Foreign Correspondence is a podcast that brings you hour-long interviews with journalists around the world hosted by Jake Spring.
Episodes
Sunday Aug 29, 2021
Sunday Aug 29, 2021
Abdi Latif Dahir, The New York Times' East Africa Correspondent, talks more in-depth about his coverage of Rwanda and shares a special moment reporting in Mogadishu. This is a bonus content from FoCo's interview with Abdi. For the full interview, please check out episode 54.
Note: Apologies that this is not the usually scheduled full episode that I normally release twice monthly. I will return to our normal programming in a couple of weeks.
Here are links to some of the things we talked about:
Abdi's jail house interview with Paul Rusesabagina - https://nyti.ms/2VnhIUu
His main story on Paul Rusesabagina - https://nyti.ms/3rIYHb6
His story on artists in Mogadishu - https://bit.ly/3j4ZpNj
The book spawned from the above article - https://amzn.to/3z5g20J
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Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats
From: freemusicarchive.org
Sunday Aug 15, 2021
Sunday Aug 15, 2021
The long road to a Pulitzer. Now a Mexico-based reporter for Vice, Emily Green (@emilytgreen) has had a couple career booms and busts. The WSJ job that doesn't pan out leads her into radio reporting. The pandemic leads her to flee Mexico. But you never know, maybe you'll be sitting in your childhood bedroom and feeling sorry for yourself, when you get that call about the big award.
Countries featured: Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia, Philippines, USA
Publications featured: NPR, The Wall Street Journal, The San Francisco Chronicle, PRI’s The World, The Daily Beast, Vice News
Emily discusses going to the Philippines on a Fulbright grant after college (5:00), the wrong job at WSJ leads to working in hometown radio then Sacramento then the SF Chronicle (12:21), moving to Mexico to freelance (19:57), some lessons for freelancers (27:18), how a Vice story on a migrant kidnapping in Mexico led to an NPR piece that won a Pulitzer (34:00), a couple of stories that got away (47:35), a short doc for Vice on the massacre of migrants in Mexico after they were deported from the U.S. (50:24) and the lightning round (58:20).
Here are links to some of the things we talked about:
Emily's WaPo story on a Filipino judge - https://wapo.st/3sdDTsC
Her first story in Vice on the migrant caravan - https://bit.ly/3iK85bF
Her original story on Nuevo Laredo kidnapping for Vice - https://bit.ly/3AL64Cr
Her Pulitzer winning audio story - https://bit.ly/3AF5Dt3
Pulitzer winner page for the story - https://bit.ly/2UgJOR7
Her Vice doc on Guatemalan deportees killed in Mexico - https://bit.ly/37IVXkQ
Day X podcast - https://nyti.ms/3lWTDzc
Lisa Hagen's podcast on guns - https://n.pr/2UftUGG
Jon Lee Anderson's ride along with Chavez - https://bit.ly/2VVD0Zu
Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod
Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats
From: freemusicarchive.org
Sunday Aug 01, 2021
Sunday Aug 01, 2021
Childhood journals lead to journalism. Abdi Latif Dahir (@Lattif) started journaling as a way to process the violence around him when, at 8 years old, his family returned to Somalia from Kenya. He tells us how that experience influences his reporting on conflicts as East Africa Correspondent for The New York Times. He also talks about his reporting on the recent arrest of the man portrayed in Hotel Rwanda, as well as his passion for running.
Countries featured: Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan, Rwanda, USA
Publications featured: Quartz, UPI, The Daily Nation, The New York Times
Abdi talks about growing up in Mogadishu (7:17), moving back to Kenya for university and to get his start in journalism (15:40), why his parents moved from peaceful Kenya to war-torn Somalia and how it influences his reporting on conflicts (31:36), going to Columbia J-school and working for Quartz (41:45), getting hired for a dream job at The New York Times (50:53), a profile that Abdi wasn't able to do after the death of the subject (56:14), his reporting on the arrest of Rwanda's Paul Rusesabagina (1:05:32) and finally the lightning round (1:15:00).
Here are like to some of the things we talked about:
Abdi's story on the death of a Somali entrepreneur - https://bit.ly/3li0FhG
His interview with Rwanda's Paul Rusesabagina in jail - https://nyti.ms/2VnhIUu
His full story about Rusesabagina - https://nyti.ms/3rIYHb6
The China Africa Project - https://bit.ly/3lhjmSz
The Continent - https://bit.ly/3ie3UEM
Nipe Story podcast - https://apple.co/3xg35zF
CBC's Writers and Company podcast - https://apple.co/2VkEk87
Learning to Swim Taught Me More Than I Bargained for - https://nyti.ms/2WHY724
House of Stone by Anthony Shadid - https://amzn.to/3ibyMWy
Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod
Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats
From: freemusicarchive.org
Sunday Jul 18, 2021
Sunday Jul 18, 2021
An Editor-at-Large is not someone who is wanted for arrest by the police for crimes against journalism. Bryan Curtis (@bryancurtis) fills us in on what it means to be an Editor-at-Large for The Ringer, which includes hosting the popular media analysis podcast The Press Box.
Countries featured: USA
Publications featured: Nightline, The New Republic, Slate, The Daily Beast, The New York Times, Grantland, The Ringer
Bryan discusses how he started writing about sports in middle school upon realizing he’d never be a pro athlete (5:40), early internships at Nightline and The New Republic plus a first job at Slate (11:17), a huge opportunity at an ill-fated New York Times sports magazine (18:52), Tina Brown scoops him up for the launch of The Daily Beast (22:28), getting in on the ground level of Grantland and The Ringer (27:17), whether he is a “sports journalist” (35:17), how he started The Press Box podcast (38:00), his story on why the Oklahoma City Thunder players were so combative with reporters (48:30) and the lightning round featuring George Lucas (54:45).
Here are like to some of the things we talked about:
Bryan’s “The Old Guy’s Still Got It” story - https://bit.ly/2Up4aI3
His story on the OKC Thunder vs the media - https://bit.ly/3wMO1t5
BBC’s In Our Time podcast - https://apple.co/3irZt8u
Tom Junod’s “The Hero of Goodall Park” - https://es.pn/3z8zfyf
Bryan’s profile of George Lucas - https://nyti.ms/3etDrkp
Broadcast News on IMDb - https://imdb.to/3z951Lz
Humphrey Bogart’s Deadline U.S.A. on IMDb - https://imdb.to/3xPEt1E
Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod
Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats
From: freemusicarchive.org
Sunday Jul 04, 2021
Sunday Jul 04, 2021
Patrick St. Michel (@mbmelodies) isn’t a professional foreigner, he just plays one on TV. As a freelance music and pop culture journalist, Patrick will take us inside the world of J Pop, K Pop, Japanese baseball and convenience store food. And yes, he’s willing to go see your band play in Thailand on less than 24 hours notice.
Countries featured: Japan, USA, Thailand, South Korea
Publications featured: The Japan Times, The Atlantic, Pitchfork, Make Believe Melodies
Patrick discusses growing up in a town with more horses than people (6:13), founding the publication North by Northwestern in college (12:25), moving to Japan to teach English in a small town (22:52), starting a blog about Japanese music and breaking into journalism (31:04), the promise and peril of writing "Weird Japan" articles (43:28), his "story that got away" seeking to profile a Korean musician trying to become a crossover star (49:07), his profile of Japanese music legend Mariya Takeuchi (56:54), and finally the lightning round (1:03:31) featuring an unexpected trip to Thailand (1:09:27) and Japanese baseball (1:19:11).
Here are links to some of the things we talked about:
Make Believe Melodies blog archive - https://bit.ly/3xgzhDQ
Bagel heads - https://bit.ly/3ycgJom
Patrick's Atlantic story on "Weird Japan" - https://bit.ly/3hALRaa
New Republic dissection of New Yorker's failed Weird Japan article - https://bit.ly/3hb6afA
Patrick's story on Korean Pop conquering Japan - https://bit.ly/3AoZWjQ
CL on wikipedia - https://bit.ly/2Umto9w
Plastic Love by Mariya Takeuchi - https://bit.ly/3xfFHmx
Patrick's profile of Takeuchi - https://bit.ly/2V52weF
Japan Times' Recultured podcast - https://bit.ly/3xfgby0
Dough Boys podcast - https://apple.co/3jFqgA5
The Atlantic's The War on Bollywood - https://bit.ly/3ym6OfS
Patrick's story about the band Slot Machine - https://bit.ly/3hy1XBB
Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod
Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats
From: freemusicarchive.org
Sunday Jun 20, 2021
Sunday Jun 20, 2021
"Welcome to China, where nothing is allowed but everything is possible." Independent publisher Graham Earnshaw helped launch the careers of a generation of China journalists by giving them jobs at Reuters, Xinhua Finance or his own magazine China Economic Review. Working for Graham, host Jake Spring remembers a man surrounded in a mythology of old China adventures from earlier in his career. Now, Graham lays out on-the-record some of his wildest stories as one of the first Western journalists allowed into China as it opened up in 1979.
Countries featured: UK, Australia, China, Japan
Publications featured: Reuters, China Economic Review, Xinhua Finance, The Daily Telegraph
Graham discusses his upbringing in Australia as the son of a newspaperman (7:06), moving to China with Reuters in 1979 and immediately getting a big scoop on the Democracy Wall (10:31), China's attempts to surveil and control foreign journalists in the 1980s and how little it has changed since then (18:20), giving his minders the slip to witness a Tibetan sky burial (27:19), reporting from Tiananmen square in 1989 (37:46), getting out of journalism to run businesses like Xinhua Finance and China Economic Review (41:50), his hiring Jake and many other journalists to work at CER (53:42), his walk across China (59:50), the early days of live music and nightlife in China (1:06:03) and finally the lightning round (1:13:53).
Here are links to some of the things we talked about:
Jonathan Kos-Read's novel The Eunuch - https://amzn.to/3q85YAE
Graham's account of a Tibetan sky burial - https://bit.ly/3xBeECe
His account of covering Tiananmen in 1989 - https://bit.ly/3cQfLWw
His book The Great Walk of China - https://amzn.to/3xzorZj
His music on Soundcloud - https://bit.ly/3cSRY8z
Jamil Anderlini's "Western companies succumb to Stockholm Syndrome" - https://on.ft.com/2SgtBum
Nick Macfie's novel Hadley - https://amzn.to/35ArTqC
George Morrison wiki bio - https://bit.ly/3wLyhY3
Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod
Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats
From: freemusicarchive.org
Sunday Jun 06, 2021
Sunday Jun 06, 2021
"A love letter to journalists." A fitting description for the film Spotlight and possibly this podcast. For our 50th episode, we look back at the 2015 movie and hear views on the movie from eight past guests.
Guests in order of appearance:
Ep. 3 - Camilla Costa, BBC, London (@_camillacosta)
Ep. 9 - Brian Rosenthal, New York Times, New York (@brianmrosenthal)
Ep. 20 - Terrence Edwards, Bloomberg, Mongolia (@TerryReports)
Ep. 21 - Paul Schrodt, Freelance, Los Angeles (@paulschrodt)
Ep. 22 - Megha Rajagopalan, BuzzFeed News, London (@meghara)
Ep. 24 - Aarti Betigeri, Freelance, Australia (@pomegranitaa)
Ep. 27 - Ed Clowes, formerly The Telegraph (@EdClowes)
Ep. 38 - Joanna Kakissis, NPR, Greece (@joannakakissis)
Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod
Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats
From: freemusicarchive.org
Sunday May 23, 2021
Sunday May 23, 2021
Reporting in jungles isn't for the faint of heart. Rhett Butler, founder and editor-in-chief of environmental news website Mongabay, talks about getting stranded in a dangerous situation in Suriname, the many jungle diseases he has gotten, and some tips for getting phone signal in the rainforest. He also tells us the origins of Mongabay go back to books he started writing as a teenager and ended with an empire of sites in a dozen different languages.
Countries featured: Madagascar, Indonesia, Brazil, Suriname, Ecuador, USA
Publications featured: Mongabay
Rhett discusses his fascination with animals and tropical rainforests as a kid (5:32), writing books on tropical fish and rainforests as a teenage (8:32), quitting his day job to launch the Mongabay news service (16:12), running a news website and trying to find phone signal in the forest (22:00), launching Mongabay's Indonesian version as the site turned into a non-profit (25:11), trends in environmental news (37:45), a reporting trip in China that ran afoul of authorities (46:55), his story on Madagascar rosewood deforestation that led the president to call him a bastard (50:03) and the lightning round (57:22)
Here are links to some of the things we talked about:
Mongabay home page - https://www.mongabay.com
Donate to Mongabay - https://mongabay.org/donate/
Global Forest Watch - https://bit.ly/3hSePnR
Rhett's story on Madagascar rosewood - https://bit.ly/3v9p3Ed
Grist - https://bit.ly/3wvmM6K
Behind the Bastards podcast - https://apple.co/3fIRQc2
Bellingcat investigative journalism - https://bit.ly/3viBopy
The Killing Fields movie on IMDb - https://imdb.to/2OjcC4t
Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod
Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats
From: freemusicarchive.org
Monday May 10, 2021
Monday May 10, 2021
Yes, sometimes film critics hurt people’s feelings. Alison Willmore (@alisonwillmore) will get into the nitty gritty of what it’s like to work as a critic from the demise of newspapers and the rise of the freelance critic to how New York mag has diversified its stable of critics.
Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod
Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats
From: freemusicarchive.org
Sunday May 09, 2021
Sunday May 09, 2021
Zooming with Chloé Zhao - what could better typify the pandemic era? Alison Willmore (@alisonwillmore) takes us inside how she did her recent cover story for New York magazine about Zhao. We also hear about what it’s like to be a critic - from panning the remake of Mulan to championing foreign movies that get much less attention in the United States
Countries featured: USA, UK
Publications featured: IFC, IndieWire, BuzzFeed News, New York magazine, Vulture
Alison discusses growing up in the Bay Area with a Singaporean-Chinese mom and British dad (8:22), using Craigslist to get her first apartment and first job at IFC in New York (16:02), getting hired by IndieWire to launch a TV vertical (21:48), Apple Watches and cold hard cash at BuzzFeed News (24:50), the art of the bad movie review (32:48), Bacurau and foreign films (38:15), how being a critic changed how she views movies for pleasure (44:43), a dream assignment involving Martin Scorcese that came at the wrong time (49:10), reporting her profile of Chloé Zhao (51:39) and finally the lightning round (1:01:33).
Here are links to some of the things we talked about:
Alison’s review of Nobody - https://bit.ly/3o1g6u3
Her essay on Asian American character actors - https://bit.ly/3f1Tc1r
Her interview with Lena Dunham and Judd Apatow - https://bit.ly/3uz5bdc
Her review of Mulan - https://bit.ly/3vY7dnP
Her top 10 movies of 2020 - https://bit.ly/2PZXsG8
Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation - https://bit.ly/2SxUmtT
Alison’s cover story on Chloé Zhao - https://bit.ly/3exJu85
Nick Pinkerton’s Substack - https://bit.ly/33tkNDe
Ryan Broderick’s Garbage Day newsletter - https://bit.ly/3hcqQ7b
NYT story on anti-Asian hate crimes - https://nyti.ms/3f8bfDd
The Black Tapes podcast - https://bit.ly/3y7YLnQ
The collection that includes Justin M. Damiano - https://amzn.to/3nZhkG1
Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod
Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats
From: freemusicarchive.org