This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Part of why I blew the whistle was I didn't want to lay in bed in 20 years. Having seen another million people die. I know that I could have done something when when I had a chance. This week on the interface, we're talking to Francis Haligan. The Facebook whistleblower who leaked the documents that changed how the world saw social media. And now she is the subject of Aaron Sorkin's latest movie, the social reckoning. So join me, Thomas Dermain and me, Jess Maddox. For the interface. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. The Hubble Space Telescope was designed to peer deeper into the universe than ever before. Unlocking some of its greatest secrets. But after launch, a devastating flaw emerged. The significant spherical aberration appears to be present in the optics. National disaster, humble launch with flawed mirror. The BBC Space Podcast, 13 minutes, is telling the inside story of how NASA rescued Hubble. The future of space astronomy depends on it. From the BBC World Service, 13 minutes. Trouble with Hubble. Listen now, wherever you get your BBC Podcasts. This is the happy pod from the BBC World Service. I'm Helena Burke and in this edition. We find out how and why a man in Nigeria danced for seven days straight. On the top day, I almost wanted to give up because the pain was hitting me deeply. But I always remembered why I started. And I kept going. And I kept going. We look at the impact of the millions of free books given to children by Dolly Parton. And how her dream is now being expanded. Let's share this dream that all children should grow up in a home for the books. You will never know unless you try. The story of a theatre worker who's gone from sweeping the aisles to performing on centre stage. The 11-year-old chess prodigy who's made history as the youngest woman grandmaster ever. And how a man in Scotland played the long game, spending 25 years pulling off the perfect prank on his best mate. Hi Kevin, remember me? And it was with a picture of someone wearing the tops in London. Who is your passion? I have no idea. We begin in Nigeria, where a dancer has waltzed his way into the record books. Benjamin Daniel or Ben Dancer's, he's better known, shuffled, swayed and spun his way through seven days of almost non-stop dancing. The 33-year-old was attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the longest dance marathon using the challenge to highlight the struggles face by professional dancers across Africa. I asked Ben what it was like to keep the rhythm going for 168 hours straight. I started from the first day the pain was intense. On the third day, I almost wanted to give up because the pain was hitting me deeply. But I always remember where I started. I said, "We have a target. I'm going to have to keep going." And I kept going. And I had the right scene. They were with me. They understood my goal. Ben fell in love with dance as a child and he since built a career as a professional dancer in Nigeria. But his years in the industry showed him that there was some serious problems. There are no structures that helps protect the dancers and then give them a sustainable and a long life. If you look at the situation of producers and writers in music, they get published, right? They have royalties that keep them going even after their career. So for dancers, once you dance on a video set, once you dance maybe on a production, that's all. They just pay you for a production that you did and that's all. You have to pay for your medical because you have to take care of your body because our bodies are two, right? You pay for the rehearsal space, that's pay for costumes and all of this. So by the time you come back, there's not so much that you can leave with. Ben wanted to bring the world's attention to the plight of African dancers. So he knew he had to do something big. The current Guinness World record for the longest dance marathon is five days and seven hours. Ben knew that with enough training, he could beat it. I was swimming for my bread control. I was boxing. I was being weak lifting and I was being cardio. I was being yoga. So all of these things helped to prepare my body, prepare my mind for the seven days. I was about to embark on. After two years of preparation, Ben took to the stage in the city of Lagos. The Guinness World Record rules stipulate that for every one hour of dancing, you can have five minutes of rest. What I do is I will dance for eight hours, then have 14 minutes. So it is enough 14 minutes that I'll go to my resting room. In those 40 minute breaks, Ben would sleep, use the toilet and get checked by a medical team. But what about eating and drinking? I was eating on the stage. You will see there's a little table by the side. While I'm still dancing, I'm still eating. There were many times Ben wanted to give up as he felt his body or mind start to give way. But the constant stream of people coming to cheer him on kept him going. They would come during their walk time, they would drive to me. They would check if I'm still standing. Because at a point, people were doubting if I was going to make it. So they kept coming to check. So every time I see them, I get the courage to push. I feel like giving up whenever I see their faces and they laugh and they smile. Even when I'm in pain, I will smile at them. I will thank them for coming and I'm still dancing. Ben is still waiting for his record to be officially ratified. But he's already achieved his bigger goal, shining a global spotlight on Africa's professional dancers. Beyond dance as an entertainment, dancers are custodians of culture globally. For Africa, for every part of the world, dancers are custodians of culture. I knew that the victory was not for me alone. The whole world, the dancers, now they have a voice. There's new hope for the new generation. Ben dancer. The death of Dolly Parton six weeks ago sparked an outpouring of grief and love from across the world. But the Queen of Country wasn't just beloved for her music. Dolly was almost as well known for her philanthropy as she was for her songs. Since 1995, Dolly Parton's imagination library has been delivering free books to children every month. Today, the charity operates across five countries. In the wake of Dolly's passing, the scheme is now being expanded here in the UK, meaning tens of thousands more children will receive free books every month. Alfie Tobert has the details. Growing up poor with 11 siblings in rural Tennessee, books weren't a big part of Dolly Parton's childhood. Well, we didn't have books in our home because there were so many of us kids and Daddy told us not to bring books home, because kids just chew on and pee on them and do whatever kids do. So he said, I can't afford to pay for books. It was Dolly's father's inability to read all rights that inspired her to do something about low literacy rates in the United States. Now, he was one of the wisest men I've ever known, but I knew in my heart this inability to read probably kept him from seeing all his dreams come true. So inspiring kids to love to read became my passion and my mission. In 1995, Dolly launched the imagination library in her hometown in Tennessee, sending a book a month via post to children from birth until they turned five. The program grew rapidly. Really, the imagination library only had humble ambitions at the beginning. It was only ever supposed to be for Dolly's local town, but you know, it goes so well in the local town. It goes county wide, so well county guys, it goes statewide. And today it's up to sending books to one in five children across America. That's Steve Corris from Dolly's charity, the Dollywood Foundation. The imagination library was so successful in the US that it expanded into Canada in 2006, followed by the UK, then Australia, and most recently Ireland. Steve says more than 340 million free books have now been given to children through the program. It's amazing. I mean, we continuously hear stories of family saying to us, they can't really believe that it's such a great service. Because it's a free book that gets delivered through the letterbox every month. And it's a real nudge reminder for parents and families to sit down with their children and read. There's a robust body of research showing that reading to young children helps their cognitive, linguistic, and emotional development. Books can also teach children important lessons about values like kindness and optimism.
Like Dolly's favourite imagination library book, the little engine that could. "All the dolls and toy animals begin to smile and cheer. Puff, puff, chug, chug went the little blue engine. I think I can, I think, I can, I think, I can." The imagination library is now being expanded in the UK. The program, which currently operates in three boroughs in London, will soon be available in ten boroughs. Steve Corris says this expansion will see an additional 120,000 children become eligible for a free book every month. So really what we're trying to do across many London boroughs is to provide a community-wide experience for children to get involved in the program so that within a whole community you'll have the same children all and going to school, having read the same books. We usually start off with communities enrolling 10, 15 percent within their first six months of starting. But we know through other communities that was worked with that, you know, we can get up to 80, even 90 percent of the local area becoming involved in the program over time. For London parents like Harriet and her daughter Sienna, the imagination library has been life changing. "It looks at the sky, it looks at the sky. What do you think is about to shout?" "There's a shark in the park." "There's a shark in the park." "Next page." "We read together every day and that's been made possible because we get a book once a month, so it's been a huge difference." "And now that it's being expanded, what difference do you think it'll make overall for children in the capital?" "This is going to make a word of a difference because what is going to mean is that Paris will have to worry about buying books because buying books can be quite expensive." Throughout her 60-year career, Dolly Parton sold over a hundred million records, wrote more than 3,000 songs and won 11 Grammy Awards. But the star said her greatest achievement was delivering books to children across the world. "Before he passed away, my daddy told me that the imagination library probably was the most important thing I'd ever done. Now I can't tell you how much that meant to me because I created the imagination library as a tribute to my daddy. Let's share this dream that all children should grow up in a home full of books. The first step is always the hardest, but you'll never know unless you try." The late Dolly Parton ending that report by Alfie Tobit. To another performer now, this one on the other side of the world in Australia. Ellen Ebes was working as an usher at the Theatre Royal Sydney, helping people get to their seats and cleaning up after performances. As she watched the musicals, the 24-year-old dreamed of being on the stage herself. Two months ago, Ellen stepped into the spotlight for the first time at the same theatre where she used to sweep the aisles. In a production of the classic musical Fiddler on the Roof, I spoke to Ellen about her journey from the stalls to the stage. "I came straight out of drama school, graduated, moved back home and was like, 'Right, let's get as we call a mogul job.' And I started working at Theatre Royal Sydney as an usher and I loved it. I was like, 'This is like a hack for a person that is trying to be in theatre, getting paid to what shows every night.' And performers that I looked up to so much and every night just felt like a free masterclass to be honest. And when you were in the theatre and the performance was going, were you ever imagining yourself up there on the stage? I definitely was quietly manifesting it, but truly I would kind of tell myself, 'Okay, maybe in like five years' time, 'I would be up there.' You tell me about how you came to be cast in Fiddler on the Roof? You originally auditioned for a different role, didn't you, not the role of Hodor that you ended up getting? I did a self-tape and then I got called into the room and they called me back for the site hall, which is actually the oldest star, so I presented the site hall material. And then the next callback was actually the final and that was with Jordan Fine, the director from the original region's park, Open Air Production. And I presented the site hall material and then he was like, 'Okay, can you leave the room for one second?' And I was like, 'Oh God, what's what I've done?' And then they actually got me to do the Hodor material two weeks later, my agent called me and I was on the way to dinner with my friends and I was just like walking on the street. And she called me and I was just like in complete shock, I literally fell to the ground and like started crying because I could not believe it there that I had booked the show. What was opening night like, how did it feel when you first stepped out onto the stage and the same theatre where you used to work? It was crazy. It was, I've never felt a feeling like that, even just coming into the wing. I got a wave of emotion that I wasn't really expecting because the fire exit door was right near the wing and like, as an usher, you need to check the fire exits and I would always take my time and, you know, look around, sit, look in the wings and like try to get a peek because I was the closest you could get to the stage as an usher. And so when we walked on the stage, I was like, 'Oh my God, I could just like see myself as an usher in that area, but this time I was performing.' And then as soon as that curtain kind of lifted, I could just see a packed theatre under this wall of energy. And then I could see the ushers on the side. I just immediately a tear came out of my eye because I was just like, 'This is so crazy, like this is so full circle.' And so, yeah, it came out in tears because I just, yeah, I couldn't hold it in. It was truly incredible. And when you're on stage performing, do you ever see your old colleagues out out in the stalls? Yes. Of course, every single night, then they used to love it because I could see them, I'd be like, 'Okay, there's CNR at door one, James is at door two, I could see who was who and who was where.' So I could like feel their energy and like cheering me on. And on the closing night, on Saturday, just gone, it was so cute. They all came in for bows. And there was like 15 ushers on either side of stage left, right, screaming and cheering, and all like filming. It was just so beautiful and really nice to have their support throughout the whole thing. Ellen EBS. Coming up in this podcast, how two decades of mysterious emails and a missing football jersey came to a head. I instantly knew it was at the top, it was at the top, I was just lost for words. I couldn't believe it. The fact that it was literally 25 years as well. Part of why I blew the whistle was I didn't want to lay in bed in 20 years, having seen another million people die, and know that I could have done something when I had a chance. This week on The Interface, we're talking to Frances Haligan. The Facebook whistleblower leaked the documents that changed how the world saw social media. So join me, Thomas Dermain, and me, Jess Maddox, for The Interface. It felt like everything I believed in was suddenly collapsing. This is the story of an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia with a dark secret of the school's head teacher. This was someone I respected above anyone else, and the investigation led by students he's trying to silence. This is World of Secrets, catching my teacher. Hey it's Roman Mars, host of the 100 Object Series. This week I'm joined by former Mythbuster Adam Savage to dial into the story of the bell telephone, an invention that completely transformed the way we communicate, while uncover the history behind a very specific beloved model of the telephone, how it changed the world, and the story behind when the most influential objects ever created. Listen to 100 objects, on the 99% of visible feed, wherever you get your podcasts. The Hubble Space Telescope was designed to peer deeper into the universe than ever before, unlocking some of its greatest secrets, but after launch, a devastating flaw emerged. The significant spherical aberration fears to be present in the optics. The National disaster, Hubble launch with Flood Mirror. The BBC Space Podcast 13 minutes is telling the inside story of how NASA rescued Hubble. From the BBC World Service, 13 minutes, trouble with Hubble. An 11-year-old girl has become the youngest chess player in history to achieve the title of woman grandmaster. Ferdinand Simanandan, who's from London, reached the milestone at the 46th Chess Olympiad in Uzbekistan. Lucy Addison has the details. In Badana 7 Undum sits down to face her opponents, the 11-year-old needs a booster seat to lift her high enough to see across the chess board. But that hasn't stopped her reaching incredible heights. On September 27, Badana earned her third woman grandmaster norm at the annual Chess Olympiad in Samarkand. Norms are games at elite tournaments that count towards international titles.
securing her third norm, meant Badana had met all the requirements to become a woman grandmaster. "I didn't really know that I got my final norm and I didn't realise I was the youngest to do so either, but yeah, it was nothing and now I feel like it's kind of sunk in a bit." Badana first started playing chess at the age of five during the COVID lockdown. After discovering an old set that belonged to her father, she quickly became fascinated by the game. "I really liked how the pieces looked, especially the night and the queen. I wanted to use them as toys outside of chess, but then my dad told me that the next person who got the board wouldn't be able to play chess properly so instead he taught me the basics and how to play and then I liked it so from that I kept on playing." By the age of eight, Badana had become the youngest player ever to draw against a grand master at a European championship. A year later, she became the youngest female player to beat one. "I kind of just kept going to tournaments and I enjoyed it as well. I had to learn a lot more about the game and still a lot more to learn now. And then I learnt about concepts and things like that and then I kind of just searched up videos on YouTube and just found them and saw what I liked and I just enjoyed it." While chess remains a male-dominated sport, female participation is growing rapidly. According to the International Chess Federation, the number of women and girls taking part is increasing across every region of the world. The Women Grand Master title is the highest female only distinction in chess. The most prestigious achievement overall is the Open Grand Master title, which can be earned by players of any gender. 44 women in history have achieved that honour. Could Badana become number 45? For now, the 11-year-old says she's taking things one move at a time. "I'm not sure what exactly is next. I don't think I have like a set. I just want to keep playing tournaments and enjoying chess and see how far I can go." Badana Sivanandan ending that report by Lucy Addison. If you're under the age of 40, there's a good chance that most couples you know met on a dating app. But for many singles, swiping is more frustrating than fruitful. Mary Timby was feeling exactly this way when she decided to try and find love in a very old-fashioned way. On a whim, she flew from the US to Ireland for a matchmaking festival that's been bringing people together every year since 1857. There, she met Jason. My colleague Sheila Flynn spoke to the couple about their unconventional love story. "I had been to the festival three to four times in the past. I kind of come back for the Irish traditional music and the culture. And yeah, I see Mary in the matchmaker bear and here we are today." Mary, tell me what your first impressions were of the festival, whether it lived up to expectations or was different. "The culture here is just the warmth and I felt really at home. I felt very welcomed. I had ran into a couple women from Jersey and I told them, oh, there's this matchmaking festival in the student Varna. I think I'm going to stop by and we just sort of joined forces and went to the festival together. The next day I woke up and my Irish Airbnb host said, how was it? How was it? Did you meet anyone? What do you think? And I said, well, you know, it was kind of slow. The age group was older. And my Airbnb host said, you should you should go back tonight. Because I heard that the younger folks come out at night and I said, okay, I'll give it another try. So we are at the matchmaking bar and I go to the bar to get a drink and there's this handsome Irishman there. I was staying open. I didn't think much of it and then he came up and said hello. Yeah, I went over and introduced myself. A conversation was kind of flowing at the time and it just felt really genuine connection. But unfortunately I didn't have much time in my hands so I got her name and I said, oh, sure, I might see you around. And then the next day I found her on social media and I sent her a text and I said, look, here's my number. I'd like to maybe meet for a coffee. It wasn't nothing kind of over fancy or anything like that. I'm glad you followed up. And what had both of your expectations been about actually finding a match at the festival? There is no formal program to this festival. You don't go and get matched. You go, you dance, you connect and that's how the festival has been for 160 years. So let's go back to your courtship and how it developed. When I sent a message, I wasn't really expecting anything back and so when I did get a response, I shut it to myself. We were kind of just chatting for a while and then I can ask Mary was she around from much longer and she actually told me that she was returning home. So I was a bit devastated to both dash, but didn't I extended my trip for the for the boy? And we went to dinner and conversations just flowed and there was a connection and I just kept extending my time here. I mean, we've really fallen in love. I did eventually have to go home to real life and that was so tough. It was. It was. It was hard. It was very hard. Tears at the airport. It was very tough to start a long-distance relationship, but it ended up being a really great opportunity for us to slow things down a little bit from the world. If you got responses from people saying because of you, I got this idea to go to the student varno. I have received many messages saying, hey, I'm going to listen to varno because I saw your video and I'm so excited for them and excited that they're taking that chance to put your phone down and put yourself out there and good things will come to you. You know, it may be at a matchmaking festival in Ireland or it may be on a hike or it may be on a boat ride, but I think just putting yourself out there is really deceptive by tweaking it. Sometimes you just got to take the leap forward and see who you go. Mary Timby and Jason Mangon. We end this episode in Scotland with a prank between friends that lasted for a quarter of a century. It began in 2001 when Kevin Hill went searching for his favourite football top, a green and white Celtic strip with the name of his favourite player on the back. He couldn't find it. A few weeks later, he started to receive strange emails updating him about the jerseys whereabouts. Stephen Godden has the story. Ian Wright's brief spell at Celtic at the turn of the century was a less celebrated chapter in the Arsenal Legends career, but for one fan it brought together his two footballing loves in one perfect present. My name's Kevin, massive Celtic fan, to have my absolute hero sign for us and be able to have his name on the back of him. My team's shirt is just amazing. But to Kevin's school friend, Chris, the strip provided an opportunity for some friendly revenge. Kevin played a prank on me and I was determined to get him back. I took his Celtic strip, unbeknownst to him, with Ian Wright in the back, very recognisable strip, sent it off round the world, set up a fake email address and sent them periodically photographs of it in exotic locations. Yeah that's right, it's your Ian Wright Celtic strip and it was with a picture of someone wearing the tops in London. Who was the person? I have no idea. I've a new somebody who's going to holiday, send it off for them and say just get a random stranger, ideally in front of a recognisable landmark, hold up the strip, get a photograph and job done. I think it was Barcelona. It went to Venice. It then went to Turkey. Chicago, Lake Michigan. Puerto Rico. I would have to go, Machu Picchu. Vegas. Vegas, yes it did go to Vegas. Easter Island, of course, was a cracker. If you had to pick out one favourite. I would say it's Christ the Redeemer in Brazil because it's a place that personally I would love to go to, so the fact that my strip's been there but I haven't is quite a cool story I think. But any worthwhile prank needs a good reveal. I got an invitation to his wedding and I thought right this was a perfect time, gathered everyone around and said Kevin got a little surprise for you. Hey, how you doing? Come and have a look at this. Hand over the present and the opened it which was obviously the photo book with all the photographs on the return of the strip. I instantly knew it was the top. It was a D top. I was just lost for words. The fact that it was literally 25 years as well, so nice number, yeah. I've got a slight confession. It's not the original strip. I'm afraid to say it's not. Oh no. The original lost somewhere in South America. A convincing replacement was hard to find. The solution involved eBay and iron on lettering. A lot of love went into that. I was going to say you've done you've done very well then. Still friends? Of course, I'm sorry, yeah. Oh done. Thanks. Kevin Hill and Chris Robertson. And that's all from the happy pod for now. We'd love to hear from you. As ever, the address is
[email protected]. I'm Helena Burke and the editor is Karen Martin. Until next time, goodbye.
How did it all begin? How did we get here? How long is the universe going to last as it can stand forever? Are we alone? The Hubble Space Telescope promised to answer fundamental questions about the universe. In 1990, after years of delays and millions of dollars of overspend, the telescope was safely in orbit. The world waited with baited breath for its first images. It's like blurry, the mirror won't focus. We're going to all look like a bunch of idiots. The inside story of the Hubble Space Telescope and the mission to save it. The future of the Hubble Space Telescope is going to end up in your hands. That's the kind of responsibility you sign up for. Listen now, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
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