Lives Less Ordinary Podcast
Have you ever locked eyes with a stranger and wondered, "What’s their story?" Featuring a new season of five remarkable true love stories from around the world.
Introducing a new season of five remarkable true stories in which love rises above prejudice, waits decades, crosses oceans and survives war. From India to Italy, Syria to the Bahamas, and the UK to the US, these are unforgettable stories that reveal how love can survive against the odds, heal old wounds and transform lives forever.
Lives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. 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. Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected.
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:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice
Episodes to download
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Sects, lies and videotape: a Syrian story, part 2
Mon 2 Mar 2026
Accused of spying in rebel-held Syria, Loubna Mrie faces peril and a shattering loss
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Sects, lies and videotape: a Syrian story, part 1
Mon 23 Feb 2026
Loubna Mrie secretly filmed Syria’s uprising, despite her family’s loyalty to the regime
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The couple who foiled New Zealand’s biggest drugs plot
Mon 16 Feb 2026
An ordinary couple caught up in the country's biggest meth case for doing a good deed
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I bought Macclesfield FC while drunk and it saved my life
Mon 9 Feb 2026
When Rob Smethurst was gripped by addiction, building a football club helped him get out
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Colm Tóibín: How an Irish boy with a stammer found his voice
Mon 2 Feb 2026
He’s now a best-selling author who brought the glitz of Hollywood to his small-town home
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The gay Kenyan boyband star who refused to be defeated
Mon 26 Jan 2026
When singer Willis Chimano was outed, the exposure threatened to derail his entire life
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Laughter saved me: the comedian turning tragedy into comedy
Mon 19 Jan 2026
Krystal Evans survived a house fire at 14. To make sense of it, she turned to stand-up
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Living a lie: discovering my dad faked who he was
Mon 12 Jan 2026
Joanne Briggs thought her dad was a scientific superhero. But he was hiding a dark secret
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Fatima Whitbread: from abandoned baby to world champion
Mon 5 Jan 2026
The British athlete found both a mother and a coach in one person, and went on to win gold
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One suitcase, three kids: a broke scientist pursues a dream
Mon 29 Dec 2025
Once a homeless single mum, Dame Ijeoma Uchegbu is now a nanomedicine pioneer
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I broke the most important rule: don't get attached
Mon 22 Dec 2025
Youth worker Nicolas Lunabba let troubled teenager Elijah make a home on his sofa
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Tulisa: I wanted fame, but it almost destroyed me
Mon 15 Dec 2025
Tulisa Contostavlos survived betrayal and a tabloid sting
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The ragtag boy who was taken in by a football icon
Mon 8 Dec 2025
The incredible story of how Brian Clough’s kindness changed a young kid’s life forever
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My private trauma was leaked to the press – so I fought back
Mon 1 Dec 2025
Jenny helped expose a national scandal after her police testimony appeared in a newspaper
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How Paramore’s singer revived her grandad’s lost album
Mon 24 Nov 2025
Grandpa Rusty nurtured Hayley Williams’ musical dreams – now, she’s returning the favour
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Miriam Toews: A loud voice in a town once ruled by silence
Mon 17 Nov 2025
How the author used her strict Mennonite upbringing to tell its unspoken stories
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Trapped underground: my 54-hour cave rescue
Mon 10 Nov 2025
When George Linnane fell in a cave, it was the start of the UK's longest rescue
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Stabbed as a boy – and becoming a poet for a lost generation
Mon 3 Nov 2025
‘The Gen Z poet’ Dan Whitlam survived a violent attack aged 16, he now writes about love
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Tim Berners-Lee: The man who dreamed of a World Wide Web
Tue 28 Oct 2025
The web's inventor on the unique life that inspired a tech revolution
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The baby-dinosaur hunter who ended up in Hollywood
Mon 20 Oct 2025
Jack Horner inspired a character in Jurassic Park after the dino discovery of a lifetime
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The escape from Vietnam that tore my family apart
Mon 13 Oct 2025
Doan made it onto one of the last helicopters from Saigon but her sister was left behind
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Enter the new dragon: the Bruce Lee of Afghanistan
Mon 6 Oct 2025
Abbas Alizada copied his hero’s kung fu moves – and look – and became an overnight star
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Jane Goodall: In her own words
Thu 2 Oct 2025
The celebrated chimpanzee expert talks about her loves and her life amongst the apes
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Sweet surprise: I found my birth mother in my local bakery
Mon 29 Sep 2025
Vamarr and Lenore had a close bond for years without realising they were related
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Zarna Garg: The rise of an ‘unstoppable’ comedy star
Mon 22 Sep 2025
Once a homeless teen in Mumbai, now Zarna Garg’s a top comedian, touring with Tina Fey
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I sent three innocent teenagers to prison for life
Mon 15 Sep 2025
Ron Bishop says police forced him to tell lies on the witness stand during a murder trial
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Cesar Millan: The ‘dog boy’ who became the Dog Whisperer
Mon 8 Sep 2025
Cesar Millan migrated illegally to the US and slept rough before becoming a TV sensation
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Sole survivor: Eight days in the jungle after my plane crashed
Mon 1 Sep 2025
Annette Herfkens's romantic getaway ended in disaster
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Coming up in the new season of Lives Less Ordinary
Thu 28 Aug 2025
A heads-up on some of the extraordinary stories to look forward to from September
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Hold Fast! 8. Our duty is done
Mon 25 Aug 2025
Siobhάn McSweeney tells the extraordinary story of sailing cargo ship Avontuur
Watch Lives Less Ordinary on YouTube
Videos from our extraordinary podcast Lives Less Ordinary.
