Gamal Turawa has lived many lives - but never fitted in As the first openly gay black officer in London's Metropolitan Police, he struggled to find his way while reckoning with his past. Adopted into a white family as a baby, Gamal was hoodwinked by his father as a boy and ended up living as a teenage beggar on the streets of Lagos, until a chance encounter saw him find work as a magician's assistant, hyping up crowds across West Africa.  Presenter: Mobeen Azhar
Producers: Charlie Towler and Harry Graham
Editor: Laura Thomas

Becoming Gamal, part 1: Magic and misadventure

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

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

Exposing Silicon Valley's multimillion dollar fraud

A bonus episode from the Amazing Sport Stories podcast – The Black 14. Sport, racism and protests are about to change the lives of “the Black 14” American footballers. It’s 1969 in the United States. They’ve arrived on scholarships at the University of Wyoming to play for its Cowboys American football team. It was a predominantly white college. The team is treated like a second religion. Then, the players make a decision to take a stand against racism in a game against another university. 
 
This is episode one of a four-part season from the Amazing Sport Stories podcast. 
 
Content warning: This episode contains lived experiences which involve the use of strong racist language

Becoming Gamal, part 1: Magic and misadventure

Download our free app to listen on your phone