Foreign Correspondence

There are no happy endings in Syria after more than a decade of war. Lina Sinjab (@BBCLinaSinjab), a BBC correspondent based in Beirut, talks about covering the civil war from the start and the terrible toll it has taken on her and her home country. As a multi-format journalist, she regularly produces radio and video documentaries as well as written articles from Syria and the wider region.

Countries featured: Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, UK, Yeman, Libya

Publications featured: BBC, New Lines Magazine

Here are links to some of the things we talked about:

Lina's 2010 radio documentary on Syria's economy and corruption - https://bit.ly/41jXrwo

Her 2016 radio doc "A Failed Revolution" - https://bit.ly/3ogUcHj 

Trailer for her doc "Madness in Aleppo" - https://bit.ly/3UIf8TR

Her documentary "Surryat" (Arabic version) - https://bit.ly/3UVw9Kp

Her story on Yemen Nobel prize winner Tawakul Karman - https://bit.ly/3oiQv3V

Syrian publication Al-Jumhuriya - https://bit.ly/3A4lWS6

Syrian news site Enab Baladi - https://bit.ly/3KK5viV

Middle Eastern media network Raseef22 - https://bit.ly/3UHoM8X

Lebanese site Daraj - https://bit.ly/3A4m4B4

New Lines Magazine - https://bit.ly/3A15iD1

Guardian story Massacre in Tadamon - https://bit.ly/3KHavof

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Music: LoveChances (makaih.com) by Makaih Beats

From: freemusicarchive.org

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Climate change reporting often means documenting some of the worst events that ever happen to people. But Kendra Pierre-Louis (@kendrawrites), whether reporting for the podcast How to Save the Planet, or posting pictures of bear sex, manages to make it not totally depressing. Kendra, an independent climate reporter, talks about gradually finding her way into journalism, reporting in India and Myanmar, and her years at NYT.

Countries featured: USA, India, Myanmar

Publications featured: Spotify/Gimlet's How to Save the Planet, The New York Times, Popular Science, Inside Climate News, Sierra, Hakai, Newsweek, 538, Modern Farmer, Vice

Here are links to some of the things we talked about:

Kendra's book Green Washed - bit.ly/3ZZKbvz

Erica Gies website - bit.ly/402jGWC

Kendra's story in India for 538 - bit.ly/3J7JqK5

Her story on Myanmar for Earth Island Journal - bit.ly/3YFB3v9

Her viral visual essay on the U.S. before EPA cleanup - bit.ly/3yvlVpl

How to Save the Planet episode on biking - bit.ly/3ysEtXz

Podcast episode on agrovoltaics - bit.ly/3ZXb978

ProPublica story on UnitedHealthcare - bit.ly/3LkVoTo 

Her anti-mayonnaise screed - bit.ly/3yxe376

Her story on the Myanmar bus ride - bit.ly/3ZXqhRW

The Girls in the Balcony book - bit.ly/3ysEMBH

Buried by the Times book - bit.ly/3ZXql48

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Music: LoveChances (makaih.com) by Makaih Beats

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The day the war broke out in Ukraine, Valerie Hopkins (@VALERIEinNYT) was in Kiev unsure of what was about to happen. Only a few months into working for The New York Times, she was at the center of the biggest story in the world. She now reports on the war as one of a dwindling number foreign correspondents in Russia, interviewing Russians who see the conflict in very different terms than the rest of the world. We also discuss her many years reporting across the Balkans.

Countries featured: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Hungary, Austria, Germany, Ukraine, Russia

Publications featured: Financial Times, New York Times, The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Reuters

Here are links to some of the things we talked about:

Rubix cube inventor's Lunch with the FT - https://bit.ly/3YphHeb

Valerie's story about Ukrainians' Russian relatives not believing in war - http://bit.ly/3XKRKWv

Valerie on The Daily podcast on the Russian draft office - http://bit.ly/3XQwSgo

Her story Where have all the men in Moscow gone? - http://bit.ly/40aCjs5

Nanna Heitmann's Instagram - https://bit.ly/3Juo6Ax

Novaya Gazeta - http://bit.ly/40aVXnR

Holod - http://bit.ly/3JqolMW

Josh Yaffa's story on rape victims in Ukraine - http://bit.ly/3RiaWbB

Sigrid Schultz wikipedia - http://bit.ly/3Ha71Je

Last Call at the Hotel Imperial - https://bit.ly/3Ri0VLw

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Music: LoveChances (makaih.com) by Makaih Beats

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A chance meeting with some French journalists in a New Delhi park led Will Brown (@_Will_Brown) to quit his job as a teacher to become a reporter. After freelancing doesn't work out, he finds himself back in London working at The Economist, eventually being dispatched as a stringer to Senegal. He also talks about covering the outbreak of the Tigray War from the Sudan-Ethiopia border as Africa Correspondent for The Daily Telegraph.

Countries featured: India, Senegal, Kenya, Ethiopia, Guinea, Sudan, DR Congo, UK

Publications featured: The Times of London, The Economist, Daily Telegraph

Here are links to some of the things we talked about:

His Vice story on Indian brothels - bit.ly/3Br1snE

Economist story on Guinea bauxite mining - bit.ly/3Ppzs9S

His story on Russian mercenaries in the Sahel - https://bit.ly/3PiDaBY

His story on Sudan's revolution - https://bit.ly/3WdFMmK

His story on Ethiopians fleeing Tigray war - bit.ly/3FhfIR3

His story with nurse leaving patients behind - bit.ly/3FIudP9

BBC Africa Eye - bit.ly/3hkI2Ks

HumAngle - https://bit.ly/3WaAxnW

Manisha Ganguly's doc on Libya drone strikes - https://bit.ly/3WaicY6

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Music: LoveChances (makaih.com) by Makaih Beats

From: freemusicarchive.org

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The Society of News Design's best designer in the world, Marco Hernandez (@TmarcoH) tells us how he grew up in Costa Rican coffee country and has been recruited to a series of jobs that took him around the world. Ever humble, he also talks about how he likes to draw insects to relax and maintains a website dedicated to his failed projects.

Countries featured: Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Singapore, USA

Publications featured: La Nacion, South China Morning Post, Reuters, New York Times

Here are links to some of the things we talked about:

Marco's story on the bombed bridge in Ukraine - 

His Forbidden City project for SCMP - https://bit.ly/3h7xFcd

More on the Forbidden City that didn't make the original project - https://bit.ly/3E4UEOe

His story on how Hong Kong protestors organized - https://tmsnrt.rs/3FPs5Ww

His story on counting crowd at HK protests - https://tmsnrt.rs/3FK3Jxe 

His story on an iceberg larger than some countries - https://tmsnrt.rs/3zHwiYn

His winning entry for Society of News Design - https://bit.ly/3FW0hzs

His website for failed projects - https://bit.ly/3U1wjyp

The Pudding - https://bit.ly/3E5kXEb

NASA Earth Observatory - https://go.nasa.gov/3U96Y5L

Washington Post story on butterflies - https://wapo.st/3tksskt

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Music: LoveChances (makaih.com) by Makaih Beats

From: freemusicarchive.org

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The kidnapped Chibok girls were the identifiable victims of Nigeria's war with Boko Haram islamist insurgents. Drew Hinshaw (@drewhinshaw) talks about reporting around Europe and Africa for the Wall Street Journal while co-writing an award-winning book about the Chibok girls on nights and weekends. We also find out what happens when you wear the wrong pants to cover a press conference with Barack Obama.

Countries featured: Ghana, Nigeria, Poland, Senegal, Mali, Spain, USA

Publications featured: Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Metro, Rolling Stone

Here are links to some of the things we talked about:

Drew's book Bring Back Our Girls - https://amzn.to/3E7H1OI 

His stories for The Wall Street Journal - https://on.wsj.com/3Cnhgsw

His big WSJ story on Chibok girls being freed - https://on.wsj.com/3SOzOap

WSJ's Pulitzer finalist package on China's influence - https://bit.ly/3LWl6fj

Drew's story on Gadhafi's house - https://on.wsj.com/3RnHbEN

Rukmini Callimachi's al-Qaida Papers series for AP - https://bit.ly/3dT058V

Steve Rosenberg's Lukashenko interview - https://bit.ly/3FNDoeW

Hidden Valley Road book - https://amzn.to/3SSv7wp

Columbine book by Dave Cullen - https://amzn.to/3ft3ag1

Billion Dollar Whale book - https://amzn.to/3ro1cjL

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Music: LoveChances (makaih.com) by Makaih Beats

From: freemusicarchive.org

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Russia invaded Ukraine and the next day Thomas Peter was crossing the border from Poland to cover the war. Tom, a Reuters photographer, thought he understood Russia after spending his 20s living in the country. But little could prepare him for the indiscriminate brutality he saw there. He’ll also talk about his childhood in Soviet East Germany, covering the early days of COVID-19 near its epicenter in China and spending a week in a Japanese jail.

Countries featured: Germany, UK, Russia, Ukraine, Japan, China

Publications featured: Reuters

Here are links to some of the things we talked about:

Tom’s Wider Image page - https://reut.rs/3Qhnf5E

His Instagram account - https://bit.ly/3RhWHTo

His story about Russian protest group Voina - https://reut.rs/3RmVrhW

His photos of Russian tightrope walkers - https://reut.rs/3KK18Ui

His photos of Chinese escaping COVID-19 epicenter - https://reut.rs/3Ba060U

Some of his Ukraine photos - https://bit.ly/3TRL4UW

His photo essay on chaotic Hong Kong protests - https://reut.rs/3RhZsUK

His Wider Image on young Hong Kong democrats - https://reut.rs/3KOsg4D

His photo essay on economic pressures in Hong Kong - https://reut.rs/3RyOxFN

His Wider Image on Mongolian reindeer herders - https://reut.rs/3Rwmqag

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Music: LoveChances (makaih.com) by Makaih Beats

From: freemusicarchive.org

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Turns out Russian mercenaries stand ready to troll journalists and produce big-budget action movies in war-torn African countries. Neil Munshi, West Africa Editor now for Bloomberg, went to the Central African Republic to report on that mercenary group, while writing an award-winning series of stories seeking to explain the conflicts raging in most of the countries in the region. 

Countries featured: Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Mali, India, USA, Nepal

Publications featured: GQ, Times of India, GQ India, Financial Times, Bloomberg

Here are links to some of the things we talked about:

Neil’s award winning series on West Africa (free to read) - https://bit.ly/3pdXsAx

His story about a film glorifying mercenaries - https://on.ft.com/3phIfOJ

F1 Drive to Survive doc series trailer - https://bit.ly/3Poug4q

Zikoko’s NairaLife - https://bit.ly/3Qjq07s

The Journalist and the Murderer - https://bit.ly/3QuHIVS

What It’s Like to Fight a Megafire in New Yorker - https://bit.ly/3dsN84S

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo - https://bit.ly/3QrOiwi

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Music: LoveChances (makaih.com) by Makaih Beats

From: freemusicarchive.org

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In this additional bonus content, Jon Lee Anderson talks about what has gone wrong with democracy in Latin America and discusses what it's like to work for the hallowed magazine The New Yorker.

Jon Lee's story about Chilean President - https://bit.ly/3ukSKE5

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Music: LoveChances (makaih.com) by Makaih Beats

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Have Hugo Chavez and Barack Obama read your book? Jon Lee Anderson of The New Yorker can say that they have. Jon Lee tells us about his early years chronicling rebel groups and insurgents from Latin America to Asia, culminating in writing a book about the quintessential guerrilla Che Guavara. Working for The New Yorker, he has gotten to know many world leaders more intimately than most any living journalist.

Countries featured: Peru, El Salvador, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Chile, Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, Colombia

Publications featured: Time magazine, New York Times, New Yorker

Here are links to some of the things we talked about:

Jon Lee’s work for The New Yorker - https://bit.ly/3R5pJpz

His book about guerrillas - https://amzn.to/3yfGrtC

His book about Che Guavara - https://amzn.to/3OH52hY

His first story for The New Yorker on Cuba - https://bit.ly/3P0JT20

His story about Hugo Chavez - https://bit.ly/2VVD0Zu

NYTimes story on Haiti reparations - https://nyti.ms/3NHRXng

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Music: LoveChances (makaih.com) by Makaih Beats

From: freemusicarchive.org

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