The Observer Effect

I met Orry panning for gold in the Austrian Tyrol. He taught me the word "petrichor." I asked him to tell his best travel story ... and he did not disappoint. We hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Check out Kiva.org. "Men dig tons of earth to find an ounce of gold." —Heraclitus

Vixen, Street Poet, wrote me an on-the-spot work when I ran into her in Oxford. I asked how we can help ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Check out Kiva.org and let us know what you think. "Nothing in the world is as painful as the feeling of not being like." —Sei Shōnagon

Vixen, Street Poet, wrote me an on-the-spot work when I ran into her in Oxford. I asked how we can help ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Check out Kiva.org and let us know what you think. "Nothing in the world is as painful as the feeling of not being like." —Sei Shōnagon

Jürgen became a US citizen in the Caribbean, nearly missed out on Burning Man, and once got arrested in Oklahoma, but those might not even be his best stories. We asked how to ameliorate solitude—and find mushrooms—in the Swedish forest where he lives now ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Check out Kiva.org to make a small business loan in a developing country and change the world. "What I am about to say is so strange that I scarcely know how to make my meaning clear." —Boethius

Jürgen became a US citizen in the Caribbean, nearly missed out on Burning Man, and once got arrested in Oklahoma, but those might not even be his best stories. We asked how to ameliorate solitude—and find mushrooms—in the Swedish forest where he lives now ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Check out Kiva.org to make a small business loan in a developing country and change the world. "What I am about to say is so strange that I scarcely know how to make my meaning clear." —Boethius

Isabel coordinated volunteers for Lighthouse Relief in Ritsona refugee camp in Greece, but that wasn't the important part, according to her. This will be the last in our series of episodes from Ritsona for a while. We asked refugees to tell us their stories and volunteers to tell us theirs ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Thanks as always to the musician Dana Boulé. Check out Lighthouserelief.org to see how you can volunteer with refugees in Greece. "And why complain of more, why complain of very much more." —Gertrude Stein

Isabel coordinated volunteers for Lighthouse Relief in Ritsona refugee camp in Greece, but that wasn't the important part, according to her. This will be the last in our series of episodes from Ritsona for a while. We asked refugees to tell us their stories and volunteers to tell us theirs ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Thanks as always to the musician Dana Boulé. Check out Lighthouserelief.org to see how you can volunteer with refugees in Greece. "And why complain of more, why complain of very much more." —Gertrude Stein

Hanan did not want to give birth in Greece. She crossed from Turkey after escaping Syria while pregnant. Now little Ahmed is her happiness. We asked how he was born ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Thanks as always to the musician Dana Boulé. "The new must be dovetailed into the old as it were, if it were to endure." —Jane Addams

Hanan did not want to give birth in Greece. She crossed from Turkey after escaping Syria while pregnant. Now little Ahmed is her happiness. We asked how he was born ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Thanks as always to the musician Dana Boulé. "The new must be dovetailed into the old as it were, if it were to endure." —Jane Addams

Yousef and his wife made the difficult choice to leave Syria with their children four years after their factory and home were burned to charcoal. They went by rubber boat from Turkey to the island of Chios in Greece. We asked him to tell us the story ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Thanks as always to the musician Dana Boulé. "There are people whom we do not fully know, and yet they live in a warm place within us." —Ta-Nehisi Coates