Everyone Else

"It's just what happens in life...If I had the lever to pull, I don't think that I would change it"After setting out on a road trip to celebrate their birthdays, two friends slowly realise their adventure will not turn out as they plannedPhoto by Tori Ferenc  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"We used to joke when she was a baby that she would murder us...She'd kill us with a knife and say 'Oh, but I love my mummy'"A mother shares what life has been like bringing up an autistic daughter, talks about the taboos that still exist around having a child with a disability and discusses the lack of support offered to her throughout the yearsPhoto by Saesha Ward  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"It was such widespread starvation that some strange people on the street used to sell 'beef-burgers' between bombings...It was human flesh" A man shares his childhood memories of the Battle of Stalingrad, fleeing the besieged city on a raft with his family and his worries about war todayPhoto by Tori Ferenc  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"In terms of ritual, I need to dig in the soil and I need to bury some intention"A woman discusses religion, spirituality and the value of an open-minded approach to lifePhoto by Tori Ferenc  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"I was thrilled -  it was a very exciting thing to go through, to think, 'God, he could be alive and I could fill in this picture'"After getting hold of an old newspaper clipping, a young man goes on the search for his long lost grandfather in order to solve a family mysteryPhoto by Tori Ferenc  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"There are so many bad things in life and if you've experienced them, it makes you a more understanding person to your fellow human beings"About to turn 70, a woman reflects on the experience of being married to an alcoholic and the importance of familyPhoto by Tori Ferenc  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"I've been in this shop since I was five years old. My uncle started it when he was seventeen"Fifty years into the job, a tailor takes us on a tour of his shop, shares his simple life pleasures and considers what lies ahead for himPhoto by Tori Ferenc  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"I'm that little person on the corner, fighting that battle saying, 'Please, please take a little bit of me as well'" A mother relays the predicaments of bringing up a child straddling two cultures  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"All the trees fell, and, after the big eruption of the Karangetang volcano, it looked like hell was coming out"A Siau man shares what it's like to live and raise a family under the world's most active volcano and relays the Indonesian island's mystical beliefs  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"My friends were saying to me, 'You need to accept this is your life, you have to get this 'western-girl' mentality out of your head'"A woman caught between two cultures shares the story of her hard-won journey to becoming the British kickboxing and Muay Thai boxing championPhoto by Tori Ferenc  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"There's a spark to life when you're meeting your friends in the nude that just isn't there when everyone has their clothes on"A man explains how he became a nudist, what happens and doesn't happen in nudist clubs and how non-nudists misinterpret the lifestylePhoto by Caroline Tompkins  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"I actually can't fix this by myself, there is something fundamentally wrong with my brain that isn't to do with the circumstances of my life"A woman talks about her depression, her recent decision to medicate it and realising the importance of talking to those around herPhoto by Tori Ferenc  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"He told me that the spirit of the jaguar had told him that a very spiritual person was going to go with this group of people"Having decided to embark on a creative journey through the jungle of Colombia, a man recalls a conversation he had with a local villager and how it affected his mindset on lifePhoto by Alaric MacDonald  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"I'm still processing if I want to go back down that road or if it was just a beautiful experience and that it should stay as a good memory"A teenager shares her experience of first love, the impact of the breakup and what she wants from her life and future relationships as a consequencePhoto by Alaric MacDonald  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"To what extent should you change yourself to appease other people? I thought, 'Yeah, maybe I should just say that I'm pretentious and live as a pretentious person'" A 17 year old talks about his love of art, the misconceptions around it and the creative aspirations he holds for his futurePhoto by Tori Ferenc  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"I was locked in a psychiatric ward, which was a really scary place and Michelle came every day"A woman recounts the abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother as a child and how salvation came when she made a new friend at secondary schoolPhoto by Gray Brame  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"When you help someone, you help yourself"An 11 year old boy talks about how art and singing allowed him to cope with being bullied and how his experiences have led him to want to help othersPhoto by Tori Ferenc  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"One of the biggest barriers is being told you're special, because you're not"A woman talks about the social value in being open to strangers, the need for mixing cultures and learning to approach those we don't know with understandingPhoto by Tori Ferenc  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"I became disabled in 1993. In 2003 I heard the words 'Second Life'. I had no information about it at all, just those two words and I thought, 'That's exactly what I need - a second life'"A man describes how he found a new lease of life on the virtual world 'Second Life', where he set up a LGBT+ haven that hosts dance parties and sees 2000 participants at it's annual Fantasy Gay Pride celebrations  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"More than anything, more than wishing to get cured, I would like not to have fear. I would like courage - more than healing"Having been diagnosed with cancer, a father and husband weighs up his treatment options, what kind of time they will allow him with his family and the process of facing up to his own mortalityPhoto by Tori Ferenc  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.