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Lives Less Ordinary

The most incredible true stories from around the world, told by the people who lived them. Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected.

World Service,202 episodes

Episodes

ListGrid

Fatima Whitbread: from abandoned baby to world champion
The British athlete found both a mother and a coach in one person, and went on to win gold
05 Jan 2026,40 mins,
One suitcase, three kids: a broke scientist pursues a dream
Once a homeless single mum, Dame Ijeoma Uchegbu is now a nanomedicine pioneer
29 Dec 2025,40 mins
I broke the most important rule: don't get attached
Youth worker Nicolas Lunabba let troubled teenager Elijah make a home on his sofa
22 Dec 2025,41 mins
Tulisa: I wanted fame, but it almost destroyed me
Tulisa Contostavlos survived betrayal and a tabloid sting
15 Dec 2025,39 mins
The ragtag boy who was taken in by a football icon
The incredible story of how Brian Clough’s kindness changed a young kid’s life forever
08 Dec 2025,40 mins
My private trauma was leaked to the press – so I fought back
Jenny helped expose a national scandal after her police testimony appeared in a newspaper
01 Dec 2025,41 mins
How Paramore’s singer revived her grandad’s lost album
Grandpa Rusty nurtured Hayley Williams’ musical dreams – now, she’s returning the favour
24 Nov 2025,38 mins
Miriam Toews: A loud voice in a town once ruled by silence
How the author used her strict Mennonite upbringing to tell its unspoken stories
17 Nov 2025,41 mins
Trapped underground: my 54-hour cave rescue
When George Linnane fell in a cave, it was the start of the UK's longest rescue
10 Nov 2025,38 mins
Stabbed as a boy – and becoming a poet for a lost generation
‘The Gen Z poet’ Dan Whitlam survived a violent attack aged 16, he now writes about love
03 Nov 2025,37 mins
Tim Berners-Lee: The man who dreamed of a World Wide Web
The web's inventor on the unique life that inspired a tech revolution
28 Oct 2025,37 mins
The baby-dinosaur hunter who ended up in Hollywood
Jack Horner inspired a character in Jurassic Park after the dino discovery of a lifetime
20 Oct 2025,39 mins
The escape from Vietnam that tore my family apart
Doan made it onto one of the last helicopters from Saigon but her sister was left behind
13 Oct 2025,42 mins
Enter the new dragon: the Bruce Lee of Afghanistan
Abbas Alizada copied his hero’s kung fu moves – and look – and became an overnight star
06 Oct 2025,28 mins
Jane Goodall: In her own words
The celebrated chimpanzee expert talks about her loves and her life amongst the apes
02 Oct 2025,24 mins
Sweet surprise: I found my birth mother in my local bakery
Vamarr and Lenore had a close bond for years without realising they were related
29 Sep 2025,40 mins
Zarna Garg: The rise of an ‘unstoppable’ comedy star
Once a homeless teen in Mumbai, now Zarna Garg’s a top comedian, touring with Tina Fey
22 Sep 2025,41 mins
I sent three innocent teenagers to prison for life
Ron Bishop says police forced him to tell lies on the witness stand during a murder trial
15 Sep 2025,45 mins
Cesar Millan: The ‘dog boy’ who became the Dog Whisperer
Cesar Millan migrated illegally to the US and slept rough before becoming a TV sensation
08 Sep 2025,41 mins
Sole survivor: Eight days in the jungle after my plane crashed
Annette Herfkens's romantic getaway ended in disaster
01 Sep 2025,40 mins
Coming up in the new season of Lives Less Ordinary
A heads-up on some of the extraordinary stories to look forward to from September
28 Aug 2025,3 mins
Hold Fast! 8. Our duty is done
Siobhάn McSweeney tells the extraordinary story of sailing cargo ship Avontuur
25 Aug 2025,30 mins
Hold Fast! 7. I want to hug a cow
Siobhán McSweeney tells the extraordinary story of sailing cargo ship Avontuur
25 Aug 2025,23 mins
Hold Fast! 6. Unicorn poo
Siobhán McSweeney tells the extraordinary story of sailing cargo ship Avontuur
18 Aug 2025,18 mins
Hold Fast! 5. No better mirror than the sea
Siobhán McSweeney tells the extraordinary story of sailing cargo ship Avontuur
18 Aug 2025,25 mins
Hold Fast! 4. Taking the biscuit
Siobhán McSweeney tells the extraordinary story of sailing cargo ship Avontuur
11 Aug 2025,17 mins
Hold Fast! 3. The world as you know it no longer exists
Siobhάn McSweeney tells the extraordinary story of sailing cargo ship Avontuur
11 Aug 2025,23 mins
Hold Fast! 2. I didn’t know the sea was so big
Siobhán McSweeney tells the extraordinary story of sailing cargo ship Avontuur
04 Aug 2025,18 mins
Hold Fast! 1. Signs from the universe
Siobhán McSweeney tells the extraordinary story of sailing cargo ship Avontuur
04 Aug 2025,24 mins
My way out of the woods
A corporate high-flyer lived in a forest after a spiral of debt, shame and secrecy
28 Jul 2025,41 mins,