Foreign Correspondence is a podcast that brings you hour-long interviews with journalists around the world hosted by Jake Spring.
Episodes
Sunday Apr 25, 2021
Sunday Apr 25, 2021
The podcast tradition of foreign correspondents getting ejected from countries continues. For Gerry Shih, China Correspondent for the Washington Post, there was the added twist of getting kicked out during a global pandemic. On the eve of his reassignment as WaPo’s India bureau chief, Gerry looks back at his time covering China, which he is convinced is now a bigger story than ever.
Countries featured: China, Tajikistan, USA, Mongolia
Publications featured: Associated Press, Reuters, Washington Post, New York Times
Gerry discusses his childhood between California, China and Illinois (6:35), a wakeup call to the realities of journalism on his first day as an NYT intern (14:50), working in the Reuters’ Beijing Bureau alongside Jake (19:45), jumping to AP where he reported some of the biggest stories about Uyghur persecution (25:38), getting kicked out of China with a raft of other American correspondents (33:54), the challenges of reporting on China from the outside (41:37), the importance of digging into big stories and not letting go (49:37), his story finding a secret Chinese military base in Tajikistan (53:40), and the lightning round (1:03:28).
Here are links to some of the things we talked about:
Gerry’s story on China using U.S. computer chips to build weapons - https://wapo.st/3sMu5og
His scoop with a first look inside China’s Uyghur indoctrination camps - https://bit.ly/3ep7Uzc
Several of his other key Uyghur stories - https://bit.ly/32NuKuS
His story on a Chinese military outpost in Tajikistan - https://wapo.st/32M7Sfi
Fresh Air on NPR - https://n.pr/3xjc3gK
ESPN’s The Jump podcast - https://es.pn/2QXZ5UN
The Lowe Post NBA podcast - https://es.pn/2QWei8U
NYT story on Mexican woman who stalked her daughter’s killers - https://nyti.ms/3aUnbav
American Factory documentary on Netflix - https://bit.ly/2S2uaHG
Once Upon a Distant War book - https://amzn.to/3aCghq8
Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod
Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats
From: freemusicarchive.org
Sunday Apr 11, 2021
Sunday Apr 11, 2021
What do bagels and sexual harassment have in common? The food industry! Serena Dai (@ssdai), a senior features editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, has made her name by thinking and writing about all things food - emphasis on ALL THINGS - from the hilarious/inconsequential to the direly serious issues of sexual misconduct and racism. A local journalist in a previous life, she explains how food journalism is not so different considering you usually only eat the food immediately around you.
Countries featured: USA
Publications featured: Eater, DNAinfo, Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle, NU Intel
Serena discusses bagels (3:18), her start in high school and college journalism plus AP and NYmag internships (11:50), her first jobs at the Atlantic Wire and local journalism at DNAinfo (23:57), transitioning to food journalism with Eater New York (32:28), her philosophy on world building through food stories and restaurant reviews (40:21), her current job at the Chron (48:37), her appearance on David Chang's Ugly Delicious (52:35), a story about a miraculous fall while rock climbing and comfort circles (56:56), her story package on Chinese food in New York inspired by WeChat (1:04:25), and finally the lightning round (1:14:51).
Here are links to some of the things we talked about:
The original California bagel hot take - https://nyti.ms/3mBtVys
Serena’s hot take on bagels - https://bit.ly/3218ihy
The Ultimate Guide to Chinese Food in NYC - https://bit.ly/3d7bVJl
The Daigest newsletter - https://bit.ly/3dMU61a
Serena's episode of Ugly Delicious - https://bit.ly/3uFgAIb
Eater’s weekly newsletter from Amanda Kludt - https://bit.ly/3uKGSZN
The Family Meal newsletter - https://bit.ly/3saMFpA
From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy newsletter - https://bit.ly/3dWe1uH
Who Weekly podcast - https://bit.ly/3g08Qwd
Time to Say Goodbye podcast - https://apple.co/3mDxLXG
The Ringer’s Guide to Binge-Watching Survivor - https://bit.ly/3wLKBYH
Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod
Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats
From: freemusicarchive.org
Sunday Mar 28, 2021
Sunday Mar 28, 2021
Deep in the jungle, Fabiano Maisonnave finds amazing stories to tell. He is the only correspondent for a major Brazilian newspaper to be based in the Amazon rainforest region. Long before he reported on remote Amazon tribes, Fabiano tells us about leaving his first assignment in farm country over death threats. He then sets off on a long period as a foreign correspondent, covering Latin America from all over the region, and later becoming Folha’s correspondent in Beijing.
Countries featured: Brazil, Venezuela, Honduras, China
Publications featured: Folha de S.Paulo
Fabiano discusses growing up in a closed community around a megadam project during the Brazilian dictatorship (7:45), his first job digging into corruption in Brazil’s farm country and being run out of town (15:10), reporting around Latin America, including a coup in Honduras that left him in close quarters with the ousted president (22:21), moving to China to report on everything from fake shoes to geopolitics (26:45), returning to Brazil to report on the Amazon (33:19), the story that got away about a political murder in the early 2000s (38:56), rooting out a corrupt businessman attempting to bribe indigenous to mine their territory (43:55), dangers and challenges of reporting in the rainforest and living in Manaus (49:09) and finally the lightning round (59:38).
Here are links to some of the things we talked about:
Jake’s story on the Brazilian military in the Amazon - https://reut.rs/3w0b0Se
Fabiano’s story on traditional runaway slave communities (English) - https://bit.ly/3tZkV8Y
Fabiano’s english language work on Climate Home - https://bit.ly/3cqKSbg
His story on a polluted waterfall (Portuguese) - https://bit.ly/3cqftpy
Fabiano’s story on Chinese knockoff shoes (Portuguese) - https://bit.ly/3lSSuXo
His story on attempts to bribe indigenous to mine their land (Portugese) - https://bit.ly/3conWcK
His story accompanying indigenous attempting to shut down illegal mines (Portuguese) - https://bit.ly/3tZ8Z6S
Amazonia Real (Portuguese) - https://bit.ly/39lkWMn
NYT Book Review podcast - https://apple.co/3fk1Bij
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo - https://amzn.to/2UpGXSm
Harry Hole by Jo Nesbo wiki - https://bit.ly/3lXnGVb
Ten Days that Shook the World by John Reed - https://amzn.to/39jsgbz
Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod
Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats
From: freemusicarchive.org
Sunday Mar 14, 2021
Sunday Mar 14, 2021
Prague, come for the theater, stay for the podcasting. Morgan Childs, co-host and producer of the Foreign Insiders podcast, tells us about getting her start reporting stories on food and “weird” Eastern Europe. She has now found a new professional life as an audio journalist, launching her podcast series on migration in the Czech Republic.
Countries featured: USA, Poland, Ukraine, Liberland, Czech Republic
Publications featured: Saveur, BBC, GQ, Lucky Peach, Vice
Morgan discusses how her theater studies took her to the Czech Republic for the first time (7:17), getting started as a freelancer by telling "weird Czech stories" (13:10), burning out on freelance writing and turning to podcasting (25:10), a story that got away about a made up pan-Slavic language (30:20), her GQ story about a made up country and its unsavory founders (33:29), her podcast Foreign Insiders (44:48) and the lightning round (53:05).
Here are links to some of the things we talked about:
Foreign Insiders podcast - https://foreigninsiders.com
Morgan’s story about snail farming - https://bit.ly/3viXqci
Her Saveur story on Polish milk bars - https://bit.ly/30IkJOw
Her story about a Ukranian violinist - http://bbc.in/3bHcitk
Her Vice story about a town made of marzipan - http://bit.ly/3qQKSFO
Her Vice story on stinky cheese - http://bit.ly/3lpOeyt
Her GQ story about a made up country - http://bit.ly/3qL3wyP
Radio Prague - http://bit.ly/2Ng6QnP
Monocle 24 podcast - http://bit.ly/3lleWbh
Washington Post podcast Canary - http://wapo.st/3qJZGFW
On Being with Krista Tippett podcast - http://bit.ly/2OTEHmJ
David Kestenbaum on This American Life - http://bit.ly/3rNw1gp
Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod
Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats
From: freemusicarchive.org
Sunday Feb 28, 2021
Sunday Feb 28, 2021
Jane Arraf (@janearraf) didn’t go seeking war, war came to her. She first moved to Iraq in 1997 under Saddam Hussein and was kicked out twice before returning when the U.S. invaded. She also bore witness to the carnage in Mosul in the wake of ISIS. Her reporting on conflict stands out for its humanity, vibrancy and - when possible - hope. She is now the Baghdad bureau chief of The New York Times.
Countries featured: Canada, Haiti, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt
Publications featured: NPR, CNN, Reuters, New York Times
Jane discusses growing up in Canada and starting in local TV (4:51), reporting in Montreal, Haiti, the Middle East and elsewhere for Reuters (11:56), opening the CNN bureau in Baghdad and getting kicked out a couple times under Saddam (22:08), covering the Iraq war (31:22), how the nature of conflicts (such as the war with ISIS) has changed and made it more dangerous for journalists (40:14), her story about how young people began rebuilding Mosul post-ISIS without government help (51:27) and the lightning round (58:24).
Here are links to some of the things we talked about:
Jane’s story on Yazidi’s reburying their dead post-ISIS - http://nyti.ms/3qXoQlo
Her CNN story that got her expelled from Iraq - http://cnn.it/3bP1hES
Lindsey Hilsum’s book In Extremis - https://amzn.to/2O4rwiK
Jane’s story D.I.Y. Mosul for Rough Translation podcast - http://n.pr/3uFLIYQ
Iraq Oil Report - https://bit.ly/3dTEOcM
AFP story Baghdad: Forever on the Brink - https://bit.ly/2NEFFTY
Jane’s story on the Prophet Joshua’s tomb in Baghdad - http://nyti.ms/3kwuJ6U
Martha Gellhorn wiki - http://bit.ly/3cnZGVT
It’s a Beautiful day in the Neighborhood on IMDb - http://imdb.to/3r1aXTt
Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod
Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats
From: freemusicarchive.org
Sunday Feb 14, 2021
Sunday Feb 14, 2021
Remember traveling? While you’re stuck inside in the pandemic, you can still travel far and wide thanks to the Far from Home podcast by public radio veteran Scott Gurian. Scott takes you along for the ride on one of the world’s epic road trips from London to Mongolia and back across the deserts of Iran and mountains of central Asia. The Peabody award winner talks about how a not-so-adventurous guy from New Jersey came to document that trip and others.
Countries featured: Iran, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Cuba, Mexico, USA
Publications featured: NPR, WNYC, Planet Money, Pacifica radio
Scott discusses beginning his career by making it up as he goes along in advocacy and community radio (6:44), his “driveway moment” that turns him on to NPR and getting into mainstream public radio in Oklahoma (13:17), being thrust into covering Hurricane Sandy (25:47), how a trip to Cuba set him on a path toward Mongol Rally and travel podcasting (30:00), the nitty gritty of the economics of podcasting, the ins and outs of public radio universe and the tension between podcasts and radio (41:10), jpw frozen equipment in Alaska and sketchy bootleggers lead some stories to fall through (47:00), his years reporting about the Hurricane Sandy response and the Peabody winning story (51:08), and finally the lightning round (55:25).
Here are links to some of the things we talked about:
Scott’s podcast Far from Home - http://bit.ly/3qpH2Ec
HowSound podcast by Rob Rosenthal - http://apple.co/3pmQdnk
WNYC’s Peabody winning coverage of Hurricane Sandy response - http://bit.ly/3ai2VQb
Scott’s story on Antigua and Barbuda for Planet Money - http://n.pr/3d5rlOy
Vox podcast Today, Explained - http://bit.ly/3dapcRD
An Arm and a Leg podcast - http://bit.ly/37beYwH
In the Dark podcast Season 2 - http://apple.co/2GYGUdc
Chef Yotam Ottolenghi wiki - http://bit.ly/2OsLX92
Milk Street cooking website - http://bit.ly/3qlDu5D
Bill Buford’s book Among the Thugs - https://amzn.to/3jN3J2D
Throughline podcast - http://n.pr/3s44jfl
WNYC’s On the Media radio show - http://bit.ly/2NkxhZ8
Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod
Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats
From: freemusicarchive.org
Monday Feb 01, 2021
Monday Feb 01, 2021
Sarah Esther Maslin explains what it's like to work at the Economist including the lack of bylines, its distinctive voice and viewpoint, and an unusual time when she broke some news.
Sarah’s story about the Amazon rainforest - http://econ.st/3oCdC3I
Her story about the Honduras election - http://econ.st/3tbOXGL
Sunday Jan 31, 2021
Sunday Jan 31, 2021
We go deep on a history of Central American violence with Sarah Esther Maslin (@sarahmaslin). She discusses the years she’s spent reporting out a prospective book about Latin America’s largest modern massacre in El Salvador, stemming from her lifelong fascination with violent tragedies and the marks they leave on society. That project led her to freelance journalism and ultimately to Brazil with The Economist.
Countries featured: Brazil, El Salvador, Argentina
Publications featured: Washington Post, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Economist
Sarah discusses growing up in California and Wisconsin (8:20), her first journalism experiences at Yale (13:44), moving to El Salvador (21:18), getting a pivotal call from the Washington Post to launch her freelance career (29:07), landing a correspondent job at The Economist that sends her to Brazil - a place she had never given much thought before (37:05), a story that got away involving extrajudicial police killings in El Salvador (50:55), her story about horrible prison conditions in El Salvador and how a case of mistaken identity led to a man’s death in jail (57:00) and the lightning round (1:04:31).
Here are some of the things we talked about:
Sarah’s story about global COVID-19 vaccine rollout - http://econ.st/3cDp2SL
New Yorker article about El Mozote massacre - http://bit.ly/2McHO8J
Michael Reid’s book on Brazil - https://amzn.to/2NQ2sMe
Sarah’s story about an innocent man’s death in an El Salvador prison - http://wapo.st/3cr61Th
Ed Yong’s 2018 piece on how the U.S. is not ready for a pandemic - http://bit.ly/3j3c8P5
Yong’s piece on tracking gender in his sources - http://bit.ly/36tVLFZ
Susan Meiselas’ photography work - http://bit.ly/3j05Lfn
Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod
Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats
From: freemusicarchive.org
Sunday Jan 17, 2021
Sunday Jan 17, 2021
It turns out there’s a lot more to Russia than just Putin and election meddling. Sure, we talk about that, but independent radio producer Charles Maynes in Moscow tells us tales of Russian culture from the early Soviet era to present. While he may not always think of himself as a journalist, that may be what makes his journalism work so great. Also, in a first for the podcast, we hear a poetry reading.
Publications featured: Voice of America, NPR, 99% Invisible, Radiotopia
Countries featured: Russia, USA
Charles discusses his affinity for the Midwest where he got his start as a musician and journalist (5:10), a visit to Moscow that turns into a whole lot more (11:30), back to the US and some good jobs, some bad jobs and some weird jobs (15:49), returning to Russia on a Fulbright to work with local radio stations (18:22), modern Russia under Putin and sticking a thumb in the eye of the U.S. (26:03), telling the story of an early Soviet composer who directed the sounds of the city (40:16), the lightning round (43:58), a long but entertaining tangent about Russian architecture, the Transiberian Railroad, Lake Baikal and Chinese tourism (49:43), the lightning round again (59:38), and how he views his career (1:14:00)
Here are links to some of the things we talked about:
Charles’ Spacebridge podcast on Radiotopia - http://apple.co/3nQBlwN
His piece on Symphony of Sirens on 99% Invisible - http://apple.co/3ijCiMN
Russian news website Meduza (in English) - http://bit.ly/35HaU6j
NPR’s radio drama version of Star Wars (English, not Russian) - http://bit.ly/3qhBuuS
Wind of Change podcast - http://apple.co/352Bg1y
William B. Williams bio - http://bit.ly/3nOnJlB
James Agee’s book Let Us Now Praise Famous Men - http://bit.ly/3stNPOh
The poem Radio of the Future by Velimir Khlebnikov - http://bit.ly/38N6qgq
Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod
Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats
From: freemusicarchive.org
Sunday Nov 29, 2020
Sunday Nov 29, 2020
We prowl the halls of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team in the capable hands of Tim Cato (@tim_cato), a staff writer with The Athletic. Tim got into sports reporting as a 17-year-old fan, but now he’s seen too much and the fandom has melted away. Still, he loves his job reporting on the huge characters, power dynamics and colorful feature stories the NBA has to provide - even finding what’s interesting about banal sports cliches and taking a trip to Slovenia.
Publications featured: SB Nation, Mavs Moneyball, The Athletic
Countries featured: USA, Slovenia
Tim discusses getting into sports reporting at 17 as a way to go to basketball games (5:44), the strange internet beast that is/was SB Nation (10:19), going from exploited free labor to staffer at SB Nation (16:17), The Athletic making a splash on the national sports scene (23:24), a breakdown of what it’s really like reporting on a basketball team (27:19), cliche sports questions and answers (31:10), losing his sports fandom (40:14), the larger-than-life Mark Cuban (47:56), telling the story of Mavericks star Luka Dončić by going to Slovenia (55:17), and the lightning round (1:01:32).
Here are links to some of the things we talked about:
Mavs Moneyball (yes it still exists) - https://bit.ly/3lecEcw
SB Nation - https://bit.ly/39igQWa
Tim’s story on cliche questions and answers - https://bit.ly/3fCQ9wk
A clip of Mark Cuban on a StairMaster - https://bit.ly/3l6xR7W
Tim’s story from Slovenia - https://bit.ly/364rXQA
D Magazine - https://bit.ly/39fYi8Y
Texas Monthly’s “What if they had an election and everyone came?” - https://bit.ly/3m7yoYH
Jane Mayer’s book Dark Money - https://amzn.to/3682GF7
Baxter Holmes’ stories via Longform.org - https://bit.ly/33gaEKq
Sam Anderson’s book Boom Town - https://amzn.to/33gaOBw
Two Writers Slinging Yang podcast - https://apple.co/3fMKhB7
Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod
Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats
From: freemusicarchive.org