Lives Less Ordinary

Have you ever locked eyes with a stranger and wondered, "What’s their story?" Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected. Extraordinary stories from around the world.

World Service,208 episodes

Episodes

ListGrid

The couple who foiled New Zealand’s biggest drugs plot
An ordinary couple caught up in the country's biggest meth case for doing a good deed
16 Feb 2026,38 mins
I bought Macclesfield FC while drunk and it saved my life
When Rob Smethurst was gripped by addiction, building a football club helped him get out
09 Feb 2026,42 mins
Colm Tóibín: How an Irish boy with a stammer found his voice
He’s now a best-selling author who brought the glitz of Hollywood to his small-town home
02 Feb 2026,41 mins
The gay Kenyan boyband star who refused to be defeated
When singer Willis Chimano was outed, the exposure threatened to derail his entire life
26 Jan 2026,36 mins
Laughter saved me: the comedian turning tragedy into comedy
Krystal Evans survived a house fire at 14. To make sense of it, she turned to stand-up
19 Jan 2026,41 mins
Living a lie: discovering my dad faked who he was
Joanne Briggs thought her dad was a scientific superhero. But he was hiding a dark secret
12 Jan 2026,44 mins
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