At 18 Nikki Owen set fire to the family home – and she didn’t know why.
 
Nikki awaited trial in solitary confinement, but her father searched for answers in medical science, and started working on a ground-breaking legal defence to get her out. If you've been affected by any of subjects in this programme you can find support and additional information below:
BBC Action Line: https://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline/
Befrienders Worldwide: https://www.befrienders.org/
The International Association for Premenstrual Disorders: https://iapmd.org/
National Association for Premenstrual Syndromes https://www.pms.org.uk Presenter: Emily Webb
Producer:  Tom Harding Assinder

I hit puberty, then burned down my family home

Have you ever locked eyes with a stranger and wondered, "What’s their story?" Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected. Extraordinary stories from around the world.

Personal Journals

Society & Culture

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Afghan Tae Kwon Do champion Marzieh Hamidi’s hard road to the Paris Olympics A sport that involved kicking and punching was a natural fit for this Olympian-to-be, who spent her teens fending off men on the streets of Kabul. At just 22, Marzieh has had to be a fighter in most aspects of her life. As she gets ready to represent the Refugee Team at this year's Paris Olympics, she tells the full story of her and her family's remarkable quest for freedom for the first time.  Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producers: Laura Thomas and Kevyah Cardoso Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

"I don’t need a flag. I am a flag"

On the day his mother disappeared in December 1989, 11-year-old Collier Landry started looking for evidence.   He suspected his father, a rich and well-respected town doctor, had something to do with it. This is the story of Collier's fight to get justice for his mother, and the detective who believed him. Collier's film is called A Murder in Mansfield.   Presenter: Asya Fouks 
Producer: Helen Fitzhenry Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

How I convinced police my dad was a murderer

How Ustad Noor Bakhsh, a Pakistani shepherd in his 70s, became a folk music star After hunting for four years, Pakistani ethnomusicologist Daniyal Ahmed finally finds Ustad Noor Bakhsh, an elderly shepherd and master of the electric benjo – an obscure stringed instrument with typewriter keys. With Daniyal’s help, Ustad Noor would go from serenading his goats in the jungles of Balochistan to performing for revellers on the European festival circuit. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar
Producer: Maryam Maruf
Translation: Wajid Baloch Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

Balochistan’s mystery benjo man, part 2

The epic quest to find an elderly Pakistani musician and his unusual stringed instrument Daniyal Ahmed is a flute player and anthropologist who spends his time searching out and documenting folk music across Pakistan. In 2018, he was mesmerised by a video clip of an elderly man – described as a “poor fisherman” – expertly playing a benjo, an obscure stringed instrument that looks like a cross between a guitar and a typewriter. So began Daniyal’s hunt for this mystery master musician. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar
Producer: Maryam Maruf Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

Balochistan’s mystery benjo man, part 1

Erika Cheung went from a trailer park to a top tech company job, but something was off. She knew how to work hard, growing up in a one-bedroom trailer, she dreamed of pursuing her passion for science and helping others. So Erika was thrilled to land her first job out of university at a booming tech company promising a revolution in healthcare. Fronted by the glamorous and wealthy Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos claimed to have the technology to be able to tell from a few drops of blood whether someone had a range of diseases. That was not true. And it took Erika, one of their most junior employees, to blow the whistle – at great personal risk.  Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: Mary Goodhart
Editor: Munazza Khan Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

I hit puberty, then burned down my family home

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