Unstoppable: Tebello Nyokong

Discovery

BBC

Science, Technology

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dr Julia Ravey and Dr Ella Hubber are both scientists, but it turns out there’s a lot they don’t know about the women that came before them. In Unstoppable, Julia and Ella tell each other the hidden, world-shaping stories of the scientists, engineers and innovators that they wish they’d known about when they were starting out in science. This week, the story of a woman who gained her education by herding sheep during her childhood to becoming one of Africa’s most prominent scientists.

Born under Apartheid in South Africa, Tebello Nyokong and her family uprooted their lives to escape the unequal education system enforced upon Black South Africans. After herding sheep proved she could do anything a boy could do, Tebello ended up studying science and found a love for chemistry. In the face of limited opportunities, she once again uprooted her life and took her studies oversees, but this was when she was introduced to something huge: a new, ground-breaking cancer treatment. Now Tebello is using nanotechnology to get this therapy off the ground, all while she fights to make Africa a science superpower.

Presenters: Ella Hubber and Julia Ravey Guest Speaker: Professor Tebello Nyokong Producers: Ella Hubber and Julia Ravey Assistant producers: Sophie Ormiston, Anna Charalambou and Josie Hardy Sound Designer: Ella Roberts Production Coordinator: Ishmael Soriano Editor: Holly Squire

(Image: Professor Tebello Nyokong. Credit: Professor Tebello Nyokong)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to introduce myself. My name's Stevie Middleton and I'm a BBC Commissioner for a load of sport podcasts. I'm lucky to do that at the BBC because I get to work with leading journalists, experienced pundits and the biggest sports stars. Together we bring you untold stories and fascinating insights straight from the player's mouths. But the best thing about doing this at the BBC is our unique access to the sporting world.
0:24.7	What that means is that we can bring you podcasts that create a real connection to dedicated sports fans across the UK.
0:31.3	So if you like this podcast, head over to BBC Sounds where you'll find plenty more.
0:36.4	In the mountains of Lesotho, a young girl walks through the fields,
0:41.2	book in one hand, staff in the other.
0:44.3	In front of her are a few dozen sheep that she gently guides
0:47.5	towards their next grazing spot.
0:50.3	To pass us by, this may be an odd sight.
0:53.3	Normally, only boys' head sheep.
0:55.8	But for the young girl, this is giving her the chance to get something she's determined to have.
1:01.4	An education.
1:02.9	An education that will see her become one of Africa's most eminent scientists.
1:08.2	And while she's shepherding on the grassy hills,
1:10.7	she's learning the lessons that
1:12.2	will help her fulfill that dream. You know, it's science, believe it or not, it's science. If you
1:16.3	understand your environment, you're actually doing science without realizing it. And also it made
1:22.0	me feel I can do anything a boy can do even better. I'm Julia Ravy. And I'm Ella Hubber.
1:28.1	Where scientists turned radio presenters.
1:30.3	And these are the stories we wish we'd known when we were starting out as scientists ourselves.
1:34.8	This is unstoppable for discovery on the BBC World Service.
1:39.4	Ella, the quest at the heart of this week's story is about improving therapies for cancer and how one woman
1:46.2	defied the odds in an education system built against her to help revolutionise treatment.
	...

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