Don't Log Off

Alan Dein travels the world via the internet, talking to people trying to survive against the odds. Locking himself away in a studio in Broadcasting House, Alan crosses time zones and continents speaking to random strangers using Facebook, Skype and WhatsApp. Among those Alan gets chatting to today is BJ who spends half his life working on the confines of an oil rig in the East Timor Sea so that he can spend the rest of his time throwing himself off high rise buildings as he pursues his super dangerous pastime, base jumping. Then there's Syrian refugee Abdulkader who tells of his epic journey to Europe from the ruins of Aleppo. Also on Alan's contacts list today are Sam and Anna, co-workers in a call centre in Ukraine, who dream of leaving their poorly paid jobs behind forever. Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Alan Dein talks to his Facebook friends across America about the election of Donald Trump. Just hours after the result, Trump and Clinton supporters alike talk passionately about why they voted the way they did - and share their hopes and fears about the future of the United States. Working through the night, Alan tries to understand what the election has revealed about modern America - from California to Tennessee. Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Alan Dein continues his nocturnal excursions via Facebook and Skype, hearing the real life dramas of random strangers. Tonight he connects with a civil engineering student from Kathmandu two years on from the earthquake that devastated parts of Nepal, a Jamaican living in Panama City who is waiting to fulfil his childhood dream of joining the US army and a man in Tanzania, expecting the birth of his first child. Producer: Clare Walker.

Alan Dein presents the moving story of three years in the life of Hank & Norma, a couple in their 60s from Arkansas, USA - told entirely by the messages left by Hank for Alan on Skype. Alan first spoke to harp-playing Hank three years ago for Don't Log Off. Shortly afterwards, Hank started to leave Alan occasional messages and audio recordings. As the months went by, the recordings became more intimate and revealing, charting Hank's major heart surgery and Norma's experiences with cancer. Entirely on his own initiative, Hank started to record every detail of the couple's lives - including the final hours of Norma's life. Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Alan Dein continues his series of nocturnal conversations with random strangers. Settling down for the night, he locks the studio door and opens the microphone to people he encounters online. As he crisscrosses the world, he hears from a Kenyan pilot who lives her childhood dream of flying helicopters over hammerhead sharks in Key West, a Parisian designer stopped in his tracks by meningitis and a man in Pennsylvania accused of bewitching his wife. Producer: Sarah Bowen.

Alan Dein embarks on a new series of nocturnal excursions via Facebook and Skype, hearing the real life dramas of random strangers. Alan holes himself up in a studio through the night and invites the online world to talk to him. Knowing nothing about the people he is about to talk to, he settles down for an evening of intriguing encounters. Tonight he connects with a Nigerian trapped in Abu Dhabi, a Hungarian woman who found salvation in the birth of her son, a Dutch man who believes he's a reincarnated slave and a grounded Canadian test pilot coming to terms with the fact he'll never fly again. Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Alan Dein crosses the world via Facebook and Skype, hearing the real life dramas of strangers he randomly encounters. In this episode he explores dependency, hearing from a young German woman who fell into a coma while in Ireland, and a workaholic in Singapore punishing his body with drink. Producer Emma Betteridge.

Alan Dein connects with the world online, linking up with people across the globe to discover dramas of personal identity, including an American whose roots might be more tangled than he first thought, thanks to the Cold War. Producer Mark Burman.

Alan Dein crosses the world via Facebook and Skype, hearing the real life dramas of strangers he randomly encounters. In the first programme in this new series, Alan hears stories from people who have had to find the strength to deal with difficult situations and make tough choices. Speaking out for the first time, a girl in trouble with her education tells Alan how her sponsor offered her a repulsive choice. A New York lawyer fights to get back to work after a horrific attack and a Syrian student leaves his family in the hope of rebuilding his country. Producer: Sarah Bowen.

Alan Dein crosses the world via Facebook and Skype, hearing the real life dramas of random strangers. This week he speaks to people who, through choice or circumstance, are going it alone. He hears from a Chinese student, now living in Los Angeles, who is coping with living alone in a foreign country and has come to terms with his stutter without the help of a speech therapist. A woman from Australia explains how she is overcoming the disappointment of being jilted by her Vietnamese fiancé while another in Argentina explains why she wants to remain alone having lost her savings in pursuit of a relationship. And finally he hears from a widow in London who is haunted by her husband's death. Producer: Clare Walker.

Alan Dein crosses the world via Facebook and Skype, hearing the real life dramas of random strangers. Today, people tell stories about grappling with issues of identity. A disabled woman from the Ukraine talks about ethnic tensions as crisis grips the country, keeping an audio diary of her reflections as the situation develops. Alan also hears from a young woman in Moscow who discusses the difficulties of being gay and mixed race in Russia. Meanwhile, a young Bolton man whose family originate from Pakistan recounts his horror after being shot at during his last visit there, reflecting on how it has informed his views on nationality. Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Alan Dein crosses the world via Facebook and Skype, hearing the real life dramas of random strangers. In this first programme of the new series, Alan discovers some moving stories of couples under pressure. Alan builds up a relationship with Hank and Norma in Arkansas, USA following them over the course of a difficult year as harp-playing Hank draws on his own near-death experience to deal with Norma's breast cancer. As Hank puts it: "I worked hard to survive, and I deserve my companion in life..." Alan also tracks the fortunes of a young couple in love, trying to make a go of it despite the fact one lives in southern Italy and the other in Slovakia. Plus a veteran of the first Gulf War - now a long distance lorry driver - recalls how he salvaged his own relationship after it faltered as a result of long absences from home.

Via Facebook and Skype Alan Dein connects to the lives of strangers across the globe to hear their stories. The tumultuous events of the Arab spring have reached an uncertain conclusion in Egypt. Now, with Friday night curfew drawing close, Alan hears a diversity of experience. From Shady who has found a new life in the revolutionary protests of January 25th 2011 ,a sleeper awoken from his days as a football fanatic, waiting for the next seismic event to Rasa who defies the curfew to maintain her sanity. Elsewhere in Alexandria a newly qualified doctor, Doaa, reflects on the passing of her father and her new responsibilities. Producer: Mark Burman.

Alan Dein continues his night time conversations with internet strangers, discovering the lives behind the profiles of people he randomly meets through Facebook and Skype. This week he speaks to people living and working away from home. A nurse in Germany awaits the arrival of battle-injured troops, a disabled Romanian longs for the arrival of the family's first car, and an Icelander asks Alan if he should put a rose on his girlfriend's grave. Producer: Sarah Bowen.

Alan Dein hears the story of Bryan from the US and Anna from Russia who met online - using Google Translate. Bryan doesn't speak Russian and Anna doesn't speak English - they conduct their communication entirely via the online translation tool. Alan has been following the story for Don't Log Off for over a year, speaking to Bryan on Skype on numerous occasions. Since they first spoke, Anna decided to move to the US with her two children. She sells her house in Russia and takes just three suitcases to set up home with Bryan. The couple's understanding of each other's languages remains minimal. She arrived in the US in July this year - and the couple had 90 days to get married or Anna would have to leave the country. The wedding date is set for 21st September - but then, suddenly, it's called off... because Anna has concerns. Alan decides to travel to Boise, Idaho to see how things work out... Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Alan Dein crosses the world via Facebook and Skype, hearing the real life dramas of random strangers as Don't Log Off comes to Saturday mornings for the first time. And in this first programme, Alan speaks to a range of people looking for escape - in a range of honest and moving encounters which take him right around the globe. He hears from a female human rights activist in Saudi Arabia trying to flee the country after hearing her life is in danger - and a Marilyn Manson fan yearning to escape Russia. There are lighter moments, too, as Alan speaks to a Japanese man about his dashed hopes of a career singing love songs and a Ugandan hoping for a happy ending to his romance with a woman in Finland. Hooked up to a computer into the early hours of the morning, Alan crosses continents online - inviting anyone and everyone to talk to him. He never knows who he will be speaking to next or what secrets they will reveal. Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Alan Dein crosses the world via Facebook and Skype, hearing the real life dramas of random strangers. Tonight, stories about the power of belief. Alan hears the epic story of a Peruvian man who believes that a Canadian visa will persuade his Belarusian ex-wife to come back to him, an American woman tells of her relationship with a Muslim which raised eyebrows in the Midwest and a Canadian man talks about speaking to the spirit of his late father. Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Alan Dein crosses the world via Facebook & Skype, hearing the real life dramas of random strangers. He never knows who he will be speaking to next or what secrets they will reveal. Tonight, he hears a moving story of widowhood from 60 year old Jennie in the Australian Bush. The line is so bad that Alan decides to send her a digital recorder so that she can record herself in quality. What emerges is a bittersweet and intensely personal story but one which also touches on key events in Australia in the post-1945 era, including the Vietnam War and the catastrophic Darwin Cyclone. She also uses the recorder to capture some of the abundant bird life in her remote and rural part of Queensland. Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Alan Dein holes himself up in a studio through the night and invites the online world to talk to him. Knowing nothing about the people he is about to talk to, he settles down for an evening of intriguing, random encounters. In this second programme, he crosses the world via Facebook & Skype and hears the stories of people in the process of healing. A woman pursues new love when her husband's infidelity begins days after their wedding, a Ghanaian healer tries to cure a woman through prayer over the phone, and a barrister struggles to regain his speech after being stabbed and beaten with a machete in an Anguillan restaurant. Producer: Sarah Bowen.

Alan Dein crosses the world via Facebook and Skype, hearing the real life dramas of random strangers. Hooked up to a computer well into the early hours of the morning, Alan circumnavigates the globe online inviting anyone and everyone to talk to him. He never knows who he will be speaking to next or what secrets they will reveal. In the first programme, Alan hears stories of connection and separation. He connects with a man in Cairo as a gunfight rages outside, a French woman nervously awaiting a meeting with her estranged father and a Brazilian man mystified at the disappearance of an online lover. Producer: Laurence Grissell.