OUR PROGRAMMES
At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Maria Mutola won Mozambique’s first ever gold medal in the 800 metres. Mutola had long been regarded as the finest female middle-distance runner of her generation, but she had suffered shock defeats at the previous two Olympics. Her exceptionally long Olympic career would continue until Beijing 2008, her sixth games. She talks to Ashley Byrne.
PHOTO: Maria Mutola winning her gold medal in Sydney, 2000 (Getty Images)
Forty years after the death of reggae singer Bob Marley, British writer and dub poet, Benjamin Zephaniah, remembers the day Jamaica came to a standstill for the singer’s funeral.
Bob Marley was laid to rest on the 21 May 1981, 11 days after dying from lung cancer. The extraordinary day saw the island come together to mourn their most famous son – and to celebrate his life and work. He was more than a singer and writer to the people of Jamaica, he was a national hero and prophet with his beliefs in peaceful resolution and Rastafarian religion.
Among those remembering this extraordinary day – I3s singer Marcia Griffiths, reggae musician Michael Ibo Cooper, reporter Robin Denselow and Edward Williams who was a 13-year-old boy living in Kingston at the time.
(Photo: Bob Marley performing at the Brighton Leisure Centre. Credit: Mike Prior/Redferns/Getty Images)
Karoshi, or death from overwork, has been common in Japan for decades. Now the plight of women is coming more into focus following high profile deaths and signs more women are suffering. Yoshie Matsumoto examines how an overwork culture is affecting women in Japan. She hears from the parents of journalist Miwa Sado who died at the age of 31 after putting in more than 150 hours in overtime a month. She also hears from the mother of 24-year-old Matsuri Takahashi who had been working 20 hours a day.
(Photo: Yukimi Takahashi beside her daughter Matsuri’s shrine at her home in Mishima. Credit: Makiko Segawa)
At the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, Zimbabwean sprinter Elliot Mujaji won his country’s first ever Paralympic gold medal when he sprinted to victory in the 100 metres. Mujaji had been a promising runner as a teenager, but suffered severe burns and the amputation of his right arm while working in a part-time job as an electrician. Mujaji then faced a tough battle to get sponsorship in a country where there was virtually no support for Paralympic athletes.
PHOTO: Elliot Mujaji at the 2004 Paralympics (Getty Images)
In this third programme, guest presented by actor and star of Welsh soap Pobol Y Cwm Dyfan Rees, 'Life Matters' looks at the impact of suicide on LGBTQI+ people. Dyfan chats to Ian Howley from the charity LGBTHero and examines how gay men in particular have been affected during the Covid-19 pandemic, Ashley Byrne reports on new research being carried out around lesbian and bisexual women in America, Freddy Chick talks to Talen Wright about micro-aggression faced by trans people and bisexual journalist Nichi Hodgson tells her personal story.
In 1982, the first ever Gay Games were held in San Francisco. Attracting a large crowd and featuring more than 1000 athletes from more than 100 countries, the event was organised by a group of LGBT activists, including former Olympians, to raise awareness about homophobia in sport. The Gay Games are now held every four years at venues around the world.
Marc Almond is joined by his friend and record producer Tris Penna for a three part series about torch songs and torch song singers. Marc explains what a torch song is and traces the origins of the classic torch singers, and takes us through the decades - bringing us right up to date.
It’s 25 years since South Africa won football’s African Cup of Nations on home soil following the fall of Apartheid. Former Leeds United defender Lucas Radebe was part of the team and was later hailed by Nelson Mandela as his hero. He talks to Ashley Byrne about an emotional victory for the new “Rainbow Nation” and his own upbringing in Soweto.
Lord Kinnock looks at the role Welsh politician and firebrand Nye Bevan played in keeping Churchill's all-party coalition Government to account during the Second World War.
The actors are Dyfan Rees and Christopher Strauli.
An MIM production for BBC Radio Wales
Professor Alice Roberts presents a ten-part narrative history series about the human body - a time-travelling tour of anatomical knowledge from the Stone Age to the Silicon Age.
Actor: Jonathan Kydd
An MIM production for BBC Radio 4
In 2011, US Navy bomb disposal officer Brad Snyder was blinded by an IED while serving in Afghanistan. Formerly a successful college swimmer, Snyder used sport as part of his recovery and exactly a year later took two gold medals at the London Paralympic Games. He talks to Ashley Byrne.
In 2004, the Indian long-distance swimmer Bula Choudhury became the first woman to complete the challenge of crossing straits of the world’s seven seas. Her challenge took her to five continents, although she says one of her hardest swims was in the cold waters of the English Channel. Bula Choudhury talks to Maya Mitter.