Lives Less Ordinary Podcast
The most incredible true stories from around the world, told by the people who lived them. Step into someone else鈥檚 life and expect the unexpected.
Lives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the 蜜芽传媒 World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. Step into someone else鈥檚 life and expect the unexpected.
Each episode a guest shares their most dramatic, moving, personal story. Listen for unbelievable twists, mysteries uncovered, and inspiring journeys - spanning the entire human experience.
Our guests come from every corner of the globe: from Burundi to Beverly Hills, New Zealand to North Korea, Rajasthan to Rio. And their stories can be about anything: tales of survival, humour, resilience and intrigue. From the mind-blowing account of the Japanese man trapped in his own reality TV show, to the Swedish women rescued from lions by a tin of spam. It鈥檚 life鈥檚 wild side, in stereo.
Lives Less Ordinary is brought to you by the team behind Outlook, the home of true life storytelling on 蜜芽传媒 World Service radio for nearly 60 years.
Got a story to tell? Send an email to liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
You can read our privacy notice here:
/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice
Episodes to download
-
![]()
Rewind: An author, his cellmate, and a new beginning
Sun 30 Mar 2025
How a book-loving prisoner showed a young Alex Wheatle the path to self-belief
-
![]()
My hunt for the Gutenberg 鈥� the rare book that solved a family mystery
Mon 24 Mar 2025
Michael Visontay鈥檚 unexpected link to the Gutenberg Bible, the world鈥檚 most coveted book
-
![]()
Rewind: The spy who wanted to bring down apartheid Part 2
Mon 17 Mar 2025
ANC spy Sue Dobson infiltrated the South African government. Then her cover was blown.
-
![]()
Rewind: The spy who wanted to bring down apartheid Part 1
Mon 10 Mar 2025
Another chance to hear one of our favourite episodes, a story of spycraft in South Africa
-
![]()
Held hostage by al-Qaeda: my desert odyssey
Mon 3 Mar 2025
Edith Blais was kidnapped by armed militants and held captive in the Sahara for 450 days
-
![]()
The unmaking of a child soldier
Mon 24 Feb 2025
As a boy, Ishmael Beah was forced to kill. How do you turn a soldier back into a child?
-
![]()
The WW2 spy and the little leaf that saved her
Mon 17 Feb 2025
In a desolate concentration camp, Odette Hallowes discovers a tiny symbol of hope
-
![]()
How鈥檇 you get so rich? A dream to change my family鈥檚 fortune
Mon 10 Feb 2025
Reggie Nelson knocked on the poshest doors in London and asked a million-dollar question
-
![]()
The DNA request that revealed my child had gone missing
Mon 3 Feb 2025
Cathy Terkanian turned sleuth when told the baby she鈥檇 had to give up, had disappeared
-
![]()
My 'miracle baby', born 15 months after I lost my love
Mon 27 Jan 2025
When her partner died, Ellidy Pullin chose an unconventional path to motherhood
-
![]()
Stolen as a baby, I called my abductor 鈥楳om鈥�
Mon 20 Jan 2025
A mysterious fire, a missing baby, and a secret that would rip two families apart
-
![]()
Black boy joy: defying stereotypes on the London stage
Mon 13 Jan 2025
Ryan Calais Cameron鈥檚 stories and characters shattered convention in UK theatre
-
![]()
The long climb back
Mon 6 Jan 2025
It started as a magical day for two friends but then a rock came loose
-
![]()
The journalist who took down a billion-dollar company
Mon 30 Dec 2024
Dan McCrum investigated a story at Wirecard that had him fearing for his safety
-
![]()
The cricket star who learned to fly
Mon 23 Dec 2024
Ricky Ellcock鈥檚 rollercoaster life as a fast bowler and airline pilot
-
![]()
The bullet that ended our friendship
Mon 16 Dec 2024
Paul Rousseau was accidentally shot in the head by his best friend and flatmate
-
![]()
After doomsday: I outgrew a cult and became a professor
Mon 9 Dec 2024
When the world fails to end Jerald Walker is left searching for something to believe in
-
![]()
Naked and alone: the comedian trapped in a reality TV show
Mon 2 Dec 2024
Nasubi had no idea his 15-month fight to survive was being broadcast on Japanese TV
-
![]()
How my mysterious childhood became a best-selling novel
Mon 25 Nov 2024
Trent Dalton discovered he was on the fringe of one of Australia鈥檚 biggest crime stories
-
![]()
The sports scandal scoop that almost destroyed me
Mon 18 Nov 2024
In 1998 Finnish journalist Johanna Aatsalo published a story that made her a hate figure
-
![]()
Saved by goats after my fall from the sacred mountain
Mon 11 Nov 2024
When he slid off a 40-metre cliff in the jungle, Morgan Segui thought he was sure to die
-
![]()
Looking for my son for 58 years, part 2
Mon 4 Nov 2024
Bestselling writer Lesley Pearse never stopped looking for her son
-
![]()
Looking for my son for 58 years, part 1
Mon 28 Oct 2024
Bestselling writer Lesley Pearse's own story is wilder than any romance
-
![]()
The Wicker Man: Learning to love the film that broke us
Sun 20 Oct 2024
The director's obsessive quest to make this iconic horror film would devastate his family
-
![]()
"He counted 3, 2, 1 鈥� then stabbed me in the heart"
Sun 13 Oct 2024
Kieran Quinlan was on his way to a party when a man with a knife attacked him
-
![]()
The US鈥檚 first black astronaut trainee reaches space at 90
Sun 6 Oct 2024
In May 2024 Ed Dwight became the oldest person to travel to the edge of space
-
![]()
Love, grief, and an AI chatbot
Sun 29 Sep 2024
Joshua created an AI simulation of his deceased fianc茅e to help him deal with his loss
-
![]()
A love story and a battle cry in the Ecuadorian rainforest
Sun 22 Sep 2024
Nemonte Nenquimo is an indigenous leader who fought back against the oil giants
-
![]()
The boy who hid from Nazis in the woods, part 2
Sun 15 Sep 2024
Maxwell Smart survived the Holocaust by living in a makeshift bunker on the forest floor
-
![]()
The boy who hid from Nazis in the woods, part 1
Sun 8 Sep 2024
Maxwell Smart survived the Holocaust by living in a makeshift bunker on the forest floor
