
Lives Less Ordinary
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.
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, resilience and intrigue. 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 2784
You can read our privacy notice here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice
Latest episodes

Nov 7, 2022 • 36min
My father’s hidden crimes
Analía’s father was accused of being a government torturer — he said it was a lie.A phone call turned Analía Kalinec’s comfortable life upside down. Her father was accused of crimes committed during the Argentine dictatorship twenty years previously, when around 30,000 people were disappeared by security forces. He denied it, but Analía decided to investigate. Her findings would change her view of the father she had loved.Analía has written a book called Llevaré su Nombre (I Carry Your Name).Presenter: Emily Webb
Producer: Louise Morris
Interpreter: Salomé Paulo

Oct 31, 2022 • 40min
The child spy and her secret agent parents
Sue-Ellen Doherty was trained by her parents to spy for Australia during the Cold War.For Sue-Ellen Kusher, nee Doherty, growing up in the suburbs of Brisbane was far from normal. Both her parents worked for the Australian Secret Intelligence Organisation, ASIO, and in the early days of their marriage, they brought up their three children to be part of the family business. It was the 1950s, and Russian and Chinese communists were regarded as enemies. Sue-Ellen spoke to us in 2021.Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: Katy Takatsuki
Editor: Munazza Khan

Oct 23, 2022 • 34min
A fake billionaire in North Korea, part 2
Jim is deep undercover in North Korea — but will he find proof of illegal weapons deals...He'd been sent to the isolated country by a documentary film-maker called Mads Brugger, to pose as a fake investor interested in arms. Jim, Mads and the team had spent years infiltrating a North Korean network in Europe, but now they were on North Korean turf the risks were bigger than ever. Jim is treated like a king, but no weapons deals emerge, until suddenly he's driven out of town and taken down into a mysterious basement. Presenter: Emily Webb
Producer: Harry Graham
Editor: Munazza Khan
Sound design: Joel Cox

Oct 16, 2022 • 33min
A fake billionaire in North Korea, part 1
Jim Latrache-Qvortrup posed as a weapons dealer to expose a North Korean criminal network.Jim was an unusual secret agent. He'd grown up poor in Denmark, and had gone on to become a drug dealer to the rich and famous in Copenhagen. After years in prison, he was reformed but bored. Then, a filmmaker called Mads Brügger approached him, and asked him to take part in a high-stakes sting in North Korea. Mads needed someone to pretend to be a dodgy billionaire investor interested in a sanctions-breaking weapons deal. It was a perilous mission, failure would mean prison or death.Presenter: Emily Webb
Producer: Harry GrahamEditor: Munazza Khan

Oct 9, 2022 • 1h 4min
Opiyo’s law: Never let fear rule your life
In September 2020, Nicholas Opiyo awoke to a commotion in his flat. There had been a robbery and all his personal electronics had been stolen. He says he tracked his devices to a shocking and impenetrable location: the headquarters of Uganda’s military intelligence. He believes he was targeted because of his work. The Ugandan authorities chose not to respond to these allegations. Opiyo, as he prefers to be known, survived civil war to become one of Uganda’s top human rights lawyers. He’s taken on huge cases, including successfully overturning the country’s anti-LGBTQ legislation in 2014. He’s received awards for his efforts but also hostility. The break-in at his home was ominous. Months later, Opiyo would be arrested – on false charges – and he'd need to make a life-changing choice. Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: Maryam Maruf(Photo: Nicholas Opiyo. Credit: Courtesy of Nicholas Opiyo)

Oct 2, 2022 • 47min
Hip hop, lies and the ultimate prize, part 2
Silibil N’ Brains found fame as fake American rappers - but how long can you live a lie?A record deal with Sony, celebrity parties and touring with his heroes, life looked good for Gavin Bain, one half of the duo. But with fame came visibility, the pressure mounted and they could no longer outrun the truth.Gavin's written a book about his undercover life called Straight Outta Scotland and is making music with his new band Hopeless Heroic.If you need support relating to any of the issues we've covered in this interview, you can find more information on the BBC Action line website or at Befrienders.org. Clip: MTV TRL/ the MTV Entertainment GroupPresenter: Mobeen Azhar
Producer: Louise Morris

Sep 25, 2022 • 50min
Hip hop, lies and the ultimate prize, part 1
The Scottish rappers who fooled the music industry.
Gavin Bain was one half of Silibil N’ Brains, a Californian rap duo on the cusp of greatness.
But there was a problem - the story of these hip hop stars was fake. Gavin’s never even been to America. Film clips: The Mask/Chuck Russell/ New Line Cinema and Dark Horse Entertainment.
The Secret of My Success/Herbert Ross/Rastar
Beetlejuice/Tim Burton/The Geffen CompanyPresenter: Mobeen Azhar
Producer: Louise Morris

Sep 18, 2022 • 29min
I was the voice of Bambi – and kept it secret for years
Donnie Dunagan was a Disney child star in the 1930s before becoming a US Marine.He was born in 1934 and grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, in the midst of the Great Depression. After winning a talent show aged four he was scouted and whisked to Hollywood where he starred in several movies – including a role as the voice of Walt Disney’s iconic animated deer Bambi in 1942. But the Second World War would put a halt to his movie career, and Donnie eventually became a US Marine – never telling anyone about his Hollywood history until he was publicly unmasked in 2004. On the 80th anniversary of Bambi's release, he shares his story.Presenter: Mobeen Azhar
Producer: Zoe Gelber

Sep 11, 2022 • 30min
Black, Korean, stateless: a Slickyboy’s American dream, part 2
Growing up as the son of a sex worker and a Black US soldier in South Korea in the 70s, Milton Washington was seen as an outcast, and "not Korean." He couldn't even get a birth certificate. Still, he was loved and protected by his mum, the two of them against the world. She told him his dad was in America, a land of flying cars and ice cream mountains — and that was where Milton wanted to be, too. Milton's story continues. Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: Laura Thomas

Sep 4, 2022 • 40min
Black, Korean, stateless: A Slickyboy’s American dream, part 1
Growing up as the son of a sex worker and a black US soldier in South Korea in the '70s, Milton Washington was seen as an outcast, and "not Korean". He couldn't even get a birth certificate. Still, he was loved and protected by his mum, the two of them against the world. She told him his dad was in America, a land of flying cars and ice cream mountains - and that was where Milton wanted to be, too. Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: Laura Thomas