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Lives Less Ordinary

Latest episodes

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Aug 18, 2024 • 40min

Buddhist chants and Ibiza trance: A Spanish boy’s odyssey

Osel Hita Torres was a Spanish toddler when he was recognised by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of a well-known Tibetan Buddhist monk and teacher called Lama Yeshe. As a child he was sent to a monastery in India to prepare for life as a monk and scholar. Many expected him to carry on Lama Yeshe’s work of teaching Buddhism around the world when he grew up. But Osel had other ideas. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Zoe Gelber Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784(Photo: The Little Lama Osel with Geshe Gendun Choephel (left) and Lama Zopa Rinpoche (right): Credit: Jacie Keeley)
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Aug 10, 2024 • 26min

The Lost Boy: A never-ending journey, part 2

At the age of 11 in 1985, Salva Dut was separated from his family by the Sudanese civil war. After a decade moving between different refugee camps, and presumed an orphan, Salva was recommended for resettlement in the United States as part of a UN-backed programme to support some 4,000 so-called 'lost boys' who'd been displaced by conflict. Salva settled with a host family in Rochester, New York. But when he was in his late 20s, he found out that his father was in fact still alive. Salva travelled back to Sudan to find him. His father was in a clinic and sick with a waterborne disease. Salva decided to try to bring clean water to his home village. A few years later, he established an NGO, Water for South Sudan, and he returned to his birthplace to drill his first well. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Jo ImpeyGet in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784(Photo: Salva Dut drilling for water; Credit: Water for South Sudan, Inc)
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Aug 4, 2024 • 38min

The Lost Boy: A never-ending journey, part 1

Salva Dut, one of Sudan's 'Lost Boys,' shares his incredible journey of survival after being separated from his family during the civil war. He vividly recounts his harrowing escape from Sudan at age 11, facing trauma and the challenges of life in a refugee camp. Salva also reflects on the resilience of his community and the bonds formed among the boys during their ordeal. The emotional weight of isolation, longing for family, and the hope for a new life in the U.S. paints a powerful picture of perseverance and the search for connection.
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Jul 28, 2024 • 41min

Britain’s infected blood scandal, my quest for the truth

In the early 1980s Jason Evans' father was given a blood product called Factor 8 to treat his haemophilia, which infected him with HIV. He was one of thousands of people in the UK who were unwittingly infected with blood-borne viruses from blood products and infusions, despite the dangers being already known. Jason's father died when he was just four, and he spent most of his life campaigning for the truth about what happened.Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Julian SiddleGet in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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Jul 21, 2024 • 40min

The family hiding in the bush after leaking Russian secrets

Nick Stride, a UK builder, feared for his family's safety after exposing corruption in Moscow. They fled to Australia, but their asylum claim was rejected. They went on the run to a remote area, fearing for their lives. The story is detailed in the book 'Run For Your Life' by Sue Williams.
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Jul 14, 2024 • 40min

'It's much easier for them to create a spy than catch a spy'

Anoosheh Ashoori was visiting Iran when he was snatched off the street by security forces. He was falsely accused of espionage, and spent years in one of the country's toughest prisons. For a long time, he didn't know why he'd been targeted. Anoosheh was a British-Iranian dual national, but he'd worked a career as an engineer, and had no links to intelligence services. Gradually, as his incarceration wore on, he realised he'd become a pawn in a game of global politics. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Harry Graham Editor: Andrea KennedyGet in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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Jul 7, 2024 • 45min

Dead Man Walking: The US nun who took on the death penalty

When Sister Helen Prejean agreed to write to a convicted murderer on Louisiana’s death row in 1982, she had no idea what was coming. She would end up becoming his spiritual advisor, eventually accompanying him to his execution two years later. The experience changed her profoundly. She wrote a book about what she'd witnessed on death row, Dead Man Walking, which was turned into a major Hollywood movie in 1995. Forty years later, she has witnessed six more state executions - and is still tirelessly fighting to end them.Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Zoe GelberGet in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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Jun 30, 2024 • 40min

My father Faiz: Pakistan’s revolutionary poet, part 2

Salima Hashmi is a pioneer of political satire on Pakistani TV. But after the dictator General Zia took power in the 1977 military coup, she faced new and dangerous challenges when her show was banned. It was a troubling time for Salima’s family but from exile, her father Faiz Ahmed Faiz wrote his most famous poem, Hum Dekhenge, a battle cry for liberation. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Maryam Maruf Archive from the Faiz Foundation Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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Jun 23, 2024 • 41min

My father Faiz: Pakistan’s revolutionary poet, part 1

Salima Hashmi grew up in Lahore witnessing the radical poetry of her celebrated father, Faiz Ahmed Faiz. It inspired her own path into art and performance, creating Pakistani TV’s first ever political satire show, Such Gup. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Maryam MarufGet in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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Jun 16, 2024 • 37min

The man who finds water in the desert

Alain Gachet quit a lucrative career in oil to search for water underground. Colleagues told him he was a 'crazy donkey', but he eventually developed an algorithm that allowed him to 'peel the earth like an onion' and detect water beneath the surface. Soon, he was asked to train his talents to help pinpoint areas of life-saving reserves of water for desperate refugees escaping the conflict in Darfur. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Anna Lacey and Hetal Bapodra Editor: Munazza KhanGet in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

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