Lives Less Ordinary

BBC World Service

4.7 (442)
PERSONAL JOURNALS
UPDATED WEEKLY

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.

4D AGO

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

40 min
MAR 17

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

42 min
MAR 10

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

41 min
MAR 3

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

1h 3m
FEB 24

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

40 min
FEB 17

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

40 min
FEB 10

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

39 min
FEB 3

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

38 min

See All (156)

4.7

out of 5

442 Ratings

Fascinating

Mar 20

Susie Snowflake16

I’m so glad I found this podcast. The episodes are very well done. The stories are inspirational and fascinating.
Amazing Variety

Feb 19

Guzzman1999

The thing I love about this podcast is how the stories go from someone robbing banks weekly to another person being on a hijacked boat. It really does encompass a lot of different and even historical moments. There are times where the stories or the folks being interviewed are dull but great podcast overall.
Absolute fav

Feb 10

kimberschnitz

As sad as I was to see the Outlook podcast go, I was happy to have this as a weekly replacement. I tune in every week and got a few book recs from the episodes! Stories are where it’s at
So inspirational

Feb 10

OldFartLeftist

This podcast is always interesting, but the story about Reggie who asked strangers how they became rich is particularly heartwarming. It is a welcome break from the war and disaster that usually dominates the news.

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.