Lives Less Ordinary

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Discovering my mother was a Vietnamese rock'n'roll star Jan 22, 2024

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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

Searching for the last man in the forest Jan 15, 2024

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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

Hunting for icons in the underworld, part 2 Jan 08, 2024

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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

Hunting for icons in the underworld, part 1 Jan 01, 2024

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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

Love in the time of revolution, part 2 Dec 25, 2023

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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.

Love in the time of revolution, part 1 Dec 18, 2023

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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

An author, his cellmate, and a new beginning Dec 11, 2023

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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

Scams and poetry in Moscow’s underbelly Dec 04, 2023

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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

Introducing Amazing Sport Stories Nov 30, 2023

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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

Unmasking my best friend Nov 27, 2023

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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

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