This is a very early Media Network from December 1982 when distance still had a certain magic. There was no wikipedia to get a briefing on far away places. Phone lines were prohibitive expensive (6 Euros a minute to the Pacific) and awful quality. Via a complicated method of simultaneous recording (two tape recorders running at the same time in different locations), I managed to link up with Martin Hadlow, at that time working for in the Solomon Islands. Hearing the station was virtually impossible outside the Pacific, even though they had a short-wave transmitter. Martin later when on to do some fascinating projects for UNESCO in Cambodia, Afghanistan, and Kazakhstan. The photo illustrating this podcast was taken in 2005 when Martin was stationed at UNESCO HQ in Paris. He is now a professor in Brisbane, Australia. This same broadcast includes a review of a book called "Let Truth be Told" written by the late Gerard Mansell, one of the directors of BBC External Services in the early 1980's. BBC External Services was celebrating 50 years on the air. Richard Ginbey also shares some recordings from Malawi made from his listening post in South Africa. I wonder what the show would have sounded like if we had Skype and multi-track recording facilities. We only had razor blades and splicing tape. (I know about a few short glitches in this copy of the recording during the Mansell book review).