Lives Less Ordinary Podcast
Have you ever locked eyes with a stranger and wondered, "What鈥檚 their story?" Step into someone else鈥檚 life and expect the unexpected. Extraordinary stories from around the world.
Episodes to download
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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 鈥� and becoming a poet for a lost generation
Mon 3 Nov 2025
鈥楾he Gen Z poet鈥� 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鈥檚 kung fu moves 鈥� and look 鈥� 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 鈥榰nstoppable鈥� comedy star
Mon 22 Sep 2025
Once a homeless teen in Mumbai, now Zarna Garg鈥檚 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 鈥榙og boy鈥� 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
Siobh维n McSweeney tells the extraordinary story of sailing cargo ship Avontuur
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Hold Fast! 7. I want to hug a cow
Mon 25 Aug 2025
Siobh谩n McSweeney tells the extraordinary story of sailing cargo ship Avontuur
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Hold Fast! 6. Unicorn poo
Mon 18 Aug 2025
Siobh谩n McSweeney tells the extraordinary story of sailing cargo ship Avontuur
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Hold Fast! 5. No better mirror than the sea
Mon 18 Aug 2025
Siobh谩n McSweeney tells the extraordinary story of sailing cargo ship Avontuur
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Hold Fast! 4. Taking the biscuit
Mon 11 Aug 2025
Siobh谩n McSweeney tells the extraordinary story of sailing cargo ship Avontuur
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Hold Fast! 3. The world as you know it no longer exists
Mon 11 Aug 2025
Siobh维n McSweeney tells the extraordinary story of sailing cargo ship Avontuur
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Hold Fast! 2. I didn鈥檛 know the sea was so big
Mon 4 Aug 2025
Siobh谩n McSweeney tells the extraordinary story of sailing cargo ship Avontuur
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Hold Fast! 1. Signs from the universe
Mon 4 Aug 2025
Siobh谩n McSweeney tells the extraordinary story of sailing cargo ship Avontuur
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My way out of the woods
Mon 28 Jul 2025
A corporate high-flyer lived in a forest after a spiral of debt, shame and secrecy
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Sex, love, Rock 'n' Roll... and The Sopranos
Sun 20 Jul 2025
Robin Green went from being a 'clueless girl' to the only woman in the writers' room
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Why I wore iron underwear on Kabul鈥檚 busiest street
Sun 13 Jul 2025
Kubra Khademi鈥檚 protest against sexual violence brought an Afghan street to a standstill
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Kidnapped at four: How I found my way home
Sun 6 Jul 2025
A promise to return to his mother helped Antonio Salazar-Hobson through his darkest hours
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The penguin that followed a teacher home
Sun 29 Jun 2025
Tom Michell on the lessons he learned from his adopted rescue bird
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Meeting the monster: My 14 days with Joseph Kony
Sun 22 Jun 2025
Judith Obina helped bring peace to Uganda with a secret weapon: Joseph Kony鈥檚 mother
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The Grandmother of Juneteenth, still battling for change at 98
Sun 15 Jun 2025
Opal Lee walked to Washington to demand a new national holiday marking the end of slavery
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The man who woke up in the future
Sun 8 Jun 2025
When Dr Pier Piccioni woke up after a car accident, 12 years of his life had been erased
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The mortician, the "werewolf" and the keeper of brains
Sun 1 Jun 2025
Alexandra Morton-Hayward unlocks the secrets of the human brain but her own betrays her
Watch Lives Less Ordinary on YouTube
Videos from our extraordinary podcast Lives Less Ordinary.
