Outlook

In May 2019 Saray Khumalo became the first black African woman to summit Everest. She defied those who didn't believe she could achieve her dream of climbing the world’s highest peaks. The trek to the top wasn't easy though, Saray tells Andile Masuku about three previous attempts and her near-death experiences. Saray's adventurous expeditions help raise money to educate young Africans through a charity she's set up called Summits With a Purpose. Presenter: Andile Masuku Producer: Deiniol Buxton Picture: Saray Khumalo summiting Mount Everest Credit: Bikash Karki / Contributor Getty Images

In 2003, Nakout Sylvia was kidnapped in Uganda by the Lord’s Resistance Army who murdered her husband and separated from her children. She was taken to a LRA stronghold in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where she was held as a sex slave. She was raped by LRA leader Joseph Kony, and bore a child he claimed to be his. In 2015, Nakout made a daring escape and made her way to Europe where she dreams of being reunited with her children from Uganda. Andile Masuku spoke to Nakout about her ordeal, which contains descriptions which some may find distressing. Producer: Thomas Harding Assinder Photo: Nakout Sylvia Credit: UNHCR

For World Radio Day, Outlook has put together some of our favourite stories about radio and how it has helped communities and listeners in unexpected ways. We hear from Luis Huincache Panchillo, who runs Chile’s first digital Mapuche radio station, Italian Massimo Vallati who started a community radio station to stop a football club from being vandalised during the night, and John Watson from New Zealand, who's station Sleep Radio plays ambient music to help its audience nod off. Finally, we have an extended interview with British DJ Deke Duncan. For decades, Deke has run a pretend music radio station from his garden shed, with his friends. Typically, he had only one listener - his wife. But in 2018 he finally got his own radio show on the BBC. He told Jo Fidgen all about it. Presenter: Andile Masuku Producers: Alice Gioia and Harry Graham Photo: Deke Duncan Credit: Courtesy of Deke Duncan

Conor Madden was playing Hamlet in Cork at the age of 24, the best role of his young career, when an on-stage accident changed his life forever. During a fight scene a sword fractured Conor’s skull. He was eventually diagnosed with a brain injury. Conor recovered, but there have been lasting effects on his speech and mobility, and the road back to acting has been difficult. He spoke to Andile Masuku about his experience. Producers: Alice Gioia and Thomas Harding Assinder Photo: Conor Madden

After lesbian couple Lillian Faderman and Phyllis Irwin had a son in 1970s California, they realised their young family had nothing legally binding them together. Because they couldn’t marry at the time, they came up with a legal workaround – Phyllis would adopt Lillian, technically making them mother and daughter, though they never thought of themselves that way. When marriage laws changed in the early 90s, they tied the knot, meaning that for a period Lillian was technically married to her mother. They spoke to Jo Fidgen about navigating law and love during their nearly 50 years together. Producer: Mariana Des Forges Photo: Lillian Faderman and Phyllis Irwin Credit: Lillian Faderman