Podcast Episodes

Tim Berners-Lee: The man who dreamed of a World Wide Web

The inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, on the unique upbringing that inspired a tech revolution.

Tim Berners-Lee has well and truly changed the world. For under-35s it's almost impossib…

Published on 2 months ago

The baby-dinosaur hunter who ended up in Hollywood

Jack Horner inspired a character in Jurassic Park after the dino discovery of a lifetime.

Jack has been fascinated by fossils for as long as he can remember. He spent his childhood digging around in t…

Published on 2 months, 1 week ago

The escape from Vietnam that tore my family apart

In the chaos of the helicopter evacuation from Saigon in April 1975, Doan Hoàng Curtis' sister was somehow left behind. It would haunt her family for years.

Doan was just three years old when her fam…

Published on 2 months, 2 weeks ago

Enter the new dragon: the Bruce Lee of Afghanistan

Abbas Alizada was eight when he first saw a Bruce Lee film. He fell in love with kung-fu, copying his hero’s moves and his look before an online post shot him to overnight fame.

Abbas was born in Kabu…

Published on 2 months, 3 weeks ago

Jane Goodall: In her own words

This extra edition of Lives Less Ordinary is to remember the remarkable conservationist and primatologist Jane Goodall, who has died at 91. The life she lived alongside great apes revolutionised the …

Published on 2 months, 3 weeks ago

Sweet surprise: I found my birth mother in my local bakery

Vamarr Hunter always felt a special bond with the owner of his favourite local bakery — but never imagined she could be his long-lost birth mother.

Vamarr loved to visit the bakery in his home neighb…

Published on 3 months ago

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 and Amy Poehler.

Zarna Garg was in her 40s living in New York City when she went to an open mic night for the ver…

Published on 3 months, 1 week ago

I sent three innocent teenagers to prison for life

Ron Bishop was 14 when he says police forced him to make false statements on the witness stand during a 1984 murder trial. His testimony helped sentence three innocent teenagers to life in prison.

In …

Published on 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Cesar Millan: The ‘dog boy’ who became the Dog Whisperer

Cesar Millan is known for training dogs on TV. What’s less well-known is that he migrated illegally to the US from Mexico and slept rough before making his name.

For the past two decades, Cesar Milla…

Published on 3 months, 3 weeks ago

Sole survivor: Eight days in the jungle after my plane crashed

How a romantic getaway ended in disaster.

Dutch financier Annette Herfkens boarded Vietnam Airlines Flight 474 in November 1992, embarking on what was meant to be a romantic break with her fiancé Will…

Published on 3 months, 4 weeks ago