In 2011 the Republic of Honduras became the most dangerous country in the world. With the murder rate rising and wages plummeting, the miitary have now been granted extraordinary police powers. Multinational mining, agribusness, and textile corporations pay poverty wages while the government cooperates closely with the objectives of the US military. The result is what human rights observers like Gilda Batista have described as an unsustainable situation where something big is about to happen. From the streets of Tegucigalpa to the mines of the Siria Valley, something terrible is going on in Honduras, something the internaitonal headlines have been afraid to address.
To help better understand the situation on the ground and how things got this way, my guests on this podcast are:
Gilda Batista, Human Rights Defender, Prosecutor – Refuge Without Limits
When three friends set out on a journey through West Africa, they knew an unpredictable but potentially wonderful adventure awaited them. And sure enough from Senegal through Mali, BurkinaFaso to Ghana and finally to Togo, they experienced the joy and witnessed the struggles of everyday life there. As radio journalists and documentary film makers, they observed and reported, but some things even an interview can’t capture properly.
The following conversation was recorded in Berlin just a few days into the New Year. It features Steffi and Phillip, both independent media producers who just returned from Togo. I asked them about their journey, including the stops en route to Togo, comparisons between countries, and how the experience matched or did not match their expectations and hopes for the journey. We also talk about a documentary about Togolese culture which they are also working on.
Thomas Wiegold was there in Somalia even before the German military arrived back in 1993. And he has been there ever since, reporting on what is a unique situation for both a country and its military. As the decades have passed, as an independent journalist Thomas has continued to both report about as well as look critically at the decisions that are made and how those decisions are carried out by a military that has quietly engaged in a significant number of international interventions over the past 20 years.
In this podcast I get the chance to sit down with Thomas at the Pressehaus in Berlin and to talk about his work, how he got started reporting about the military and where this work has taken him, both physically and mentally. Besides a list of newspapers and magazines, you can also find his work on his blog, Augen Geradeaus (wordplay on the military command – EYES FRONT!), which is mostly in German with items for the English speakers as well. Download, sync it, listen to the discussion, you’re sure to learn something new, just as I did.
Personal media empires aren’t a new concept, but with every year that goes by and every advancement that helps individuals produce original content- they rise. Media commentators used to predict a media revolution or the collapse of traditional media institutions, but recent history shows us that it won’t exactly unfold that way. Instead, personal media producers like Tim Pritlove are hard at work producing programs, exploring topics, engaging with audiences in ways that a big media outlet could only dream about. In different parts of the world, using a magnificent range of styles and approaches, personal media empires are on the rise.
“If my grandmother knows Kosovo is a country… everyone knows Kosovo is a country” Flekitza repeats in an attempt to help me understand what is going on in the Serbian community of Kosovo. In her home city in Kosovo, public school teachers get pay checks from the Serbian government, which are substantially larger the the salary Kosovo pays them. A confusing situation that you’ll hear me get lost in several times as Flekitza explains how even her university diploma is now considered worthless, as jobs do not recognize what was then officially a Serbian University. The list of obstacles would be enough to make a person quit and run off to a country where things make more sense, but instead she is dedicated to making a life in Prishtina, together with her Albanian partner. A Serbian-Albanian-Kosovar love story that many people, including family, are not willing to accept. “Who cares what people think.. I certainly don’t”…. in this podcast I spend time getting to know Flekitza’s story, her family, her problems as an ethnic Serbian of struggling Kosovo, and her love of radio. An extra-ordinary individual living in some mind-boggling circumstances.
Gent Thaçi is a rare bird in Kosovo, even he would admit it. At 17 years old he devotes most of his energy to making Kosovo a better place, specifically through the cause of Free Software. He knows not everyone understands and he is interested in engaging people, regardless of age or ethnic background, about what may very well help them in the workplace and at home in the already difficult reality for this struggling nation.
While sitting in a corner of an Albanian tavern Gent and I recorded this discussion, as I asked not only about what life is like for teenagers and young adults in Kosovo but also about relations between ethnic groups. We manage to touch on the past, present, and foreseeable future when it comes to work, family, and conflict resolution. Even when Gent doesn’t know the answer to my various questions, he doesn’t pretend to know, but reminds us of what surely becomes clear- he is open and listening to anyone with a good idea.
“If my grandmother knows Kosovo is a country… everyone knows Kosovo is a country” Flekitza repeats in an attempt to help me understand what is going on in the Serbian community of Kosovo. In her home city in Kosovo, public school teachers get pay checks from the Serbian government, which are substantially larger the the salary Kosovo pays them. A confusing situation that you’ll hear me get lost in several times as Flekitza explains how even her university diploma is now considered worthless, as jobs do not recognize what was then officially a Serbian University. The list of obstacles would be enough to make a person quit and run off to a country where things make more sense, but instead she is dedicated to making a life in Prishtina, together with her Albanian partner. A Serbian-Albanian-Kosovar love story that many people, including family, are not willing to accept. “Who cares what people think.. I certainly don’t”…. in this podcast I spend time getting to know Flekitza’s story, her family, her problems as an ethnic Serbian of struggling Kosovo, and her love of radio. An extra-ordinary individual living in some mind-boggling circumstances.
