Lives Less Ordinary

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My grandmother walked the rabbit-proof fence Mar 31, 2024

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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

How to talk to guerillas Mar 25, 2024

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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

Behind the locked door Mar 18, 2024

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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

I cycled across Africa for a place at my dream university Mar 11, 2024

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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

Going cold turkey in a Bangkok prison Mar 04, 2024

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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

The Pacific odyssey of a runaway rebel Feb 26, 2024

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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’

Fugees Family: the football team who became my life Feb 19, 2024

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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

My dad was Britain's 'most wanted' Feb 12, 2024

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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)

Trapped in an icy hell: my 72 day mountain escape Feb 05, 2024

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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

A Libyan kidnapping and the words that brought us together Jan 29, 2024

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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

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