Lives Less Ordinary

While visiting friends in Uruguay, British teacher Tom Michell saw a penguin covered in oil and tar on a beach. Tom cleaned the bird as best he could and then tried to release it. The penguin refused to return to the wild, it just followed Tom around. So he took it home, smuggling the animal across the border into Argentina where he lived and worked at a boarding school. The penguin became a part of his life, and the school's life - with a remarkable influence on everyone who came into contact with it.Later Tom entertained his children, friends and family with tales of the penguin. He put those stories into a bestselling book, The Penguin Lessons, now the subject of a film starring British comedian Steve Coogan.Lives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected.    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. These are stories that stay with you.    Our guests come from every corner of the globe: from Burundi to Beverly Hills, New Zealand to North Korea, Rajasthan to Rio. And their stories can be about anything: tales of survival, humour or resilience. From the mind-blowing account of the Japanese man trapped in his own reality TV show, to the Swedish women rescued from lions by a tin of spam. It’s life’s wild side, in stereo. Lives Less Ordinary is brought to you by the team behind Outlook, the home of true life storytelling on BBC World Service radio for nearly 60 years.   Got a story to tell? Send an email to liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Hetal BapodraYou can read our privacy notice here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice

In Judith Obina Okumu's imagination, Joseph Kony was a monster. As leader of the Lord's Resistance Army he'd fought a decades-long war against the government of Yoweri Museveni – displacing and destroying hundreds of thousands of lives across Northern Uganda in the process. But one day, a visit from a stranger would challenge Judith to face her fears. In her role as assistant private secretary to President Museveni, Judith was introduced to Joseph Kony's mother, Nora Anek. After three years of gaining her trust, Judith asked Nora if she would go to meet her son at his forest hideout and persuade him to engage with peace talks. What Judith didn't know was that the President wanted her to go too. She was convinced it was the last journey she'd ever make. But after 14 days of talks, Judith and Nora helped broker peace in Northern Uganda. Lives Less Ordinary is a weekly podcast from the BBC World Service that seeks out the most incredible true stories from around the world. Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected.  Each episode, a guest shares their most intimate and defining personal story. Listen for real-life accounts, unbelievable twists, and inspiring journeys, which prove just how extraordinary the human experience can be.Lives Less Ordinary is brought to you by the team behind Outlook, the home of human storytelling on the BBC World Service for nearly 60 years.Got a story to tell? Send an email to liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Anna Lacey

Opal Lee is now affectionately known as the Grandmother of Juneteenth. She led the campaign for the 19th June, the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Texas were finally told that they were free, to be declared a national holiday. As President Biden signed the bill into law, Opal stood beside him. She had very personal reasons for wanting all Americans to think about freedom and the damage that racism can do.In 1939 on the 19th of June, just days after she and her family had moved into a predominantly white neighbourhood in Fort Worth, Texas, their house was destroyed by a white mob. Opal was just 12. The family never spoke about the event again.Opal went on to work as a teacher and counsellor in school, and then set up a food bank and later a farm to help those struggling to feed their families. She also organised local events to mark Juneteenth in Texas. In 2016, when she was 89, Opal came up with the idea to walk to Washington to ask the President to declare the day a national holiday. The campaign, and their petition, grew slowly at first and then a seismic event, the murder of George Floyd by a police officer, galvanised people and created a new sense of urgency to bring about change. Now armed with a petition complete with 1.5 million signatures, Opal's campaign was successful.Opal Lee is now 98, she’s been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and she’s been given the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the nation’s highest civilian honour.Archive used from CBS NewsPresenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Andrea Kennedy and June ChristieGet in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

In this engaging conversation, Dr. Pierdante Piccioni, an Italian doctor and chief of the emergency department, shares his extraordinary journey after a life-altering accident erased 12 years of memory. He talks about the disorienting experience of waking up to a new world and reconnecting with a family he did not recognize. Through his struggle with identity and the emotional challenges of memory loss, he explores themes of isolation, love, and the evolution of familial bonds, ultimately leading to his transformation and return to medicine with renewed empathy.

Alexandra Morton-Hayward unlocks the secrets of the human brain but her own betrays her. Every night Ally Morton-Hayward has a headache so painful it wakes her up. She says it makes her feel like a werewolf. But by day she's unlocking the secrets of other human brains. Ally was at university when she started feeling a shocking and extraordinary pain in her head - 'cluster headaches' - which became so debilitating she had to drop out. While the rest of her friends were finishing their degrees, Alexandra decided to do something different – she got a job as an undertaker. It was at the mortuary that Ally held her first human brain and observed its delicate texture. When she began reading about ancient human brains that had been found intact around the world, she was amazed – how could something usually so delicate survive for thousands of years? Today she's leading the effort from Oxford University to understand how this is possible, whilst her own brain pushes her to become a master of pain and resilience.Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: May CameronGet in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

Remembering the former president of Uruguay: José 'Pepe' Mujica. He started life as a flower farmer on the outskirts of Montevideo. As a young man he became politically active, part of the left-wing guerilla group the Tupamaros, who were bent on revolution through armed struggle that involved bank heists and kidnappings. With the authorities on his tail Pepe was eventually captured, he was shot six times and later staged what became a record-breaking prison escape. When he was captured and imprisoned again, he was held for 13 years in horrendous conditions but he says the pain and loneliness of that time was when he learned the most about life. A year after the military regime stepped down, Pepe was released and joined formal politics and in 2010 he was voted in as president of Uruguay. He shunned the presidential palace and car for his crumbling farmhouse and old VW Beetle and brought in laws legalising gay marriage and abortion. He had his critics but when he died earlier this month, thousands of people lined the streets to pay their respects. We spoke to Pepe alongside his wife Lucia Topolansky in 2023 and they talked about how their love had changed over their decades together. Presenter: Andrea Kennedy Producer: Louise MorrisGet in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

Marcelo Rubens Paiva was 11 when armed men came and took his father away. Brazil was under a military dictatorship at the time. Marcelo's father was an opponent and was killed for it. His mother Eunice Paiva was now alone, raising five children. For decades she fought for answers from the state. She became a prominent lawyer and human rights defender and helped to set up Brazil's Truth Commission. But when Eunice started to develop Alzheimer's disease it fell to Marcelo, by now a successful author, to tell the family's story. That story has been made into an Oscar-winning film - I'm Still Here. And it's reignited a national debate in Brazil, about the past and the present.Presenter: Jo Fidgen Interpreter: Fernando Duarte Producer: Helen FitzhenryGet in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

Lothar Hermann found out his neighbour was ‘architect of the Holocaust’ Adolf Eichmann.Lothar Hermann’s German-Jewish family perished in the Holocaust, but when he escaped to Argentina, little did he know that within a few years a Nazi fugitive would wind up living at the end of his street. Lilianna Hermann spent two decades uncovering the story of a hidden family hero - her great uncle Lothar - only to find a shocking truth: it was Lothar who had played a vital role in capturing the notorious SS officer and Nazi fugitive, Adolf Eichmann, the man responsible with carrying out Hitler’s Final Solution. But Lothar was not celebrated in Eichmann’s capture and eventual trial and back home Lothar faced threats and indifference from Nazi sympathisers. This is the unbelievable true story of how a blind survivor, living off his pension, brought down one of the architects of the Holocaust. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Edgar Maddicott and Zoe GelberGet in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

Kwesia X grew up in south-east London, surrounded by busy roads and tower blocks. As a teenager her mental health spiralled after a member of her family was killed, and she also lost a close friend to knife crime. Faced with a period of homelessness, Kwesia eventually turned to nature to find peace. Now she's working hard to bring the experience of the natural world to young people in the city, and they're often amazed by the plants and creatures living in the concrete jungle. You can find her videos on her YouTube channel, City Girl in Nature.If you’ve been affected by any of the issues raised in this episode, you can find support at befrienders.orgPresenter: Jo FidgenProducers: Taqwa Sadiq and Harry GrahamGet in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

Juano Diaz was taken in to care aged six, his mother was battling alcoholism and he wasn't being cared for. But Juano missed his mum and with no photos of her, he became obsessed by drawing her face so he wouldn't forget her. He was later adopted by a strict Catholic and Romany Gypsy family but when he came out as gay he was asked to leave. Now down-and-out on the streets of Glasgow, with his life spiralling, he started to search for his mother again. He would scan faces in the crowds, draw his own face to explore his features, feminise them to look more like his mum and soon he discovered his talent for portraiture. Today, he paints the faces of modern icons: Pharell Williams, Madonna, Vivienne Westwood. This would lead to artistic success and a very different lifestyle – including a friendship with Grace Jones and ultimately a whole new family.Juano’s memoir is called Slum Boy.Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Andrea KennedyGet in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784