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From Pussy Riot to Penal Colony

Pussy Riot band member Maria Alyokhina tells us about their cathedral protest, the two years she spent in a Siberian penal colony and how she took her prison guards to court.

Pussy Riot first came to the world's attention in early 2012 when three of their members, including Maria Alyokhina, were arrested in Moscow for performing a protest song at a cathedral near the Kremlin. Maria, and one other member, were convicted of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" and spent nearly two years in a penal colony in Siberia. She tells Outlook about her experience in prison, the protests and how she took her prison guards to court and won.

When Hurricane Harvey struck Texas, a mother in Missouri decided she had to do something to help. So Danielle Palmer sent thirty litres of her own breast milk to mothers in the devastated area. But why did she have so much milk to give? It all began when she discovered she was pregnant with her third son Truett.

A few years ago, American Professor Daniel Mendelsohn was teaching a seminar on 91热爆r's Odyssey. Sitting in his class that day was an unusual student, his father. The epic book tells the extraordinary adventures of the Greek hero Odysseus and inspired Daniel and his father to set out on their own adventures. He's written a book about it called "An Odyssey. A father, a son, an epic".

Image: Maria Alekhina from Pussy Riot
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53 minutes

Last on

Thu 21 Sep 2017 06:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Wed 20 Sep 2017 11:06GMT
  • Wed 20 Sep 2017 15:06GMT
  • Wed 20 Sep 2017 17:06GMT
  • Thu 21 Sep 2017 03:06GMT
  • Thu 21 Sep 2017 05:06GMT
  • Thu 21 Sep 2017 06:06GMT

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Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary

Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary

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