Nigerian Ruona Meyer was inspired by her famous journalist father - Godwin Agbroko - to become an investigative reporter like him. When he was killed, her grieving brother became addicted to codeine cough syrup. Ruona - clad in bullet proof vest and blue lipstick - risked her life to uncover the black market trade in the medicine that’s become a street drug. Her documentary Sweet, Sweet Codeine has been nominated for an Emmy.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen

Producer: Constanza Hola

Image: Ruona Meyer

Credit: BBC

Get in touch: [email protected]

American sprinter Wyomia Tyus grew up on a dairy farm in Georgia, in the racially segregated South. When she was 14, tragedy struck her family - their house burned to the ground, and her father died shortly after. Bereft, Wyomia started running to get over her grief. She was soon spotted by the coach of the first - and only - college athletics training programme for black women in the US, and became the first person to win back to back gold medals in the 100m sprint in two consecutive Olympic Games in 1964 and 1968. Yet despite these historic achievements it is only now that she is getting recognition. She tells Anu Anand how it feels to finally get her moment in the spotlight.

Get in touch: [email protected]

Presenter: Anu Anand

Producer: Zoe Gelber

(Photo: Medal winners of the women's 100 metres in the 1964 Olympic Games, with Wyomia Tyus in first place. Credit: Bettmann via Getty Images)

Donna Palomba's life changed in September 1993, when she was sexually assaulted in her family home in Connecticut. A month after the attack, Donna was called to the local police station and accused of making the assault up by the officer in charge of her case. It was a devastating blow but Donna was determined to clear her name and get justice. It would take years and several court cases before her attacker was arrested and his identity sent shockwaves through Donna’s family and community. As a result of her experience Donna founded Jane Doe No More, a non-profit organisation called Jane Doe No More which empowers survivors of sexual crimes to find their voice, advance their healing and educate others.

A warning that what Donna describes is shocking and at times distressing.

Get in touch: [email protected]

Presenter: Anu Anand

Producer: Tom Harding Assinder

(Photo: Donna Palomba. Credit: Christine Petit)

The comedy film classic Cool Runnings, about a Jamaican bobsleigh team's surprising efforts to get to the Winter Olympics, was inspired by a real story.

Dudley Stokes was an officer in the Jamaican army and hadn't really heard of the sport until his superiors gave a presentation to try and recruit volunteers to take part in the country's first Olympic bobsleigh team. Some of his colleagues were put off by the danger involved as they watched a film of a bobsleigh hurtling down an icy track, but Dudley wasn't. He got on to the team as a driver and became the captain. Dudley tells Anu Anand about the difficult journey to the 1988 Winter Olympics, with only a few months training, and how he coped with a dramatic crash at the Games as the world watched.

Get in touch: [email protected]

Presenter: Anu Anand

Producer: Deiniol Buxton

Photo: The Jamaican four man bobsleigh team in action at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympic Games.

Credit: David Yarrow/Getty Images

A few years ago, Freddy McConnell decided to have a baby. A decision that is a big deal for most, but that is even more complicated for Freddy, because he is trans. Freddy started his transition in 2012. Back then having a baby wasn’t on his mind. But after realising that – biologically – it was still a possibility, Freddy decided to get pregnant.

Emily Webb first spoke to Freddy in 2019, and since then he has had a second child.

Get in touch: [email protected]

Presenter: Emily Webb

Producer: Saskia Edwards

(Photo: Freddy McConnell standing on a beach. He is pregnant. Credit: Mark Bushnell)

Petrit Halilaj was born in Kosovo in 1986 and grew up in the small town of Runik. He always loved drawing and had a rare talent for it. When war broke out in Kosovo and Serbian troops moved into their hometown, Petrit and his family had to flee, eventually finding sanctuary in a refugee camp in Albania. It was there, in 1999, that Petrit met the Italian psychologist Giacomo 'Angelo' Poli who encouraged the children to communicate the traumas they had experienced, through drawing. Using only felt tip pens, Petrit's drawings ended up being beamed all over the world. They even caught the attention of the then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan who asked to meet Petrit during a visit to the camp. Many years on, Petrit is now a highly acclaimed artist. He recently exhibited work based on some of the drawings from the refugee camp, at Tate St Ives in Cornwall in the South West of England. The show is called Very volcanic over this green feather.

The clip you heard came from Swedish broadcaster SVT

Presenter: Jo Fidgen

Producers: Andrea Kennedy & June Christie

Get in touch: [email protected]

(Photo: Petrit Halilaj and Dr Giacomo Poli, 1999. Credit: Giacomo Poli)

This programme contains offensive language. Sweet Anita has Tourette’s syndrome, a neurological condition which causes her to make involuntary sounds and movements. Her specific type of Tourette’s is called coprolalia, which means she sometimes says offensive or inappropriate things. Before her diagnosis, she didn't know why she was different to everyone else. She was bullied at school and making friends was difficult. Lonely and confused, she was told by a doctor her tics were ‘attention seeking’. But today, with a medical diagnosis and a new-found confidence, Anita is a successful streamer on the gaming platform Twitch, with an avid fanbase and a growing community online.

Get in touch: [email protected]

Presenter: Jo Fidgen

Producer: May Cameron

(Photo: Sweet Anita. Credit: Sweet Anita)

Afghan-American pilot Zak Khogyani was just nine years old when he fled his home in Afghanistan. Being forced to leave his family and belongings behind was not easy, but he eventually managed to settle in the United States, which he now considers home. So last year, when Zak heard about Afghans fleeing the Taliban's takeover, he knew better than most the hardships they were facing. He felt compelled to lend a helping hand, and over three evacuation flights, Zak chaperoned 1,002 people hoping to find safety in the United States. They told him their stories and their fears, looking at him as an inspiration for the life that awaited them upon landing.

Get in touch: [email protected]

Presenter: Jo Fidgen

Producer: Gaia Caramazza

(Photo: Zak Khogyani at work. Credit: Zak Khogyani)

As a 16-year-old boy in Togo, Tété-Michel Kpomassie knew he had to escape. It was the late 1950s, and his father had ordered him to train as a priest in a snake cult. But Tété-Michel was terrified of snakes after a close encounter up a coconut tree that had nearly cost him his life. One day, he came across a book about Greenland. He read that there were no reptiles, only ice, and he was intrigued by the Inuit people. So he set out on an odyssey to reach this mysterious country, full of images of icebergs and sledding and hunting. It took him eight years to travel through Africa and Europe, all the while doing clerical odd-jobs, before final reaching the south of Greenland in the mid-60s. He was the first African they had ever seen, and was offered a warm welcome. For 18 months, he learnt the culture and way of life; dog-sledding, seal-fishing and acclimatising to the cold. Then, he returned to Togo as a different man - he shared his story and built a bridge between Africa and Greenland. Now 80, he speaks to Jo Fidgen about his extraordinary adventure and his hopes to return this year to buy a house and spend the last part of his life there.

Michel The Giant: An African in Greenland is by Tété-Michel Kpomassie.

Get in touch: [email protected]

Presenter: Jo Fidgen

Producer: Katy Takatsuki

(Photo: Tété-Michel Kpomassie in the 60s. Credit: Tété-Michel Kpomassie)

Many African American cemeteries in the US have fallen into disrepair over the years - one of them is Geer cemetery in the city of Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in the 19th century when racial segregation laws meant that Black people had to be buried separately from white people and over 1,500 people are believed to be buried at Geer. Of that number, only around 200 headstones remain and the stories of those interred were at risk of being lost forever. That was until a group of volunteers called "Friends of Geer" stepped in - they are now working to reclaim the histories of those buried there. Reporter Danny Greenwald went to meet two of the group's members - Michael Williams and Deidre Barnes.

Get in touch: [email protected]

Presenter: Emily Webb

Reporter: Danny Greenwald

Producers: Danny Greenwald and Laura Thomas

(Photo: Deidre Barnes and Michael Williams at Geer Cemetery. Credit: Danny Greenwald)