Soundings

Explore the ties between language and identity in South Africa with two women who see Afrikaans as the language of reconciliation.

Two women in South Africa are currently challenging the assumption that Afrikaans is solely the language of the oppressor. One is a poet. The other runs a community radio station. Through a retelling of the true history of the language and the people who created the language, words arise that begin to break down the ties between language and identity over 20 years post-apartheid: “you can’t blame a language for what a group of people did with it.”

Producer: Isaac Goldstein

Music:The last offering, Sunhiilow

No sudden movements, Rui

Magic Torquoise, Sunhiilow

Butterfly Lullaby, Possimiste

Producer: Alyssa Vann

Description: This podcast explores the burgeoning natural hair movement in the Dominican Republic, where the vast majority of women prefer to straighten their hair. In doing so, it explores the intersections of race, gender, and history in the country’s capital.

Music: All music recorded in the plaza in the Colonial District of Santo Domingo, or in salons.

As indigenous people from Mexico migrate to California, their languages and cultures are threatened. One indigenous trilingual rapper based in Fresno is fighting back.

“We are taught that we're not valuable, we are taught that we have no history, we are ignorant, we don’t have richness of culture…. I’m trying to turn everything around.”

Miguel Villegas Ventura came to the US at age 7 speaking only Mixteco, an indigenous language spoken by the Ñuu Savi nation in the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Guerrero and Puebla. He came of age in Fresno, California, amidst poverty, bullying and the constant pressure to hide his roots.

But when Miguel learned the history of Una Isu, a 12th century Mixteco warrior, everything changed.

Today Miguel demands respect and dignity through trilingual hip hop. Like Una Isu, he seeks to unite indigenous Mexicans who have found a new home in the United States.

Producer: Jackie Botts

Featuring voices of Miguel Villegas, Leoncio Vasquez and Irma Luna

Music:

“Mixteco es un Lenguaje” by Una Isu

“Intro [Prod. Esteban]” by Una Isu

“Quisieron [Prod. Esteban]” by Una Isu

“Se que avanzare (Con Mixteko) [Prod. Starbeats]” by Una Isu

“Soñadores [Prod. Fenix]” by Una Isu

“Cinco años (Con Mixteko) [Prod. Guerrero]” by Una Isu

“Asi quiero sanar [Prod. N3w Lment]” by Una Isu

“Pop Song” by Johnny Ripper

“Lamentos en Aula Remix” by Toiletrolltube

“If You Should Lose Me” by Lil Rob

“Summer Nights” by Lil Rob

Una Isu complete music at https://soundcloud.com/miguel-villegas-29

Producer: Megan Calfas

After delivering one child, the Head Nurse Nassara turns around, changes her gloves, and delivers another. In Mnazi Mmoja Hospital, Zanzibar, 30-50 babies are born a day. Often, in the maternity ward, there are only 3-4 nurses working at a time. As the largest public hospital in Zanzibar, Mnazi Mmoja faces the island’s high rate of maternal mortality head on, yet, the root of the problem is hard to uncover--it’s tangled up in a much larger system. This piece would not be possible without the Program in Global Health Technologies at Boston University led by Dr. Zaman, the Stanford Storytelling Project, and the kindness of everyone at Mnazi Mmoja Hospital.

Music: Rui -- “Caress me to Sleep”, “Selbstheilend”, “No sudden movements”, Johnny Ripper --”Nicolas”, Orbique-- “Simple”, Cuban Cowboys-- “Outro”

Sandbranch is a community outside of Dallas that hasn’t had running water or well water for decades, but the residents refuse to leave.

Founded by former slaves, it used to be a thriving town of over 500 people. In the 1980s, its wells were contaminated. The residents have been fighting for running water ever since. Now, led by a pastor, an environmental lawyer, and past and present residents of the community, Sandbranch is on the brink of change.

Producer: Claudia Heymach

featuring:

Eugene Keahey, Mary Nash, John Wiley Price, Mark McPherson, Ivory Hall, Chess Jones,

and the choir of Mt Zion baptist church.

Special Thanks: Carol Francois, Clay Jenkins, Edward Shore, the residents of Sandbranch, Catherine Girardeau, Jackson Roach, and Jake Warga.

Music: Music used (Title(s), Artist, Album. Include links and permissions)

From freesound.org: Slow Sad Tones by TJ Mothy https://freesound.org/people/TJ%20Mothy/sounds/92734/

Wind Howl 2 by swiftoid

https://freesound.org/people/swiftoid/sounds/117610/

A touching and honest non-narrated produced portrait of one of the first people to be detained at JFK under the initial Trump travel ban order. Stanford PhD student traveling from Sudan: Nisrin Abdelrahman

Aired on:

http://www.cbc.ca/listen/shows/the-doc-project/segment/13703580

https://www.radioproject.org/2017/09/arrival-trumps-travel-refugee-ban/

http://kalw.org/post/stanford-grad-student-was-one-first-trump-travel-ban-detainees#stream/0

“80s interlude” (Album: Or Up We Fall), by Fanas

“Theme 4”, “Sleep”, “Intermission” & “In a Dream” (soundtrack for a film that doesn't exist), by Johnny Ripper

“Data” (don't), by Johnny Ripper

Title: The Unthinkable Brink (working title)

Elisabeth Dee & Tyler Brooks

Kim: I would say keep your head down. I would say be careful. I would say that self-preservation is your upmost responsibility because until you can come out in a safe and open and caring environment, the system that you’re growing up in is designed to destroy you. So you may have to keep your head down. And it may be the thing that drives you to the brink. The unthinkable brink.

Elisabeth #1: I’ve known Kimberly for eight years. She taught photography at my high school, right outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. There was something about her I was drawn to. I felt like she saw things in me I didn’t know where there. When she came out as intersex and transgender, I realized why we had been pulled into each other’s orbits: we were both outsiders. We were both Mormon and queer and struggling.

Anchor #1: We regard same sex marriage as a particularly grievous or significant serious kind of sin that requires church discipline.

Anchor #2: Well the number one killer of Utah’s kids is suicide according to new numbers from the state health department. And there’s no definitive reason for this abrupt rise in suicide among Utah youth but there are many pointing to Utah’s religious culture.

Tyler Glenn: Please don’t let this be a summer of more gay suicides, please make a space for your gay members, please tell them they are okay and they are made in the image of god.

“Mike” LifeMoves

by Crystal Escolero

[Introduction]

Hi my name’s Mike. Grew up in Santa Clara. Good neighborhood. Decent anyway. Not rich. Not exactly poor. Depends who you ask.

I went straight to work, in a machine shop. That’s when IBM used to give all their jobs to all the little teeny companies in the bay area. So, I had a great job for six months. Next thing I know everyone got laid off and everybody was out of work.

So, then getting a job after that was...you know, I just turned 18. When you turn 18, it’s like “Oh you’re not trying hard enough. Get a job you bum.” And there were no jobs to get. All you can do is find little part time jobs. So, you never make a dime to do anything. Except feed yourself, buy your cigarettes, and drink your beer.

I just got stuck in that realm...

Jennifer Manry Final Podcast Transcript

By: Hannah Nguyen and Lea Zawada

[Typing on keyboards, faint radio chatter, the phone rings.]

JM: 911 emergency. I grew up in a law enforcement family. I was running around the police department since I was born.

[Cue Music]

[Narration:] Jennifer Manry is a dispatcher at the Menlo Park Police Department. She’s just celebrated her 28th birthday. She’s wearing the blue polo of the MPPD and on one of the many screens is a photo of her pug, wearing the same uniform. She grew up listening to exciting stories of cop life.

JM: My dad was a sergeant for 30 years and he was at redwood city police department.

They would tell me stories as i got older.

[Narration:] Like the time he was in a shootout.

JM: The guy was pointing a gun at his pregnant girlfriend and he had my dad on the ground and my dad just took a chance and shot the guy. The only thing he brought home with him was if he had a stressful day you could always tell. He was a little bit quieter he was a little bit more short. But I only know that now because I have days like that too.

[Narration:] It felt natural for Manry to work in law enforcement. She was proud of the work her dad did, putting away bad guys.

JM: My dad loved his dispatchers and he appreciated them very much. So was like yah you know talk to a couple of them you know I would do little sit alongs. I remember the first day that I did my first sit along that was something where I was like this is fricken awesome. So after that I just kept doing little sit alongs and I’m like yep that’s what I wanna do.

[Narration:] She found a job that excited her. It was stressful at first, especially when she was on her own for the first time.

Intro

Hook: Cascade of 911 What’s Your Emergency sound bites.

If you ever call 911, you’re probably in a bit of a panic, and don’t really care who answers as long as they answer quickly

Ambient noise from police HQ

Menlo Park Police this is John. (1. 05:00)

When a call comes in, John answers.

My name is John Murphy. I work for the Menlo Park Police Department. I am a dispatcher here. I have been in this field for 28 years. (1. 00:00)

Ambient noise from Police HQ.

Act I: Spring Romantic ideal

Call comes in: Language/Stress

Music/Hum of John and Office.

He takes the call. If necessary, he uses a 10-code language to dispatch patrolman. I have no idea what’s going on, but John explains,

There is a whole 10 code 11 code. He said 1186 means he is making a traffic stop in the 800 block of Sharron Park Drive. She recorded the location and told him to go to the licence plate. That is what he did and he gave a color of the vehicle he stopped. That officer just said I’m 10-8 I’ll be in route to Robert 50. 10-8 means I am done with what I’m doing and he is going to the other officer to help out. (1. 03:00)

Even when John’s not on a call, he is always “on”. His shift is always one call away from someone’s crisis.

You just don’t know what’s going to happen next. (2. 29.18)