蘑菇短视频

In the 1970s G眉nter Wetzel and his friend Peter Strelzyk became increasingly frustrated by the restrictions on their freedom imposed by the Communist government in East Germany. So they developed a daring plan to fly with their families to the West. Risking imprisonment if they were discovered, they built a series of hot air balloons in secret. But how exactly do you test a huge hot air balloon without being noticed? Gunter Wetzel spoke to Outlook鈥檚 Matthew Bannister in 2015.

Next, the Budapest-born David Merlini whose job it is to design the most outlandish constraints and scenarios from which to escape. David was inspired by Harry Houdini, perhaps the most well-known escapologist of all time. Houdini too was born in Hungary - as Erik Weisz - but made his name elsewhere in Europe and in the United States in the early 20th century by escaping from very dangerous and sometimes death-defying situations. Now David wants to push the art of the escape even further. Outlook's Saskia Collette met David in 2017.

The American author Christi Daugherty had a tough childhood. Her father was controlling and abusive and her home, set in a remote part of Montana, didn't give her much chance to socialise with friends. So, as she told Outlook's Emily Webb in 2020, Christi would lose herself in books. It helped her imagine a world of comfort and joy - so unlike her immediate reality - and inspired her to become a writer.

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar

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(Photo: A transparent 60-minute cassette tape with a white label bearing the words: The Outlook Mixtape. Credit: Getty Images)