Lives Less Ordinary

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Black boy joy: defying stereotypes on the London stage Jan 13, 2025

Show notes

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

The long climb back Jan 06, 2025

Show notes

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)

The journalist who took down a billion-dollar company Dec 30, 2024

Show notes

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

The cricket star who learned to fly Dec 23, 2024

Show notes

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)

The bullet that ended our friendship Dec 16, 2024

Show notes

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

After doomsday: I outgrew a cult and became a professor Dec 09, 2024

Show notes

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

Naked and alone: the comedian trapped in a reality TV show Dec 02, 2024

Show notes

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

How my mysterious childhood became a best-selling novel Nov 25, 2024

Show notes

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

The sports scandal scoop that almost destroyed me Nov 18, 2024

Show notes

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

Saved by goats after my fall from the sacred mountain Nov 11, 2024

Show notes

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

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