logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2024
32m 10s

The hungry boy who devoted his life to m...

Bbc World Service
About this episode

Gilbert Alaskadi grew up in the African country of Chad. His family was poor, and he spent much of his childhood hungry, with people frequently making fun of his small stature. Then, when he was a teenager, he encountered a bodybuilding pamphlet, promising quick muscle growth in a handful of weeks. He wanted the physique, but first he'd need money and calories. At the first oppurtunity he ran away from home, left the country, and jumped head-first into the world of bodybuilding.

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Harry Graham Editor: Munazza Khan

Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

Up next
Jul 6
Kidnapped at four: How I found my way home
After being kidnapped, a promise to return to his mother helped Antonio Salazar-Hobson through his darkest hours.Antonio Salazar-Hobson was four years old when he was kidnapped from his Mexican migrant worker family in Arizona by the white couple who lived next door. From Phoenix ... Show More
41m 6s
Jun 29
The penguin that followed a teacher home
While visiting friends in Uruguay, British teacher Tom Michell saw a penguin covered in oil and tar on a beach. Tom cleaned the bird as best he could and then tried to release it. The penguin refused to return to the wild, it just followed Tom around. So he took it home, smugglin ... Show More
39m 54s
Jun 22
Meeting the monster: My 14 days with Joseph Kony
In Judith Obina Okumu's imagination, Joseph Kony was a monster. As leader of the Lord's Resistance Army he'd fought a decades-long war against the government of Yoweri Museveni – displacing and destroying hundreds of thousands of lives across Northern Uganda in the process. But o ... Show More
39m 43s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2024
Ronnie Coleman Part 1
Eight-time Mr. Olympia champion, Ronnie Coleman, sits down with Shannon Sharpe at Club Shay Shay for a deep dive into Ronnie's life, career, and incredible journey in bodybuilding. In Part 1, they go way back, discussing Ronnie's upbringing in Louisiana where he grew up working o ... Show More
57m 27s
Sep 2024
Ronnie Coleman Part 1
Eight-time Mr. Olympia champion, Ronnie Coleman, sits down with Shannon Sharpe at Club Shay Shay for a deep dive into Ronnie's life, career, and incredible journey in bodybuilding. In Part 1, they go way back, discussing Ronnie's upbringing in Louisiana where he grew up working o ... Show More
57m 27s
Dec 2024
Aaron Knipp
By the time he was 19, Aaron Knipp weighed over 300 pounds and felt trapped in a cycle he thought he could never break. But a defining moment in college became the catalyst for an incredible transformation. Determined to rewrite his story, Aaron pushed himself to discover a metho ... Show More
25m 45s
Apr 2024
My Doubts About Bryan Johnson’s “Never Die” Protocol
Bryan Johnson began his life as an entrepreneur, buying, selling, and growing companies like Venmo to build a healthy living for himself. Several years ago, he became fascinated with the idea of maximizing human technology to extend the length and quality of one's life as far ... Show More
1 h
Jul 2024
Anthony Joshua, boxer
Anthony Joshua MBE is a British heavyweight boxer, Olympic gold medallist and two-time former unified world heavyweight champion. Anthony was born in 1989 and grew up in Watford. When he was 11, he moved with his mother to Nigeria, her home country, and attended a boarding school ... Show More
51m 47s
Nov 2017
Rich Roll on Risking Everything
Rich Roll is an ultra-endurance athlete, author of the best-selling book Finding Ultra & has been named one of the world's 25 fittest men. But only a few years back he was heading into middle-age unhealthy, overweight & overworked. How did he turn things around? He risked it all. ... Show More
1h 14m
Sep 2020
Ronnie Coleman - The King Of Bodybuilding: How I Overcame Adversity To Become Eight Time Mr. Olympia
LAUNCH YOUR OWN PODCAST: https://londonreal.tv/by/ 2021 SUMMIT TICKETS: https://londonreal.tv/summit/ NEW MASTERCLASS EACH WEEK: http://londonreal.tv/masterclass-yt LATEST EPISODE: https://londonreal.link/latest Ronnie Coleman is the American bodybuilding champion, considered to ... Show More
1h 25m
Sep 2024
Bugha - Navigating Fame, Fortnite, and Family
Kyle, also known by his gamer tag Bugha, started playing Fortnite as a young teen. He soon realized that he possessed exceptional skills and began competing. In 2019, at the age of 16, he entered the Fortnite World Cup and defeated 99 other players. However, the pure joy of that ... Show More
41m 5s
Dec 2016
Ep. 4: A Man's Role as Husband
Satyen Raja was born in Uganda, Africa to parents who had made their way from India. He spent several years of his childhood in England before his family finally settled in Canada. Black Belt, Entrepreneur, Author, Trainer, Visionary, Life-Architect and Passion in Marriage Ignite ... Show More
30m 7s
Jul 2016
Levi Roots
Kirsty Young's castaway is the entrepreneur, Levi Roots.His business success began following an appearance on BBC Two's Dragon's Den in 2007. With guitar in hand, he sang about his 'Reggae reggae sauce' which he had been selling for years at London's Notting Hill Carnival. Both P ... Show More
34m 42s