Lives Less Ordinary

Latest Episodes:

How I survived a pirate hijack Jul 02, 2023

Show notes

Marine engineer Chirag Bahri was trapped for eight gruelling months on a chemical tanker.

Chirag loved his job working in the engine rooms of huge commercial ships. But in May 2010, while sailing through the Gulf of Aden, a group of pirates boarded the ship and held the crew to ransom off the coast of Somalia. Over the next eight months the pirates became increasingly violent, torturing the crew when their demands were not met. Despite the desperate conditions, Chirag still had his work to do. The ship was running out of fuel, and starting to malfunction.

Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Rebecca Vincent Editor: Munazza Khan

Love, war, and the cutting room floor Jun 25, 2023

Show notes

Mariam and Mohammed are Yemeni filmmakers who turned the lens on their own relationship.

Mariam Al-Dhubhani and Mohammed Al-Jaberi's love story started in friendship, and it didn't take long before they fell for each other. Not even living in different continents – or a civil war – could get in their way. But when a heartbreaking loss shook the foundation of their relationship for the first time, it was a video camera that helped them find their way back to one another.

Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Gaia Caramazza Editor: Munazza Khan

He was almost a mass shooter – an act of kindness stopped him Jun 18, 2023

Show notes

Aaron Stark now works to raise awareness around why mass attacks happen.

Aaron had a chaotic and violent childhood, and by the time he was a teenager he was homeless, angry and traumatised. At his lowest point, he began to plan an appaling act of violence in a bid to punish the world around him. He wanted to get hold of a gun, but before he could, his best friend Mike changed the course of his life with a small, simple act of kindness.

This episode includes themes of suicide, self harm and drug use.

If you need support relating to any of the issues we've covered in this interview, you can find more information on the BBC Action line website or at Befrienders.org

Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Harry Graham and Emily Naylor Editor: Munazza Khan

Teenage dreams on the Indian Ocean Jun 11, 2023

Show notes

At the age of 13 Laura Dekker fought for her right to sail solo around the world.

Laura comes from a family of sailing enthusiasts, and her father taught her the ropes early. By 11 years old she was sailing unaided for weeks at a time, and at 13 she felt ready to tackle her biggest challenge yet. Her parents supported her decision, but the Dutch authorities had concerns; was it responsible to allow a child to circumnavigate the world alone?

Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: May Cameron

'Don't anger the monster', part 2 Jun 04, 2023

Show notes

Rowena Chiu was kept silent for 20 years by former film boss Harvey Weinstein. Rowena thought that speaking up about her alleged sexual assault by Weinstein would end up with him in court. But instead she was pressured into signing an NDA so severe that she could tell no one, at times even fearing for her safety. Keeping this secret sent Rowena to a very dark place. But decades later the #MeToo movement set her free.

This episode contains references to suicide.

The news archive is from NBC and ABC

Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Rebecca Vincent

'Don't anger the monster', part 1 May 28, 2023

Show notes

Rowena Chiu on surviving the Hollywood sexual predator Harvey Weinstein.

Rowena was just 24 when she became an assistant to Weinstein at his film company. She knew he was a difficult boss, but nothing prepared her for what happened one night in Venice in 1998. She says he told her he ‘liked Chinese girls’, and sexually assaulted her in his hotel room. It was the start of a story she never wanted to be part of.

The news archive is from CBS.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Rebecca Vincent

Sugar sandwiches and smarts: a poor kid's fairytale ending May 21, 2023

Show notes

Raised by addicts, Dr Katriona O'Sullivan defied the odds to become a university lecturer.

Her parents were addicted to heroin, she was neglected and not fed. But for the care she received from two influential teachers and the occasional stroke of luck, life may have gone in a very different direction.

Katriona's written a book about her life called Poor.

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Edgar Maddicott

Lola the bare-knuckle drag queen May 14, 2023

Show notes

Martial arts kept him out of jail, but drag artistry made him whole.

Diego Garijo was bullied for his femininity as a child, so as he grew up he toughened up his image. He was in trouble with the law, until he found his focus as a professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter. But when Diego’s career came to a brutal halt, creating a drag persona, Lola, gave him a new lease of life.

Presenter: Andrea Kennedy Producer: Louise Morris Sound design: Joel Cox Editor: Munazza Khan

I was there the night Emmett Till was taken May 07, 2023

Show notes

Wheeler Parker is Emmett Till's cousin and the last surviving witness to his abduction.

Emmett's brutal murder in Mississippi in 1955 sparked a wave of protest in America. The 14-year-old African American was lynched for whistling at a white woman, Carolyn Bryant Donham, who recently died aged 88. Reverend Wheeler Parker was Emmett's cousin and was in the next room to him when he was kidnapped. The horrific events of that night have shaped Wheeler's life. We spoke to him before the news of Donham's death.

Wheeler has written a book alongside lawyer and journalist Christopher Benson called: A Few Days Full of Trouble. We spoke to them before the death of Carolyn Bryant Donham.

This programme contains some distressing scenes.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Deiniol Buxton and Troy Holmes Editor: Munazza Khan

Tanzania’s hip-hop politician Apr 30, 2023

Show notes

Joseph Mbilinyi pioneered Swahili rap and then turned to politics, but ended up in jail.

In the 1990s he'd become one of Tanzania's biggest stars under the stage name Sugu. He'd released albums, toured the country and abroad, and helped create a new genre called Bongo Flava. He's known for hard-hitting, often political, lyrics. In 2010 he took that message to parliament when he was elected as an opposition MP. But he ended up being jailed after speaking out against the president of the time.

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Rob Wilson Editor: Munazza Khan