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.
Episodes
Love Stories: Our own romcom
Karan and Roshan’s real-life romance inspired their film A Nice Indian Boy, and the success of the Hollywood/Bollywood romcom has healed many family rifts on the way.Karan Soni is an Indian actor famous for playing supporting roles in films like Deadpool & Wolverine. He had moved to the US for college before becoming an actor, but, despite coming out in his teens, felt he had to keep his sexua
Love Stories: My two husbands
Kris Armstrong and Brandon Smith took their marriage vows seriously. But after Brandon suffered a major brain injury, Kris made a decision that led to their unique blended family. Texans Kris and Brandon were high school sweethearts, but just a few years into their marriage, in 2008, Kris received a call to say that Brandon had been in a serious car crash and was in a coma. When he finally woke up
Love Stories: Do you remember me?
A secret tore apart their teenage love. Four decades later, they got a second chance.In 1970s Nottingham, two teenagers fell head-over-heels in love when Mark Bethel arrived from the Bahamas to study. For Penny Umbers, it felt like the beginning of everything: young, certain, full of promise - until, without warning, Mark broke things off and disappeared from her life. Devastated and searching for
Love Stories: Finding you in a warzone
In 2016 Janay was a journalist in London and needed footage of the conflict in Syria, so contacted camera operator Habak in Aleppo. What followed was a love story neither saw coming. When Lebanese journalist Janay Boulos first started messaging Abd Al-Kader Habak in the besieged city of Aleppo, one of her first questions was “are you okay?”. Janay needed images and footage for her reporting and Ha
Introducing: Love Stories
Introducing a new season of five remarkable true stories in which love rises above prejudice, waits decades, crosses oceans and survives war. From India to Italy, Syria to the Bahamas, and the UK to the US, these are unforgettable stories that reveal how love can survive against the odds, heal old wounds and transform lives forever.Lives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that b
I crash-landed inside an active volcano
Chris Duddy survived 28 hours in Hawaii's Kīlauea volcano after his helicopter crashed.Cinematographer Chris Duddy has worked on some of Hollywood’s biggest movies like Titanic and Terminator 2. Filming in extreme conditions is part of his job, and he loves it, but nothing could prepare him for the day the helicopter he was in crashed inside the crater of an active volcano. It was November 1992 an
Why I don't hate the person who tried to kill me
In July 2011 Bjorn Ihler was a 20-year-old performing arts student and a member of the youth division of the Norwegian Labour Party. He participated in the Party's summer camp on Utøya island, about 35km from Norway's capital Oslo, when Norway suffered its worst terror attacks in recent history. Anders Breivik was a far-right extremist who launched a bomb attack on government offices in Oslo. Two
The prisoner who was forced to celebrate a World Cup victory
Miriam Lewin was never much interested in football. Growing up in Buenos Aires, she cared far more about politics than the team her family supported. But in 1978, when Argentina won the World Cup, she found herself among the celebrating fans, hidden in plain sight as a political prisoner.A year earlier, aged 19, Miriam had been abducted by Argentina's military dictatorship and became one of the co
My father and the curse of the golden egg
Serena Kutchinsky was 10 years old when her jeweller father Paul unveiled his masterpiece to the world: a giant, golden, diamond-encrusted egg. Paul had recently taken over the family business, the celebrated London jewellers House of Kutchinsky, and wanted to make his mark, commissioning the production of a spectacular jewelled object like no other. The egg was crafted from 15kg of solid gold, de
I had a baby – then lost my memory, part 2
After an undiagnosed case of pre-eclampsia caused catastrophic brain damage and amnesia, Samina Ali returned home from hospital to begin a long recovery.At 29, she found herself relearning the basics of daily life – how to walk, speak and make sense of the world around her. She could still communicate in Urdu, the language of her childhood partly spent in India, but much of her recent life in Cali
I had a baby – then lost my memory, part 1
When Samina Ali gave birth to her first child in California in 1999, what should have been a joyful moment quickly turned into a medical emergency.An undiagnosed case of the pregnancy disorder pre-eclampsia led to multiple organ failure, strokes, a brain haemorrhage and grand mal seizure. Within hours of delivering her son, Samina fell into a coma. When she woke five days later, she had no memory
Could a sitcom save a man from death row?
Juan Catalan was facing the death penalty for a murder he didn’t commit. There was one man he thought could save him: US comedian Larry David. On 12 May 2003, Juan attended a baseball game that he would later say saved his life. It was his local team, the LA Dodgers, versus the Atlanta Braves. The game was exciting, but unremarkable for Juan – apart from a television crew that was filming in his s
I was kidnapped by North Korea
In the 1970s and 80s, a spate of mysterious disappearances were reported along Japan’s coast. One of those was 19-year-old nurse Hitomi Soga, who was walking with her mother when they were kidnapped. She was blindfolded and dragged to a boat destined to the world's most secretive state, North Korea. But why was she taken? Hitomi's stay in North Korea would last 24 years and include a forced marria
I was forced to rob my own bank, part 2
Many years after he’d held a gun to her daughter’s head, Michelle wrote to Robert Ortiz seeking closure. It took him years to write back – and then they met.In 2000, Michelle Renee was at home with her seven-year-old daughter Breea when armed men burst through the door. They held Breea hostage while they took Michelle to the bank where she worked. She was told to remove all the money from the vaul
I was forced to rob my own bank, part 1
In 2000, armed men burst into Michelle Renee's home and held her child hostage while she was forced to rob her own bank. None of them could have predicted what happened next. Michelle Renee was at home with her seven-year-old daughter Breea when armed men burst through the door. They held Breea hostage while they took Michelle to the bank where she worked. She was told to remove all the money from
Kangaroo Dundee: I gave it all up to become a ‘kangaroo mum’
Chris 'Brolga' Barns fell in love with joeys and became a kangaroo 'mum'. He rescues orphaned baby kangaroos, or joeys, carrying them around in a pillowcase to mimic their mum’s pouch. While working as a tour guide in the Australian outback, Brolga would always check the pouches of kangaroos killed by cars lying on the side of the road, where often the joeys would still be alive. The plan was to l
I'm a champion boxer, but couldn't tell my mum
Ramla Ali's family fled Somalia and settled in the UK; she then went from overweight bullied child to champion boxer and model who later brought the sport back to her homeland.Ramla Ali was a baby when her older brother was killed by a stray grenade in the garden of her family home in Mogadishu, Somalia, during the civil war. To keep the rest of their family safe, her parents fled the country via
Strangers to coworkers to friends to...sisters?
Cassandra Madison and Julia Tinetti met working at the same bar in their 20s and were struck by how similar they looked. Their adoption records didn't match, but a surprise gift later revealed the extraordinary truth. From the moment they started chatting, Cassandra and Julia quickly realised they had lots in common: both had been adopted as babies, both grew up in Connecticut, and both had tattoo
Taught to kill – my childhood under the Khmer Rouge
Separated from her family and trained as a child soldier, Loung Ung's unbreakable spirit helped her survive Pol Pot’s regime, which killed nearly a quarter of Cambodia’s population.In the Chinese tradition of Loung Ung's mother, the element of fire was dangerous in a daughter: too bold, too defiant, too difficult to control. And, according to her, Loung had been born with ‘too much’ of it. But whe
Bonus: Dear Daughter: Surviving my daughter's killing
When 19-year-old Ann from Florida, USA was shot by her boyfriend in 2010, her family were thrust into a nightmare, one that meant taking the agonising decision to withdraw her life support.In this intensely moving account of violence and loss, Ann’s mother, Kate, tells Namulanta that instead of pursuing the traditional court process, she chose something almost unheard of at the time - restorative
I was taken as a baby…I didn’t know who I was, part 2
Jackie makes sporting history for Ireland and uncovers the truth about her past.Taken from her mother as a baby and raised in an Irish institution, Jackie McCarthy O’Brien grew up in silence, facing prejudice because of the colour of her skin, and with no real sense of who she was or where she belonged.Jackie shares her story over two episodes of Lives Less Ordinary. In this second part of her sto
I was taken as a baby, I didn’t know who I was, part 1
A black girl in a white town, Jackie’s made to grow up silenced and alone. This episode contains outdated racial language that some might find offensive. Jackie McCarthy O’Brien was just a baby when police officers flanked by a nun and a priest came to her unmarried mother’s door in Limerick, Ireland and took her. She would grow up in an industrial school where silence is expected, questions are d
Skepta’s Mum: How I raised a rap legend
Ify Adenuga grew up with strict parents. As a mum, she rewrote the rulebook and encouraged creativity in her children, with her son Skepta becoming an award-winning music artist.Ify Adenuga is parent to a musical powerhouse. Her son Skepta is a seminal figure in British culture, helping to propel grime into the mainstream. Ify has always been supportive of her son’s music career, nurturing a creat
Me, dad and the zombie chickens
Filmmaker Lloyd Kaufman railed against Hollywood his whole career as the founder of cult B-movie production house, Troma, while his daughter Lily-Hayes dreamt only of fitting in. Lloyd Kaufman has been the father of anti-establishment filmmaking for over 50 years. His production company Troma Entertainment is known for its gory, controversial and politically-charged movies. His daughter Lily-Hayes
Growing up black in a white family – the truth behind my birth
M People star Andrew Lovell’s home life hid a terrible – yet beautiful – secret. It would take him decades to find out the truth.At the height of his fame, drummer Andrew ‘Shovell’ Lovell had everything he’d dreamed of: sex, drugs and regular appearances at the top of the charts with the dance music band M People. But sell-out shows, first-class travel and five-star hotels couldn’t stop the questi
Music was my salvation: the homeless man and the piano
While Francois Pierron was homeless in London he taught himself to play a public piano at St Pancras train station – from scratch. His mastery of music helped change his future.Francois had a difficult start in life. He was abandoned as a newborn on the streets of Dakar, Senegal, shortly after his birth in 1994, but was found by police and taken to an orphanage. He was soon adopted by a French cou
Hercules: the grizzly bear who became family
Maggie Robin raised a bear cub who grew into an extraordinary companion.When Maggie Robin and her wrestler husband Andy brought home a bear cub in 1970s Scotland, their friends thought they were mad. But the couple raised him as one of the family. Named Hercules, the tiny cub grew into a towering but gentle bear who slept by the fire, played in the garden and travelled everywhere with them. Attitu
Sects, lies and videotape: a Syrian story, part 2
While filming in rebel-held Syria, Loubna Mrie is falsely accused of being a spy – an accusation that spirals into a life-threatening ordeal, triggering the deepest loss of her life.In 2011, Loubna Mrie broke from her loyalist family to join Syria’s underground network of activists. She used her Alawite identity – the same minority sect as the ruling Assads – to move through checkpoints and secret
Sects, lies and videotape: a Syrian story, part 1
From a powerful Alawite family in Syria, Loubna Mrie trusted the Assad regime – until witnessing its violent crackdown led her to defy loyalty and secretly film the uprising.In 2011, 20‑year‑old Loubna Mrie was an English literature student from a high-profile Alawite family, the same minority sect as the Assads who had ruled Syria for decades. For most of her life, loyalty felt like survival. Lou
The couple who foiled New Zealand’s biggest drugs plot
An ordinary couple foiled the country's biggest drugs deal, all by doing a good deed. It involves a boat, a fake funeral at sea and the criminal underworld's least able seamen.That ordinary couple of 35 years, Ed and Heather we're calling them to protect their identities, lived a quiet life in the far north of New Zealand. Ed is Māori and a well-respected mechanic and fisherman; Heather's the sort
I bought Macclesfield FC while drunk and it saved my life
Rob Smethurst bought a bankrupt football club while his life was unravelling – then they went on to make football history and save him in the process.Entrepreneur Rob Smethurst never planned to become the owner of a football club. In the grip of alcohol addiction, and on a four-day drinking binge, he bought Macclesfield FC – a bankrupt small-town club, way down in the rankings with a crumbling foo
Colm Tóibín: How an Irish boy with a stammer found his voice
Colm Tóibín is a celebrated Irish writer, but as a child words didn't come easily. Navigating grief as a boy when his father died, he developed a stammer. Instead of talking, Colm watched and listened, collecting stories that wove their way into his novels. He's won a string of awards and been nominated for the prestigious Booker Prize three times. His novel Brooklyn was made into a movie starring
The gay Kenyan boyband star who refused to be defeated
Willis Chimano is one of Kenya’s biggest pop stars. With the boyband Sauti Sol, he’s won a string of awards and even danced with President Barack Obama. But behind the success, Chimano had a secret: being gay in a country where gay sex is criminalised and people who identify as LGBT+ can experience violence and harassment. Since his childhood, Chimano had been hiding his sexuality but then in 2018
Laughter saved me: the comedian turning tragedy into comedy
When she was 14, Krystal Evans survived a lethal house fire. Years later, to come to terms with what she’d experienced, she turned it into a stand-up show. The women in Krystal's family have always been funny, she says; her mother was no exception. But as well as being hilarious she also struggled with mental illness, and life in Krystal’s childhood was chaotic. With very little money, the family
Living a lie: discovering my dad faked who he was
Joanne Briggs had always thought of her dad as a bit of a superhero. But he was hiding a dark secret.She only saw him a couple of times a year during her childhood in the UK, but that was because Professor Michael Briggs was off travelling the world being a very important scientist. Or at least that was the story she grew up to believe. It was only in 1986, when Joanne was 23, that she first got a
Fatima Whitbread: from abandoned baby to world champion
Fatima Whitbread grew up in a UK children’s home. She found both a mother and a coach in one person – going on to break the javelin world record and become an Olympic medallist.
Fatima spent her first 14 years in a series of institutions after being abandoned as a baby. She longed for stability and love, and found both in an unexpected place – on the sports field. Coach Margaret Whitbread spotted
One suitcase, three kids: a broke scientist pursues a dream
When Ijeoma Uchegbu arrived back in the UK as a single mum of three young children she soon found herself living in a homeless shelter; now she is a pioneer in the field of nanoparticles in medicine.Ijeoma Uchegbu has dedicated her career to studying pharmaceutical nanoscience, seeking out ways to carry medicines to parts of the body that are notoriously hard to reach. But as a schoolgirl in the U
I broke the most important rule: don't get attached
Swedish youth worker Nicolas Lunabba had one strict rule: never get attached to the kids you help. Then 13-year-old Elijah moved in — and turned his mentor’s flat into a home.In Malmö, Sweden, where poverty and violence shaped young lives, detachment was Nicolas' survival strategy. Then he met Elijah, an eight year old with a mohawk, a basketball under his arm, and a fearless, sometimes dangerous
Tulisa: I wanted fame, but it almost destroyed me
N-Dubz singer Tulisa Contostavlos survived betrayal and a tabloid sting.Tulisa was born into a family of musicians in Camden, London, and says music was part of her everyday life. But her childhood was impacted by her mother's severe mental health episodes that would often end up with her being held in psychiatric institutions. After her parents divorced, Tulisa would frequently have to care for h
The ragtag boy who was taken in by a football icon
The incredible story of the football icon who changed a boy's life. Craig Bromfield's start in life was difficult: there was often no electricity in his childhood home, and he didn’t even own a coat. He was in and out of the social care system, and would ask for money on the street. This is what 11-year-old Craig was doing with his brother Aaron, one fateful day in 1984, on a windswept seafront in
My private trauma was leaked to the press – so I fought back
When Jenny Evans was sexually assaulted and confidential details appeared in a national newspaper, she decided to investigate – uncovering police corruption, tabloid spying, and phone-hacking. Jenny got a role in her first feature film when she was just 19 years old. At a film party in London she became separated from her friends and was sexually assaulted by a public figure she'd just met. At fi
How Paramore’s singer revived her grandad’s lost album
Hayley Williams’ grandpa Rusty nurtured her musical dreams – now, she’s returning the favour.As the lead singer of American rock band Paramore, Hayley Williams has won three Grammy Awards and toured the world. Behind the scenes, her grandad Rusty has been her biggest supporter and musical hero, nurturing her childhood passion and later her career. Rusty is the one who taught Hayley how to play the
Miriam Toews: A loud voice in a town once ruled by silence
The award-winning author who used her strict Mennonite upbringing to tell its unspoken stories.Miriam Toews is one of Canada’s most acclaimed novelists, but her journey began far from the literary world. Raised in the conservative Mennonite town of Steinbach, Manitoba, she grew up surrounded by deep faith, strict expectations, and a culture where silence often covered over difficult truths. The to
Trapped underground: my 54-hour cave rescue
Trapped underground: my 54-hour cave rescue. For George Linnane, an experienced caver from England, being underground is his happy place, somewhere he can feel calm away from the chaos of daily life. But when he and two friends set out for a routine trip in the Ogof Ffynnon Ddu cave system in Wales one Saturday lunchtime in November 2021, they couldn’t know it would turn into a nightmare. After a
Stabbed as a boy – and becoming a poet for a lost generation
Aged 16, coming out of an audition, budding British actor Dan Whitlam was caught up in a fight with a group of boys in London. He was stabbed twice in the back with a screwdriver. The wound pierced and collapsed his lung. The physical scars healed quickly but the mental ones took a lot longer. For years Dan battled with panic attacks and anxiety. He was plagued with worries that his lung had coll
Tim Berners-Lee: The man who dreamed of a World Wide Web
The inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, on the unique upbringing that inspired a tech revolution. Tim Berners-Lee has well and truly changed the world. For under-35s it's almost impossible to imagine what life might have been like without him. But when he launched the World Wide Web in December 1990, no-one knew the success it would become - and most struggled to understand why the wo
The baby-dinosaur hunter who ended up in Hollywood
Jack Horner inspired a character in Jurassic Park after the dino discovery of a lifetime.Jack has been fascinated by fossils for as long as he can remember. He spent his childhood digging around in the fossil-rich earth of Montana, as his father was involved in the gravel-extraction business. By the age of eight he was rewarded with his first big treasure – a real piece of dinosaur bone. As Jack's
The escape from Vietnam that tore my family apart
In the chaos of the helicopter evacuation from Saigon in April 1975, Doan Hoàng Curtis' sister was somehow left behind. It would haunt her family for years. Doan was just three years old when her family made it onto one of the last helicopters to leave Saigon as troops from the communist North took over the city and the Vietnam war came to an end. Her father was a major for the South Vietnamese ai
Enter the new dragon: the Bruce Lee of Afghanistan
Abbas Alizada was eight when he first saw a Bruce Lee film. He fell in love with kung-fu, copying his hero’s moves and his look before an online post shot him to overnight fame.Abbas was born in Kabul in 1993, the youngest of nine siblings. His family are Hazara, an ethnic minority who have historically faced violence and persecution in Afghanistan, and were partcularly targeted when the Taliban f
Jane Goodall: In her own words
This extra edition of Lives Less Ordinary is to remember the remarkable conservationist and primatologist Jane Goodall, who has died at 91. The life she lived alongside great apes revolutionised the way we see them – and ourselves.
It was 65 years ago that a young Jane left England to travel to the Gombe Stream National Park on the shores of Lake Tanganika. She was there to observe chimps in thei
Sweet surprise: I found my birth mother in my local bakery
Vamarr Hunter always felt a special bond with the owner of his favourite local bakery — but never imagined she could be his long-lost birth mother. Vamarr loved to visit the bakery in his home neighbourhood in Chicago, enjoying the cakes, pies and cookies, but also the warm company of the owner, Lenore Lindsey. Vamarr had had a tricky time growing up, and only discovered he was adopted when he was
Zarna Garg: The rise of an ‘unstoppable’ comedy star
Once a homeless teen in Mumbai, now Zarna Garg’s a top comedian, touring with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.Zarna Garg was in her 40s living in New York City when she went to an open mic night for the very first time. Before that, she’d never even heard of stand up comedy and was only there, resentfully, at the insistence of her children who were convinced their mother would be a success. The kids were
I sent three innocent teenagers to prison for life
Ron Bishop was 14 when he says police forced him to make false statements on the witness stand during a 1984 murder trial. His testimony helped sentence three innocent teenagers to life in prison.In 1983 Ron's world was turned upside down when his best friend, 14-year-old DeWitt Duckett, was shot and killed in a corridor of their school, Harlem Park Junior High in West Baltimore. Ron gave the poli
Cesar Millan: The ‘dog boy’ who became the Dog Whisperer
Cesar Millan is known for training dogs on TV. What’s less well-known is that he migrated illegally to the US from Mexico and slept rough before making his name. For the past two decades, Cesar Millan has appeared on television sets around the world. His hit shows centre on his incredible ability to rehabilitate dogs with behavioural issues like aggression or anxiety. Cesar’s preternatural talent
Sole survivor: Eight days in the jungle after my plane crashed
How a romantic getaway ended in disaster.Dutch financier Annette Herfkens boarded Vietnam Airlines Flight 474 in November 1992, embarking on what was meant to be a romantic break with her fiancé Willem van der Pas or ‘Pasje’. But fate had other plans. Midway through the flight from Ho Chi Minh City to the coastal resort of Nha Trang, the Soviet-built Yakovlev Yak-40 encountered severe weather and
Coming up in the new season of Lives Less Ordinary
A heads-up on some of the extraordinary stories to look forward to from September - from a long-lost son, to the sole survivor of a plane crash, to Afghanistan’s answer to Bruce Lee. We're back with a new look, and the best in global true life storytelling.Presenter: Mobeen AzharLives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around
Hold Fast! 8. Our duty is done
As the Avontuur draws closer to Hamburg and its final port of call, the crew begin to reflect on what they’ve been through and what awaits them in their lives back on land. Narrated by Siobhán McSweeney
Produced by Christina Hardinge
Sound and music by Noémie Ducimetière
Narration written by Laura Thomas
Artwork by Joe Magee
For Lives Less Ordinary, the series producer is Laura Thomas and editor,
Hold Fast! 7. I want to hug a cow
After 188 days without setting foot on land, the Avontuur finally arrives in Horta, in the Azores. But it's by no means certain whether the crew will be able to get off the ship. Narrated by Siobhán McSweeney
Produced by Christina Hardinge
Sound and music by Noémie Ducimetière
Artwork by Joe Magee
Narration written by Laura Thomas
For Lives Less Ordinary, the series producer is Laura Thomas and t
Hold Fast! 6. Unicorn poo
As the crew of the Avontuur fight their way out of the Gulf of Mexico and battle a hurricane that delays their journey back across the Atlantic, ship’s cook Giulia faces the spectre of food and gas shortages with ingenuity and a determination to get back home. Narrated by Siobhán McSweeney
Produced by Christina Hardinge
Sound and music by Noémie Ducimetière
Artwork by Joe Magee
Narration written
Hold Fast! 5. No better mirror than the sea
The crew of the Avontuur begin to wonder whether they will ever be able to get off the ship. As they become resigned to their new life of being completely confined to the ship, things become increasingly surreal.Narrated by Siobhán McSweeney
Produced by Christina Hardinge
Sound and music by Noémie Ducimetière
Artwork by Joe Magee
Narration written by Laura Thomas
For Lives Less Ordinary, the seri
Hold Fast! 4. Taking the biscuit
Unable to step off the ship, tensions are rising amongst the crew of the Avontuur and coping mechanisms begin to emerge. When the dry store is raided and boxes of biscuits go missing, ship’s cook Giulia is forced to turn detective.Narrated by Siobhán McSweeney
Produced by Christina Hardinge
Sound and music by Noémie Ducimetière
Artwork by Joe Magee
Narration written by Laura Thomas
For Lives Less
Hold Fast! 3. The world as you know it no longer exists
In the middle of the Atlantic, the crew of the Avontuur receive a satellite email with news from land that throws everything they’d been counting on to the winds. Their mission and schedule are in disarray, but turning back isn’t an option. So ship’s cook Giulia and the rest of the crew find ways to cope with the uncertainty. Narrated by Siobhán McSweeney
Produced by Christina Hardinge
Sound and
Hold Fast! 2. I didn’t know the sea was so big
The Avontuur begins the second leg of its journey, setting out from Tenerife to cross the Atlantic. At work in the galley preparing breakfast, ship’s cook Giulia Baccosi learns that the night watch noticed an unusual little light, far off on the horizon. It’s been there through the night. It’s too far from shore to be a fishing boat, so what is it?Narrated by Siobhán McSweeney
Produced by Christin
Hold Fast! 1. Signs from the universe
15 people, 188 days at sea, one extraordinary ship: how the Avontuur was locked out at sea during the Covid-19 pandemic.What would you do if your world shrunk to 300 square metres, and you had no say over who you shared it with? If you were on a ship, at sea, far from loved ones - and didn’t know when you’d be able to set foot on land again, and get home?When ship’s cook Giulia Baccosi accepts a l
My way out of the woods
A corporate high-flyer ended up living in a forest after a spiral of debt, shame and secrecy.After avoiding a mounting debt to his landlord, Australian Mic Whitty’s life started to crumble. Instead of facing his responsibilities, he tried to gamble and steal money to better his fortunes. As his mental health deteriorated, wracked by guilt and shame, he was determined to pay everyone back. Then he
Sex, love, Rock 'n' Roll... and The Sopranos
Robin Green is an American writer who has been dizzyingly successful, but she describes herself as a 'clueless girl'. At times, she didn't even realise she could actually write. In the early 1970s when Robin was in her 20s, she had an interview with Rolling Stone magazine's creator and editor Jann Wenner. She initially thought it was for a secretarial role, but instead, he hired her as a writer -
Why I wore iron underwear on Kabul’s busiest street
Artist Kubra Khademi was so enraged by the constant sexual harassment faced by women in Afghanistan that she created a bespoke suit of armour, forged out of metal with exaggerated breasts and buttocks. The idea came from an experience she had many years earlier, as a little girl, walking along a street and encountering a male stranger who would sexually assault her - at the time she wished she was
Kidnapped at four: How I found my way home
After being kidnapped, a promise to return to his mother helped Antonio Salazar-Hobson through his darkest hours.Antonio Salazar-Hobson was four years old when he was kidnapped from his Mexican migrant worker family in Arizona by the white couple who lived next door. From Phoenix, he was taken more than 300 miles away to California, where he grew up suffering terrible abuse. Throughout his ordeal,
The penguin that followed a teacher home
While visiting friends in Uruguay, British teacher Tom Michell saw a penguin covered in oil and tar on a beach. Tom cleaned the bird as best he could and then tried to release it. The penguin refused to return to the wild, it just followed Tom around. So he took it home, smuggling the animal across the border into Argentina where he lived and worked at a boarding school. The penguin became a part
Meeting the monster: My 14 days with Joseph Kony
In Judith Obina Okumu's imagination, Joseph Kony was a monster. As leader of the Lord's Resistance Army he'd fought a decades-long war against the government of Yoweri Museveni – displacing and destroying hundreds of thousands of lives across Northern Uganda in the process. But one day, a visit from a stranger would challenge Judith to face her fears. In her role as assistant private secretary to
The Grandmother of Juneteenth, still battling for change at 98
Opal Lee is now affectionately known as the Grandmother of Juneteenth. She led the campaign for the 19th June, the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Texas were finally told that they were free, to be declared a national holiday. As President Biden signed the bill into law, Opal stood beside him. She had very personal reasons for wanting all Americans to think about freedom and the damage that ra
The man who woke up in the future
When Dr Pier Piccioni woke up after a car accident, 12 years of his life had been erased.Dr Pierdante Piccioni is an unwilling time-traveller. Twelve years of his life were completely wiped from his memory after he suffered brain damage in a car crash in 2013. When he woke up in the hospital the next day, he thought it was 2001 and could not recognise his wife or his now adult sons. Reeling from t
The mortician, the "werewolf" and the keeper of brains
Alexandra Morton-Hayward unlocks the secrets of the human brain but her own betrays her. Every night Ally Morton-Hayward has a headache so painful it wakes her up. She says it makes her feel like a werewolf. But by day she's unlocking the secrets of other human brains. Ally was at university when she started feeling a shocking and extraordinary pain in her head - 'cluster headaches' - which became
José Mujica: Guerilla, president and occasional romantic
Remembering the former president of Uruguay: José 'Pepe' Mujica. He started life as a flower farmer on the outskirts of Montevideo. As a young man he became politically active, part of the left-wing guerilla group the Tupamaros, who were bent on revolution through armed struggle that involved bank heists and kidnappings. With the authorities on his tail Pepe was eventually captured, he was shot si
The true story behind Brazil’s Oscar winner, I’m Still Here
Marcelo Rubens Paiva was 11 when armed men came and took his father away. Brazil was under a military dictatorship at the time. Marcelo's father was an opponent and was killed for it. His mother Eunice Paiva was now alone, raising five children. For decades she fought for answers from the state. She became a prominent lawyer and human rights defender and helped to set up Brazil's Truth Commission.
The blind Holocaust survivor who caught a fugitive Nazi
Lothar Hermann found out his neighbour was ‘architect of the Holocaust’ Adolf Eichmann.Lothar Hermann’s German-Jewish family perished in the Holocaust, but when he escaped to Argentina, little did he know that within a few years a Nazi fugitive would wind up living at the end of his street. Lilianna Hermann spent two decades uncovering the story of a hidden family hero - her great uncle Lothar - o
Searching for green in a concrete world
Kwesia X grew up in south-east London, surrounded by busy roads and tower blocks. As a teenager her mental health spiralled after a member of her family was killed, and she also lost a close friend to knife crime. Faced with a period of homelessness, Kwesia eventually turned to nature to find peace. Now she's working hard to bring the experience of the natural world to young people in the city, a
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
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 pos
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
