Foreign Correspondence

The open ocean is about as foreign as it gets. No country can claim it. And as a result, a whole lot of bad stuff happens there. Ian Urbina (@ian_urbina) talks about his series of stories for The New York Times about lawlessness at sea, that later became a book and now a non-profit journalism initiative called The Outlaw Ocean Project. Urbina will also talk about how his stories were made into two Hollywood movies and how he was part of a team that won a Pulitzer for reporting on the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal.

Countries featured: Libya, USA, Singapore

Publications featured: New York Times, New Yorker

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

The Outlaw Ocean Project website - https://bit.ly/3NVRkac

Ian’s series on fracking Drilling Down - https://nyti.ms/3tfSN3e

His piece on magazine crews that inspired American Honey - https://nyti.ms/3xaFQca

The Pulitzer Prize winning reporting on Eliot Spitzer - https://bit.ly/3zeN9Ct

His book Outlaw Ocean - https://amzn.to/3zeJFji

His New Yorker piece on Libya - https://bit.ly/38PFcc5

Behind the scenes on reporting the Libya piece - https://bit.ly/3aHLkDR

Jennifer Senior’s 9/11 piece for the Atlantic - https://bit.ly/39YDVMT

Luke Mogelson’s article Among the Insurrectionists - https://bit.ly/3alcd05

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Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats

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History matters to Julie McCarthy (@JulieMcCarthyJM). She’s gone around the world with National Public Radio to Tokyo, London, Rio de Janeiro, Jerusalem, Islamabad, New Delhi and Manila, trying to understand each place through its history. Her reporting brings to life events like the Hiroshima bombing and the partition of India, explaining how they continue to reverberate today. Most recently she’s served in Manila and the U.S. as NPR’s Southeast Asia Correspondent.

Countries featured: The Philippines, India, Pakistan, Brazil, Japan, Israel, UK

Publications featured: National Public Radio

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

Julie’s story on the partition of India - https://n.pr/3OS4kzc

Her story on Filipino comfort women - https://n.pr/3s2j2ty

Nikkei Asia - https://s.nikkei.com/38CZFAi

The novel The Splendid and the Vile - https://amzn.to/3vvqqQh

The book Empire of Pain - https://amzn.to/3ON83Oa

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Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats

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Little Uruguay, we don’t hear from many correspondents based there. Lucinda Elliott (@lucinda_elliott) - who covers South America's Southern Cone of Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay for the Financial Times - tells us how she ended up there in the middle of the pandemic. That’s just one way Lucinda has come full circle, having also been laid off by the FT at the start of her career, only to return after freelancing in Venezuela and Brazil. 

Countries featured: UK, Brazil, Uruguay, Venezuela, Argentina, Chile, French Guiana

Publications featured: Times of London, Monocle, Financial Times

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

Jake's Overseas Press Club winning stories - https://reut.rs/3w0b0Se

https://reut.rs/3DdVE0l

https://tmsnrt.rs/37Xr67v

Richard Beeston Bursary for aspiring foreign correspondents - https://bit.ly/3KmLxcg

Lucinda's story on maternity ward in Venezuela - https://bit.ly/3JEcA2y

Her interview with Lula for Monocle - https://bit.ly/3LerCwk

Stories of Our Times on Apple podcasts - https://apple.co/3Lled5U

El Observador article on China Zorrilla - https://bit.ly/3qFoWzU

Avantika Chilkoti on Twitter - https://bit.ly/3tDhE1z

Hella Pick's 90th birthday article for Conde Nast Traveler - https://bit.ly/3tJoAKO

Lucinda's reporting from French Guiana for Monocle - https://bit.ly/3wFeCvz

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Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats

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The foreign country in this episode is the United States. Guga Chacra, a Brazilian journalist based in New York City, is one of the most recognizable faces of Brazilian TV news. With his signature shaggy hair and a legion of Twitter followers, he is known for his work with Globo TV, the 24 hour news channel Globo News, his column for newspaper O Globo and his radio show on CBN. Before he was a one-man media empire, Guga was a newspaper reporter covering the Middle East, Haiti and Argentina.

Countries featured: Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Israel, Palestine, USA, Brazil, Argentine

Publications featured: Folha de S.Paulo, O Estado de S.Paulo, O Globo, Globo News, Globo TV, CBN

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

Guga’s column for O Globo - https://glo.bo/3vBxScY

His CBN radio show - https://glo.bo/3hA04Vh

His interview with Bashar Al-Assad - https://bit.ly/35PmKOH

L’Orient-Le Jour - https://bit.ly/35MD6YG

Haaretz - https://bit.ly/3K9DvmA

The Times of Israel - https://bit.ly/3MihFiO

Jerusalem post - https://bit.ly/3vCQcCK

Al Monitor - https://bit.ly/3hzHRaD

Inside the Fall of Kabul by Matthieu Aikins - https://nyti.ms/3vAW6UC

Robert Fisk’s book Pity the Nation - https://amzn.to/3IIZtfY

House of Stone by Anthony Shadid - https://amzn.to/3ibyMWy

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Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats

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Reporting the Arab Spring is the story of a lifetime. Evan Hill (@evanhill) tells us how a blog got him hired by Al Jazeera in the Middle East where he was sent to cover the Arab Spring, witnessing the Egyptian Revolution first hand from Tahrir Square. He discusses almost quitting journalism, only to later join the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times visual investigations team.

Countries featured: Qatar, Egypt, Libya, Syria, USA

Publications featured: Al Jazeera English, The Times of London, The New York Times

Evan discusses starting a blog that gets him hired by Al Jazeera (10:55), the unexpected eruption of the Arab Spring that sees him dispatched to Egypt (23:15), a close call on safety while covering Libya (32:58), being beaten while trying to cover a protest in Egypt (37:39), moving back to the U.S. with Al Jazeera before leaving journalism for Human Rights Watch (46:45), joining The New York Times (1:00:50), his story that got away about a white anarchist on the No Fly List (1:03:50), his story on Russia bombing hospitals in Syria that was part of a Pulitzer-winning package and how the visual investigations team works (1:07:06), and the lightning round (1:21:55).

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

Evan’s story on Russia bombing Syrian hospitals - https://nyti.ms/3skkabd

Visual investigation on Jan. 6 Capitol riot - https://nyti.ms/35FXWIX

Bellingcat - https://bit.ly/3viBopy

Washington Post Visual Forensics - https://wapo.st/3GtyUK0

Blowback podcast - https://bit.ly/3J9O1tx

ProPublica’s What Parler Saw During the Attack on the Capitol - https://bit.ly/3GHWQtj

Lawrence Wright on Twitter - https://bit.ly/3rwmUDj

Anthony Loyd’s book My War Gone By, I Miss It So - https://amzn.to/3AZHbEh

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Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats

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What drew so much media attention to Venezuela only a few years ago and why has it fizzled out? Stephen Gibbs (@STHGIbbs), a freelancer based in Caracas, tells us about covering the unrest and his encounters with Hugo Chavez and Maduro. As a former longtime BBC correspondent, Gibbs also talks about covering Cuba - including Castro revealing his relationship with Ernest Hemingway and a chance meeting with a rogue CIA agent.

Countries featured: United Kingdom, Cuba, Mexico, Haiti, Brazil, Venezuela

Publications featured: BBC, The Times (of London), The Economist, CGTN

Stephen discusses getting his start writing gossip items and producing news for children (8:36), making the jump to producing the nightly news at the BBC and transitioning to on-camera newsman in Cuba (15:35), meeting Fidel Castro at an event about Ernest Hemingway (23:34), Cuba revoking his media accreditation (28:11), moving to Mexico and covering swine flu there (35:15), going freelance and moving to Brazil and Venezuela (41:36), being in the middle of turbulent Venezuelan politics while juggling assignments from three publications (46:30), a story that got away about a fugitive former CIA agent living in Cuba (55:25), covering the coup that ousted Haiti’s president in 2004 (1:00:20) and finally the lightning round (1:08:20).

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

Stephen’s documentary on Easter Island - https://bit.ly/3zgJT7n

Observer article on fugitive CIA agent - https://bit.ly/32JORO9

Stephen’s interview with Brazil’s Bolsonaro - https://bit.ly/3sQQC6W

Private Eye - https://bit.ly/3qCYQNb

BBC interview with Belarus leader Lukashenko - https://bit.ly/3FNDoeW

Harry’s Garage - https://bit.ly/3eGc4mL

Allen Whicker interviews dictator Papa Doc - https://bit.ly/3zdLRpe

The Quiet American book - https://amzn.to/3mNh6m7

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Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats

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Writing a book isn’t easy, but James Griffiths (@jgriffiths) of Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail sure makes it look that way. Griffiths talks about getting his start in journalism in Shanghai and Hong Kong just as the Chinese government was ratcheting up censorship of the internet. That became the subject of his first book, which he wrote while also covering years of protests in Hong Kong. He also discusses his new book on efforts to preserve minority languages, like Hawaiian and Welsh.

Countries featured: China, Wales, USA

Publications featured: CNN, South China Morning Post, The Shanghaiist, That’s Shanghai, The Globe and Mail

James discusses moving from the UK to China to get his start at the blog The Shanghaiist (9:48), moving to Hong Kong to join the South China Morning Post and covering the Umbrella Movement (14:56), joining CNN where he covered the larger 2019 Hong Kong protests (22:14), a traumatic moment when protestors turned on each other at the Hong Kong airport (30:13), joining the Globe and Mail (34:08), the difficult reporting environment in Mainland China (40:09), advice on not waiting for permission to go do reporting (45:36), how he wrote his two books and the impact on his life (48:23) and finally the lightning round (1:03:25).

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

Covering Climate Now awards featuring Jake’s work - https://bit.ly/3dn3glk

James’ first book The Great Firewall of China on Amazon - https://amzn.to/3DjRiTP

His second book Speak Not on Amazon - https://amzn.to/3pkKuAw

A review of Speak Not - https://tgam.ca/3EolTBe

The Global Times in English - https://bit.ly/3GinQ2H

Today in Tabs newsletter - https://bit.ly/32PU9Y8

Vittles newsletter - https://bit.ly/3In6NhN

The story of Henry the Vacuum Cleaner - https://bit.ly/3xSihoF

Ariel Sabar’s book Veritas  - https://amzn.to/2ZVcfa5

Pam Colloff’s The Innocent Man in Texas Monthly - https://bit.ly/3dh0PAG

Kathy Gannon’s book I is for Infidel - https://amzn.to/3GcjdqK

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Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats

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Mitch Moxley (@mitch_moxley) talks about the world of book writing, agents and getting your magazine stories optioned by Hollywood.

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

Mitch's Rent a White Guy story for The Atlantic - https://bit.ly/39YlbwO

His book Apologies to My Censors - https://amzn.to/3B64BqR

His true crime story Knives Outback - https://bit.ly/3opBATu

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Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats

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Going viral. North Korea. Anthony Bourdain. Beijing Olympics. Long-form magazine journalism. Narrative non-fiction. Stage plays. Executive editor at Maxim. Mitch Moxley has done a lot of stuff. As a magazine editor and freelance writer, previously in China and now in New York City, Mitch tells us about his careers highs and disappointments, as well as the brutal realities of being a freelancer.

Countries featured: Canada, China, North Korea, USA

Publications featured: GQ, China Daily, Truly Adventurous, The Atlantic, Maxim, Penta

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

Penta magazine - https://bit.ly/3mmK7nl

Mitch's story on Agent Orange survivors - https://bit.ly/3mnhsyA

His Rent a White Guy story for The Atlantic - https://bit.ly/39YlbwO

His book Apologies to My Censors - https://amzn.to/3B64BqR

His story Rat Hunters of New York - https://bit.ly/3uxVHjr

His story about Anthony Bourdain for Maxim - https://bit.ly/3oqfLD9

His play inspired by Bourdain - https://bit.ly/2WBA3hJ

His story on the North Korean film festival for GQ - https://bit.ly/2Yawxvc

Jennifer Senior's piece on a family grieving a 9/11 victim - https://bit.ly/39YDVMT

His story about kidnapping survival schools - https://bit.ly/2YdVmGh

The movie The Paper on IMDb - https://imdb.to/3FdJ55J

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Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats

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The journalist’s holy trinity: the right time, the right place, the right beat. You’re lucky if you find it once in your career. Sue-Lin Wong (@suelinwong) tells how she thinks she hit it in the Hong Kong protests in 2019. Now working as a China correspondent for The Economist based in Hong Kong, she also has the unusual distinction of having been based in Shenzhen for years.

Countries featured: China, North Korea, Australia

Publications featured: Reuters, Financial Times, Economist

Sue-Lin discusses taking a gap year to teach English at a sketchy school in China (6:04), taking three years off from university to live in China and the US (10:11), joining Reuters with Jake as a trainee (21:20), becoming a Reuters correspondent in Shenzhen in southern China and quickly joining the FT (34:55), covering the Hong Kong protests (41:38), joining The Economist (46:50), a story that got away about an alleged rape (54:37), following a Chinese student protest and the dystopian crackdown on it (1:00:09), and finally the lightning round (1:14:30).

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

Sue-Lin's FT Magazine story on the HK protests - https://on.ft.com/3zQCPNL

Her stories on Chinese student protestors -

https://reut.rs/3CJXm8u

https://reut.rs/3zzyFtm

https://reut.rs/3kDwKzy

Her series of stories on the North Korean border - https://reut.rs/3kEqx6q

端傳媒Initium Media - https://bit.ly/2XW82lz

The Ezra Klein show - https://apple.co/3i72Kuf

故事fm (storyfm) - https://bit.ly/3CKYRmU

Megan Twohey on Twitter - https://bit.ly/3lVRUIO

Jodi Kantor on Twitter - https://bit.ly/3zF1Mvl

Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell wiki - https://bit.ly/3i4TYx8

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Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats

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