Episodi
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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 FouksProducer: May Cameron
Get in touch: [email protected].uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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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 KennedyProducer: Louise Morris
Get in touch: [email protected].uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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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 FidgenInterpreter: Fernando DuarteProducer: Helen Fitzhenry
Get in touch: [email protected].uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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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 AzharProducer: Edgar Maddicott and Zoe Gelber
Get in touch: [email protected].uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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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.org
Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producers: Taqwa Sadiq and Harry Graham
Get in touch: [email protected].uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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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 AzharProducer: Andrea Kennedy
Get in touch: [email protected].uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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Former Harvard athlete Chris Nowinski turned World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) star after a reality TV show catapulted him into the world of professional wrestling. Performing as the obnoxious and slick-talking villain Chris Harvard, he worked alongside superstars like Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, John Cena, and Hulk Hogan. Chris lived the dream, until one fateful match left him suffering from post-concussion syndrome. With his career seemingly at its end, Chris began researching into sports-related head trauma and convincing athletes to donate their brains. His work helped usher in a scientific breakthrough and uncovered a silent epidemic affecting thousands of athletes.
Presenter: Asya FouksProducer: Tommy Dixon
(Photo: Chris Nowinski. Credit: Chris Nowinski)
Get in touch: [email protected].uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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From Paralympic pools to the English Channel, Melanie Barratt took on the toughest swim of her life — laying to rest her demons, and honouring her beloved mum.
Melanie Barratt was born with congenital toxoplasmosis that left her severely visually-impaired. As a teenager she excelled academically but found it hard to keep friends. She found solace in the swimming pool where again she shone, earning a chance to represent Team GB at the 1996 and 2000 Paralympic Games. Despite winning gold medals at both, her confidence in the pool did not extend to her social life, where she struggled with self-loathing. One constant source of support however was her mother, who continued to inspire Melanie even after her death. It would take decades and a gruelling swim across the English Channel – earning a place in history – for Melanie finally to find peace.
Presenter: Jo FidgenProducer: Hetal Bapodra and June Christie
Get in touch: [email protected].uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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After a terrible motorbike accident 18-year-old Alex Lewis was left with no memory of his previous life. The only person he could remember was Marcus, his identical twin brother. He became the person Alex most relied upon to rebuild his entire life and memories. But then Marcus made an extraordinary decision - to shield his brother from their traumatic past by re-writing history and creating a new reality.
For over a decade, Marcus carried the weight of his secret. But when fragments of the past began to emerge, that carefully constructed narrative was shattered, leading to some deeply personal and difficult conversations.
Please note this programme contains themes of child sexual abuse.
Alex and Marcus' story features in a documentary called Tell Me Who I Am which is available on Netflix.
Presenter: Andrea KennedyProducer: Tom Harding Assinder
Photo: Alex and Marcus Lewis Credit: Alex and Marcus Lewis
Get in touch: [email protected].uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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A bonus episode from Dear Daughter - the award-winning podcast from the BBC World Service. You can find more episodes by searching for 'Dear Daughter' wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
Bridgerton actor Adjoa Andoh joins Namulanta in the studio to share the letter she's written to her three children.
She tells them the importance of trusting their bodies and following their instincts - a life philosophy which has sometimes led her into some unexpected situations, especially while pregnant...
Dear Daughter is a podcast all about love, life, family, and raising children. It is the brainchild of Namulanta Kombo, a mother on a quest to create a 'handbook to life' for her daughter, through the advice of parents from all over the world.
Each episode, a guest reads a letter they've written to their children (or their future children, or the children they never had) with the advice, life lessons, and personal stories they'd like to pass on.
Expect extraordinary true stories, inspirational advice for parents, and moving accounts of families, relationships and raising daughters.
Share your letter! What do you want to say to your kids? Or the next generation? Do you have thoughts on motherhood, fatherhood, or parenthood to share? Whether you are a mum or mom, dad or papa, grandparent, uncle, aunt, daughter, son or just want to write a letter, send us a Whatsapp message on +44 800 030 4404 or visit bbcworldservice.com/deardaughter.
You can read our privacy notice here:https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3ZFHNV8v7qgTm1zbKbkwsvR/dear-daughter-privacy-notice
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How a book-loving prisoner showed a young Alex Wheatle the path to self-belief.
Alex had been born in London to Jamaican parents, but grew up in care in the notorious Shirley Oaks children’s home. As a teenager, he was convicted of assaulting a police officer during the Brixton Riots. He felt totally alone and without hope. But as the door slammed on Alex’s prison cell, he met a book-loving man called Simeon who opened his eyes to the importance of his own history – and encouraged him to use his past to write a new and hopeful future. This was originally broadcast in December 2023.
Presenter: Jo FidgenProducer: Hetal Bapodra and Anna Lacey
Get in touch: [email protected].uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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Michael Visontay thought he knew everything about his family’s past, but there was one shadowy character he was aching to know more about: his grandfather’s second wife, Olga. As Michael went through old papers, he uncovered a trail to the world’s most coveted book, the Gutenberg Bible – a rare antique printed in the 1450s – and the scandalous scheme to break it up.
Presenter: Asya FouksProducer: Maryam Maruf
Get in touch: [email protected].uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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ANC spy Sue Dobson infiltrated the South African government. Then her cover was blown.
After training, Sue had got a job within the government's propaganda unit, and she was feeding back good intelligence to her ANC handlers. Then she got a phone call. The security services were on to her, and she was a long way from safety.
Presenter: India RakusenProducer: Harry GrahamEditor: Deiniol BuxtonSound design: Joel Cox
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Sue Dobson was a white South African who risked her life as an ANC secret agent
Sue was a student when she was first recruited as a spy for the African National Congress liberation movement in the 1980s, and she knew that if she was caught she'd face prison, torture or death. Sue's mission would require her to infiltrate the pro-apartheid media establishment, but first she needed to learn spycraft and weapons handling. Her training would take place in Soviet Russia.
Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Harry GrahamEditor: Deiniol BuxtonSound design: Joel Cox
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Edith Blais was kidnapped by armed militants and held captive in the Sahara for 450 days.
As a young French-Canadian who had overcome her teenage agoraphobia, Edith took several years to work up the courage to go travelling – but once she did it, she got the bug. In 2018 she backpacked to West Africa with her good friend Luca Tacchetto. When they got to Benin they were kidnapped by armed militants and taken to the desert in a lawless area of Mali, where groups linked to al-Qaeda were known to operate.
The couple pretended to be husband and wife so they could stay together but Edith soon found herself held captive alone, kept in isolation for long periods of time. As well as suffering physically with dehydration and starvation, she had to find different techniques to keep her mind strong and stay sane. A borrowed pen enabled her to write poetry, and she sang songs to remind herself of her own voice.
After agreeing to convert to Islam she was eventually reunited with Luca. By this time they had been held for 14 months, and they knew they had to break free. But with their captors never more than a few feet away from them, how would they do it? Edith spoke to Jo Fidgen in 2021 about how forces of nature aided their staggering escape. Edith's book about her time in captivity is called The Weight of Sand.
Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Katy Takatsuki
Picture: Edith BlaisCredit: Sara Mauve Ravenelle
Get in touch: [email protected].uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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As a boy, Ishmael Beah was forced to kill. How do you turn a soldier back into a child?
Ishmael Beah was just 13 when war reached his village in Sierra Leone and he was made to flee. In the chaos, he was separated from his family. He ended up with a group of other children at what they thought was the safety of an army base. But instead, he was taught to become a hardened killer and sent out to fight. Nearly three years went by before he was finally rescued by child protection specialists from Unicef, but he was so brainwashed that he didn’t want to leave. It took months of careful rehabilitation and the support of a very special woman to break down his defences.
In 1996, at the age of just 16, he gave a speech at the UN in New York where he recalled his experiences. His testimony formed part of a pivotal report into the impact of armed conflict on children. A decade later, he would become the first Unicef Advocated for Children Affected by War. Today he is a bestselling author and married with three children. This interview was recorded in 2020.
This interview contains disturbing descriptions of violence.
Presenter: Jo FidgenProducers: Edgar Maddicott and Jo ImpeyEditor: Munazza Khan
Photo: Ishmael BeahCredit: Priscillia Kounkou Hoveyda
Get in touch: [email protected].uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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In 1942, several years into the Second World War, the British government sent out a series of bulletins requesting any personal photos the public might have of the French coastline. Odette Hallowes, a French woman living in the UK with her three young children, answered the call and was invited to London where she was offered a role in the Special Operations Executive (SOE). The SOE, formed under the direct orders of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, aimed to create a top-secret underground army to help local resistance movements and conduct espionage and sabotage in enemy-held territories. Odette eventually agreed and arrived in France in November 1942, where she worked undercover, under the code-name ‘Lise’.
The following year, Odette was captured, interrogated, and tortured by the Gestapo. She was sentenced to death and transported to Ravensbrück, a concentration camp for women in northern Germany. In the midst of her suffering and isolation, Odette found solace in the most unexpected form – a tiny, beautiful green leaf on the otherwise desolate camp grounds. This leaf became her lifeline, a symbol of freedom beyond the prison walls.
Shortly after her 33rd birthday and with the war coming to a close, Odette was handed over to the advancing American army and eventually reunited with her children. For her remarkable bravery and stark refusal to betray her fellow secret agents, she was awarded both the George Cross and France's Légion d'Honneur. She even had a major film made about her.
Almost 80 years later, Odette’s granddaughter, Sophie Parker was looking through some of Odette's possessions when she rediscovered that tiny leaf. As Sophie recounts, this leaf wasn’t just a piece of foliage; it symbolised hope and survival and became a tangible connection to her grandmother's incredible story.
Presenter: Asya FouksProducer: Thomas Harding Assinder
Get in touch: [email protected].uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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Reggie Nelson grew up on an East London council estate in a British-Ghanaian family that struggled with alcoholism, domestic violence and money worries. After a brush with the law at a young age, he found direction through his Christian faith and then, as a teenager, being signed to play professionally for Woking Football Club.
Following his dad's sudden death on Father's day in 2013, Reggie had to quit playing football and look for a more stable career to support his family. Inspired by words from the Bible "seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" and his sister’s favourite reality TV show 'How'd You Get So Rich?' starring Hollywood comedian Joan Rivers, Reggie set out on a mission to discover exactly how wealthy people got their money. He headed to one of London's most affluent areas, Kensington and Chelsea and started knocking on doors, boldly asking residents his million-dollar question.
A number of chance encounters that day took him on a whirlwind journey involving; cash, an Aston Martin and the door that would take him on a path to a dream career in the world of finance.
Reggie's autobiography is called Opening Doors.
He spoke to Tommy Dixon in 2023.
Presenter and producer: Tommy DixonEditor: Rebecca Vincent
Get in touch: [email protected].uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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In April 2010, Cathy Terkanian received a letter that turned her world upside down. It revealed that her daughter, Alexis, whom she’d had to place for adoption in 1974, had gone missing. Then she was given more shocking news—the police had a new lead, could the unidentified body of a young woman found in Wisconsin be Alexis? They needed Cathy’s DNA to confirm it. As Cathy began to process this, her own painful past surfaced. She had run away from home as a teenager, joining a circus before getting pregnant with Alexis aged 15. In the years after Cathy was pressured to have Alexis adopted, she became a nurse and married, but never had any other children, always thinking about the daughter she had to say goodbye to.
Following the news of Alexis’ disappearance Cathy couldn’t sit and wait for the DNA test results, she needed answers. Determined to find them she turned detective, connecting with Carl Koppelman, an amateur sleuth investigating cold cases. Together they started to unearth evidence that made Cathy suspect the worst—that Alexis’ adoptive father, Dennis Bowman, had something to do with her disappearance.
Cathy had always hoped her daughter Alexis would come looking for her; instead she spent a decade searching for Alexis. This mother’s quest for truth and justice has also been made into a Netflix documentary called Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter.
Presenter: Jo FidgenProducer: Thomas Harding Assinder
Get in touch: [email protected].uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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In 2020, Ellidy Pullin’s life was turned upside down when her partner, Olympic snowboarder Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin, died in a tragic accident. The couple had been trying for a baby, so in the deeply disorientating hours after his sudden death, when a friend suggested the possibility of a posthumous sperm retrieval – a complicated, and sometimes controversial procedure whereby sperm samples are taken within 36 hours of a person's death – Ellidy knew instantly that this was something she wanted to pursue.
Presenter: Shahidha BariProducer: Zoe Gelber
Get in touch: [email protected].uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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