Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK.

Find out how to listen to other BBC stations

Episode details

World Service,14 Dec 2015,49 mins

I Nearly Drowned in Space

Outlook

Available for over a year

Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano spent five months on board the International Space Station in 2013. One of his duties was to carry out space walks to perform essential repairs. On one of these Luca realised something was terribly wrong. Madrid-based hairdresser Alberto Olmeda uses samurai swords, claws and even a blow torch to give his clients the perfect look. Syeda Ghulam Fatima has devoted her life to fighting for the rights of Pakistan's brick kiln workers. Bricks are big business in that country, and a major source of jobs. But many workers suffer terrible abuse at the hands of their employers. And they're trapped by debts in a system of bonded labour. Fatima and her family have put themselves at great risk to help thousands of workers escape. She's recently been given the prestigious Clinton Global Citizen award. The 21-year-old actress, Saoirse Ronan is a rising star in Hollywood. Her latest film, Brooklyn, is based on the novel of the same name by Colm Toibin. It tells the story of a young woman who leaves her home in a small Irish town to make a new life in the Brooklyn district of New York. (Picture: Luca Parmitano on his space walk Picture credit: ESA/NASA)

Programme Website
More episodes