Boston Calling

Boston Calling

By BBC World Service
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Boston Calling episodes

  • The Backstory

    Trump supporter, Dave McNeer, thinks the President is making ‘America Great Again’.

    Also: Why digital maps should not be used to resolve border disputes; why the US military turned to camels, in the 1800s, to map out land in the American West; we get to see the insides of the disappearing colourful taxi cabs of Mumbai; ice cream shop owners fret about an increase in the price of vanilla; and Italian musician, Zucchero, recounts some memorable advice he got from Miles Davis.

    (Image: Donald Trump themed merchandise is sold outside before a rally for the Republican Presidential nominee on November 4, 2016, in Pennsylvania. Credit: Mark Makela/Getty Images)

    27 min
  • It is all Words

    As Trump embarks on his first foreign trip, his administration tries to cast ‘America First’ in a different light.

    Also, helpful definitions of the words ‘autocrat’, ‘fascist’, and ‘demagogue’; why Trump's name sign is causing controversy in the American Sign Language community; a history of the word 'hack' that goes back further than you might expect; what happened to the first people to be called refugees; plus some new music from one of Marco Werman's favourite bands, Forro in the Dark.

    (Photo: Copies of U.S. President Donald Trump's fiscal 2018 budget request sit on display for sale in Washington, D.C. Credit: Andrew Harrer/Getty Images)

    27 min
  • What Comes Next

    This week, some Americans woke up to a country they didn’t recognize. Donald Trump’s victory left half the nation cheering, and half the nation in tears. Now everyone has to figure out how to move on.

    Also on the programme, a Latino voter explains why he voted for Trump; unauthorized immigrants wonder what this election will mean for them in the future; and we spend a day in the life of a woman living in immigration limbo. Plus, will Trump bring a U-turn on climate policy? We end with a musician’s view of growing up on the US-Mexico border.

    (Image: The White House is seen at dusk. Credit: Saul Loeb/Getty Images)

    27 min
  • The Import Export Edition

    “My brother was killed. He died in atrocious conditions, alone, without us.” In France, the death of Adama Traore, a young black man, while he was in police custody sets off protests.

    Also, the Maker Movement, which began in California, comes to China; subway cars, made in China, come here to Boston; and an ultra-popular Norwegian TV show, about knitting, comes to Netflix. Plus, the US gets its first offshore wind farm. Etienne Charles, a Trinidad jazz trumpeter, closes out the show.

    Picture: People hold a banner reading 'Justice for Adama' as they attend a march organised in tribute to Adama Traore in Beaumont-sur-Oise, Credit: Thomas Samson/AFP/Getty Images

    27 min
  • A Question of Time

    Conditions are so bad in refugee camps in Greece, some refugees are considering returning to the war torn countries they came from.

    Also on the programme, residents of a disappearing island speak up; a former Pentagon official describes one moment that changed how she thinks about drones; a slam poet from Sudan shares her poetry; and a Silicon Valley entrepreneur thinks manufactured diamonds might replace real ones. Plus, some new emojis right some wrongs when it comes to gender equality.

    Picture: A boy sits on a bus as he waits to be transferred to a refugee reception centre in Greece, Credit: Yannis Kolesidis/AFP/Getty Images

    27 min
  • Disunited States of America

    "I saw my brother in these boys. I saw my son in these boys.”

    First, we talk to an activist speaking out against violence towards blacks in America. Then, we hear how the story of one police shooting in San Francisco has been turned into a stage play.

    Next, we learn why the Bahamas issued a travel advisory to the US. Also, we hear about the perils of "walking while black" in New York City. Plus, a daughter figures out how to talk to her father about race for the first time.

    We end the show with “American Tune,’’ a posthumous release by the New Orleans musician Allen Toussaint.

    27 min
  • Fight or Flight

    We speak with Daniel Torres, a former US Marine who was deported to Mexico. Then, we look back at a deadly 1942 U-boat attack in the Gulf of Mexico. And we take a bus ride with the children of Sudanese immigrants in California.

    Plus, a group of American teenagers cause an uproar when they try to take part in World Hijab Day. A journalist learns the proper use for bananas in Somali cuisine. And an Ethiopian-American band records its own version of a Japanese folk song.

    Image: Daniel Torres grew up in the US, but after a stint in the Marines he was deported to Mexico. (Credit: PRI’s The World)

    27 min
  • Do the Right Thing

    We speak with Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy, who is advocating on behalf of Syrian refugees as other American politicians try to turn them away. Then, we sit in on a cooking class that teaches people in Boston how to eat healthier with traditional African dishes. And, the US wants to give peanuts to malnourished kids in Haiti — we find out why that idea is so controversial.

    Plus: a US army officer sues President Obama over the legality of the war against Islamic State; Italy’s most prominent transgender politician weighs in on North Carolina’s controversial ‘bathroom bill’; and a Sudanese human rights activist finds inspiration in America's civil rights movement.

    Image: A refugee mother and son from the Syrian town of Kobani walk beside their tent in a camp in Sanliurfa, Turkey. October 19, 2014. (Credit: Gokhan Sahin/Getty Images)

    27 min
  • Rerouted

    We hear how the Migration Project is giving hope to the families of Guatemalan migrants who have gone missing en route to the United States. Then, how young migrant students from all across Central America are getting shut out of US schools. And, the Cuban Americans spending their own money to send others to Cuba.

    Plus, we meet two Hmong American filmmakers who are shaking up Hollywood. We travel 8,000 miles in search of a Thai dish so delicious, it might be deadly. And an Indian writer living in the US curses his American doughnut habit.

    Image: Indigenous family members walk into Mexico after illegally crossing the border from Guatemala on August 1, 2013. (Credit: John Moore/Getty Images)

    27 min
  • Taking a Stand

    Trump or Clinton? That's the question du jour in the US, so we have two stories on the leading presidential candidates. First, we head to East Boston, where Latino immigrants are pushing back against Donald Trump supporters in their neighbourhood. Then, we hear about the disconnect between the Hillary Clinton foreigners see, and the one Americans see.

    Also, why novelist Ayelet Waldman is sending writers to the West Bank; the effort to keep Syrian refugees out of the midwestern state of Kansas; and how the cellist Leyla McCalla connects history, identity and song on her latest album. Plus: hundreds of thousands marched in the US for immigrants’ rights a decade ago. What's happened since?

    Image: Latinos and European Americans live together in East Boston. But the politics of Donald Trump is resurrecting old racial wounds. (Credit: Phillip Martin/WGBH)

    27 min

About Boston Calling

From the publisher's feed

How the world looks through American eyes, and the myriad and unexpected ways that the world influences the United States.

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