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Outlook Mixtape: Love under the stars, finding dad and surviving solitary

Finding love through a telescope in Kenya; making friends thanks to a pair of pink trousers in an Iranian prison; and one man's Trinidadian odyssey to find his birth father.

This week's mixtape brings you stories of the exceptional lengths people go to to make connections with others.

Kenyan astronomer Susan Murabana's life was transformed when she first looked through a telescope at the age of 22. She was immediately struck by the way it connected her to the cosmos and changed her perspective on the world. Making it her mission to share the experience with others, she organised a trip to northern Kenya to see a solar eclipse. There, under the stars, she met and fell in love with British
documentary maker Daniel ‘Chu’ Owen.

Growing up in Ireland Darragh Graham always knew he was adopted, but it wasn't until he became a father himself that he felt an urgency to learn more about his birth parents. After being reunited with his birth mother in Ireland, Darragh set out to look for his father with Trinidadian geneologist, and former Outlook guest, Shamshu Deen by his side.

When Australian Kylie Moore-Gilbert was jailed for two years in an Iranian prison after being accused of spying, she used toilet paper, pink trousers, and pot plants to communicate with other prisoners, undetected by the guards. These creative methods of communication helped Kylie cope with long periods spent in solitary confinement and, thanks to her fellow inmates, she came to realise that she was a hostage being used as a bargaining chip.

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar
Producer: June Christie

(Photo: Cassette tape. Credit: Getty Images)

Available now

41 minutes

Last on

Sat 10 Aug 2024 02:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Fri 9 Aug 2024 11:06GMT
  • Fri 9 Aug 2024 17:06GMT
  • Fri 9 Aug 2024 21:06GMT
  • Sat 10 Aug 2024 02:06GMT

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