Staying In with Jan Powell

How has South Korea got through the COVID19 pandemic with such low rates of infection? How does its famous Track-and-Trace system work? And what was it like living in the capital at the height of the pandemic? Jan catches up with her son Hugo Powell in Seoul, where he spent three months as a Master's student. After two weeks of strict quarantine, Hugo wasted no time before delving into Korean cooking, the rising popularity of cocktails, and international rivalry...

Working from home is something most of us complain about but have had to get used to. But what about people who don't have the luxury of staying in, and for whom getting the job done means being out on the front line? People like Peter Scott-Bowden, who was working for the World Food Programme in Afghanistan when Jan caught up with him in December last year. Afghanistan has been in a state of war and turmoil for over four decades, leaving millions sho...

This week Jan talks to George Powell, a journalist and film maker who has lived and worked in Rio de Janeiro for the past 6 years. He's chosen to live in one of Rio's smaller favelas, and has some interesting insights into life as the only gringo in the village, how to survive preferring rugby to football in the land that worships the Beautiful Game, and why the country's president, Jair Bolsonaro is hitting an all-time popularity level despite the rampant spread of Coronavirus, a...

Many countries are facing a resurgence of COVID-19 and nowhere is that resurgence more painful than in Hong Kong. After weeks with no cases at all, the virus has struck back in the crowded island and strict control measures have been reinstated. This week, Jan speaks to Yvonne Ng, a young PhD student who was born and brought up in Hong Kong. As a particle physicist Yvonne spent the last 11 years dividing her time between the US and Europe. She was working at CERN, (the European Organiza...

This week Jan’s in Lima, the capital city of Peru, perched on the very edge of the Pacific Ocean. She’s talking to Helen Binge, a paediatric physiotherapist who moved to the city 3 years ago when her husband Chris took over the headship of Markham College, an International School in the city. Little did she realise that she would live through one of the longest Corona virus lockdowns in the world. Jan and Helen chat about why the country has suffered so badly in the pa...

The Italian town of Bergamo in Lombardy was devastated by the Coronavirus back in March when it first began to spread in Europe, with hospitals and cemeteries overwhelmed by the number of cases. This week Jan talks to Bergamo citizen Matteo Tarantino about his memories of the frightening early days of the pandemic, and how he and his family coped with strict lockdown conditions. Matteo is a sociologist and university lecturer who has some interesting thoughts about how ageism affected t...

Jan finds out what it's like to be locked down during the Covid-19 pandemic in Istanbul with TRT producer and journalist Sitara Jabeen. How do you make TV reports when you can't leave home? What was it like living through Ramadan, that most sociable of months, in solitary confinement? And what's happened to the hundreds of cats that roam Istanbul's back streets, now that the restaurants and markets that normally feed them are closed by the coronavirus?

Jan catches up with film-maker, old friend and colleague, Gill Fickling (find her at Gillfickling.com) After years of travel, Gill moved back to Britain to a new home in Penzance just a few weeks before the lockdown began. We take a look at what its like to settle down after life as a global nomad, how to adapt to a new community while social distancing rules apply, and the delights of being immersed in your own language and culture after years away. Gill is coping with lockdown r...