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Alan Dein connects with strangers across the world via social media, exploring the things that unite people across cultures and borders.

Episodes

December 29, 2020 27 mins

Alan Dein searches for the stories that connect us in a changing world.

Today, Alan hears stories from people who’ve transformed their lives and are helping others to do the same against the backdrop of the pandemic.

He speaks to Alhaji in Sierra Leone who’s building a house for his parents from the money he’s earned working in the United States.

He hears from Tiffany in India who helps visually impaired people become more independe...

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Alan Dein searches for the stories that connect us in a changed world. Inspiring and moving stories of how the pandemic has changed people's lives on every continent.

Today, airline pilot Peter in Australia talks about deciding to become a bus driver after the pandemic forced him to stop flying.

And wedding planner Vithika in India discusses the dramatic impact of the pandemic on her industry.

Plus, Chun Wing, a ballet dancer at ...

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December 15, 2020 27 mins

Alan Dein searches for the stories that connect us in a changed world. Inspiring and moving accounts of how the pandemic has changed people's lives on every continent.

Today, Liana in Armenia celebrates her 30th birthday as her country finds itself at war with Azerbaijan - as well as covid-19.

We also catch up with 25 year old entrepreneur Fahad in Bangladesh, who Alan first spoke to in March when it looked like he might lose his ha...

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December 14, 2020 27 mins

Alan Dein searches for the stories that connect us in a changed world. Inspiring and moving accounts of how the pandemic has changed people's lives on every continent. New series.

Today, Alan connects with Sakie in Myanmar, who tells of a heroic 24 hour journey from his remote village in order to save his mother’s life. He also catches up with Maria Ester in Ecuador, who Alan first spoke to six months ago when it looked as if h...

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May 11, 2020 27 mins

Alan Dein talks to people around the world about the challenges of family life in lockdown.

He connects with Margaret in Uganda who has adopted many children orphaned by HIV. And he reaches out to Alezz in Peru, a trans non-binary person who is confined to their bedroom as their parents struggle to accept them.

He also speaks to Pawel who got trapped in Poland at the start of January and doesn't know when he'll be able to return hom...

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April 17, 2020 26 mins

Across every continent, lives have been put on hold, and people are looking to the day when they can pick up and restart after lockdown.

Alan Dein connects to people looking forward to continuing those things most important to them.

In Mexico, Lucia has spent the past seven years searching for her kidnapped son – one of thousands of disappeared children in the country. For the first time, she has been forced to put that on hold.

Capt...

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April 15, 2020 27 mins

Alan Dein connects with people around the world trying to find moments of calm during the coronavirus pandemic.

He speaks to Jens, the captain of a container ship in the middle of the Indian Ocean who is unsure when he may be able to get his crew back home, and Sujatha, an 85 year old in India who is philosophical about being confined to her home in Delhi.

1000 miles south of Delhi, Alan reaches out to Chinu who is feeding Mumbai's u...

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April 1, 2020 27 mins

Across every continent, people are trying to make sense of a new world – one that happens mostly behind closed doors and often alone. Alan Dein connects with seven individuals whose lives have shifted under the coronavirus pandemic as they nervously anticipate what will come next in an uncertain future. In Tehran, Golnar, an Iranian who describes herself as ‘global traveller’ is inside her apartment – all future trips postponed....

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September 13, 2019 27 mins

Marco loves Beijing - and being Chinese born he should feel at home. But instead he always feels a bit different from those around him, because he was brought up in Australia. His wanderlust is never ceasing, flying across the world is his way of finding contentment, bringing new perspectives back to China with him. But will he ever feel settled? Nosaiba is from Sudan, but for three years she has been living with her parents in S...

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September 6, 2019 27 mins

Alan Dein talks to people around the world to find out how they recover when facing difficulty.

Helena is a young woman in Venezuela, living alone with her daughter. Caught in the middle of a national crisis, crime and electrical blackouts, she leaves an audio diary for Alan documenting the week leading up to her daughter's 9th birthday.

He also speaks to a personal trainer in Sri Lanka whose business is much more than exercise and a...

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September 4, 2019 27 mins

Alan Dein connects with people around the world united by their desire to find fulfilment.

Alan speaks to a young gay man in China troubled by homophobia and an Egyptian woman determined to resist the religious extremism she witnesses in her small city.

He also reaches out to an Iranian man struggling to pursue his passion for foreign languages against the odds and a jobless Nigerian distressed by his inability to provide for his f...

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March 26, 2019 27 mins

Some locations - the beaches of California, the South American rain-forest, the majestic scenery and slow pace of Christchurch, New Zealand - may seem like Paradise - but reality, in the form of nature, climate change, industrialisation, or terrorism, can often creep in, even in these beautiful places.

What about if you live there?

Alan Dein talks to three strangers from across the globe, finding out the threats to Paradise, and h...

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March 19, 2019 27 mins

Alan Dein hears compelling personal stories from people around the globe about the things which unite them.

In Brazil, Saudi Arabia, the North of England and beyond, Alan connects with people online who are on the move, exploring what ‘motion’ means to different people through individual and collective experiences.

This includes a unique insight into marriage behind the wheel from a husband and wife trucking duo as they travel acro...

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March 12, 2019 27 mins

In this week's episode, Alan connects with people in Sweden, Brazil, Australia, Poland, and beyond. Conversations include a trans man in the military getting ready for fatherhood, a burlesque performer building queer community in Brazil, and a woman who wonders how different her life might have been if she never found roller derby.

Producer: Arlie Adlington

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March 5, 2019 27 mins

Alan Dein connects with strangers across the world, exploring the things that unite people across cultures and borders.

Today, Alan reaches out to people in Afghanistan, the Philippines, Sierra Leone and beyond - exploring what it means to belong.

He hears people yearning for a better life elsewhere - and those determined to make a go of it where they are.

Producer: Laurence Grissell

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December 16, 2017 27 mins

Alan Dein connects with random strangers around the world and calls them. Each has a personal, intimate story of how art has enriched their lives or provided solace in difficult times.

Producer: Georgia Catt.

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December 9, 2017 27 mins

Alan Dein connects with random strangers around the world and calls them. Alan Dein connects with random strangers around the world and calls them. Each has a story of exile - whether through escape, economic necessity or adventure. Producer: Georgia Catt.

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December 2, 2017 27 mins

Alan Dein continues his virtual global journey, calling random people he stumbles across on line.

Through extraordinary stories of tolerance, Alan hears what people endure in their political, religious and love lives.

Bob, a Lebanese computer intern, tells of his struggles as a fervent Islamist, Samira a Brazilian teacher confesses to infidelity and Tariro shares her joy as the tanks roll into Harare.

Producer: Sarah Bowen.

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November 27, 2017 27 mins

Alan Dein connects with random strangers around the world and calls them.

This week, his guests are in far flung places and bustling cities but each, in their own way, isolated.

He finds Clare, an ex-Mounted Police Officer in the High Arctic, Dino, a security guard, locking up after a long nightshift in Skopje and in Northern China, 19-year-old Ben, whose ears are still ringing from his first night ever in a nightclub.

Producer: Sara...

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November 18, 2017 27 mins

Alan Dein travels the world via the internet talking to parents and children about navigating the tricky expectations they have of each other.

Among those Alan strikes up conversation with today: a Filipino mother estranged from her gay son, a Ugandan woman whose education was cut short and a young Korean man hiding his tattoos from his parents.

Producer: Laurence Grissell.

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