The Outlook Podcast Archive

By BBC World Service

Extraordinary first-person stories from around the world. An archive of Outlook podcasts from 2016-2022. For new episodes from the team, subscribe to Lives Less Ordinary.

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The podcast currently has 1,478 episodes available.

Best of The Outlook Podcast Archive

The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

Number 1: The man and the shark
Almost every day for 40 years, expert diver Jim Abernethy has been swimming with sharks at a patch of shallow crystal-clear ocean in the Bahamas known as Tiger Beach. At any given moment Jim can be surrounded by 30 or more tiger, reef and lemon sharks. But Jim has a unique relationship with these underwater predators who swim up to him for affectionate nose-rubs. He tells Outlook's Clayton Conn about removing fishing debris from their mouths with his own hands and his mission to change the world's perception of these endangered sea creatures. Get in touch: [email protected] Presenter: Clayton Conn Producer: Clayton Conn and Mariana Des Forges Picture: Jim Abernethy with a tiger shark Credit: Clayton Conn
November 03, 202118min
Number 2: Cooking for my mother helped her share a hidden history
Grace M. Cho grew up Korean-American in a small town in Washington state. Her mother, Koonja, was a Korean woman who met Grace’s white-American father – a merchant marine – on a US military base in the aftermath of the Korean war. Charismatic and determined, Koonja did everything she could to 'fit in' in their town: she threw a party for Grace and her brother’s teachers to help them integrate at school; she learned to cook American food; and she also founded a thriving woodland-foraging business that led to her being nicknamed “the blackberry lady” by the locals. Still, Grace never felt the family was truly accepted, and they often experienced harassment. When Grace was 15, Koonja suffered a psychological breakdown that would, years later, be diagnosed as schizophrenia. Struggling to help, Grace turned detective and uncovered her mother’s traumatic history in Korea. But it was through cooking – and recreating Korean recipes Koonja had not tasted for decades – that Grace and her mother were able to find comfort and connection. Grace's memoir is called Tastes Like War. Get in touch: [email protected] Presenter: Anu Anand Producer: Laura Thomas Picture: Grace M. Cho Credit: Patrick Bower
November 01, 202133min
Number 3: I found my son 32 years after he was kidnapped
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 in 2020, after 32 years she was finally reunited with her son. This interview was first broadcast on 5th August 2020. Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Deiniol Buxton Picture: Mao Yin reuniting with his mother Li Jingzhi Credit: Getty Images
October 30, 202127min
Number 4: Miss Pat: The Chinese-Jamaican matriarch of reggae
In the late 1950s, Patricia Chin – aka Miss Pat – abandoned a career in nursing and, with her husband Vincent, started selling old jukebox records out of a grocery store. Their business moved to downtown Kingston and would grow into Randy’s Record Mart, Jamaica’s most famous record store. Upstairs, Vincent set up Studio 17 and worked with some of reggae’s biggest stars – Bob Marley and the Wailers, Lee ’Scratch’ Perry, Alton Ellis and John Holt. But political instability in the 1970s would force them to flee their beloved home. Miss Pat, with just a few dollars, had to rebuild her life and her business. Now, her family runs VP Records, one of the world’s largest reggae and dancehall labels. Her book is called Miss Pat: My Reggae Journey. Get in touch: [email protected] Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Maryam Maruf Picture: Miss Pat behind the counter in Randy’s Record Mart Credit: VP Records
October 28, 202141min
Number 5: People used to stare at me. I fight back with my paintbrush
American artist Riva Lehrer was born with spina bifida. She endured countless medical procedures through her childhood and adolescence and was told she would never have a job, a romantic relationship or an independent life. But everything changed when as an adult Riva was invited to join the Disabled Artists Collective, a group of artists, writers and performers who were challenging myths around disability in their work. She tells Emily Webb how she began to paint their portraits - and through her art started to transform the stories she’d been told about herself. (This interview contains language that some listeners might find offensive) Get in touch: [email protected] Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Zoe Gelber Picture: '66 Degrees'. A self-portrait by Riva Lehrer, 2019. Credit: Riva Lehrer
October 27, 202124min