My mum 'blossomed' as she fought Nigeria’s fake drug barons

Chidiogo Akunyili-Parr remembers her mother Dora Akunyili’s fearless work

• 40 mins

Pirates stole my son

Howie Truong was fleeing Vietnam with his family when pirates intercepted their boat

• 40 mins

The black woman who cared for a Klansman

The temping job that took a young African American woman into the home of a KKK member

• 26 mins

A spy in the family

I was betrayed to the East German secret police

• 40 mins

Abandoned at birth: 50 years searching for our families

A baby left in a car, the other in a phonebox. David and Helen’s quest to find out why

• 40 mins

Delia Ephron: ‘I fell into my own romantic comedy'

How writer Delia Ephron found herself in a love story like her hit film You’ve Got Mail

• 40 mins

The Oscar joke that turned into a real life drama

How a triumphant moment in Colin Gibson’s career inadvertently led to a false bomb scare

• 40 mins

The British commune and the Colombian guerilla group

Atlantis was a psychotherapy commune who moved to Farc controlled territory

• 26 mins

Why my birth parents tried to keep me a secret

It took Brendan Watkins decades to find out the true identity of his birth parents

• 40 mins

Taking on the witch hunters

Wrongly blamed for killing her father, Monica fought to save others accused of witchcraft

• 40 mins

Glad to be gay: The surprise hit that became a pride anthem

Tom Robinson became a Pride icon with his top 20 hit Glad to be Gay

• 40 mins

Kidnapped as I lay sleeping

Pirates attacked us on a remote island

• 40 mins

Giving birth during a genocide

The Rwandan woman whose waters broke as militia were attacking her family home

• 26 mins

The casino cheat who stopped his own million dollar scam

Former swindler Richard Marcus now works for the same casinos that he once robbed

• 40 mins

The schoolgirl who fought an oil company and won

When Nalleli Cobo fell ill, fingers pointed to an oil well next to her home in LA

• 40 mins

A family lost at sea

Fleeing Vietnam Lauren’s family almost died. Her 30-year dream was to find their rescuers

• 40 mins

Book lovers unite: The bookish boy who became a boxing champion

The bookish boxing champion, the bin man who built a library and the secret German author

• 40 mins

London’s revolutionary kiss-in

Ted Brown is a black LGBT rights pioneer who helped organise the UK’s first Gay Pride

• 26 mins

Facing the ghosts of a freak mountain storm

How one man’s life was upended when a gentle hike up a mountain turned into an icy hell

• 40 mins

The 'metal bird' that sparked a dream

His first sighting of a plane in the sky would lead Ousman Umar on a treacherous journey

• 40 mins

Adventures in sound: The soundscape ecologist

Musician Bernie Krause overcame a fear of animals to capture natural sounds of the wild

• 40 mins

Why I stopped talking for 17 years

It started out as an experiment for a day but John Francis didn’t speak for 17 years

• 40 mins

The space genius who needed a guide to life on earth

How a bereaved astrophysicist was helped by notes from her late husband

• 26 mins

Cleopatra: Uganda's history-making trans activist

Forced to strip to 'prove' her gender, Cleo took a stand and gained official recognition

• 40 mins

My husband thought I was an imposter

Abi Morgan’s husband woke from a coma and didn’t recognise her

• 40 mins

From a burnt-out refugee camp to dining with the President

Mondiant Dogon's family had to flee their home in DR Congo because of ethnic violence

• 40 mins

The teenage mum who became a soul star

Aged 17 and unhappily married, PP Arnold found herself auditioning for Tina Turner

• 40 mins

How the tigress of basketball fought back

Malebogo Molefhe rediscovered her love of basketball after being shot and paralysed

• 26 mins

Swimming with polar bears – a photographer’s 'crazy' dream

Israeli photographer Amos Nachoum is known for his close-up encounters with predators

• 40 mins

A 'dreamer', a Nasa contest and a robot called Stinky

Oscar Vazquez's robot brought him acclaim, but also highlighted his undocumented status

• 40 mins

Bringing my 10,000 kites from Kabul to England

Sanjar Qiam continued to make and fly kites through three decades of war in Afghanistan

• 40 mins

The maid-turned-rapper taking on racism in Brazil

When Preta-Rara wrote about her time as a domestic worker her post caused a storm

• 40 mins

My mother, India’s forgotten disco diva

Rupa Biswas Sen’s long-lost Indian disco record became an underground hit after 30 years

• 26 mins

The figure-skating star who fell to earth

Heroin and jail threw Keri Blakinger off course. She’s now a criminal justice reporter

• 40 mins

The life and loves of the world's oldest drag queen

Walter Cole, 91, has been dazzling audiences in Oregon as Darcelle XV since 1969

• 40 mins

A poet in a Burundi war zone, part 1

JP Bimeni risked his life to save a book of his verse

• 40 mins

A poet in a Burundi war zone, part 2

JP Bimeni is a writer turned soul singer who walked through a massacre unscathed

• 40 mins

A musician embraces life after recording through grief

Phil Elverum worried people would be "mad at him" for the raw grief he expressed

• 26 mins

Crossing continents to find my parents

Tuy Buckner’s epic search to find his birth family in Vietnam

• 40 mins

Me, OCD and the baby bird in my hair

How nursing an abandoned finch helped Hannah Bourne-Taylor through a mental health crisis

• 40 mins

The forbidden lovers who plotted a daring escape

Karl-Heinz and Hedi were kept apart by the Iron Curtain and the East German secret police

• 40 mins

From teen single mother to top gourmet chef

Claudette Zepeda overcame huge hurdles to wow the culinary world with her Mexican food

• 40 mins

Waking from a coma speaking a foreign language

Ben McMahon woke from a coma only able to speak Chinese Mandarin

• 26 mins

I was the voice of Bambi – and kept it secret for years

Donnie Dunagan was a child star in the 1930s before becoming a US Marine

• 40 mins

When we were kings: the truth about my father

David Wright Faladé unearths a shocking secret about his family’s past

• 40 mins

The legendary goalkeeper forced to pawn her gold medals

Briana Scurry knew she was destined to win Olympic gold then one game changed everything

• 40 mins

Creating a Puerto Rican superhero to save the world

Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez has invented a comic book crusader called La Borinqueña

• 40 mins

Tarantulas, Gandalf and my dying brother's bucket list

Royd Tolkien’s brother Mike left him a daring list of tasks to complete after he died

• 26 mins

The classical concert pianist - who has only one hand

Nicholas McCarthy built a career in music by playing with just his left hand

• 40 mins

Beautiful things help me deal with my ugly past

Antiques expert Ronnie Archer-Morgan was abused as a child but he found joy in museums

• 40 mins

Cracking a $30m case of wine fraud

How wine detective Maureen Downey uncovered a huge counterfeiting operation

• 40 mins

How I fell in love with blindness

Itto Outini lost her sight but gained her freedom

• 40 mins

Hiding the truth behind my NFL stardom

New England Patriots star Ryan O'Callaghan used football as a cover for his sexuality.

• 26 mins

Finding a life in the sunshine: Being Roy Ayers’ son

Nabil Ayers unearthed an unexpected family history through his famous father Roy Ayers

• 40 mins

My history-making solo flight around the world

Ademilola “Lola” Odujinrin became the first African pilot to fly solo around the world

• 40 mins

The family that went to war with a military dictatorship

Hafsat Abiola Costello's dad was nearly Nigeria's president - but he had powerful enemies

• 40 mins

Lady in Red: The plasterer making violent homes beautiful

Naima Ben-Moussa overcame her difficult past repairing houses damaged by domestic abuse

• 40 mins

My ex-partner killed our baby

Hera McLeod has used her grief and anger to become an advocate for child protection

• 26 mins

The mystery of the lost mastertapes and my strange grandfather

How a grimy suitcase led Daniel Lofredo Rota on a quest to solve a decades-old mystery

• 40 mins

Sacheen Littlefeather: Protest at the Oscars

The Native American activist who rejected Marlon Brando’s award on his behalf

• 40 mins

Space and self-doubt: An astronomer's unusual route to the stars

Poonam Chandra studied in secret to become one of India’s leading young astrophysicists

• 40 mins

My hunt for Rodriguez, a missing music legend

One South African superfan's quest to unravel the truth about his favourite artist

• 40 mins

Why I thought my baby had devil’s eyes

Catherine Cho experienced postpartum psychosis a few months after her baby boy was born

• 26 mins

A head injury made me an overnight musical prodigy

Derek Amato had never played the piano before but now music was flowing out of him

• 40 mins

My family are sex workers - education saved me

Eliska Tanzer grew up illiterate in a family of sex workers, but defied all expectations

• 40 mins

Opiyo’s law: Never let fear rule your life, part 1

Nicholas Opiyo survived civil war to become one of Uganda’s top human rights lawyers

• 40 mins

Opiyo’s law: Never let fear rule your life, part 2

Trailblazing lawyer Nicholas Opiyo and his lifelong pursuit of justice in Uganda

• 40 mins

The scavenger who found a brass symphony

A trombone took Ronald Kabuye from the streets of Kampala to a world-famous stage

• 26 mins

Ghana's first photojournalist who found fame in his 90s

James Barnor's work had fallen into obscurity but then came a big birthday present

• 40 mins

The brain tumour that taught me how to live

How extreme kayaker Scott Lindgren's illness forced him to face his past

• 40 mins

My life as rock's first female roadie

Tana Douglas was rock's first female roadie but hid a monumental secret to fit in.

• 40 mins

My children were injected with HIV

Jennifer Merry’s haemophiliac sons were infected by contaminated blood in a UK hospital.

• 40 mins

India’s first all-women newsroom

How Dalit childhood friends Kavita and Meera are shaking up journalism in India

• 26 mins

Survivor 195: Taking down Larry Nassar

Elite US gymnast Rachel Haines confronted predator Larry Nassar who abused her for years

• 40 mins

The letter that brought my grandmother back to life

The Rwandan playwright whose search for her lost grandmother helped a nation heal

• 40 mins

How Rennie Harris danced his way into the spotlight

Renowned choreographer Rennie Harris overcame stereotypes to bring hip-hop centre stage

• 40 mins

I didn't realise I was homeless

Filmmaker Elegance Bratton slept on the streets of New York and New Jersey for years

• 40 mins

The Oscar joke that turned into a real life drama

How a triumphant moment in Colin Gibson’s career inadvertently led to a false bomb scare

• 26 mins

New York to Vietnam: The greatest beer run ever?

'Chickie' Donohue took beers across the world to boost his friends serving in Vietnam

• 40 mins

Fate and faces: The artist who ‘sold stars’ to make a living

Lita Cabellut is successful Spanish painter but grew up on the streets of Barcelona

• 40 mins

The girl who heckled the President

At 11 Zarifa heckled Hamid Karzai, by 24 she was Afghanistan's youngest female Mayor

• 40 mins

Uncle Jack Charles, the story of an Indigenous film star

'Uncle Jack' was a pioneering actor, elder and champion of Aboriginal Australians

• 40 mins

The sailor and the pirate king

Indian sailor Sudeep Choudhury was kidnapped at gunpoint by pirates in the Niger Delta

• 26 mins

My Lego invention that silenced the bullies

Aged 17, David Aguilar built a record-breaking prosthetic that brought global recognition

• 40 mins

How The Beatles inspired me to rock against Cuba’s regime

Inspired by The Fab Four, Nilo Nuñez set up a secret rock band in Communist Cuba

• 40 mins

I see my son in the Northern Lights

Hugo Sanchez photographs the mesmerising Aurora Borealis to grieve the loss of his son

• 40 mins

The backing singer who stepped out from the shadows

Merry Clayton, the voice behind Gimme Shelter, reveals why she was haunted by the song

• 40 mins

Who was the stranger who saved my life?

Sonia Solorzano spent years seeking the unknown man who rescued her from a destroyed bus

• 26 mins

Hip-hop, lies, and the ultimate prize, part 1

The Scottish rappers who fooled the music industry

• 40 mins

Hip-hop, lies, and the ultimate prize, part 2

Silibil N’ Brains found fame as fake American rappers - but how long can you live a lie?

• 40 mins

I found my 'sister-in-arms' through a newspaper cutting

Canadians Leslie McBain and Petra Schulz united in grief after losing their sons to drugs

• 40 mins

How the girl who was denied an education created a school

As a girl Ashwini Angadi was turned away from school because of her visual impairment

• 40 mins

My unknown song became a political anthem in Hong Kong

How Matthew Keegan found out he had become an overnight pop star 5,000 miles away

• 26 mins

Black, Korean, stateless: A 'slickyboy’s' American dream, part 1

An outcast from birth and a petty thief by seven, all Milton wanted was to find his dad

• 40 mins

Black, Korean, stateless: A 'slickyboy’s' American dream, part 2

An outcast from birth and a petty thief by seven, all Milton wanted was to find his dad

• 40 mins

The marathon runner and Gobi the stray dog

Dion Leonard found an unlikely running partner during a race in China

• 40 mins

My life, painting Iran’s rebellious women

Soheila Sokhanvari grew up in a very fashionable home in Iran but, in 1978 it all changed

• 40 mins

Steve Van Zandt on bands, bandanas and Bruce Springsteen

Guitarist Steve Van Zandt tells us why he's been happy being the man behind the boss

• 26 mins

Rickie Lee Jones: From life on the breadline to stardom

The US singer hit the big time in her early 20s, winning a Grammy for her first album

• 40 mins