Show Notes
The comedy film classic Cool Runnings, about a Jamaican bobsleigh team's surprising efforts to get to the Winter Olympics, was inspired by a real story. Dudley Stokes was an officer in the Jamaican army and hadn't really heard of the sport until his superiors gave a presentation to try and recruit volunteers to take part in the country's first Olympic bobsleigh team. Some of his colleagues were put off by the danger involved as they watched a film of a bobsleigh hurtling down an icy track, but Dudley wasn't. He got on to the team as a driver and became the captain. Dudley tells Anu Anand about the difficult journey to the 1988 Winter Olympics, with only a few months training, and how he coped with a dramatic crash at the Games as the world watched. Get in touch: [email protected] Presenter: Anu Anand Producer: Deiniol Buxton Photo: The Jamaican four man bobsleigh team in action at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympic Games. Credit: David Yarrow/Getty Images
More from The Outlook Podcast Archive
Dr Karen Nyberg has many talents. She's an engineer and astronaut, but she's also an avid quilter, so when she joined the International Space Station in 2013, she took her sewing kit with her. She created a nine-inch, star-themed quilt square in orbit which inspired over two thousand other quilters to do the same. Karen tells Jo Fidgen about the challenges of quilting in zero gravity and of leaving her three-year-old son and husband - also an astronaut - behind on earth. She's now designed a collection of fabrics called Earth Views based on photographs she took from Space. The archive clips you heard came courtesy of NASA.
In the 1990s Terence Smith launched his campaign to run for United States president in drag, shocking voters and the media. His mission was not to win, but instead, to raise awareness about the Aids crisis which was killing his community. Critical of the government's slow response to the epidemic, Terence armed himself with a blonde wig, platform shoes, and the persona of Joan Jett Blakk and decided to run against future president Bill Clinton. Jo Fidgen speaks to Terence from his home in San Francisco, USA. Get in touch: [email protected] Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Gaia Caramazza (Photo: Poster from Joan Jett Blakk's political campaign. Credit: Eric Stein Photography)
Stephen Wiltshire was born in London in 1974, and diagnosed with autism when he was three. Mute until he was five, he was sent to a specialist school where his teachers soon noticed his prodigious talent for drawing. His passion was buildings - the more complicated, the better - and he would recreate them in intricate detail on the page, often from memory. His rare gift astounded the world, and flung Stephen into the spotlight as a child. He was recognised as an 'artistic savant' - someone with extraordinary visual talents - and as a teenager he travelled the world, drawing famous international landmarks. Today, he continues to work as an artist, and is best known for drawing vast, panoramic cityscapes entirely from memory. He and his sister Annette tell Emily Webb about his journey. Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Zoe Gelber Get in touch: [email protected] (Photo: Stephen Wiltshire drawing a panorama of Mexico City in 2016.. Credit: Daniel Cardenas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Wayétu Moore was just five years old in 1990, when Liberia's first civil war broke out. The family were forced to leave their home near Monrovia, and to flee on foot to the relative safety of a remote village. Throughout the journey, Wayétu's father Gus was determined to shield her and her sisters from the horrors of the conflict around them, and made up stories to explain what they saw. After months hiding in a remote village, a young woman with a gun arrived. She was a rebel soldier, named Satta, and announced she'd been sent by Wayétu's mother, who had been away studying in America, to bring the family to safety across the border in Sierra Leone. Years later, living in New York, and by now an established writer, Wayétu set out to track Satta down and thank her for what she did. Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Laura Thomas Get in touch: [email protected] (Photo: Wayétu Moore. Credit: Yoni Levy)
Like many young people in his community, Simon Karuiki Ndungu grew up scavenging for things he could sell. His home was Korogocho, a Nairobi slum situated next to the city's main dumpsite. The poisonous gases and toxic water weren't the only hazards - there was violence as well. Rival gangs fought for control over the dumpsite, and by the time he was 8 years old Simon was running guns for them. Then, as a teenager, Simon started turning his life around. An organisation at the edge of the dump, Ghetto Classics, introduced him to classical music and the saxophone. The instrument would help him process the hardships around him, and his new love of music would be Simon's ticket out of the slum. Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Eric Mugaju Photo: Simon Karuiki Ndungu Credit: Ghetto Classics/Rich Allela