Lives Less Ordinary

• Rewind: An author, his cellmate, and a new beginning

  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 Fidgen Producer: Hetal Bapodra and Anna Lacey Get in touch: [email protected] or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

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• My hunt for the Gutenberg – the rare book that solved a family mystery

  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 Fouks Producer: Maryam MarufGet in touch: [email protected] or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

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• Rewind: The spy who wanted to bring down apartheid Part 2

  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 Rakusen Producer: Harry Graham Editor: Deiniol Buxton Sound design: Joel Cox

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• Rewind: The spy who wanted to bring down apartheid Part 1

  Sue Dobson was a white South African who risked her life as an ANC secret agentSue 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 Graham Editor: Deiniol Buxton Sound design: Joel Cox

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• Held hostage by al-Qaeda: my desert odyssey

  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 TakatsukiPicture: Edith Blais Credit: Sara Mauve RavenelleGet in touch: [email protected] or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

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