Acclaimed writer and journalist Jon Ronson relates his startling journey into the lives of the shamed – people ruined by a badly worded tweet or a work faux pas – in 6 episodes of 15 minutes each. BBC Radio 4 Jon Ronson acknowledges that he was once a public shamer, and in his book, which he is reading from in this podcast, he explores the impact of public shaming on both the shamer and shamee. Neither come through the experience well. He draws a comparison between a social media attack mob and the 17th century practice of locking someone into …
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Life Stories
What happens when a diagnosis changes everything? One afternoon, Helena Merriman walked into a doctor’s surgery and was given a shock diagnosis. In this series, she interviews people who – like her-were changed by a diagnosis. Told through an immersive sound design, this intimate series shines a light on misunderstood conditions, asking how we cope when our bodies and our minds no longer behave as we want them to. BBC Radio 4 Each episode in this series focuses on an individual story of a person who experienced a shock medical diagnosis and how they came to terms with it. The …
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The lightbulb, Willy Wonka, The Beatles & even the screen you’re reading this on would not exist without neurodivergent minds. 20% of the population is considered neurodivergent (ADHD, Autism, Dyscalculia, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, & Tourettes etc.) and yet waiting times for diagnosis are at an all-time high. Join Ben Branson (Autistic/ADHD), the visionary founder of Seedlip, as each week he sits down with great minds that think differently: from neurodivergent entrepreneurs & talented creatives to renowned authors, psychologists & experts. As a society we need more awareness, understanding & support of neurological conditions that have silently contributed so much to the …
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How much do you know about the person you love? Sweet Bobby is the #1 chart-topping, award-winning investigative series in search of the world’s most sophisticated catfisher. Tortoise Media Don’t Google this show. So much has been written and part of the pleasure of listening to it is the suspense from plot twists and revelations. Alexi Mostrous, the journalist who tells this story, does so with deft skill, gently leading the listener through a series of rolling emotions, but without ever minimising Kirat Assi’s experience. It is an extraordinary story about catfishing and the long lasting impacts on Assi’s life, …
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The latest season of the wildly popular con-themed podcast Chameleon takes place in the summer of 2003 when two half-starved young men turned up in a small Canadian town telling an incredible story. They’d been raised in the British Columbia wilderness, and this was their first-ever contact with society — they’d never seen a TV, gone to school, or registered for IDs. So the community took them in and set about introducing them to the modern world. Before long, the international media descended on the town, enthralled by the mysterious “Bush Boys.” There was just one problem: not a word …
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In Hackney, 2007, 15-year-old Abraham saves a stranger from a brutal attack. That split-second decision and act of astonishing bravery changes his life forever. Journalist Sam Holder has been following Abraham’s story for years. Together with Abraham’s friends and family, they retrace how this young boy finds himself in fear of his own life. This multi-award-winning series explores the protections in place for witnesses of violent crimes, the obligations for witnesses to give evidence in court, and what can be done if someone feels their life is at risk. BBC Radio 4 I’m not sure if I will ever forget …
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In life most of us will have at least one moment that can be a turning point. It could be a decision or incident that at its most intense can make or break us. John O’Hegarty had an extreme version of that experience. It broke him. “It’s like a crack emerged. I just floated away,” he says on a new podcast ‘I’m Not Here To Hurt You’. What happened next is scarcely believable. A man destined for great things in academia went on to raid 16 Dublin banks. He earned the nickname ‘the polite bank robber’ – but ultimately became …
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When Elizabeth Short, also known as The Black Dahlia, was brutally killed in 1947, it gripped the entire country. More than 70 years later, it remains America’s most infamous unsolved murder. Many believe Dr. George Hodel was the killer, thanks to an investigation by Hodel’s own son. But murder is just part of the Hodel family story, one filled with horrifying secrets that ripple across generations. Now, through never-before-heard archival audio and first-time interviews, the Hodel family opens up to reveal their shocking story. In this eight-part documentary series, sisters Rasha Pecoraro and Yvette Gentile, the great grand daughters of …
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