Introducing: Not By The Playbook - Why it is never too late
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 13 May 2026
⏱️ 59 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
First, the story of Mike Flynn whose remarkable resilience and incredible fitness helped achieve his goal to play college football at the age of fifty-nine but at its heart, his is a story of redemption. Living with pain is sadly all too common. That was the fate that befell Meg Robson Austin. But she never allowed herself to think it was too late to win back her life and so she set about a journey that ended with her claiming the crown of the World's Strongest Woman. Arshay Cooper, born and raised in Chicago's notorious West Side could easily have slipped into gang life and violence, but he carved a different path through sport - Arshay's sporting journey was in a boat as a rower. It is just over a year since the world lost "Big" George Forman, and whilst revered for his fights with Muhammad Ali, his Olympic gold in 1968 and of course his grills, it is his longevity and his "it's never too late" attitude we are focusing in on because back in 1994 George Foreman shocked everyone by winning a second world title at the age of forty-five!
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts. |
| 0:07.3 | On BBC Sounds, there are podcasts to help you look after your body and your mind. |
| 0:12.7 | From increasing your immunity to feeling more confident. |
| 0:16.6 | Or tips on how to focus. |
| 0:18.5 | Sorry, what will you say? |
| 0:19.7 | If it matters to you, it matters to us. |
| 0:22.6 | Feel good inside of it. |
| 0:24.3 | With What's Up Docs. |
| 0:25.9 | And Complex with Kimberly Wilson. |
| 0:27.9 | Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:30.6 | Hello and welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:34.6 | I'm Katie Smith. |
| 0:35.4 | And I'd like to recommend the podcast that I host, Not By the |
| 0:39.5 | Playbook, where we bring you inspirational stories from around the world featuring interviews |
| 0:44.5 | with people who are defying the odds. You can listen and subscribe to Not By the Playbook |
| 0:49.8 | wherever you found this podcast. And in this episode, we explore the concept in sport and in life that it's never too late. |
| 1:09.6 | It's never too late to be what you might have been. |
| 1:12.7 | So wrote the Victorian author George Elliott. |
| 1:15.4 | And I think she would herself be inspired by the guests we've gathered together this week. |
| 1:20.6 | Having searched the world for the best stories in sport, |
| 1:23.9 | we're about to embark on an hour of radio that might force a rethink to what you can achieve. |
| 1:29.7 | Anyone that ever doubted me, they don't get to have that space in my head. |
... |
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