The Outlook Podcast Archive

As a child Kathy Sullivan always dreamed of adventure, little did she know she would grow up to make history both in the depths of the ocean and in space. Kathy was one of Nasa's class of 1978, the first recruitment drive that brought women into its astronaut ranks. In 1984 she became the first US woman to complete a spacewalk and went on to take part in two more missions, including the 1990 launch of the Hubble Space Telescope. After leaving Nasa in 1993, she went on to serve as chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and later as its administrator. Last year - working with US adventurer Victor Vescovo - she made history once again, this time becoming the first woman to reach the lowest known point in the ocean.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Thomas Harding Assinder

Picture: Kathy Sullivan's spacewalk Credit: NASA

After wildfires broke out on an ecologically-rich Brazilian wetland area called the Pantanal, firefighting vet Carla Sassi and her team flew in to rescue wounded and trapped animals. She spoke to Outlook's Emily Webb.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producers: Harry Graham and Andrea Kennedy

Picture: Carla Sassi and her team Credit: GRAD

Peter Keup's family was shaped by the division of West and East Germany after the Second World War. He grew up in the East, cut off from relatives across the border. But when Peter’s parents applied for a visa to move West, they were condemned as traitors - he was kicked out of high school and banned from his sports clubs. He found a new passion in ballroom dancing, but when the state tried to stop this too he made the dangerous decision to escape East Germany illegally. He was caught and put in solitary confinement. It was only decades later that he discovered a betrayal at the heart of his family.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Rebecca Vincent

Picture: Peter Keup (right) and his brother as children Credit: Photo courtesy of Peter Keup

Rosayra Pablo Cruz tells how she fled Guatemala in April 2018 with two of her children after an attempt on her life and death threats against her eldest son. Hoping to be granted asylum in the United States, she says she didn't realise that a new "zero-tolerance" policy had just been introduced there which meant that any adults trying to cross the border illegally would be placed in custody and face prosecution - and if they were travelling with children, they would be separated from them. Rosy's two sons were sent to live with a foster mum in New York, but thanks to a group of volunteers, she was reunited with them a few months later.

One of those volunteers was Julie Schwietert Collazo. Julie heard about the plight of the mums separated from their children on the radio and made it her mission to help them. Rosy has now been granted asylum in the US. Rosy and Julie have written a book about their experience called The Book of Rosy.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: June Christie Interpreter: Laura Plitt

Picture: Rosayra Pablo Cruz Credit: J Pablo

Patricio Galvez is a Chilean musician who has lived in Sweden for the last 30 years. In 2014 his daughter Amanda travelled to Syria with her children and joined the Islamic State group. When she was killed last year he battled governments, crossed borders and entered a war zone to try and rescue her seven young children. This episode was first released on 13th July 2019.

Presenter: Andrea Kennedy Producer: Tom Harding-Assinder

Photo courtesy of Patricio Galvez

The Thunder was the most notorious and elusive poaching ship in the world; for ten years governments had struggled to catch it. Then, in 2014, a crew from the organisation Sea Shepherd - known for its anti-whaling activity - found it illegally hunting Patagonian toothfish in the ice flows of the Antarctic and decided to stop it. They pursued the Thunder for 110 days over 10,000 miles before a dramatic stand-off in the Gulf of Guinea. Captain Peter Hammarstedt, from Sea Shepherd, tells Jo Fidgen about the dramatic chase and eventually watching the Thunder as it burned.

On-board recordings in this piece are from the documentary Ocean Warriors: Chasing the Thunder, courtesy of Brick City TV.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Mariana Des Forges

Photo: The Thunder surrounded by icebergs Credit: Sea Shepherd

Skin is the lead singer of Skunk Anansie, the multiplatinum-selling band whose political, in-your-face music stood out from the 1990s UK music scene. Skin had to forge her own path as a black, queer woman in the white male world of rock music, describing how she grew from a painfully shy church girl into a performer famous for her screaming vocals and bold stage antics. The turning point in her life was deciding to confront an aggressive sexual predator who had been stalking her - giving her a 'fearlessness that never left'. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Rebecca Vincent

Picture: Skin Credit: Christie Goodwin / Redferns via Getty Images

When Hollywood legend, Marlon Brando won a Best Actor Oscar for his role in The Godfather in 1973, he chose not to accept it. Instead he asked a young Native American woman called Sacheen Littlefeather to go on stage, in front of a televised audience of 85 million people and reject it on his behalf. It was the first time someone had made a political point at the Oscars and would have a profound effect on Sacheen’s life and future. Now in her 70s and living with stage four breast cancer, Sacheen tells Jo Fidgen about her controversial speech.

Sacheen LittleFeather is the subject of a documentary called 'Sacheen: Breaking the Silence'.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Thomas Harding Assinder

Picture: Sacheen Littlefeather Refuses Marlon Brando's Academy Award Credit: Getty Images

Jason P. Howe was a British conflict photographer covering the war in Colombia, when he met a young woman at a bus stop. Her name was Marilyn, and they started a relationship that would last several years.

Over time, it became clear to Jason that Marilyn had another life. She'd disappear at night on her motorcycle. People were scared of her, bars would empty when she entered them. Eventually, she would reveal a violent secret that was shocking even in the context of a warzone. Marilyn was an assassin for Colombian paramilitary forces.

Jason spoke to Outlook's Andrea Kennedy back in 2019.

Image: Jason Howe and Marilyn Credit: Jason P. Howe

Kane Hodder has been dubbed ‘cinema’s most prolific killer’ for the long list of on-screen murderers he has portrayed over the last 40 years. He is best known as the man behind Jason Voorhees’ iconic hockey mask in the Friday the 13th franchise. Kane started out as a stunt performer but his career was almost over before it even began when he suffered severe burns in a fire stunt that went horribly wrong. He tells Jo Fidgen how he recovered and despite it almost killing him why, under highly-controlled conditions, he still loves setting himself on fire.

Kane is the subject of a documentary called To Hell And Back: The Kane Hodder Story.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Thomas Harding Assinder

Picture: Kane Hodder as Jason Voorhees Credit: Alamy

British concert pianist James Rhodes is a star in the world of classical music. He's won awards, had several hit albums, performed in top venues all over the world and Oscar-nominated actor Andrew Garfield will play him in a biopic. His career is a testament to overcoming unimaginable trauma. James is a survivor of child sexual abuse. As a result, he turned to self-harm and even contemplated suicide. This is the story of how music became his lifeline.

This interview was first broadcast on 1 August, 2019. Since then, Spain - where James lives - has overhauled its system of protection against child sexual abuse. The new legislation was passed largely through James' efforts and is named after him: Rhodes Law.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Maryam Maruf

Picture: James Rhodes Credit: Getty Images

Get in touch with us on outlook@bbc.com

This edition of Outlook is devoted to the impact of comic books and three remarkable journeys taken by artists and publishers who fell in love with comics as children.

Indian comic enthusiast Vijayan Soundrapandian has been working to bring his favourite characters to audiences in Tamil Nadu. His company Lion-Muthu Comics translates some of the world's most famous comics into Tamil.

In 2017 Outlook reporter Daniel Gross went to South Africa to meet cartoonist Mogorosi Motshumi. Mogorosi witnessed the worst of apartheid, and in the 1970s and 80s, was one of the only black artists using comics to document township life.

And we stay in the Outlook archive by revisiting an interview Emily did with Chinese-American comic creator Gene Luen Yang, he's the author behind the first Chinese Superman.

Presenter: Emily Webb

Picture: Vijayan Soundrapandian Credit: Vijayan Soundrapandian

Christi Daugherty – also known as CJ Daugherty – is a best-selling writer of Young Adult thrillers and crime novels. As a child, she would lose herself in books and literary adventures as a way of coping with her own unstable and violent family life. Her father was controlling and abusive – her home was miserable until her mother plotted a secret midnight escape.

Her latest book written as CJ Daugherty is called Number Ten.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Maryam Maruf

Picture: Christi Daugherty Credit: Jack Jewers

Any comments please email us on outlook@bbc.com

Outlook's Saskia Edwards goes in search of the elusive creator of what must be one of the most maddening games - the Rubik's Cube. On route she meets one of the fastest cubers in the world, Feliks Zemdegs. He can solve the puzzle in a matter of seconds, but even he can't tell Saskia where she can find its inventor - Erno Rubik.

Erno Rubik has a book out called Cubed: The Puzzle of Us All.

Born to Salvadoran immigrants, Roberto Lovato grew up in 1970s San Francisco. His father Ramon was involved in suspect business dealings, and could sometimes be angry and violent. As their relationship became increasingly strained Roberto rebelled, influenced by the culture of emerging organised street gangs. He became more interested in the civil war, which was escalating in El Salvador, and joined the guerrilla group the FMLN and went there to fight. In later years, Roberto became a successful academic and began to learn more about El Salvador’s bloody history. It was then he discovered his father was a witness of one of the most violent episodes the country had ever seen, La Matanza, “the massacre”. It was a secret Ramon had taken 70 years to share but in doing so, it helped Roberto come to terms with his own troubled past.

"Unforgetting: A Memoir of Family, Migration, Gangs, and Revolution in the Americas" by Roberto Lovato is out now. Presenter: Anu Anand Producer: Katy Takatsuki

Picture: Roberto Lovato in San Francisco's Mission District, Aug 2020 Credit: Roberto Lovato

Jalikatu Mustapha is one of just four eye doctors in the whole of Sierra Leone. Her work was recently recognised by Queen Elizabeth II. Jalikatu shared an online chat with the British monarch in which she described how simple operations are changing lives in her country. But Jalikatu’s life almost took a very different course. She was a child during the Sierra Leone civil war, her family nearly lost their lives in a gun battle in a hotel. Her father, a leading economist of the time, had been asked to become the Minister of Finance in the new military government. He didn’t want the job so instead the family were trying to escape. Jalikatu now works with the charity Sightsavers.   Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Deiniol Buxton

Picture: Jalikatu Mustapha Credit: Moseray Koroma

Ben Quilty was one of Australia's most famous painters when he entered into an unusual friendship with a condemned man, Myuran Sukumaran, a convicted drug smuggler on death row in Indonesia. He was a member of a group of imprisoned Australians known as the Bali Nine. Ben was invited to teach Myuran how to paint, as a way to help him cope with his sentence, and he soon started to reveal an artistic talent. The two men gradually developed a close connection, but it was severed by a firing squad. First broadcast 2018.

Mexican artist Julia Lopez is now a world-renowned painter, but she very nearly didn't discover her talent at all. She grew up as a farm labourer in rural Mexico, and found work as a maid after moving to Mexico City. But one day her life changed, when she was scouted by the famous artist Frida Kahlo to become a model. It wasn’t long before she picked up the paintbrush herself. Outlook's Clayton Conn has the story. First broadcast 2018

For nearly 30 years, Mark Landis donated scores of artworks by famous artists to museums all over the United States. He was feted as a philanthropist. But all of them were forged - by Mark himself. Because he never took any money from the museums, he hasn't committed a crime under US law. Jo Fidgen asked why he did it. First broadcast 2015.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen

Picture: Ben Quilty and Myuran Sukumaran Credit: Andrew Quilty

Mike Farmer and Robert Ward have spent decades travelling the world in pursuit of meteorites. Their awe-inspiring and insatiable hunt led to fortune – but also unexpected danger. It's a story of cowboys, cargo pants and some of the most coveted rocks on earth. This episode was released on the 23rd of February 2019.

Presenter: Saskia Edwards Producer: Maryam Maruf

Image: Silhouette of a man watching a meteor shower over Italy Credit: Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images

In her 30s Kiran Dembla was a full-time stay-at-home mum living in the Indian city of Hyderabad. She spent her days cooking and cleaning and caring for her children. Kiran always had the sense that something was missing, she describes feeling a 'blankness', but it was only when she discovered that she had a blood clot in her brain that she decided to do something about it.

The medication she was taking was causing her to put on weight so she joined the gym. That decision set her on the path to completely transforming her life - these days she's a celebrity trainer and a star bodybuilder. But it hasn't been an easy road - cultural and family expectations have often been at odds with her own aspirations.

Any comments please email us on outlook@bbc.com

Picture: Kiran Dembla Credit: Radesh Photography

Presenter: Emily Webb Producers: Fiona Woods and Nikita Mandhani

John Shepherd is a self-taught electronics whizz. From a young age he was fascinated by science and electricity. He'd spend his days collecting discarded radio and tv sets and re-fashioning them into new devices. He used his skills for an unsual pursuit - he wanted to reach out to potential extra-terrestrial life. This was the 60s, the space race was in full swing and there was a collective fascination with alien life and UFOs. But how do you start a conversation with an alien? Initially he transmitted binary tones in an attempt to make contact. But he later settled on a different way to communicate, he started broadcasting reggae, afrobeat, jazz, and more, the ‘universal language’ of music. There's a Netflix documentary about John's story called John Was Trying to Contact Aliens.

Any comments please email us on outlook@bbc.com

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Andrea Kennedy

Picture: John Shepherd Credit: Courtesy of John Shepherd

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon is a British chemical weapons expert whose work in Syria has attracted global attention. But working in a warzone is dangerous and not only has Hamish had to smuggle himself into countries, he's faced bombs, bullets and even the Islamic State group in order to investigate and document chemical warfare. Hamish has written a book called Chemical Warrior: Saving Lives on the Front Line of Modern Warfare.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Thomas Harding Assinder

Picture: Hamish de Bretton-Gordon Credit: Hamish de Bretton-Gordon

Shane McCrae is an award-winning African-American poet and writer whose work often addresses the black experience in the US. Poetry for him was a way of making sense of his difficult and abusive upbringing. As a child, Shane was raised by his white maternal grandparents in a deeply racist household. His grandmother taught him the Nazi salute, told him that he “tanned very easily” and that he was living with her because his black father didn’t want him. But when Shane was a teenager, he would learn the truth about the racial prejudice and deception that divided him from his father Stanley.

Shane's latest collections of poetry are called Sometimes I Never Suffered and The Gilded Auction Block.

Any comments please email us on outlook@bbc.com

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Maryam Maruf

Picture: Shane McCrae as a child Credit: Courtesy Shane McCrae

Rob and Jason Holmes were first recruited as undercover agents when they were children. They were in Atlantic City on the lookout for black market goods - like replica designer clothes, sunglasses, watches. Their employer was their private detective dad and their fee was ice cream. Now they take on some of the world’s biggest counterfeiters. It’s all raids, Russian gangs, and (fake) Rolexes. This episode was first released on 10th November 2018.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Maryam Maruf

Image: Rob (L) and Jason (R) Holmes in their youth Credit: Rob and Jason Holmes

Guatemalan grandparents Favio "El Lobo" Vasquez and his wife Maria Moreno first met on the disco dance floor over 30 years ago. Despite being from rival dance groups they ended up falling in love and have been dancing together ever since. But earlier this year, after the death of their daughter, dance helped them in ways they could never have imagined. As they were raising their daughter's two young children and struggling to pay the bills, they decided to enter an online dance competition. They had to enter separately but Favio won and the video of him dancing went viral - it was even trending higher than Manchester United! They've been telling Outlook's Clayton Conn their story.

Presenter: Clayton Conn Producer: Deiniol Buxton and June Christie

Picture: Favio Vasquez and Maria Moreno Credit: Favio Vasquez and Maria Moreno

Writer Xiaolu Guo grew up in 1970s China, in a tiny village by the East China Sea. She'd been left there to live with her grandparents, and didn't know where her parents were. When they returned to collect her age seven, it began a lifetime of change - and a reckoning with China's history, from the feudal era to the Cultural Revolution.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Laura Thomas

Picture: Xiaolu Guo Credit: Xiaolu Guo

Canadian Julie Lalonde looked to all the world to be a fearless warrior for women's rights. Her job involved telling political and military leaders, mainly men, how to behave but every time she stood on stage she was terrified because she was being stalked by a former lover. She talks to Jo Fidgen about enduring a harmful obsession that lasted more than a decade and how she found the strength to go public.

She's written a book called Resilience is Futile.

If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this episode, you can find details of organisations offering information and support at this address: bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Tom Harding Assinder

Picture: Julie Lalonde Credit: Brendan Brown

Sara Seager is an MIT astrophysicist. She has made it her life’s work to peer into the spaces around stars – looking for exoplanets outside our solar system, hoping to find the one-in-a-billion world that is enough like ours to sustain life. But after the unexpected death of her husband, Sara struggled with some of the new day-to-day tasks that she had to take on. She tells Jo Fidgen the story of how a three-page guide written by her late husband helped her to navigate life on earth, while she continued making ground-breaking discoveries in the skies.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Rebecca Vincent

Picture: Sara Seager Credit: Justin Knight

If you visited the controversial Atlantis commune in southern Colombia back in the 1990s, you’d have probably heard some disturbing noises. The group practiced primal screaming, a form of psychotherapy which seeks to address childhood pain. They’d hold confrontational group sessions, where they were encouraged to direct their anger at each other, hoping to develop themselves psychologically in the process.

The commune had started in London, founded by a therapist called Jenny James. They’d made the move to South America to be closer to nature, and they’d settled on a forested area of Colombia controlled by left wing Farc guerrillas. At first Atlantis coexisted with the Farc, but as the Colombian civil war intensified the guerrillas became more hostile, and when violence broke out it pulled the commune apart.

Presenter: Faye Planer Producer: Harry Graham

Picture: The Atlantis commune in Southern Colombia Credit: BBC

Groundhog Day... deja vu... are phrases that tend to have negative connotations. Repetition is often equated with monotony. Not so for Catherine Russell. She holds the world record for the most theatre performances in the same role and she wouldn't have it any other way. For the past 32 years she has been playing the role of Margaret Thorne Brent - a psychiatrist who might also be a cold-blooded killer in the long running off-Broadway play ‘Perfect Crime’.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Fiona Woods

Photo: Catherine Russell in Perfect Crime Credit: Shir Stein

Simon Dawson was on a wayward path after a difficult childhood. He says his mother would tell him directly that she didn't love him. Things were at their lowest when their family house burnt down and Simon was blamed for it. Unsure of love, he turned to music for answers. But the real lessons came later in life when he set up a farm and the animals he cared for showed him what true guardianship and acceptance means. Simon now believes his mother suffered from postnatal depression and was never given the support she needed. He tells Emily Webb how he turned things around and learned to love. Simon's book is called The Boy Without Love.

Producer: Mariana Des Forges Presenter: Emily Webb

Picture: Simon Dawson on his farm in Exmoor Credit: Courtesy of Simon Dawson

In 1996, an African American reverend called David Kennedy faced one of his biggest fights. A new shop had sprung up in Laurens, his small town in South Carolina, selling white supremacist memorabilia and housing a Ku Klux Klan museum. It was called the Redneck Shop, and Reverend Kennedy knew he had to stand up to the racist owners. At first he simply stood outside in protest, but later he was able to start changing the mind of one of the managers, Mike, having helped him in a time of need. The two men became close, and through their friendship the reverend ultimately gained control of the white supremacist shop. Reverend Kennedy spoke to Outlook's Emily Webb.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Harry Graham

Picture: Reverend David Kennedy Credit: The Echo Project

During Sierra Leone's civil war Aminata Conteh-Biger was abducted by armed rebels. After her release, she began a new life in Australia but has since returned to help the women she'd left behind, becoming a champion of maternal health in a country with one of the worst maternal and infant mortality rates in the world. She is the founder of the Aminata Maternal Foundation and has written a book about her life called Rising Heart.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Tom Harding Assinder

Picture: Aminata Conteh-Biger Credit: Jeremy Simons

Marie McCreadie moved to Australia from the UK as a young girl in the 1970s. It was the start of a new adventure for the whole family, but then one day when Marie was 13 she lost her voice, leaving her unable to make a sound for over a decade. Marie was ostracised, told she was cursed, and was put in a psychiatric unit. Then, in her twenties she discovered the surprising cause of her condition. This episode was first released on 5th October 2019.

Marie has written a book about her life without speech it's called Voiceless.

Presenter: Andrea Kennedy Producer: Tom Harding Assinder

Picture: Marie McCreadie as a young teenager Credit: Marie McCreadie

By 1994, the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo had been under siege for two years. Sniper fire and shelling were a daily threat to the residents stuck in the city. Though life was tough, artistic creativity flourished. The heavy metal community was one particularly resilient music scene. Whilst there were still local gigs there was a hunger for something bigger, to know the rest of the world had not forgotten them. A group of firefighters and UN peacekeepers, decided that the city needed a big name rock act to keep morale up. Only one rock star was willing to do it, Bruce Dickinson, the frontman of Iron Maiden. The organisers got a venue, and petrol for their power generators. But there was one particular challenge they had to overcome - how do you get a rock star into a city surrounded by warring armies? This episode was first released on 26th April 2019.

Presenter: Saskia Edwards Producer: Harry Graham

Image: The audience at a metal gig in Sarajevo Credit: Scream For Me Sarajevo Film

In 2000 Danny Stewart found a newborn baby boy, tucked in the corner of a New York subway station on his way home from work. The discovery hit the headlines, but when no one came forward to claim the baby the family court judge asked Danny if he would like to adopt him. Danny and his partner Peter Mercurio had never discussed raising a child together, but soon found themselves on an extraordinary journey.

Peter has written a book about their story, called Our Subway Baby.

Presenter: Anu Anand Producer: Rebecca Vincent

Picture: (from left) Peter, Kevin and Danny Credit: Photo courtesy of Peter Mercurio

Nettie Washington Douglass tells Anu Anand what it's like to carry the names and bloodlines of two African-Americans who were born into slavery but famously devoted their lives to fighting it, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Nettie descends from pioneering educator Booker T Washington and the abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass. Her influential ancestors inspired her to raise awareness about modern-day slavery by setting up the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives.

Presenter: Anu Anand Producer: Deiniol Buxton

Picture: Nettie Washington Douglass Credit: Hilary Schwab Photography

Growing up in the city of Jos in central Nigeria, Panshak Zamani better known as Ice Prince, never set out to become a musician. But through personal loss and the violent crisis he saw unfolding on the streets, he found solace in singing and rap. Panshak tells Anu Anand how he overcame his struggles to write a hit song that became one of the most remixed ever in Nigeria and rose to international fame.

Presenter: Anu Anand Producer: Sophie Eastaugh

Picture: Ice Prince Credit: Photogod

Sara Faith Alterman was eight when she accidently discovered that her prudish dad was secretly a globally successful writer of adult books. Growing up, it was never discussed, but when he was dying of Alzheimer's in his late 60s, he asked Sara to help him write again before it was too late.

Sara Faith Alterman’s memoir is called Lets Never Talk about this Again.

Presented and Produced by Mariana Des Forges

Picture: A young Sara and Ira Alterman Credit: Courtesy of Sara Faith Alterman

Alexandra Wilson is a young black British barrister - and as a result sometimes gets mistaken for the defendant in court. Growing up in Essex she never imagined herself becoming a lawyer, but the murder of a close family friend inspired her career. She studied at Oxford University and was eventually awarded a Queen’s Scholarship, given to students who show exceptional promise at the Bar. She tells Emily Webb why she's fighting to create a more diverse legal profession.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: June Christie   Picture:Alexandra Wilson Credit: Laurie Lewis

When Atsushi Sakahara boarded a crowded train on the Tokyo subway in 1995, he found himself in the middle of a targeted chemical attack. Years later he went looking for answers from a notorious doomsday cult, which led to an unlikely friendship. Atsushi has directed a documentary about his journey called Me and The Cult Leader.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Troy Holmes

Picture: Atsushi Sakahara and Hiroshi Araki Credit: Nori Matsui 2020 Good People Inc.

Malik Al Nasir was casually watching a TV documentary when a face jumped out at him – it was a photograph of the black Victorian football star Andrew Watson. He was stunned at the close resemblance between them and he was determined to find out how they were connected. Little did he know that that journey would lead him from Liverpool to Guyana to discover how his family history was inextricably connected with the international slave trade.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Wahiba Ahmed

Picture: Malik Al Nasir at the airport in Guyana in 2008 Credit: Abdul Malik Al Nasir

In the 1960s, a bunch of musically gifted, pre-teen siblings from Saigon put together a rock ‘n’ roll group. For a while the CBC Band was the biggest music act in South Vietnam, even headlining the country’s first international rock festival. They had an unlikely fan base – battle-weary US soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War. This episode was first released on the 9th of February 2019.

Presenter: Harry Graham Producer: Maryam Maruf

Image: The CBC Band in Vietnam Credit: Courtesy of the CBC Band

Brittany K. Barnett, an African American lawyer, grew up in the shadow of the US war on drugs in the 1980s. Like many others in her community in rural east Texas, Brittany’s mother was addicted to crack cocaine, and when Brittany was 22 years old, her mother was sentenced to eight years in prison. Only a few years later, she discovered the case of Sharanda Jones, a black woman who was sentenced to life without parole for a first time drug offence. Spurred on by her own family history, Brittany swore she would free Sharanda. Brittany was still just a law student and studying corporate law but she persevered for years taking their fight to the highest office - all the way to the White House. After 16 years of waiting, Sharanda finally received the call that would grant her freedom. Together they have founded the Buried Alive Project, which provides free legal support for people serving life sentences in federal prison and Brittany has written a book called A Knock at Midnight about her life and work.   Presenter: Anu Anand Producer: Tom Harding Assinder   Picture: Brittany K. Barnett and Sharanda Jones in 2009 Credit: Courtesy of Brittany K. Barnett

Malebogo Molefhe is a trailblazing basketball player from Botswana. The only girl in a game played by boys, she was called the 'tigress' and rose to be captain of her country's first ever women's national basketball team. But off the court she was controlled and abused by her partner, culminating in a brutal attack where he shot her eight times, leaving both her legs paralysed. Traumatised and with life-changing injuries, Malebogo fought to reclaim her life - and to find a way back to basketball.

If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this episode, you can find details of organisations offering information and support at BBC Action Line: www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Presenter: Anu Anand Producer: Maryam Maruf

Picture: Malebogo Molefhe, bottom left Credit: Courtesy of Malebogo Molefhe

Mansour Omari spent nearly a year in a Syrian government prison in 2012. We hear his account of life in an underground cell and how, against the odds, he managed to smuggle out the names of his fellow cellmates to their loved ones - by writing them down, using chicken bones and blood on a piece of cloth. This story was first released on 20th March 2017.

Presenter: Anu Anand Producer: Emily Webb

Image: Mansour Omari's list of names Credit: Mansour Omari

When an intrepid crew of eight entered Biosphere 2, a giant air-tight greenhouse in the Arizona desert in September 1991, no one knew how it would pan out. It was an experiment to see if humans could live in similar glass worlds on other planets. Their intention was to survive by cultivating the farmland and plant life inside to create the food and oxygen they needed, but quickly both ran dangerously low. This is the story of how original 'Biospherians' Mark Nelson, Sally Silverstone, Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum endured what's been called one of the most audacious, unusual and controversial experiments of the last decade.

Mark Nelson and Sally Silverstone have released a new edition the book they wrote whilst inside Biosphere 2 called 'Life Under Glass: Crucial Lessons in Planetary Stewardship from 2 Years in Biosphere 2'.

Presented and produced by Saskia Edwards Additional production by Mariana Des Forges

Picture: The original crew outside Biosphere 2 Credit: Getty Images

Artist Maleonn spent his childhood in the back of a theatre, watching his parents at work. Maleonn’s mother was an actress, and his father directed “very noisy” and “incredibly colourful” Beijing opera performances. Though his father was keen, Maleonn was determined not to follow in his directorial footsteps and instead chased his passion for art. But when his father began to lose his memory in 2014, Maleonn decided to create a play just for him, he called it Papa’s Time Machine. Maleonn wanted to give his father the gift that he had always dreamed of - but it was a race against time.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Fiona Woods

Picture: One of the puppets in Papa's Time Machine Credit: Papa's Time Machine

Brent Underwood is a young American entrepreneur who spent his life savings on the remains of an abandoned 19th century mining town in California. He was fascinated by its Wild West history, but when he got trapped there by heavy snow earlier this year, all alone, the ghostly tales about the place began to feel all too real. Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Rebecca Vincent

Picture: Brent Underwood at Cerro Gordo Credit: Brent Underwood

South African rugby star Siya Kolisi came from a poor township and tells Outlook's Mpho Lakaje about his journey from water boy to becoming the national team's first black captain and leading the Sprinboks to World Cup victory. Siya and his wife Rachel have set up a charity, The Kolisi Foundation, to help vulnerable and disadvantaged communities in South Africa.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Deiniol Buxton

Picture: Siya Kolisi and the Springboks team after their Rugby World Cup win. Credit: Cameron Spencer/ Getty Images

Tricia Davies Nearn’s father, David, was killed in the Vietnam War when she was just two years old. Growing up without him, she knew there was something missing, even with a loving family around her. Her mother, an ardent fan of Broadway musicals, liked to sing along to A Chorus Line while vacuuming, but there was one musical she never played: West Side Story . The discovery of an extraordinary archive of tape recordings, made while David was posted in Vietnam, eventually helped Tricia to understand why - and to get to know her father better.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Emily Webb

Picture: David Davies Credit: Tricia Davies Nearn

With only five and a half months of training, Thomas Page McBee became the first transgender man to box at the famous Madison Square Garden arena in New York City. He's an author and journalist by trade so this was quite a departure for him. His journey to that day wasn’t driven by dreams of record-breaking, instead, it was prompted by a desire to better understand the different ways to be a man and specifically the relationship between masculinity and violence. Thomas had grown up with an abusive step-father and he knew he wanted to be different. When he began transitioning from a female to a male body in adulthood he noticed a change in the way the world was treating him. Women were crossing the road when they encountered him walking late at night, rooms fell silent when his deep voice spoke up in conversations, and he was no longer encouraged to hug because “men shake hands”. So in an attempt to learn the many different ways to be a man Thomas set himself a challenge - a boxing match.

Presenter: Anu Anand Producer: Sophie Eastaugh and Andrea Kennedy

Picture: Thomas Page McBee Credit: Amos Mac

Today, Jesse Thistle is a celebrated professor of Indigenous history in Canada. But as a child, he was a high school drop-out, raised by his disciplinarian white paternal grandparents and cut off from his mother and his Métis Cree roots. It set him on a self-destructive path to drug addiction, homelessness and prison. In jail and in his 30s, Jesse learned to read. After he was released, he would reach the pinnacle of academic success – finding his identity, his calling and along the way, his long-lost mother. Jesse’s memoir is called From the Ashes.

Presented by Anu Anand Produced by Sophie Eastaugh and Maryam Maruf

Image: Jesse Thistle Credit: Lucie Thistle

When India went into lockdown in response to the coronavirus crisis, millions of migrant workers staying in the cities were left unemployed and stranded. Jyoti Kumari and her dad Mohan Paswan were among them. With no work, they were running out of food and couldn't pay rent. Many migrant workers were travelling hundreds of kilometres on foot to get back to their home villages, but Mohan had been injured in a rickshaw accident and couldn't walk. So Jyoti bought a heavy old bicycle, sat her dad on the back, and cycled 1200km across the country. They spoke to Outlook's Nitin Srivastava.

If you make a phone call in India at the moment, chances are you'll hear Jasleen Bhalla's voice. She's the voice artist giving public service announcements, telling people to stay safe during the pandemic, before any call is connected. With millions listening every day across the country, the messages have elicited some strong reactions. Some call Jasleen a 'corona warrior', others find the messages very annoying.

Presenter: Nitin Srivastava Producer: Harry Graham

Picture: Jyoti Kumari and Mohan Paswan on their bike Credit: BBC

Daniele Davoli was a DJ playing the clubs of Italy when he produced a song with his band Black Box that would define 1980s house music. Ride on Time became a smash hit in the UK, with its driving beat, catchy piano riff and powerful sample from American soul singer Loleatta Holloway. But that sample would land the band in a whole lot of trouble, especially after they hired a French model to mime along at their live gigs. When word got out, fans were furious.

Presenter: Harry Graham Producer: Deiniol Buxton

Picture: Black Box performs Ride On Time on Top of the Pops Credit: BBC

Just two months after Cristina Zamora had given birth to her baby daughter in 1974, she was taken by Augusto Pinochet's security forces and thrown in jail where she found a creative way to cope. Embroidery, knitting clothes and stitching tiny love letters helped political prisoners like Cristina to survive. Afterwards, Cristina didn't discuss her nightmarish experience but over 40 years later when her daughter, Jimena Pardo, saw the prison crafts in an exhibition, Jimena plucked up the courage to ask her mother about her early life. It also gave Jimena an idea for something she knew could help other survivors.

The exhibition is called 'Crafting Resistance' and can be seen here: https://warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/archives_online/exhibitions/craftingresistance/photos/

Picture: Jimena Pardo and Cristina Zamora with their embroideries Credit: Jimena Pardo

Presented by Grace Livingstone Produced by Mariana Des Forges

Noura Ghazi is a human rights lawyer from Damascus, campaigning for people and prisoners who were forcibly disappeared by the Assad regime. Right at the start of the Syrian uprising, she met software engineer and activist, Bassel Khartabil. Their love blossomed at anti-government demonstrations and on long late night phone calls. Even Bassel’s eventual arrest couldn’t stop them from getting married through the bars of his prison cell. But when all trace of him disappeared, Noura did everything in her power to find her husband. Hers and Bassel's story is featured in the documentary, Ayouni.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Maryam Maruf

Picture: Bassel Khartabil and Noura Ghazi Credit: Courtesy of Ayouni / Free Bassel Campaign

Tani Adewumi and his family fled their home in Nigeria under threat from the militant Islamist group Boko Haram. They ended up living in a homeless shelter in New York. It was there Tani discovered a talent for chess. At eight years old, and just one year after he started playing the game, Tani won the New York State Championship for his age group. Tani, his elder brother Austin, his mother Oluwatoyin and father Kayode tell Emily Webb how it all happened.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Andrea Kennedy

Picture: Tani Adewumi Credit: Micah Kandros

Yeshe Losal Rinpoche is a Lama who runs a monastery and Buddhist centre in rural Scotland. As you might expect his days are filled with meditation and contemplation, but life hasn't always been so serene - he shares tales of a dramatic Himalayan mountain escape, dancing and decadence on the New York disco scene and hanging out with David Bowie.

In 2008, Naomi Jacobs went to bed in her home in Manchester as a 32-year-old woman. When she woke the following morning, her world had changed. Overnight, her memories had gone. She didn't recognise her home, her life, or even her child. Instead, she believed she was a teenage schoolgirl living in 1992. And she was utterly bewildered by how she had ended up in the future. She told Emily Webb how the diaries that held the key to her past eventually got her back to the present.

This progamme was first broadcast on 8 September, 2018.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Maryam Maruf

Image: silhouetted woman opening curtains in the morning Credit: p saranya/Getty Images

Bonga Kuenda is one of Angola’s most notable musicians, a master of the semba - traditional Angolan music. He was born during Portuguese colonial rule, and before music, Bonga had forged a career in athletics. In the 1960s, he emerged from the shanty towns of Luanda to become the fastest sprinter in the Portuguese Empire, but he was racing for a regime that he despised, one he was secretly trying to bring down. This podcast was first released on 3rd November 2018.

Presenter: Harry Graham Producer: Maryam Maruf

With thanks to Edward Drummond for the translation

Image: Bonga Kuenda Credit: Getty Images

Imani Wilmot was born into a surfing family – her father is known as the 'godfather' of Jamaican surfing and her brothers are also avid boarders, so she took to it like a duck to water. She was good too, winning competitions and representing her country with pride. But she soon realised that she was the only top black female surfer at those competitions, and that if she wanted a community around her she’d have to create it herself. Imani spoke to Jo Fidgen about how she set up a surf school for girls and women when she was 17, sharing her confidence and discovering the healing power of the waves.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Thomas Harding Assinder

Picture: Imani Wilmot and her daughter Nya Credit: Lucy Jane

Noor Huda Ismail believes he narrowly avoided becoming radicalised as a teenager in Indonesia. But he got the shock of his life when he was a journalist covering the 2002 Bali bombings and recognised a familiar face among the suspects – a childhood friend from school. That set him on a mission to understand why and how people end up getting involved in extremist groups. He committed himself to helping de-radicalise former extremists and founded the Institute for International Peace building. He also runs a café in Indonesia where some of his employees are former Islamist extremists - he believes that one of the keys to de-radicalisation is keeping people busy.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Nathan Gower / June Christie

Picture: Noor Huda Ismail Credit: Courtesy of Noor Huda Ismail

After being involved in a shoot out with an undercover police officer outside her home in Philadelphia, BL Shirelle faced years behind bars. But it was in prison where she would meet her future wife, finally embrace her facial hair and find her voice. She tells Jo Fidgen about how a song she wrote and performed while serving time helped her find a way out of a life previously dominated by drugs, crime and violence. She is now the deputy director of the record label, Die Jim Crow and has recently released her debut album.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Thomas Harding Assinder

Photo: BL Shirelle Credit: Courtesy of DJC Records

BL Shirelle had a talent for writing poetry from a young age. But while she was growing up in Philadelphia, her mother struggled with addiction and eventually BL became involved with drugs too. By 12 years old she was dealing crack cocaine from their home, but she was still writing raps everyday about the things she saw and experienced. She tells Jo Fidgen how one night, when she was 18, she heard  a commotion on the street and went out to investigate, only to be caught up in a very serious situation. Part two of her story continues tomorrow.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Thomas Harding Assinder

Photo: BL Shirelle Credit:  Courtesy DJC Records

Travel writer Claire Nelson was hiking in Joshua Tree, California when she slipped off a boulder and fell 15 feet into a canyon. She was trapped, and completely alone in the scorching hot wilderness, with limited water. How would she survive? This episode was first released on 1st December 2018.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Maryam Maruf

Picture: Joshua Tree Credit: Ernst Haas/Getty Images

Born during a hurricane, Russel L. Honoré grew up as a black man in Louisiana during segregation, but he found his calling in the military. He rose through the ranks to become a Lieutenant General, and when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005 he was the man in charge of the joint military and civilian relief effort. Having seen the power and devastation caused by nature during his career, in his retirement he formed a ‘Green Army’ of environmental campaigners in his home state.   Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Nathan Gower / June Christie   Photo: Russel Honoré Credit: Getty Images / Robert Sullivan

Eva and Sami (not their real names) fell in love in Paris over coffee and cigarettes, but Sami could not escape the painful memories of his experiences back home during the Syrian civil war. He’d lost his brother, his home and said goodbye to his family before escaping to France. As she listened to his story, she realised that together they had to write it down. Eva has written a novel called The Stray Cats of Homs, based on Sami’s story.   Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Harry Graham   Picture: Homs, Syria Credit: Sami

In the late 1990s, Belgian detective Patrick Peys joined the Diamond Squad. Based in Antwerp's Diamond District, this was the world's first police unit dedicated to solving diamond crime. And soon, Patrick would face the most baffling case of his career when a group of thieves pulled off what seemed to be the perfect robbery. They broke into one of the most heavily-guarded vaults in the Diamond District and stole $100m dollars' worth of jewels. It was the biggest diamond robbery in history. No one saw the thieves coming in, or out. But what followed was a trail of strange clues leading to a mysterious criminal mastermind and a school for felons.

This episode was first broadcast on 10 March, 2019.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Maryam Maruf

Image: Diamonds Credit: Olivier Polet/Corbis via Getty Images

In 2003, Rachel Colenso and her partner went on a first date climbing Piz Badile in the Swiss Alps. What was meant to be a romantic getaway ended up being a disaster when they were engulfed in a fierce electrical storm and trapped on a narrow, icy ledge with little food and water for three days.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Deiniol Buxton

Picture: Rachel Colenso Credit: Courtesy of Rachel Colenso

In 1986 American teenager, Jeff Henigson, was diagnosed with brain cancer and given two years to live. He had just one wish: to travel to the Soviet Union, meet the country’s leader Mikhail Gorbachev and attempt to broker a nuclear peace deal. This episode was first released on 7th September 2019.

Jeff has written a book about his experience called WarHead.

Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Thomas Harding Assinder

Picture: Teenager Jeff Henigson in bed after undergoing brain surgery Credit: Jeff Henigson

Kevin Simmers devoted his life to the war on drugs as a narcotics officer in Maryland in the US. He spent years sending dealers and users to prison. But when his own teenage daughter got addicted to heroin, he faced a heart-breaking dilemma. He tells Outlook's Jo Fidgen his story and how last year he opened Brooke's House - a rehab facility named after his daughter - to help young women caught up in the opiate crisis.

Producer: Thomas Harding Assinder

Picture: Kevin Simmers with his daughter Brooke Credit: Courtesy of Kevin Simmers

When British barber Tom Chapman got his first hairdressing job his manager congratulated him and said "be prepared to be a psychiatrist and a therapist as well as a hairdresser". These words stuck with him when he lost a good friend to suicide. Tom decided to use his barber's chair to get men to open up about their problems. He set up the Lions Barbers Collective, which runs Barber Talk training for barbers all over the world.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: June Christie

Picture: Tom Chapman Credit: Tom Chapman

Ervina and Prefina Bangalo were born in Mbaïki, in the Central African Republic, with the back of their heads joined together. Their chances of surviving were incredibly low. By chance, Italian doctor Mariella Enoc was visiting the paediatric ward they were in. She immediately fell in love with the babies and decided to take them and their mum, Ermine Nzotto, to the Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital in Vatican City, where pioneering neurosurgeon Dr Carlo Efisio Marras and a team of 30 doctors and nurses were able to separate them. It took almost two years and three surgeries to complete the separation. In June 2020 the children were finally able to look into each other’s eyes.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Alice Gioia

Picture: Conjoined twins, Ervina and Prefina Bangalo, with mother Ermine Nzotto before they were separated. Picture Credit: Bombino Gesu Children's Hospital

Hoyt Richards has been called the first male supermodel. In the 1980s and 90s he jet-setted around the world doing shoots for Versace and Ralph Lauren, and moving in the same circles as stars like Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington and Madonna. But outside of working hours he was involved with a cult called Eternal Values. They believed there would be a catastrophe at the turn of the century and the group would have a crucial role to play. This episode was first released on 29th March 2018. Presenter: Jo Fidgen. Producer: Catrin Manel.

Picture: Hoyt Richards. Credit: Fabrizio Gianni.

The Recycled Orchestra run by Favio Chavez, began as a safe haven for kids living in the Cateura slum. It turned into a global phenomenon when it caught the attention of rock royalty and actual royalty around the world. Playing instruments made from the trash thrown away at the local landfill site, teenagers who once only knew the streets around their homes now travel across the planet performing with bands like Megadeth, Metallica and Stevie Wonder. But despite their success, they still play the same instruments made of garbage and remain in the shanty town, putting everything they make back into their community.

Archive in this programme is from the documentary Landfill Harmonic.

Presenter: Clayton Conn Producer: Mariana Des Forges

Picture: Favio Chavez Credit: Landfill Harmonic Movie

Nicole Fosse is the daughter of two American dance superstars – Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon. Their legendary collaboration led to the reinvention of the modern musical, and huge stage and screen successes like Chicago and Cabaret. They were one of the most influential couples in show business and their style has inspired even Beyonce and RuPaul. The Fosse-Verdon relationship was remarkable but, as Nicole recalls, life wasn’t always as smooth as her parents’ celebrated choreography.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Maryam Maruf

Picture: Bob Fosse, Nicole Fosse and Gwen Verdon Credit: Getty Images

In 1988 Li Jingzhi’s 2-year-old son was abducted from a hotel lobby in China and disappeared without a trace. She never stopped looking for him, appearing on numerous Chinese television shows and distributing more than 100,000 flyers. Through her many years of searching she was able to help reunite many other parents with their missing children. Then this year, after 32 years she was finally reunited with her son.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Deiniol Buxton

Picture: Mao Yin reuniting with his mother Li Jingzhi Credit: Getty Images

Jack Sim is a Singaporean multi-millionaire tycoon with an unusual nickname: Mr Toilet. His obsession with toilets has had him mingling with presidents, A-list celebrities, he's even had a resolution passed at the UN. After growing up without a working toilet in Singapore he's now on a global mission to make sure others don't go through the same.

Presenter: Emily Webb

Picture: Jack Sim aka Mr Toilet Credit: Jim Orca

When Judy Heumann was growing up in the 1950s, expectations for someone like her were low. Her disability wasn't her main problem, it was other people's prejudices. Judy Heumann was the first person in a wheelchair to become a teacher in New York, and she went on to dedicate her life to fighting discrimination. In doing, so has helped shape history. In April 1977, she helped orchestrate the longest ever occupation of a federal building in the history of the US. As a result of that, important regulations were brought in which made it both illegal and costly to discriminate against disabled people in many areas. And those regulations paved the way for further victories. Her book is called Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist.

Presenter: Emily Webb. Producer: Fiona Woods.

Picture: Judy Heumann.  Credit: Rick Guidotti/Positive Exposure.

Growing up, Julie Lindahl felt a sense of shame hung over her family, but had no idea why. Her father’s dying words confirmed she needed answers. And so began a seven year search for information. She started at the German Federal Archives where she was handed a file that exposed her grandfather’s Nazi past. Her findings sent her on a life-changing journey to track down and make amends with people who had fallen victim to her grandfather’s brutality.

Julie has written a book about her story called The Pendulum: A Granddaughter's Search for Her Family's Forbidden Nazi Past.

Presenter: Andrea Kennedy Producer: Mariana Des Forges

Picture: Julie Lindahl aged three and her grandfather in Brazil Credit: Courtesy of Julie Lindahl

A few years ago, writer Mira Feticu received an anonymous letter with instructions on how to find a stolen Picasso, buried under a tree in a Romanian forest. The painting, the Tête d'Arlequin or Harlequin Head, had been stolen in 2012 from the Rotterdam's Kunsthal museum. Within days, Mira had found the spot where the artwork was supposed to be hidden. But a shock was in store.   Presenter: Jo Fidgen. Producer: Fiona Woods.

Picture: Pablo Picasso's Harlequin Head. Credit: The Triton Collection Foundation.

When war broke out in Somalia in the 1990s, Omar Mohamed’s dad was killed and he was separated from his mum. Omar, who was only four at that time, picked up his disabled younger brother Hassan and started running. The brothers eventually ended up in Kenya’s vast Dadaab refugee camp - the biggest refugee camp in Africa. For years, they never stopped looking for their mother. Until one day, rumours spread around the camp that a woman was looking for them. Could this stranger be Omar and Hassan’s mum?    Omar's extraordinary story has been turned into a graphic novel co-written by Victoria Jamieson, and illustrated by Victoria Jamieson and Iman Geddy. It’s called When stars are scattered. Omar has set up his own charity called Refugee Strong.   Presenter: Jo Fidgen. Producers: Katy Takatsuki and June Christie.

Picture: Omar Mohamed. Credit: Patrick Blain.

Anas Aremeyaw Anas is very well known in Africa, even though almost no one knows what he looks like. Anas is a trained lawyer-turned-investigative reporter in Ghana, and a frequent presenter of the BBC's Africa Eye. In his nearly 20 years working undercover, he's exposed judges taking bribes for a not guilty verdict; top football officials fixing matches; sex trafficking rings; organ harvesting. To do so, he had to disguise himself as a psychiatric patient, as a janitor in a brothel and as a rock in a barren landscape. His work has led to numerous convictions, but his methods are sometimes dangerous and controversial. His latest investigation for BBC Africa Eye is called Corona Quacks, exposing the sale in Ghana of fake 'cures' for coronavirus.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen. Producers: Andrea Kennedy and Harry Graham.

Picture: Anas Aremeyaw Anas. Credit: BBC Africa Eye.

Colin Foord and Jared McKay are childhood best friends with a passion for aquatic life. As a kid Colin developed a strong love of sea life and would construct his own aquariums. Later, when Jay was suffering from depression, Colin would send him equipment needed to build his own reef aquarium in his living room. Eventually they became partners in a coral business, growing home grown corals in their living rooms. Their love of coral life led them to create bespoke films, music and artwork, an eventually install Coral City Camera, a webcam streaming live from an urban coral reef in Miami which since lockdown has attracted thousands of dedicated daily viewers.

Presenter: Clayton Conn. Producer: Maryam Maruf.

Picture: Colin Foord (R) and Jared McKay (L). Credit: Karli Evans.

Arlene Violet served as a nun for 23 years in the US state of Rhode Island. When she was there she realised that there were big problems locally: the mob ruled the streets and a Colombian drug cartel had moved in. Arlene thought it was her duty to fight the injustices she saw every day, so she decided to run for State Attorney General. She went on to become the first woman in that role, and she sent 18 top criminals to jail. This podcast was first released on 31st March 2018.

Presenter: Emily Webb

Image: rosary and bible Credit: Don Bayley/Getty Images

Joël Karekezi is a Rwandan director, scriptwriter and producer with a string of awards to his name. His films, such as Imbabazi: The Pardon, and The Mercy of the Jungle, deal with issues around the brutality of conflict and war, but also the possibility of forgiveness and hope. And they are themes that were set in his mind from a very young age. Because when he was a boy, Joël lived through the Rwandan genocide, in which an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by extremist Hutu militias. Making films has given Joël a chance to make sense of what he and his family went through during that time. Presenter: Emily Webb. Producer: Rebecca Vincent. Picture: Joël Karekezi during filmmaking. Credit: Ali Musoke.

British diver Chris Lemons was working on an oil well underwater in the North Sea in Scotland. He was connected to a boat with something called an 'umbilical chord', which also provided him with air and heat. But he ended up getting tangled in the line and was stuck on the sea bed with only five minutes of air left in his tank. A rescue team was over 35 minutes away. How he was able to survive has left medical experts baffled.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: June Christie First published on April 23rd, 2019

Picture: Diver Chris Lemons Credit: Courtesy of Dogwoof

Arshay Cooper likens his childhood on the westside of Chicago to "what soldiers experience in war." His father absent, his mother battling an addiction to drugs, Arshay and his three siblings struggled to put food on the table, or to heat their tiny one-bedroom apartment.

From a young age Arshay was aware that in his neighbourhood, “the big question wasn’t what college you were going to go to, but what gang you were going to join.” Still, he knew the life of a gang member wasn't for him.

So when Arshay came across an unusual sight in his school cafeteria one day - a rowing boat with a notice: "Join the Crew Team" - he was intrigued, but wary. The next day the boat was still there, and this time they were offering free pizza to anyone who signed up. The decision to join would lead Arshay to become captain of the first ever African-American high school rowing team in the US, take him and his team-mates into the elite, white-dominated world of amateur rowing - and change their lives for ever.

Arshay Cooper has written a memoir, A Most Beautiful Thing, which has been turned into a film of the same name. The memoir is available now, the film will be released on 31 July.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Maryam Maruf

Picture: Arshay Cooper during rowing practice with the Manley high school crew. Credit: Heather Stone courtesy of Tribune Content Agency

“Ana” (not her real name) lives in Georgia and is a single mother with two children of her own. She has also given birth to two other children for couples who couldn’t carry them themselves. In return, she received a payment. In Georgia, commercial surrogacy is legal but it carries a stigma so great that Ana didn’t even tell members of her own family what she was doing. She spent the final months of her pregnancy almost entirely behind closed doors.

Just a few months ago Ana was carrying a baby for Patrick and Enitan, they’re from Zimbabwe and Nigeria respectively and live in Canada, around 8,500 km away from Ana, but their connection belies that distance. Throughout the pregnancy Ana, Patrick and Enitan would talk over the internet. They told us, “It was beautiful from the first time we talked to her.” Ana would send them photos of her growing belly and then, nine months later, she would deliver them a baby boy.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Jo Impey

Image by Alice Haworth-Booth for BBC Woman's Hour

What is it like to be the daughter of a sporting legend? To many, Muhammad Ali was known as The Greatest, whether as a boxing hero, a pioneering civil rights campaigner, or a world-class entertainer. To Hana Ali though, he was the man who put on magic shows for strangers and recorded interviews with her crushes at school. This podcast was first released 13th October 2018

Image: a young Hana Ali and her father Muhammad Ali Credit: Hana Ali

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Katy Davis

Priscillia Kounkou Hoveyda’s office is a war zone, she goes to meet warlords and military commanders to persuade them to release the children in their ranks and from prisons. And it’s not always just the military leaders who need convincing, sometimes the children are too afraid to leave, so she often shares her own story of growing up as a Congolese Iranian during the violence of the Iran-Iraq war.

Priscillia is a human rights lawyer and the co-founder of the Collective for Black Iranians, a not-for-profit organisation with the mission to represent Black and Afro-Iranians' voices within the Iranian diaspora.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Jo Impey

Picture: Priscillia Kounkou Hoveyda at work Credit: Priscillia Kounkou Hoveyda

Violin virtuoso Min Kym was at the height of her career when she became the victim of a crime that made headlines around the world. She was a child prodigy whose family moved from South Korea to London to help her to develop her talent. Then, at 21, she met the love of her life: a Stradivarius violin. She would joke that she was 99% violin and 1% human. But then her violin was stolen. We first spoke to Min in 2017. It’s been a long journey to find a new soulmate but next week she picks up her brand new, specially commissioned, violin that she has watched grow from a piece of wood. She’s hoping it will be the new perfect partner. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Emily Webb Photo: Min Kym with her Stradivarius violin Credit: Toby Jacobs/courtesy of Min Kym

60 years ago this week a young British woman called Jane Goodall entered the Gombe Stream National Park on the shores of Lake Tanganyika - where she made a discovery that changed our understanding of what it is to be human. She'd gone there to observe chimpanzees, our close relatives. But we didn't know just how much we have in common until Jane had studied them. Now 86, Dame Jane Goodall is still devoted to chimps, and campaigns for a more enlightened attitude towards them. She spoke to Outlook's Jo Fidgen in 2016

Image: Dr.Jane Goodall with orphan chimpanzee Uruhara at the Sweetwaters Sanctuary in Kenya Credit: Michael Neugebauer

Ishmael Beah was just a boy when war reached his village in Sierra Leone and he was forced 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 rehabiliation and the support of a very special woman to break through his defences.

In 1996, at the age of just 16, he gave a speech at the UN in New York where he spoke out about his experiences. His testimony formed part of a pivotal report about the impact of armed conflict on children. A decade later, he would become the first Unicef Advocate for Children Affected by War. Today he is a bestselling author, who has just written his second novel, Little Family. He is also married, with three children of his own.

This interview contains disturbing descriptions of violence.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Jo Impey

Photo: Ishmael Beah Credit: Priscillia Kounkou Hoveyda

Blood, gold and secrets at the Olympic pool.

Greg Louganis is one of the most celebrated divers in the US, and a record-breaking athlete. But Greg is also famous for one of the biggest shocks in Olympic history – cutting his head on a diving board, and the revelations that followed. This podcast was first released on the 17th November 2018.

Presenter: Sofia Bettiza Producer: Maryam Maruf

Image: Greg Louganis Credit: Pascal Rondeau Allsport/Getty Images

Sam Mills is a British writer who has always turned to fictional characters for answers in her life. Whether that was Roald Dahl's Matilda when she was younger or Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway as an adult, they've always been the language she's used to interpret her situation. As a child, Sam didn't understand why her dad would disappear for long stretches of time so she'd tell her classmates he'd been abducted by a gang and was being held hostage. These were stories inspired by some of her favourite authors. When she was 14 years old she found out what was really happening, her father had schizophrenia. Sam's favourite storybooks continued to help her to process the world and when she became her father's primary carer, they became a lifeline.

Sam has written a book about her experience called Fragments of My Father.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Alice Gioia Picture: Pages of a book Credit: BBC

Rufus Wainwright was once described by Elton John as 'the greatest songwriter on the planet'. He's the son of two North American folk music legends – Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle but went on to forge his own prolific career. He's got 12 albums under his belt including the Grammy-nominated Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall where he sang Over the Rainbow with his mother Kate on stage, a song they’ve performed since his childhood. Rufus was especially close to his mum, early on in his songwriting career he looked to her for advice and approval, and her support helped him through a destructive crystal meth addiction. They sang together often, right up until she died from cancer in 2010.

Rufus' latest album is called Unfollow the Rules.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Maryam Maruf

Picture: Rufus Wainwright with his mother Kate McGarrigle Credit: Getty Images

Elizabeth Anionwu spent her earliest years in a British children’s home. Her mother, a promising Cambridge University student, got pregnant by accident following a relationship with a Nigerian law student at the same university and was forced to give her baby up.

Although Elizabeth’s mother was loving and always kept in touch, Elizabeth’s childhood was unsettled. For many years she was the only mixed-race child in the children’s home, and when she left the institution, to live first with her mother and stepfather, and later with her grandparents, Elizabeth never felt wholly accepted.

Despite her academic potential, Elizabeth’s family ended her schooling at 16. She quickly found a job as a nursing assistant, and from there went on to train as a nurse. It’s a profession on which she has had a huge impact, championing the rights and care of patients with sickle cell anaemia and becoming Britain’s first sickle cell nurse specialist. Now Professor Dame Elizabeth Anionwu, she’s regarded as a pioneer in her field, but it was only later in life that she felt a true sense of belonging. A question to her mother about her father’s identity set a chain of events in motion that would lead to a treasured reunion – not just with her father, but with a wider Nigerian family who treated her from the start as one of their own.

It's Outlook's 54th year on air and to celebrate, we're letting our listeners take over today's programme.

Margo Perin is an Outlook listener with a story of her own. As a child in the USA she was constantly on the move, with a new surname and address every few years. Unsure of what her father really did for a living, her childhood was shrouded in mystery. It wasn't until she was much older that she'd come to understand her family's secrets, and why they were on the run. She spoke to Outlook's Emily Webb.

Peter van Straten is another listener who sent a remarkable story our way, this time about a friend of his Mandisa Gushu. Mandisa grew up in a dysfunctional home in one of the poorest parts of South Africa. After naming herself at the age of six, she managed to make her way through school and nursing college and is now working at a hospital in the UK.

We always love to receive stories from our listeners. If you have a story you want told, or know somebody else who does, email us at outlook@bbc.co.uk

Picture: Margo Perin Credit: Margo Perin