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The Double Bass Saved My Life

Chi-chi Nwanoku was set to become an Olympic sprinter, but an injury ended her athletic dreams and she became a classical musician.

Chi-chi Nwanoku is the five foot tall double bass player who started Europe's first majority black and ethnic minority orchestra. It's called the Chineke! Orchestra and has performed in prestigious venues to great critical acclaim. Chi-chi was born in London, the daughter of a Nigerian father and an Irish mother. In her teens, Chi-chi was set to become an Olympic sprinter, but she dislocated her knee during a girls football match and never returned to athletics. Then she came across the double bass and this orchestral instrument changed her life forever.

The American artist Marguerite deCourcelle describes herself as a 'cryptoartist' who paints secret codes into her work. She tells us about one of her images that was uncovered after three years.

The football referee Damian Rubino from Argentina is believed to have broken an extraordinary record in 2011 - by showing 36 red cards in a single game, dismissing all the players, substitutes and coaches! The scenes occurred in the fifth tier of Argentinean football between rival teams Claypole and Victoriano Arenas.

Down in an old Edwardian basement in North London, a very curious world exists. It's filled with creatures from the deep sea, insects from the deepest jungles, two headed skeletons and even a mummy or two. It is the world of Viktor Wynd, who has spent his life travelling to collect oddities from the farthest corners of the earth.

(Picture: Chi-chi Nwanoku. Credit 成人快手/Sim Canetty-Clarke)

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53 minutes

Last on

Thu 1 Mar 2018 07:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Wed 28 Feb 2018 12:06GMT
  • Wed 28 Feb 2018 16:06GMT
  • Wed 28 Feb 2018 18:06GMT
  • Thu 1 Mar 2018 04:06GMT
  • Thu 1 Mar 2018 06:06GMT
  • Thu 1 Mar 2018 07:06GMT

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Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary

Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary

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