittingly infected with blood-borne viruses from blood products and infusions, despite the dangers being already known. Jason's father died when he was just four, and he spent most of his life campaigning for the truth about what happened. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Julian Siddle Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, July 21, 2024
The family hiding in the bush after leaking Russian secrets
Nick Stride said too much about his former boss, one of Putin’s closest allies. Nick Stride, a builder from the UK, feared for his family’s safety after discovering alleged financial corruption while building First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov’s 140-million-dollar mansion in Moscow. Worried that his every movement was being watched, he hatched a plan to get out and put as much distance as possible between his loved ones and his former boss. They chose Australia. Nick then passed the secret accounting documents he’d taken to an investigative reporter, but by the time it came to publish, Nick and his family’s claim for political asylum in Australia was rejected. Seeing no way out, the family went on the run, hiding out amongst the snakes and crocodiles of the country’s unforgiving Dampier peninsula, every morning expecting a truck to pull up and tear his family apart. The book about his odyssey is called Run For Your Life, by Sue Williams. Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784 Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Edgar Maddicott
Sun, July 14, 2024
'It's much easier for them to create a spy than catch a spy'
Anoosheh Ashoori was visiting Iran when he was snatched off the street by security forces. He was falsely accused of espionage, and spent years in one of the country's toughest prisons. For a long time, he didn't know why he'd been targeted. Anoosheh was a British-Iranian dual national, but he'd worked a career as an engineer, and had no links to intelligence services. Gradually, as his incarceration wore on, he realised he'd become a pawn in a game of global politics. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Harry Graham Editor: Andrea Kennedy Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, July 07, 2024
Dead Man Walking: The US nun who took on the death penalty
When Sister Helen Prejean agreed to write to a convicted murderer on Louisiana’s death row in 1982, she had no idea what was coming. She would end up becoming his spiritual advisor, eventually accompanying him to his execution two years later. The experience changed her profoundly. She wrote a book about what she'd witnessed on death row, Dead Man Walking, which was turned into a major Hollywood movie in 1995. Forty years later, she has witnessed six more state executions - and is still tirelessly fighting to end them. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Zoe Gelber Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, June 30, 2024
My father Faiz: Pakistan’s revolutionary poet, part 2
Salima Hashmi is a pioneer of political satire on Pakistani TV. But after the dictator General Zia took power in the 1977 military coup, she faced new and dangerous challenges when her show was banned. It was a troubling time for Salima’s family but from exile, her father Faiz Ahmed Faiz wrote his most famous poem, Hum Dekhenge, a battle cry for liberation. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Maryam Maruf Archive from the Faiz Foundation Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, June 23, 2024
My father Faiz: Pakistan’s revolutionary poet, part 1
Salima Hashmi grew up in Lahore witnessing the radical poetry of her celebrated father, Faiz Ahmed Faiz. It inspired her own path into art and performance, creating Pakistani TV’s first ever political satire show, Such Gup. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Maryam Maruf Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, June 16, 2024
The man who finds water in the desert
Alain Gachet quit a lucrative career in oil to search for water underground. Colleagues told him he was a 'crazy donkey', but he eventually developed an algorithm that allowed him to 'peel the earth like an onion' and detect water beneath the surface. Soon, he was asked to train his talents to help pinpoint areas of life-saving reserves of water for desperate refugees escaping the conflict in Darfur. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Anna Lacey and Hetal Bapodra Editor: Munazza Khan Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, June 09, 2024
Kill or be killed: a climber’s dilemma, part 2
Beth Rodden escaped her kidnappers, and pushed her body to its limit, following the climber code of whatever hurts makes you stronger. She married her boyfriend Tommy Caldwell, who had saved them by pushing their captor off a cliff in the Kyrgyz mountains. They became the first couple to free climb the Nose in Yosemite National Park. To the world she was a record-breaking athlete, but inside she was crumbling, haunted by that moment in the mountains. It would take her 15 years to face it head on, and in doing so she redefined what it meant to be a climber. Beth's book A Light Through the Cracks: A Climber's Story is out now. Clips are from NPR and the Associated Press. Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Louise Morris Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, June 02, 2024
Kill or be killed: A climber’s dilemma, part 1
Beth Rodden was on a dream climbing expedition in Kyrgyzstan when she was kidnapped by Islamist militants. She and her friends spent days moving between hiding places in the mountains, fearing for their lives as food supplies dwindled. Then, six days in, the group found themselves at the edge of a cliff with a single young guard. They had a chance to escape, but it came with a huge ethical dilemma. Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Louise Morris Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784 Audio for this episode was updated on 6 June 2024.
Sun, May 26, 2024
The Hiroshima survivor who's still shouting for peace
Setsuko Thurlow knows what nuclear war looks like. She was a 13-year-old schoolgirl when an atomic bomb was dropped on her home city of Hiroshima, Japan. Most of the places she knew were destroyed in an instant. Narrowly escaping death herself, Setsuko became a witness to the aftermath of atomic warfare, and the things she saw that day would compel her to spend her life fighting for nuclear disarmament. Archive was from British Pathé Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Jo Impey and Harry Graham Editor: Laura Thomas Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Mon, May 20, 2024
Lost in lion country and saved by Spam
In 2016, when Jenny Söderqvist and Helene Åberg’s car exploded in the middle of the vast Kalahari desert, their supplies and only lifeline to the outside world went up in flames. No rescue would come. The two friends from Sweden would spend the next five harrowing days lost in the wilderness and stalked by lions, until their salvation appeared to them in the most unlikely of forms: a tin of Spam. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Edgar Maddicott Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, May 12, 2024
Painting, prison and two decades in Guantanamo
Mistaken for a terrorist, and detained without trial. Art became his refuge. Pakistani taxi driver Ahmed Rabbani was arrested in 2002, labelled a terrorist and spent 21 years in US detention, including time in a CIA secret prison. Incarcerated without trial or charge, Ahmed was subject to enhanced interrogation, or what he describes as 62 different types of torture. When he was transferred to a cell in Guantanamo Bay, Ahmed would pick up paint and pastels and find solace through art – creating vistas he could only imagine. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Maryam Maruf Voiceover: Mohammed Hanif Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Wed, May 08, 2024
Introducing… Different
In this podcast, Nicky Campbell talks to extraordinary people and explores what it means to be different. Is it how we think? Or how we act? From those who’ve survived extreme experiences to people with unique jobs, listen to hear something different each week. For every episode, just search for Different wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
Sun, May 05, 2024
An Afghan taekwondo champion's fight for freedom
A sport that involved kicking and punching was a natural fit for Marzieh Hamidi, who spent her teens fending off men on the streets of Kabul. At just 21, Marzieh Hamidi has had to be a fighter in most aspects of her life. Now based in Paris, on a scholarship from the Olympic Refugee Team, she tells the full story of her and her family's remarkable quest for freedom for the first time. Correction: we originally stated in this podcast that Marzieh is 22. She is in fact 21. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producers: Laura Thomas and Kevyah Cardoso Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, April 28, 2024
How I convinced police my dad was a murderer
On the day his mother disappeared in December 1989, 11-year-old Collier Landry started looking for evidence. He suspected his father, a rich and well-respected town doctor, had something to do with it. This is the story of Collier's fight to get justice for his mother, and the detective who believed him. Collier's film is called A Murder in Mansfield. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Helen Fitzhenry Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, April 21, 2024
Balochistan’s mystery benjo man, part 2
How Ustad Noor Bakhsh, a Pakistani shepherd in his 70s, became a folk music star After hunting for four years, Pakistani ethnomusicologist Daniyal Ahmed finally finds Ustad Noor Bakhsh, an elderly shepherd and master of the electric benjo – an obscure stringed instrument with typewriter keys. With Daniyal’s help, Ustad Noor would go from serenading his goats in the jungles of Balochistan to performing for revellers on the European festival circuit. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Maryam Maruf Translation: Wajid Baloch Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, April 14, 2024
Balochistan’s mystery benjo man, part 1
The epic quest to find an elderly Pakistani musician and his unusual stringed instrument Daniyal Ahmed is a flute player and anthropologist who spends his time searching out and documenting folk music across Pakistan. In 2018, he was mesmerised by a video clip of an elderly man – described as a “poor fisherman” – expertly playing a benjo, an obscure stringed instrument that looks like a cross between a guitar and a typewriter. So began Daniyal’s hunt for this mystery master musician. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Maryam Maruf Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Sun, April 07, 2024
Exposing Silicon Valley's multimillion dollar fraud
Erika Cheung went from a trailer park to a top tech company job, but something was off. She knew how to work hard, growing up in a one-bedroom trailer, she dreamed of pursuing her passion for science and helping others. So Erika was thrilled to land her first job out of university at a booming tech company promising a revolution in healthcare. Fronted by the glamorous and wealthy Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos claimed to have the technology to be able to tell from a few drops of blood whether someone had a range of diseases. That was not true. And it took Erika, one of their most junior employees, to blow the whistle – at great personal risk. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Mary Goodhart Editor: Munazza Khan Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Thu, April 04, 2024
Bonus: The Black 14
A bonus episode from the Amazing Sport Stories podcast – The Black 14. Sport, racism and protests are about to change the lives of “the Black 14” American footballers. It’s 1969 in the United States. They’ve arrived on scholarships at the University of Wyoming to play for its Cowboys American football team. It was a predominantly white college. The team is treated like a second religion. Then, the players make a decision to take a stand against racism in a game against another university. This is episode one of a four-part season from the Amazing Sport Stories podcast. Content warning: This episode contains lived experiences which involve the use of strong racist language
Sun, March 31, 2024
My grandmother walked the rabbit-proof fence
Maria's grandmother was forcibly taken by Australian officials, but made a daring escape. As children Maria Pilkington's mother and grandmother were both among the Stolen Generation, removed from their homes to be trained as domestic servants for white families. It was part of an Australian policy dating back to the 1930s to remove mixed-race children from any Aboriginal influence. But Maria's 14-year-old grandmother escaped, with her sister and cousin, by following a pest-control barrier that went right through Western Australia back to their home. The girls' extraordinary three-month, 1400km walk home became the Hollywood film Rabbit-Proof Fence, based on a book written by Maria's mother. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Sarah Kendal Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp 0044 330 678 2784
Mon, March 25, 2024
How to talk to guerillas
Leyner Palacios grew up around volatile armed groups, so he learned to negotiate with them. He comes from a remote forested area called Bojaya, where clusters of small villages are spread along isolated waterways. Leyner's community had to share the rivers and forests with outsiders, armed groups like the Farc and the paramilitaries, who were locked into a decades-old conflict. As a child, Leyner learned to constantly navigate checkpoints manned by volatile armed people, and he showed a talent for negotation and mediation. As the conflict heated up, and with his community under siege, these skills would become more useful than ever. Music from the 'Cantadoras de Pogue' was recorded by the Centro de Estudios Afrodiaspóricos - https://www.icesi.edu.co/vocesderesistencia/e/vol-1-cantadoras-de-pogue.php Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Harry Graham Translation: Jorge Caraballo Sound design: Joe Munday Editor: Munazza Khan
Mon, March 18, 2024
Behind the locked door
The Austrian house where a doctor experimented on children. Evy Mages grew up in and out of foster care in 1970s and 80s Austria. But even when she started a new life in the US, she was haunted by traumatic memories of a strange yellow house high up in the Alps, where she had been placed as an eight-year-old. It took an idle internet search in her 50s to reveal that this was actually an institution called a 'Kinderbeobachtungsstation', or 'child-observation station', where vulnerable children were experimented on by a psychologist using shocking methods. She decided to step back into her past to uncover the full, disturbing truth of what happened there. Evy’s story first appeared in a New Yorker article in September 2023. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Edgar Maddicott Editor: Rebecca Vincent
Mon, March 11, 2024
I cycled across Africa for a place at my dream university
A handwritten map is all Mamadou Barry had to guide him from Guinea to Egypt. At the age of 24 he had reached a crossroads in his life. Having failed his final year secondary school exams five times in a row, he set his sights on a different type of education. Mamadou had heard about the prestigious Al Azhar University in Egypt, but could not afford a plane ticket. So he decided to set off on an epic adventure, travelling by bike, and leaving his home in Guinea with only $55, a small bag of clothes and tools, and a map he had drawn himself. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Rob Wilson Translator and interpreter: Olivier Weber Voiceover artist: Gaïus Kowene Archive was from the official YouTube channel for Will Smith
Mon, March 04, 2024
Going cold turkey in a Bangkok prison
A life shaped by addiction. Australian Holly Deane-Johns had a complicated childhood. Her parents ran an escort agency from their home, and heroin addiction later took over the whole family. She was first given heroin by her mother, aged just 15. Holly ended up dealing to feed her habit, and in her early 30s was sentenced to 31 years in a notorious Thai prison, convicted of drug smuggling. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Mary Goodhart Editor: Rebecca Vincent Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Mon, February 26, 2024
The Pacific odyssey of a runaway rebel
Ruth Shaw spent years on ships and islands, trying to outrun her past. She left her home in New Zealand as a young woman, driven away by a traumatic attack that would shape her life for years to come. Ruth tried to find escape on sailing ships, in Tahitian gambling dens and in the bars and kitchens of Papua New Guinea. But ultimately she had to head home, to face up to deep adolescent scars, and to find the child she’d been forced to give up years before. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: May Cameron Editor: Munazza Khan Photo: ‘The Bookseller at the End of the World’
Mon, February 19, 2024
Fugees Family: the football team who became my life
The extraordinary coach who started a football team but built something much bigger. One day when Luma Mufleh was driving home to Atlanta, Georgia, she came across a group of barefoot boys playing football in the street, using a raggedy old ball and rocks for goalposts. They reminded her of how she played at home in Jordan and she asked to join their game. The Fugees Family football team was born. Luma Mufleh has written a book about her extraordinary story, Believe in Them: One Woman's Fight for Justice for Refugee Children. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Helen Fitzhenry Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or Whatsapp: 0044 330 678 2784
Mon, February 12, 2024
My dad was Britain's 'most wanted'
Without realising it, Nick Reynolds had been living his childhood on the run. Early one morning in 1968 he answered his front door, completely oblivious to the whirlwind about to be unleashed on his family. Most of Nick's early years had been spent carefree and happy on the shores of Mexico with his British parents. But all the while he had been growing up in the shadow of one of the most notorious crimes of the 20th century. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Eric Mugaju and Anna Lacey Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784 (Photo: Nick & Bruce Reynolds. Credit: Ronnie Biggs)
Mon, February 05, 2024
Trapped in an icy hell: my 72 day mountain escape
After crashing high in the Andes, Nando Parrado had to go to the extreme to get out. In 1972, when the plane carrying 22 year old Uruguayan Nando Parrado and his rugby team came down deep in the Andes mountain range in South America, they were left for dead. Rescue teams called off their search after 10 days. Nando and the other survivors would spend an incredible 72 days trapped, frozen and forsaken in this icy wilderness. And in order to come out alive, they would have to do the unthinkable. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Edgar Maddicott Editor: Laura Thomas
Mon, January 29, 2024
A Libyan kidnapping and the words that brought us together
Lucy Sexton was making a TV series about hostages when her father Joe was abducted Lucy and her father Joe Sexton are American journalists. In 2021 Lucy was working on the TV series ‘Hostages’ when her personal and professional life collided. Joe had been abducted while on a reporting trip in Libya. What followed was a surreal week of parallels as they both tried to make sense of what was happening – Joe from a cell in Libya and Lucy from a production set in Washington. Later, they turned their experience into a joint writing project that brought them closer than ever before. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: May Cameron Editor: Harry Graham Sound design: Joel Cox
Mon, January 22, 2024
Discovering my mother was a Vietnamese rock'n'roll star
A chance email led Hannah Ha to uncover her mother Tam’s forgotten musical legacy. Hannah knew her mother could sing. When she took the stage at karaoke, she always stole the show. But when a chance email revealed she had once been a recording artist called Phuong Tam in 1960s Saigon, she was stunned. Hannah embarked on a two-year hunt to track down her mother’s long-lost recordings – and her rock 'n' roll legacy. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Zoe Gelber
Mon, January 15, 2024
Searching for the last man in the forest
Jair Candor tracks down remote Amazonian tribes in order to protect them from outsiders. One tribe, the Piripkura has just one member left who’s living nomadically, deep in the rainforest. It’s Jair’s mission to find him, to establish he’s alive, and to protect his land rights from those who want the forest for themselves. Jair has monitored numerous indigenous groups in Brazil over the years, and he’s faced frequent malaria, armed logging groups, and the occasional arrow fired in his direction. Presenter: Andrea Kennedy Producer: Harry Graham and Graciela Damiano Editor: Munazza Khan Voice actor: Thomas Pappon Sound design: Joe Munday
Mon, January 08, 2024
Hunting for icons in the underworld, part 2
Tasoula Hadjitofi tricked a notorious art smuggler to recover Cyprus' holiest relics When war split Tasoula's home country of Cyprus in two in 1974 she had to leave home, never to return. Years later, while living in the Netherlands she was approached by a shady art dealer with news that shook her to the core: artefacts sacred to her Greek Orthodox faith had been stolen, hammered out from church walls and were now being sold on the black market. Tasoula then poured everything into righting this wrong and vowed to bring them back. She would have to plumb the depths of the criminal underworld and hatch an elaborate sting operation to catch the mastermind behind it all. Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Edgar Maddicott Sound Design: Joe Munday Editor: Harry Graham
Mon, January 01, 2024
Hunting for icons in the underworld, part 1
Tasoula Hadjitofi uncovered a shady network looting her country's most sacred relics In 1974 Tasoula's country, Cyprus, was torn in two by war. Distraught and unable to return home she ended up in the Netherlands where some years later a shadowy art dealer approached her with some astonishing news. Religious artefacts sacred to her faith that had adorned the churches she prayed in as a girl had been chiselled away, and were now being sold on the black market. And so began Tasoula's decade-long search for the stolen relics. But she would first have to learn from the criminals in order to catch them. Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Edgar Maddicott Sound Design: Joe Munday Editor: Harry Graham
Mon, December 25, 2023
Love in the time of revolution, part 2
Pepe and Lucía: the bonfire of young love, a long separation, and rise to presidency. The guerrilla lovers finally meet and fall for each other, but their joy is shortlived, they’re soon arrested again – and this time there won’t be any escape. Uruguay’s military coup means that the couple are separated by 13 years of brutal detention. When they’re granted amnesty, they find their way back to each other, and enter the political fray, all the way up to the presidency. Presenter: Andrea Kennedy Producer: Louise Morris Dubbing by Fede di Lorenzo and Elizabeth Rhodes Clips courtesy of Euro News, RDTV, France 24 and SBS.
Mon, December 18, 2023
Love in the time of revolution, part 1
Pepe and Lucía: the guerrilla lovers who became the leaders of Uruguay When they were younger, José Pepe Mujica and Lucía Topolansky separately joined a left-wing insurgency set on overthrowing the country's government. They wouldn't meet for years but they were on the same mission. Each went underground, cutting ties to friends and family while their group, the Tupamaros, carried out bank heists to fund the uprising. The law soon caught up with them both, but neither were prepared to stay behind bars for long. Presenter: Andrea Kennedy Producer: Louise Morris Dubbers were Elizabeth Rhodes and Fede di Lorenzo
Mon, December 11, 2023
An author, his cellmate, and a new beginning
When award-winning author Alex Wheatle was sentenced to nine months in prison at the age of 18, he thought his life was over. Alex had been born in London to Jamaican parents, but grew up in care in the notorious Shirley Oaks children’s home. As a teenager, he was convicted of assaulting a police officer during the Brixton Riots. He felt totally alone and without hope. But as the door slammed on Alex’s prison cell, he met a book-loving man called Simeon who opened his eyes to the importance of his own history – and encouraged him to use his past to write a new and hopeful future. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Hetal Bapodra and Anna Lacey
Mon, December 04, 2023
Scams and poetry in Moscow’s underbelly
Eric Ngalle is now a poet and academic in the Welsh capital of Cardiff, but it's his experiences as a people-trafficked teenager that inspire much of his work. When he was 17, he found himself broke and alone in Moscow, freezing cold and unable to speak a word of Russian. To survive, he relied on charity, girlfriends, and a brief stripping career. None of this was enough to buy him a ticket home to Cameroon, so he got involved in a high-risk scam, which targeted some very dangerous people. If you’ve been affected by anything you heard in this interview, support is available through the BBC Action Line website or via Befrienders Worldwide. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Harry Graham Get in touch: WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707
Thu, November 30, 2023
Introducing Amazing Sport Stories
Sport but not as you know it. A brand new sports storytelling podcast. Imagine being stranded in the “death zone” on one of the world’s highest mountains. How about running 200 miles in a dark tunnel? We’ve been searching the world for the most amazing sport stories. Other podcasts bring you the scores and team news. This one tells the stories you’ll wish you’d known about and now probably won’t forget. You don’t need to be obsessed with sport to find yourself immersed in our mini-seasons and short stories. Search for Amazing Sport Stories wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Or find it here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w13xtvs1/episodes/downloads
Mon, November 27, 2023
Unmasking my best friend
Reality TV producer Johnathan Walton found himself in a plot he couldn't have dreamt up. It all started when a woman helped him when he was locked out of his building's swimming pool. She was magnetic and full of fun and soon they became inseparable. But things weren't quite as rosy as they seemed. Four years into their friendship Johnathan started pulling at the edges of her story, it all began to unravel and he'd have to start playing detective in a bid to bring her down. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Edgar Maddicott Editor: Munazza Khan
Mon, November 20, 2023
Becoming Gamal, part 2: Behind the badge
Gamal Turawa has lived many lives - but never fitted in. First as a black British boy adopted into a white family, then hoodwinked by his father and eventually begging on the streets of Lagos - he was always on the margins. As an adult he joined London's Metropolitan Police, but instead of finding a home there, his differences were used to tear him down and humilate him. When Gamal finally hit rock bottom he decided to stop hiding and stand out. Details of organisations offering information and support on a wide range of issues are available at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producers: Charlie Towler and Harry Graham Editor: Laura Thomas
Mon, November 13, 2023
Becoming Gamal, part 1: Magic and misadventure
Gamal Turawa has lived many lives - but never fitted in As the first openly gay black officer in London's Metropolitan Police, he struggled to find his way while reckoning with his past. Adopted into a white family as a baby, Gamal was hoodwinked by his father as a boy and ended up living as a teenage beggar on the streets of Lagos, until a chance encounter saw him find work as a magician's assistant, hyping up crowds across West Africa. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producers: Charlie Towler and Harry Graham Editor: Laura Thomas
Mon, November 06, 2023
The fisherman and the 'spy whale'
Joar Hesten's mission to save a whale rumoured to have escaped from the Russian navy. Norwegian Joar Hesten was fishing for cod in the Arctic when he came across a beluga whale wearing a harness. He helped to free the animal, but when he took a closer look at the harness he saw that it was labelled ‘Equipment of St Petersburg’. Theories started swirling that this whale had once belonged to the Russian military, and it was nicknamed Hvaldimir, the 'Russian spy whale'. As Hvaldimir's fame grew, Joar became determined to protect him from human contact. Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Saskia Edwards Photo: Joar with Hvaldimir Credit: Aleksander Nordahl, DN/D2
Mon, October 30, 2023
Brazil's loneliest fan and his footballing fairytale
Tiago Rech went viral when he was the only supporter in the stands at his club's game. In 2012 Tiago Rech was the only fan at a big away match for his beloved football team Santa Cruz FC. When they scored, his timid, lone celebration was caught by TV cameras and went viral. All this attention earned him a role with the club, where full of ideas and enthusiasm, he made his way to the very top, to his dream job of club President. But there would be a sting in this fairytale. Produced and presented by Andrea Kennedy Editor: Munazza Khan Clips courtesy of Federação Gaúcha de Futebol and Canal Duda Garbi.
Sun, October 22, 2023
Love, Loss and 'Project 22'
Fleur Pierets and Julian Boom wanted to wed in every country that allowed gay marriage. After falling in love at first sight, the artist couple planned to make a statement to the world. So in 2017, they embarked on ‘Project 22’ - a performance art piece in which they would marry in all 22 countries where same-sex marriage was legal at the time. But four weddings later, their trip would be tragically cut short. Fleur has written a memoir about her experience, called Julian. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producers: Olivia Lynch-Kelly and Zoe Gelber Editor: Munazza Khan
Sun, October 15, 2023
38 days: a family adrift in the Pacific
The Robertsons' boat was attacked by killer whales and started to sink fast Douglas was 16 years old when his parents sold the family farm in England and took him and his three siblings on a sailing trip around the world. It was the adventure of a lifetime. But in 1972 while en route to New Zealand, their yacht was hit by a pod of orcas and they started to sink fast. Weeks from safety and with no way to send for help, Douglas and his family would have to try and find a way to survive. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: May Cameron Editor: Andrea Kennedy Sound design: Joel Cox
Sun, October 08, 2023
"My friends were arrested, or simply disappeared"
Tahir Izgil is one of the most highly respected living Uyghur poets. Tahir was born near Kashgar, in Xinjiang province, and from an early age he was immersed in the poetry of his culture. When the Chinese state clamped down on the Uyghur community, he lived under constant threat of arrest, and says he couldn’t even perform his poems. So he decided to try and escape his homeland. Tahir has a memoir out about his experiences called Waiting to Be Arrested at Night, translated by Joshua Freeman. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Harry Graham Editor: Andrea Kennedy
Sun, October 01, 2023
Bringing home the prime minister’s gold tooth
Juliana Lumumba had to fight to reclaim the remains of her father, Patrice Lumumba. He'd been the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo and an anti-colonial hero. He was assassinated in 1961 when Juliana was five years old, and no trace of his body was found. So when it emerged 60 years later that one of his gold teeth was in Belgium, Juliana yearned to bring it home. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Rob Wilson Editor: Munazza Khan
Sun, September 24, 2023
The Godmother of Beirut's nightlife
Under the boot of the Syrian army, Nicole Moudaber brought raves to Lebanon. After sampling the delights of dance music whilst studying abroad in the nineties, Nicole made it her goal to bring this new sound to a divided and conservative society. She faced opposition from her family and the regime, but when scandal hit she decided to turn the tables...herself. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Edgar Maddicott and Harry Graham Editor: Munazza Khan (Photo: Nicole Moudaber. Credit: Stuart Tracte)
Sun, September 17, 2023
Dancing in the womb
A mother, a son, and the discovery of a shared dream. Latifa Khamessi and her son Mohamed Toukabri from Tunisia were inseparable until aged 15 when he left for Europe to study dance. It was gut-wrenching to be apart, but an opportunity he couldn't turn down. It wasn't until years later that Mohamed discovered his mother had had the same dream as a girl, but had been forbidden from pursuing it. Separated by a sea and oceans of time Mohamed then hatched a plan to reunite with his mother, now in her sixties, and unite their dreams. The Power (of) the Fragile was performed at The Shubbak Festival in London. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Helen Fitzhenry Editor: Rebecca Vincent Voice over by Mounira Chaieb
Sun, September 10, 2023
The invisible child who now shines at Eurovision, part 2
From the page to the stage: William turns childhood fantasies into reality. In London, William Lee Adams is feeling disillusioned with his job, when a Romanian singer on a horse appears on his computer screen and he's inspired to start writing about the Eurovision Song Contest. Wiwibloggs is born, and grows to be the world's most-followed independent blog and video channel about Eurovision. In the process, he gets to visit some of the far-flung places he escaped to as a child in the US reading encyclopaedias. William has written a memoir called Wild Dances: My Queer and Curious Journey to Eurovision. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Rob Wilson
Sun, September 03, 2023
The invisible child who now shines at Eurovision, part 1
A bond between brothers, a coming-out story, and an international song contest. William Lee Adams is one of the leading voices covering the Eurovision Song Contest, criss-crossing the continent to interview stars and live-stream shows. But as a child growing up in small-town America, he was made to feel invisible; encouraged to suppress his Vietnamese heritage and questions about his sexuality. He found solace in caring for his brother, John, who had severe physical disabilities due to a brain condition. Even so, he needed an escape route. William has written a memoir called Wild Dances: My Queer and Curious Journey to Eurovision. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Rob Wilson
Sun, August 27, 2023
Miracle on the ocean floor
Harrison Okene spent three days trapped in an air pocket in a sunken ship. Harrison was the ship's cook, and he'd been in the bathroom when the tugboat he worked on had suddenly capsized in bad weather. The vessel sank 30 metres to the seabed, upside down, and Harrison was trapped inside. Days passed, and up on the surface a mission was launched to recover the bodies of the tugboat's crew. Divers descended, but they never expected to find anyone alive. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Eric Mugaju and Harry Graham Editor: Munazza Khan Sound design: Joel Cox Archive was courtesy of DNC Diving
Sun, August 20, 2023
Indiana Jones: The kids who remade a blockbuster
In 1982, two Mississippi boys recreated a $22m film, shot-for-shot, on their pocket money. Chris Strompolos and Eric Zala were aged 10 and 11. Their mission would take them seven years to complete, and it would push their friendship to the edge. There’d be amateur stunts, fires, visits to the emergency ward, production shut down by angry parents and many fallouts. It would swallow them whole. But decades later a lost tape would be unearthed, bringing Eric and Chris back together for their final scene and face-to-face with one of their heroes. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Edgar Maddicott Editor: Munazza Khan
Sun, August 13, 2023
The woman who fell from the sky, part 2
How a jump changed daring parachutist Tony Osornio's life forever. Tony was Mexico's best precision skydiver and the first woman to join her country's army. She says she "belonged to the skies", and became a member of an elite team of performance skydivers called the Crazy Birds. She was prepared to sacrifice everything for her love of parachuting - until a jump went badly wrong. If you need support relating to any of the issues we've covered in this interview, you can find more information on the BBC Action line website or at Befrienders.org Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Louise Morris
Sun, August 06, 2023
The woman who fell from the sky, part 1
Tony Osornio would go to dangerous extremes to keep skydiving. She was born into a conservative family, and decided to marry the first man who asked in order to escape the restrictions of home. Her husband was a Mexican military officer with access to the planes used by elite paratroopers. With his help, Tony would sneak on board too, parachute strapped to her back. In love with jumping, she decided she needed to join the Mexican army herself, something no woman had done before. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Louise Morris The audio has been updated since first published for technical reasons
Sun, July 30, 2023
Bradford 12: The Asian youth who took on the racists, part 2
By 1981, Pakistani-born immigrant Tariq Mehmood had endured years of violent racism in Britain. When he heard that gangs of white skinheads – with a history of attacking Asians – were coming to his home in Bradford, Tariq and his neighbours took desperate measures to defend their community. Underpinning their actions was the principle, “self-defence is no offence.” Tariq would end up being arrested, charged with conspiracy to make explosives, and facing life imprisonment. What followed was the landmark legal case of the Bradford 12. Hand on the Sun, the novel that Tariq wrote in prison over 40 years ago, has been re-released with a new update. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producers: Maryam Maruf and Lina Chang Editor: Munazza Khan
Sun, July 23, 2023
Bradford 12: The Asian youth who took on the racists, part 1
As a Pakistani immigrant teenager in 1970s Britain, Tariq Mehmood endured homelessness and years of violent racism. He found shelter and wisdom in a library, and the strength to stand up to the racists. He co-founded the Asian Youth Movement, and their slogan “self-defence is no offence,” would galvanise an entire generation. But it’s a rationale that would see Tariq in court – facing life in prison – in the groundbreaking case of the Bradford 12. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producers: Maryam Maruf and Lina Chang Editor: Munazza Khan
Sun, July 16, 2023
I save chimpanzees and they've saved me
Stany Nyandwi's rescued chimpanzees helped him through war and loneliness. As a young boy Stany made money selling sugarcane and worked as a 'houseboy' for families in Burundi's capital city Bujumbura. But later, a job with rescued chimpanzees became about more than just money. When ethnic conflict in Burundi escalated into civil war, Stany fled to safety with the chimps who, with histories of their own, gave him companionship and a ticket to a future without war. Stany is a chimp specialist and his behaviour should not be copied or emulated in any way. He has co-written a book called The Chimpanzee Whisperer: A Life of Love and Loss, Compassion and Conservation. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: May Cameron Editor: Andrea Kennedy
Sun, July 09, 2023
Who is this kneeling man?
My search for the truth about my father and Martin Luther King’s assassination. Leta McCollough Seletzky grew up knowing that her father was the ‘kneeling man’, photographed tending to the head wound of Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr just moments after he was shot in April 1968. As a teenager she stumbled across an alarming detail about why her father was there on that infamous day; it plunged her into the world of conspiracy theories and family secrets. It would take her many years to dig out his true story. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Rebecca Vincent
Sun, July 02, 2023
How I survived a pirate hijack
Marine engineer Chirag Bahri was trapped for eight gruelling months on a chemical tanker. Chirag loved his job working in the engine rooms of huge commercial ships. But in May 2010, while sailing through the Gulf of Aden, a group of pirates boarded the ship and held the crew to ransom off the coast of Somalia. Over the next eight months the pirates became increasingly violent, torturing the crew when their demands were not met. Despite the desperate conditions, Chirag still had his work to do. The ship was running out of fuel, and starting to malfunction. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Rebecca Vincent Editor: Munazza Khan
Sun, June 25, 2023
Love, war, and the cutting room floor
Mariam and Mohammed are Yemeni filmmakers who turned the lens on their own relationship. Mariam Al-Dhubhani and Mohammed Al-Jaberi's love story started in friendship, and it didn't take long before they fell for each other. Not even living in different continents – or a civil war – could get in their way. But when a heartbreaking loss shook the foundation of their relationship for the first time, it was a video camera that helped them find their way back to one another. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Gaia Caramazza Editor: Munazza Khan
Sun, June 25, 2023
Love, war, and the cutting room floor
Mariam and Mohammed are Yemeni filmmakers who turned the lens on their own relationship. Mariam Al-Dhubhani and Mohammed Al-Jaberi's love story started in friendship, and it didn't take long before they fell for each other. Not even living in different continents – or a civil war – could get in their way. But when a heartbreaking loss shook the foundation of their relationship for the first time, it was a video camera that helped them find their way back to one another. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Gaia Caramazza Editor: Munazza Khan
Sun, June 18, 2023
He was almost a mass shooter – an act of kindness stopped him
Aaron Stark now works to raise awareness around why mass attacks happen. Aaron had a chaotic and violent childhood, and by the time he was a teenager he was homeless, angry and traumatised. At his lowest point, he began to plan an appaling act of violence in a bid to punish the world around him. He wanted to get hold of a gun, but before he could, his best friend Mike changed the course of his life with a small, simple act of kindness. This episode includes themes of suicide, self harm and drug use. If you need support relating to any of the issues we've covered in this interview, you can find more information on the BBC Action line website or at Befrienders.org Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Harry Graham and Emily Naylor Editor: Munazza Khan
Sun, June 11, 2023
Teenage dreams on the Indian Ocean
At the age of 13 Laura Dekker fought for her right to sail solo around the world. Laura comes from a family of sailing enthusiasts, and her father taught her the ropes early. By 11 years old she was sailing unaided for weeks at a time, and at 13 she felt ready to tackle her biggest challenge yet. Her parents supported her decision, but the Dutch authorities had concerns; was it responsible to allow a child to circumnavigate the world alone? Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: May Cameron
Sun, June 04, 2023
'Don't anger the monster', part 2
Rowena Chiu was kept silent for 20 years by former film boss Harvey Weinstein. Rowena thought that speaking up about her alleged sexual assault by Weinstein would end up with him in court. But instead she was pressured into signing an NDA so severe that she could tell no one, at times even fearing for her safety. Keeping this secret sent Rowena to a very dark place. But decades later the #MeToo movement set her free. This episode contains references to suicide. The news archive is from NBC and ABC Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Rebecca Vincent
Sun, May 28, 2023
'Don't anger the monster', part 1
Rowena Chiu on surviving the Hollywood sexual predator Harvey Weinstein. Rowena was just 24 when she became an assistant to Weinstein at his film company. She knew he was a difficult boss, but nothing prepared her for what happened one night in Venice in 1998. She says he told her he ‘liked Chinese girls’, and sexually assaulted her in his hotel room. It was the start of a story she never wanted to be part of. The news archive is from CBS. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Rebecca Vincent
Sun, May 21, 2023
Sugar sandwiches and smarts: a poor kid's fairytale ending
Raised by addicts, Dr Katriona O'Sullivan defied the odds to become a university lecturer. Her parents were addicted to heroin, she was neglected and not fed. But for the care she received from two influential teachers and the occasional stroke of luck, life may have gone in a very different direction. Katriona's written a book about her life called Poor. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Edgar Maddicott
Sun, May 14, 2023
Lola the bare-knuckle drag queen
Martial arts kept him out of jail, but drag artistry made him whole. Diego Garijo was bullied for his femininity as a child, so as he grew up he toughened up his image. He was in trouble with the law, until he found his focus as a professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter. But when Diego’s career came to a brutal halt, creating a drag persona, Lola, gave him a new lease of life. Presenter: Andrea Kennedy Producer: Louise Morris Sound design: Joel Cox Editor: Munazza Khan
Sun, May 07, 2023
I was there the night Emmett Till was taken
Wheeler Parker is Emmett Till's cousin and the last surviving witness to his abduction. Emmett's brutal murder in Mississippi in 1955 sparked a wave of protest in America. The 14-year-old African American was lynched for whistling at a white woman, Carolyn Bryant Donham, who recently died aged 88. Reverend Wheeler Parker was Emmett's cousin and was in the next room to him when he was kidnapped. The horrific events of that night have shaped Wheeler's life. We spoke to him before the news of Donham's death. Wheeler has written a book alongside lawyer and journalist Christopher Benson called: A Few Days Full of Trouble. We spoke to them before the death of Carolyn Bryant Donham. This programme contains some distressing scenes. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Deiniol Buxton and Troy Holmes Editor: Munazza Khan
Sun, April 30, 2023
Tanzania’s hip-hop politician
Joseph Mbilinyi pioneered Swahili rap and then turned to politics, but ended up in jail. In the 1990s he'd become one of Tanzania's biggest stars under the stage name Sugu. He'd released albums, toured the country and abroad, and helped create a new genre called Bongo Flava. He's known for hard-hitting, often political, lyrics. In 2010 he took that message to parliament when he was elected as an opposition MP. But he ended up being jailed after speaking out against the president of the time. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Rob Wilson Editor: Munazza Khan
Sun, April 23, 2023
'Brother. do. you. love. me.' The SMS that changed our lives
Brothers Manni and Reuben Coe, and the text that prompted a lockdown rescue mission. Manni was living in Spain when he received this troubling text from his younger brother Reuben. Reuben has Down's syndrome, and had become isolated and non-verbal while living in a care home in the UK during the Covid pandemic. Manni decided to stage a rescue — a 'bro-nap' — and together they embarked on a loving journey of brotherhood and recovery. Manni and Reuben have written a book called Brother. Do. You. Love. Me. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: May Cameron
Sun, April 16, 2023
'Prison Break' and my escape from Manus Island
Tricks from a hit TV show held the key to Jaivet Ealom’s audacious dash for freedom. As a student in his native Myanmar, Jaivet Ealom became obsessed with the hit US TV show Prison Break. He watched it on a loop, but never in his wildest dreams did he think he’d be in a similar position to its main character. When he found himself locked up in Australia's notorious Manus Regional Processing Centre with no end in sight, could he outdo fiction and find a way out? Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Edgar Maddicott
Sun, April 09, 2023
The spy who wanted to bring down apartheid: Part 2
ANC spy Sue Dobson infiltrated the South African government. Then her cover was blown. After training, Sue had got a job within the government's propaganda unit, and she was feeding back good intelligence to her ANC handlers. Then she got a phone call. The security services were after her, and she was a long way from safety. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Harry Graham Editor: Deiniol Buxton Sound design: Joel Cox
Sun, April 02, 2023
The spy who wanted to bring down apartheid, part 1
Sue Dobson was a white South African who risked her life as an ANC secret agent Sue was a student when she was first recruited as a spy for the African National Congress liberation movement in the 1980s, and she knew that if she was caught she'd face prison, torture or death. Sue's mission would require her to infiltrate the pro-apartheid media establishment, but first she needed to learn spycraft and weapons handling. Her training would take place in Soviet Russia. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Harry Graham Editor: Deiniol Buxton Sound design: Joel Cox
Sun, March 26, 2023
Bringing the Muppets to Moscow
Natasha Lance Rogoff’s daunting task of making Sesame Street in post-Soviet Russia. In the early 90s, American journalist Natasha Lance Rogoff was covering the collapse of the Soviet Union – until the Muppets came calling, and she was tasked with bringing Sesame Street to Moscow. After decades of communism a new Russia was emerging, but could it embrace a US TV show? Creating Ulitsa Sezam was a daunting challenge for Natasha. She would have to overcome a huge culture clash and, along the way, face mobsters with shark tanks, bankruptcy, and the kidnapping of Elmo. Natasha has written a book called Muppets in Moscow: The unexpected crazy true story of making Sesame Street in Russia. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Maryam Maruf Editor: Munazza Khan
Fri, March 24, 2023
Introducing: Love, Janessa
All episodes of our catfishing podcast are now available. You meet someone online. It turns out many others think they have fallen for the same person. It’s the story of the scammers and the unwitting face of a digital con. With host, Hannah Ajala. Search for Love, Janessa wherever you get your podcasts.
Mon, March 20, 2023
My life in seven swimming pools
Amjed Tantesh is determined to teach kids in Gaza to swim no matter how many pools he has to build. Finding freedom in the water as a child, Amjed wanted to train the next generation of Gazans for Olympic swimming glory – not easy when he had to keep abandoning his pools. Yet through relentlessly rebuilding and restarting, over decades of war, Amjed’s swimming initiative found its true purpose. This episode contains upsetting moments involving children. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Louise Morris Interpreter: Youssef Taha
Mon, March 13, 2023
The Ukrainian opera singer nearly silenced by a bullet
Sergiy Ivanchuk dreamed of stardom, before he was shot in the chest by Russian soldiers. He was a volunteer helping refugees escape Eastern Ukraine during the early days of the 2022 invasion, when his car was attacked. He was hit in the legs, hand and back, and he was lucky to survive a punctured lung. When Sergiy woke up in hospital, he could barely talk, let alone sing, but he refused to give up his ambitions of being a world famous baritone. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Harry Graham Editor: Andrea Kennedy Sound design: Joel Cox
Mon, March 06, 2023
I didn’t know I was part of an experiment
When Greenlander Helene Thiesen was just seven, two Danish men came to take her away. In 1951, Greenland native Helene Thiesen was just seven years old when two Danish men knocked at the family home. That moment would shape the rest of her life. These men, acting at the invitation of the Danish colonial government were rounding up the brightest Inuit children and sending them to live in Denmark to be re-educated as model Danish citizens or ‘little Danes’. Helene suffered terribly from being separated from her mother and siblings and it would take her many decades to discover the horrible truth behind it all: she was part of an experiment. Of the 22 children that were taken, Helene is now one of the few survivors. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Edgar Maddicott Translator: Alette Rye Scales Voice: Julia Holden
Mon, February 27, 2023
Eyes on the prize: Pakistan’s first trans film star
Rejected by family and society, trans actor Alina Khan was forced to spend time on the streets of her native Lahore as a child. Through dance, she found an escape and a living, but also encountered prejudice. Facing down loneliness, poverty and danger, she carved her own principled path to big screen fame. Now she’s won praise for her performance as Biba, a fiery and ambitious trans woman, in international award-winning new film Joyland. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Laura Thomas
Mon, February 20, 2023
Becoming Blair 'the Flair': a boxer on the run, part 2
In the ring, Blair finds calm amidst the chaos of his life. Back in the US Blair Cobbs falls again on hard times; homeless in Philadelphia his boxing dream seems out of reach. But a string of lucky breaks may just tip the balance. Blair’s brazen alter-ego who’s kept him alive thus far now has a name – Blair ‘the Flair’ – and some recognition in the ring. But could ‘the Flair’ take him all the way to the top of the boxing world? Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Louise Morris
Mon, February 13, 2023
Becoming Blair 'the Flair': a boxer on the run, part 1
From Beverly Hills to hiding from the law with his dad, Blair’s seen it all. To help him get through the tough times – and there’d be quite a few of those – Blair created a separate persona. This was the fearless alter ego he could rely on to swoop in and save the day. The Peter Pan to his Lost Boy. And Blair was certainly lost now - would he make it back out of Mexico alive? Clips: Clueless/ Amy Heckerling/ Paramount Pictures Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Louise Morris
Mon, February 06, 2023
The mystery of the tartan twins
A baby left in a car, another in a telephone box. It would take decades to find out why. When he was just a baby, David McBride made headline news in Northern Ireland. He had been discovered in the front seat of a stranger’s car, with no trace of who had left him there or why. David was a foundling, and as he grew up he started to want answers. Then, a chance encounter led him to Helen Ward. She was also a foundling, and she was on a very similar mission. Presenter: Andrea Kennedy Producer: Maryam Maruf Editor: Munazza Khan
Mon, January 30, 2023
Breaking my addiction to war
Fergal Keane's work as a war correspondent was destroying him, but he couldn't stop. It was his job as a BBC journalist to help the audience make sense of the madness of war, but he knew there was another more troubling reason he was drawn to these violent situations. They gave him something he couldn't get anywhere else in the same way. A massive rush of adrenaline and a huge dose of validation. Fergal knew this compulsive tendency wasn't healthy, but he couldn't stay away from the frontlines. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producers: May Cameron and Harry Graham Sound Design: Joel Cox Editor: Munazza Khan
Mon, January 23, 2023
The fearless former nun fighting for India's seamstresses
From convent to marriage to factory floor, Thivya Rakini will stand up for herself, and you. From an early age she's fought for what's right. As a child living in Tamil Nadu, she stopped eating so her parents would send her to the school of her choice. She left behind life in a convent, then a marriage, and went on to defy expectations as a working single mother. She’s now the leader of a union advocating for seamstresses making fast fashion for international chain stores and has negotiated an historic deal. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: June Christie
Mon, January 16, 2023
Learning to live with the voices in my head
Debra Lampshire started hearing voices aged five. Comforting at first, they soon took control.The voices became so visceral and intense that Debra had to spend 18 years in a psychiatric hospital. Then, a chance friendship with a car mechanic gave her the tools to restore her life, but she’d have to learn to coexist with the voices that once tormented her. If you need support relating to any of the issues we've covered in this interview, you can find more information on the BBC Action line website or at Befrienders.org Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Louise Morris
Mon, January 09, 2023
Rebel gunmen in Ugandan skies
Pilot Firoz Khimji witnessed his country's wars from above. Then conflict came for him. For most of his life, Uganda had been unstable, but he'd been able to train as a commercial pilot despite the violence. When qualified, Firoz took a job with Ugandan Airlines. This was the 1980s, and he had to routinely fly between territories controlled by different armed groups. War was ever-present, but Firoz would always emerge unscathed, until a routine flight went badly wrong. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Eric Mugaju and Harry Graham Editor: Munazza Khan
Mon, January 02, 2023
Coming out as India’s first gay prince
Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil risked everything when he faced his parents and society He was next in line to a centuries-old royal dynasty in the Indian state of Gujarat - and grew up in the 1970s in a gilded cage. His family's desire to keep his blue blood away from what they called ‘commoners’ meant that, growing up, he missed out on formative experiences like making friends. After a failed marriage to a princess, Manvendra finally shed his royal cocoon and was determined to break out and explore the world, and his sexuality. With the help of his new friend Ashok, a gay rights activist, the prince began a process of self-acceptance that would be put to the ultimate test. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Edgar Maddicott Editor: Munazza Khan
Mon, December 26, 2022
The secrets of a slave ship in an Alabama swamp
Journalist Ben Raines went in search of a sunken ship with a dark history. A phone call out of the blue had set him on his hunt for the Clotilda, an American vessel that had illegally transported enslaved West African people to the US. On arrival it had been burnt, and hidden deep in the Alabama swamp. The story of the ship and its passengers had been kept alive by generations of people descended from those who had been enslaved. But these inherited histories were shrouded in secrecy, fear, and silence - seldom spoken of outside that community. So, when Ben dived into the swamp to find the Clotilda, it was more than a shipwreck that bubbled to the surface. Emily Webb speaks to Ben Raines and descendant Garry Lumbers about their intertwining stories. Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Emily Webb and Olivia Lynch-Kelly Editor: Munazza Khan
Mon, December 19, 2022
Searching for my sister, the "keeper of memories"
Nakuset blocked out painful memories of being removed from her indigenous Canadian family Nakuset only goes by one name and it means "The Sun" in her indigenous Canadian culture. Born into an abusive household, her early days were difficult and it wasn't long before she and her sister Sonya were taken into care by social services. This was the 1970s, and there was a widespread policy of taking indigenous children and putting them up for adoption with white families, removing them from their culture in the process. Nakuset was adopted, her sister wasn't. It was a painful process for Nakuset, but her eventual reunion with Sonya as an adult helped her get in touch with her heritage. The two sisters became close, but sadly their respective childhood experiences had left them scarred, and the reunion didn't have a fairy-tale ending. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Harry Graham Editor Munazza Khan If you've been affected by any of the issues relating to mental health in this programme, help is available at Befrienders.org or at bbc.co.uk/actionline.
Mon, December 12, 2022
Guns, guards, snarling dogs: a child migrant’s story
Javier Zamora travelled alone from El Salvador to the US when he was just nine years old. He had been living with relatives after his parents migrated to the US, but longed to be in his mother’s arms. His parents hired a ‘coyote’, or people smuggler, to bring him across the borders, but the trip went wrong. Javier was abandoned by the coyote, and found himself reliant on strangers for survival as he journeyed for two months by bus, boat, and on foot, nearly dying in the Sonoran Desert. Javier is now a poet in the US, whose work explores the trauma of that experience, and what it means to be an undocumented migrant. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Rebecca Vincent
Mon, December 05, 2022
The Palestinian tapes, part 2
In 2020, Mo’min Swaitat unearthed a treasure trove of lost Palestinian music in an abandoned building. Out of thousands of dusty cassettes there was one that caught his eye: a bright yellow tape, completely unmarked except for a handwritten label that said ‘Intifada.’ Mo’min loved the music and a series of clues led him to Hanan Awwad, an elderly Palestinian woman living in occupied East Jerusalem. In this episode, Hanan tells the story of how her brother Riad made the Intifada tape. There was disco, protest and poetry, but the consequences would be dangerous. Through an underground network of music lovers, Riad’s songs would survive and eventually end up with Mo’min. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Maryam Maruf Editor: Munazza Khan Sound design: Joel Cox Mix: Giles Aspen With thanks to Diana Alghoul for translation support
Mon, November 28, 2022
The Palestinian tapes, part 1
Mo’min Swaitat unearthed a vast trove of forgotten Palestinian music. Not only did it hold long-lost recordings of his own Bedouin family, but also a mysterious yellow cassette of protest songs set to an electro-disco beat. Mo’min became captivated by the yellow tape. It would open up a world of underground music from one of the most turbulent times in Palestinian history, the first Intifada. But could he track down who’d made it? Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Maryam Maruf Editor: Munazza Khan Sound design: Joel Cox Mix: Giles Aspen With thanks to Diana Alghoul for translation support
Mon, November 21, 2022
I hit puberty, then burned down my family home
At 18 Nikki Owen set fire to the family home – and she didn’t know why. Nikki awaited trial in solitary confinement, but her father searched for answers in medical science, and started working on a ground-breaking legal defence to get her out. If you've been affected by any of subjects in this programme you can find support and additional information below: BBC Action Line: https://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline/ Befrienders Worldwide: https://www.befrienders.org/ The International Association for Premenstrual Disorders: https://iapmd.org/ National Association for Premenstrual Syndromes https://www.pms.org.uk Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Tom Harding Assinder
Mon, November 14, 2022
He knocked on my door and said: 'I believe you'
How the friendship of a stranger helped Betsy Sailor when she needed it most. Betsy was living alone at university in the late 1970s when a man broke into her apartment and raped her at knifepoint. He was later caught, and it turned out he was a student, and a player on the successful Penn State football team. Taking him to court was a daunting task but then a fellow football player, Irv Pankey, stepped up and told Betsy he was on her side and would look after her. Their remarkable friendship changed the course of Betsy’s life. Film clip: Betsy and Irv/ Nicole Noren/ ESPN Films Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Rebecca Vincent
Mon, November 07, 2022
My father’s hidden crimes
Analía’s father was accused of being a government torturer — he said it was a lie. A phone call turned Analía Kalinec’s comfortable life upside down. Her father was accused of crimes committed during the Argentine dictatorship twenty years previously, when around 30,000 people were disappeared by security forces. He denied it, but Analía decided to investigate. Her findings would change her view of the father she had loved. Analía has written a book called Llevaré su Nombre (I Carry Your Name). Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Louise Morris Interpreter: Salomé Paulo
Mon, October 31, 2022
The child spy and her secret agent parents
Sue-Ellen Doherty was trained by her parents to spy for Australia during the Cold War. For Sue-Ellen Kusher, nee Doherty, growing up in the suburbs of Brisbane was far from normal. Both her parents worked for the Australian Secret Intelligence Organisation, ASIO, and in the early days of their marriage, they brought up their three children to be part of the family business. It was the 1950s, and Russian and Chinese communists were regarded as enemies. Sue-Ellen spoke to us in 2021. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Katy Takatsuki Editor: Munazza Khan
Sun, October 23, 2022
A fake billionaire in North Korea, part 2
Jim is deep undercover in North Korea — but will he find proof of illegal weapons deals... He'd been sent to the isolated country by a documentary film-maker called Mads Brugger, to pose as a fake investor interested in arms. Jim, Mads and the team had spent years infiltrating a North Korean network in Europe, but now they were on North Korean turf the risks were bigger than ever. Jim is treated like a king, but no weapons deals emerge, until suddenly he's driven out of town and taken down into a mysterious basement. Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Harry Graham Editor: Munazza Khan Sound design: Joel Cox
Sun, October 16, 2022
A fake billionaire in North Korea, part 1
Jim Latrache-Qvortrup posed as a weapons dealer to expose a North Korean criminal network. Jim was an unusual secret agent. He'd grown up poor in Denmark, and had gone on to become a drug dealer to the rich and famous in Copenhagen. After years in prison, he was reformed but bored. Then, a filmmaker called Mads Brügger approached him, and asked him to take part in a high-stakes sting in North Korea. Mads needed someone to pretend to be a dodgy billionaire investor interested in a sanctions-breaking weapons deal. It was a perilous mission, failure would mean prison or death. Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Harry Graham Editor: Munazza Khan
Sun, October 09, 2022
Opiyo’s law: Never let fear rule your life
In September 2020, Nicholas Opiyo awoke to a commotion in his flat. There had been a robbery and all his personal electronics had been stolen. He says he tracked his devices to a shocking and impenetrable location: the headquarters of Uganda’s military intelligence. He believes he was targeted because of his work. The Ugandan authorities chose not to respond to these allegations. Opiyo, as he prefers to be known, survived civil war to become one of Uganda’s top human rights lawyers. He’s taken on huge cases, including successfully overturning the country’s anti-LGBTQ legislation in 2014. He’s received awards for his efforts but also hostility. The break-in at his home was ominous. Months later, Opiyo would be arrested – on false charges – and he'd need to make a life-changing choice. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Maryam Maruf (Photo: Nicholas Opiyo. Credit: Courtesy of Nicholas Opiyo)
Sun, October 02, 2022
Hip hop, lies and the ultimate prize, part 2
Silibil N’ Brains found fame as fake American rappers - but how long can you live a lie? A record deal with Sony, celebrity parties and touring with his heroes, life looked good for Gavin Bain, one half of the duo. But with fame came visibility, the pressure mounted and they could no longer outrun the truth. Gavin's written a book about his undercover life called Straight Outta Scotland and is making music with his new band Hopeless Heroic. If you need support relating to any of the issues we've covered in this interview, you can find more information on the BBC Action line website or at Befrienders.org. Clip: MTV TRL/ the MTV Entertainment Group Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Louise Morris
Sun, September 25, 2022
Hip hop, lies and the ultimate prize, part 1
The Scottish rappers who fooled the music industry. Gavin Bain was one half of Silibil N’ Brains, a Californian rap duo on the cusp of greatness. But there was a problem - the story of these hip hop stars was fake. Gavin’s never even been to America. Film clips: The Mask/Chuck Russell/ New Line Cinema and Dark Horse Entertainment. The Secret of My Success/Herbert Ross/Rastar Beetlejuice/Tim Burton/The Geffen Company Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Louise Morris
Sun, September 18, 2022
I was the voice of Bambi – and kept it secret for years
Donnie Dunagan was a Disney child star in the 1930s before becoming a US Marine. He was born in 1934 and grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, in the midst of the Great Depression. After winning a talent show aged four he was scouted and whisked to Hollywood where he starred in several movies – including a role as the voice of Walt Disney’s iconic animated deer Bambi in 1942. But the Second World War would put a halt to his movie career, and Donnie eventually became a US Marine – never telling anyone about his Hollywood history until he was publicly unmasked in 2004. On the 80th anniversary of Bambi's release, he shares his story. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Zoe Gelber
Sun, September 11, 2022
Black, Korean, stateless: a Slickyboy’s American dream, part 2
Growing up as the son of a sex worker and a Black US soldier in South Korea in the 70s, Milton Washington was seen as an outcast, and "not Korean." He couldn't even get a birth certificate. Still, he was loved and protected by his mum, the two of them against the world. She told him his dad was in America, a land of flying cars and ice cream mountains — and that was where Milton wanted to be, too. Milton's story continues. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Laura Thomas
Sun, September 04, 2022
Black, Korean, stateless: A Slickyboy’s American dream, part 1
Growing up as the son of a sex worker and a black US soldier in South Korea in the '70s, Milton Washington was seen as an outcast, and "not Korean". He couldn't even get a birth certificate. Still, he was loved and protected by his mum, the two of them against the world. She told him his dad was in America, a land of flying cars and ice cream mountains - and that was where Milton wanted to be, too. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Laura Thomas
Sun, August 28, 2022
I see my son in the Northern Lights
Chasing the aurora helps Hugo grieve. By day Hugo Sanchez works in a school, but by night he hunts glowing light displays across the freezing Canadian wilderness. Capturing the aurora is more than just a hobby for Hugo. He took up photography after his son Emilio was born with complex disabilities. When Emilio died at ten years old Hugo found solace and hope in the dancing night sky. Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Louise Morris
Sun, August 21, 2022
The brain tumour that taught me how to live
How extreme kayaker Scott Lindgren's illness forced him to face his past. Scott’s hard, uncompromising attitude had made him one of the world’s top expedition kayakers in a sport that’s claimed the lives of many friends. But bottling up a harsh childhood and drinking for a release can only work for so long. When Scott became ill he faced a reckoning – be the tough guy and lose everything you love, or learn to embrace being vulnerable. Archive is from a film about Scott's life called The River Runner directed by Rush Sturges for River Roots productions. Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Louise Morris
Sun, August 14, 2022
The family that went to war with a military dictatorship
Hafsat Abiola Costello's dad was nearly Nigeria's president - but he had powerful enemies His name was Moshood Abiola, also known as MKO, and he was one of Africa's richest men before turning to politics. He was the presumed winner of a 1993 Presidential election, but the incumbent military regime annulled the result and had him arrested. Hafsat and her mother fought for his release, but the family paid a high price for taking on the generals.. Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Harry Graham Editor: Munazza Khan Sound design: Joel Cox
Mon, August 08, 2022
How I fell in love with blindness
Itto Outini lost her sight but gained her freedom Itto had been born poor in Morocco's Atlas mountains, and after her parents died, she was shunted between extended family members. She wasn't always welcome, and says she suffered frequent violence. This heightened when Itto was 17, when she describes a relative throwing a sharp object at her, taking her sight. Abandoned, Itto had to adapt to life as a blind person on the streets of a Moroccan city. Things were initially tough and disorientating, but she soon taught herself braille and found huge comfort in books and learning. Despite sleeping rough, Itto fought for the education that had been denied her when she was sighted. Itto has a memoir coming out in Autumn called "Blindness is the light of my life" Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Harry Graham
Sun, July 31, 2022
Nailed into a boat: Escaping Mao’s China
Dr Andrew Kwong fled famine and persecution as a child. He was a proud Maoist, singing revolutionary songs at the top of his voice at school, but then he witnessed an execution, his father was arrested, and famine struck. His family knew their only hope was to smuggle 12-year-old Andrew abroad, though it would mean years of separation. Andrew has written a book about his experience called One Bright Moon. Presenter: Emily Webb Producers: Louise Morris and Fiona Woods
Sun, July 24, 2022
The legendary goalkeeper forced to pawn her gold medals
Goalkeeper Briana Scurry knew at eight years old it was her destiny to win Olympic gold – and in 1996, she did it. That was just the beginning: she won the World Cup and another Olympics with the US Women's National Soccer Team. Briana made history on and off the pitch as one of the few African American women on the national side, and the only openly gay player on the team. But in 2010, a knee to the head changed her life. Incapacitated by pain and unable to work, Briana spiralled into depression and debt and ended up having to pawn the gold medals she’d spent her whole life working to earn. Things got so bad that she contemplated suicide. But then an ex-girlfriend introduced her to a woman who would change her life. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Fiona Woods If you need support relating to any of the issues we've covered in this interview, you can find more information on the BBC Action line website or at Befrienders.org
Sun, July 17, 2022
A poet in a Burundi war zone, part 2
Content Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence JP Bimeni is a writer turned soul singer who walked through a massacre unscathed as his country fell into conflict. At just 16 he had a lot more living, and almost dying, to do. Now a successful performer these experiences seep into his songs. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Louise Morris
Sun, July 10, 2022
A poet in a Burundi war zone, part 1
Content Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence JP Bimeni risked his life to save a book of his verse. He started composing poetry to impress a girl, but was soon writing to address the ethnic tensions which threatened to tear his country apart. When violence did break out he dodged machete-wielding mobs to make it to safety. The mission to rescue his poetry almost cost him everything. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Louise Morris
Sun, July 03, 2022
My husband thought I was an imposter
Abi Morgan’s husband woke from a coma and didn’t recognise her. Abi is a playwright and screenwriter based in London, and she'd made a name for herself writing successful and often highly emotional films and TV Series such as The Iron Lady, Shame, and The Split. In 2019 her life took such a strange and unfamiliar turn, she says it was almost like she'd landed in one of her scripts. Her partner Jacob was ill and put into a medically induced coma. Eight months later, he woke up, and no longer recognised Abi as his wife. Abi has written a book about her experiences called This Is Not a Pity Memoir. Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Harry Graham
Thu, June 23, 2022
My dream holiday turned to horror
Pirates attacked Judith and her husband in a remote Kenyan resort in 2011. Judith was dragged from her bed and taken by boat to Somalia, where she was held for over six months. Despite everything she went through, Judith Tebbutt has spent the last ten years trying to get justice for a man she believes was wrongly convicted of the crime. Due to breaking news we're bringing you this episode of Lives Less Ordinary earlier than scheduled. Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Rebecca Vincent
Sun, June 19, 2022
A family lost at sea
Fleeing Vietnam, Lauren Vuong’s family almost died. Settled in the U.S. all she wanted was to fulfil her parents’ dream of finding their rescuers. This is the story of one family’s quest for survival, and the kindness of the strangers who helped them. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producers: Louise Morris and May Cameron Film clip: Finding the Virgo/Barre Fong/Lauren Vuong/ Barre Fong Designs
Sun, June 12, 2022
Giving birth as a hostage in Syria
Janina was six months pregnant when she travelled to Syria in 2015 to meet a school friend who’d become an extremist. Janina Findeisen, a journalist, was making a documentary about their friendship. The trip was only meant to last a few days – little did she know that she would end up being taken hostage and forced to give birth in captivity. Presenter: Emily Webb Producers: Emily Webb and Fiona Woods Film clip: Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell, The Weinstein Company.
Sun, June 05, 2022
Taking on the witch hunters
Blamed for killing her father through witchcraft, Monica Paulus fled for her life, but she didn’t stay in hiding for long. Monica realised she could be someone to stand up and prevent others being killed after accusations of sorcery. This is the story of how one brave woman took on the witch hunters and changed history in Papua New Guinea.
Sun, May 29, 2022
Township lawyer v gold giants, part 2
Charles sues his country’s richest companies on behalf of black gold miners. It’s a battle that could spell ruin for Charles, but this isn’t a man who takes no for an answer. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Fiona Woods
Sun, May 22, 2022
Township lawyer v gold giants, part 1
Apartheid taught Charles to know his place, so how did he end up suing the gold industry? When Charles Abrahams told his teachers he was going to be a heart surgeon they laughed. This was Apartheid South Africa and kids like Charles had no business having such lofty ambitions. But Charles knew something those teachers didn't. He was destined for a bigger life and nobody was going to stand in his way. Charles has written a book, it's called Class Action: In Pursuit of a Larger Life. TV Clip: Dallas, Leonard Katzman, Lorimar Productions Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Fiona Woods
Sun, May 15, 2022
We need to talk about Carlo
Donna discovers her ex fiancé’s secret life. When Donna met Carlo at an anti-war protest she immediately fell for him. They just had so much in common, particularly their left-wing politics. When he moved into her flat she discovered they had all the same books - it was as if they were fated to be together. Donna couldn't believe her luck! There was just one thing that bothered her - he'd never introduced her to his family or friends. Donna McLean has written a book, it’s called Small Town Girl. Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Fiona Woods
Sun, May 08, 2022
You wanted me dead, but look at me now
Anne's village thought her disability made her worthless. She had other ideas. Now a graduate and a Paralympian who's represented Kenya and the UK, this is the story of how Anne Wafula Strike forgave the unforgiveable and made her return. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Louise Morris
Sun, May 01, 2022
Bike-riding bank robber, part 2
The FBI close in. “It’s a wake-up call when police are trying to shoot you.” Tom Justice’s fantasy is fading, he’s now robbing banks to fund his addiction and things are about to get a lot worse. Film clips: Heat/Michael Mann/Regency Enterprises and Forward Pass Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Louise Morris
Sun, April 24, 2022
Bike-riding bank robber, part 1
Olympic hopeful to audacious thief – the cyclist who turned to crime. Movies influenced Tom’s biggest life decisions. Slacker film Reality Bites made him give up becoming an Olympic cyclist, and heist film Heat ‘inspired’ him to make the bizarre leap from fiction to reality. But there are only so many banks you can rob before your ego, and the FBI, start catching up with you. Film clips: Reality Bites/Ben Stiller/Jersey Films Heat/Michael Mann/Regency Enterprises and Forward Pass Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Louise Morris
Mon, April 18, 2022
The trailer
Astonishing true stories, jaw-dropping twists. Why would an Olympic hopeful rob a bank? How does someone keep their double life a secret? From the team behind Outlook, incredible personal stories from around the world, to show you just how surprising and extraordinary humans can be. With Emily Webb, Mobeen Azhar and Jo Fidgen. Premieres on 25 April.
Wed, April 13, 2022
Introducing Lives Less Ordinary
Enter other people’s worlds. Welcome to the new weekly podcast from the Outlook radio team, finding amazing personal stories from around the world. Premieres on 25 April. With Emily Webb, Mobeen Azhar and Jo Fidgen.
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