Main content

Categories: Factual: Life Stories

  1. Train Hopping in the USA

    Jumping on freight trains in America, adventure or desperation? Peter Bowes explores.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  2.

    The Actors' Gang

    'Shawshank Redemption' star Tim Robbins leads acting classes in LA's Norco Prison.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  3. The Age of Reason

    How has the world has changed for women? Inspiring women in their 70s and 80s look back

    BBC World Service

    Show available episodes

  4. Hardeep's Sunday Lunch

    Hardeep Singh Kohli travels the UK cooking Sunday lunch for people with remarkable stories

    BBC Radio 4

    Show available episodes

  5. The Big B at 70

    A look at the life and work of Amitabh Bachchan, the biggest star in Bollywood

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  6. China: As History Is My Witness

    Carrie Gracie presents a series exploring ten great lives from Chinese history

    BBC Radio 4

    Show available episodes

  7. Tehrangeles

    A journey into the triumphs and struggles of the Iranian diaspora in Los Angeles

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  8.

    The Reluctant Lama

    The Spanish toddler who was chosen by the Dalai Lama as a reincarnated Tibetan lama.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  9.

    The Island

    Sheppey, landscape of cars, caravans and morose marshland - the place they call The Island

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  10.

    Tony Hancock

    Comedy actor Tony Hancock epitomised the little man's struggle against the world.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  11.

    Staff No Fee: The Other Life of Brian

    Barry Johnston explores the early career of the legendary commentator Brian Johnston.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  12. The New Elizabethans

    James Naughtie profiles 60 public figures nominated to mark the diamond jubilee

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

    Show available episodes

  13. Delius: Composer, Lover, Enigma

    Documentary exploring the contradictions of Frederick Delius's colourful life.

    BBC Four

  14.

    The Perfumed Mountaineer

    Hayden Lorimer explores the double life of Walter Poucher: photographer and perfumer.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  15.

    Conjuring Halie

    Cerys Matthews celebrates one of her musical heroines, gospel singer Mahalia Jackson.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  16. Wireless Nights

    Jarvis Cocker explores the human condition after dark, with stories of night people

    BBC Radio 4

    Show available episodes

  17. Children of the Tsunami

    How the 2011 tsunami and the Fukushima nuclear accident have affected children's lives.

    BBC Two

  18. The London Chronicles Archive

    The sounds of the historic and influential city, through its music, life, noise and people

    BBC World Service

    Show available episodes

  19. Vic Oliver - The First Castaway Remembered

    David Baddiel explores the mercurial life of entertainer Vic Oliver.

    BBC Radio 4

    Show available episodes

  20. My London Archive

    A series of interviews offering an intimate view of a city people have made their home.

    BBC World Service

    Show available episodes

  21. The Fifth Floor

    At the heart of global storytelling, with BBC journalists from all around the world

    BBC World Service

    Show available episodes

  22. Short Cuts

    Short documentaries and adventures in sound presented by Josie Long.

    BBC Radio 4

    Show available episodes

  23. Songs for Madame Vasnier

    Richard Langham Smith on the songs Debussy wrote for his muse Madame Vasnier.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  24. Dear Professor Hawking

    BBC Radio 4 pays tribute to scientist Professor Stephen Hawking

    BBC Radio 4

    Show available episodes

  25. Don't Log Off

    Alan Dein connects with strangers across the world via social media.

    BBC Radio 4

    Show available episodes

  26. Make Me A National Treasure

    Gyles Brandreth discovers what it takes to become a national treasure.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  27.

    Jack Jackson: Rhythm and Radio Fun Remembered

    Exploring the legacy of musician and broadcaster Jack Jackson.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  28.

    Colouring Light: Brian Clarke - An Artist Apart

    Profile of painter Brian Clarke, one of the world's greatest stained glass artists.

    BBC Four

  29. The Life Scientific

    Professor Jim Al-Khalili talks to leading scientists about their life and work.

    BBC Radio 4

    Show available episodes

  30. The Man with Many Names

    Peter Day explores the wayward genius of Irish writer Flann O'Brien on his centenary

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  31. The Paper Round

    Public figures revisit their paper round route and reveal how it influenced their lives

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

    Show available episodes

  32. Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad

    Story of the email friendship between a British journalist and an Iraq-based academic

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

    Show available episodes

  33. Hemingway Days

    Wayne Hemingway celebrates the lives of 1950s designers, Robin and Lucienne Day.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  34.

    Opening the Boxes: a Soprano's Secrets

    Michael White uncovers the life of the soprano singer Jennifer Vyvyan.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  35.

    Slums 101

    Paul Mason visits Manila to assess the benefits of life in the world's poorest slums.

    BBC Radio 4

  36.

    Composer Joseph Horovitz: No Ordinary Joe

    Debbie Wiseman tells the fascinating story of the composer of Captain Noah and Rumpole

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  37.

    The Mousetrap and Me

    Louise Elliot meets Terry O'Neill whose case inspired Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap.

    BBC Radio Wales

  38.

    James Joyce - Blind Date With Bloomsday

    A literary landmark and it's effect on a city. How Dublin has embraced Ulysses.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  39. The Rattigan Versions

    Memories of playwright Terence Rattigan from people who had a close connection to him

    BBC Radio 4

    Show available episodes

  40. When Hollywood Met Halifax

    How Jayne Mansfield shook up the northern club scene before she died.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  41.

    The Swedish Invasion

    Comedian Danny Robins explores the global Swedish cultural explosion conquering the world.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  42.

    Sylvie Simmons: The Rock Chick

    Islington-born Sylvie Simmons talks to Nick Barraclough about her life as a rock writer.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  43.

    Loud Organs His Glory

    The story of the great Victorian organ builder 'Father' Henry Willis.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  44. Desert Island Discs Revisited

    Selected castaway gems from the BBC Desert Island Discs archive.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

    Show available episodes

  45. Inheritance Tracks

    Guests on songs inherited from their parents and songs they'd pass on to their children.

    BBC Radio 4

    Show available episodes

  46. Not Just Funny Animal Voices

    The life of Johnny Morris, told by his friend and former co-presenter Terry Nutkins.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  47.

    What We Leave We Carry: The Legacy of John la Rose

    Burt Caesar on John La Rose, founder of Britain's first black publishing house.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  48.

    Mandela in His Own Words

    Fergal Keane takes a journey through the private notebooks and letters of Nelson Mandela.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  49.

    Heel, Toe, Step Together

    The story of an octogenarian dancer teaching a 28-year-old how to waltz.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  50.

    The Long Walk

    Tim Whewell explores truth and myth in one of the great tales of adventure and endurance.

    BBC Radio 4

  2. 1
  3. …
  4. 7
  5. 8
  6. 9
  7. 10
  8. 11
  9. …
  10. 16