The Urban Detective

In 1968 youth movements all over the world sought to change the world forever. In the wake of the Prague Spring, Communist Sofia hosted The World Festival of Youth and Students, welcoming thousands of young people in its first "grand opening" to the West. Some, as the writer Viktor Paskov, remember it as the Bulgarian "summer of love" - but was it really? And what about the pervasive myth that the Beatles wanted to play the festival, but were thwarted by the regime? In this episode we ask how Bulgarians experienced this iconic year - and what was the deal with this "socialist Woodstock"? With Ina Valtchanova, writer,   Hristo Boutsev, editor in chief of "Кultura" newspaper, Johnny Penkov, documentarian, and Emil Georgiev and Harizan Harizanov - Beatles fanatics. This episode features exerpts from "State Security and the World Youth Festival" collection, Sofia Magazine, the Golden Fund of the Bulgarian National Radio and the personal archive of the Bulgarian National Radio journalist Tsvetan Tsvetanov. The exerpt from "Germany, a Dirty Tale" by Viktor Paskov is read by Radoslav Chichev. The song at the top Who Stole the Soul of Rock'n'Roll by The Dingees, International City Recordings, 2010,  (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) Additional sounds in the episode from Freesound.org: Koscierzyna Fontanna by Zbylut ;  Floyd Filtertron Riding by aceinet; CC BY 3.0

"It's going to be magnificent: in the Sea of Sofia, there will be ships, each 30 meters long and 6 meters high. They will sail down tunnels of trees and greenery, saluted by  little hotels and nice restaurants."   An Engineer of the unrealized project for the Sofia sailing channel speaking to Sofia Magazine, 1959 Sofia is decidedly not a waterfront city, but in the 1950s and 1960s the communist party sought to change that: the project for a sailing channel in Sofia envisioned a man-made river flowing from the area of the Iskar dam past the south areas of Sofia and all the way down to the future "'Harbor of Pavlovo". Hundreds of citizens were mobilized in "voluntary" brigades to that purpose - first to dig up the channel, and then, a decade later - to cover it up, in an epic fail of an engineering project. Dubbed "The Sea of Sofia" by Bulgaria's most famous dissident writer Georgi Markov, it became a metaphor for communism’s monumental absurdity. But was it really? The architects Pavel Popov and Hristo Gentchev, the journalists Ognyan Georgiev and Hristo Butsev, and the documentarian Johnny Penkov tell the story of the "Sea of Sofia". Additional sounds in the episode from Freesound.org:  Rowing2 by Juskiddink; Digging with Pick Axeby Cameronmusic; Seagulls by Eelke; Shoveling Stones by Monotraum; Coast Waves Children by Klankbeeld; Gentle Waves-Quiet Beach  by Amholma. CC BY 3.0

What was the "World Festival of Youth and Students" and did The Beatles really want to play in Sofia?

Is there another city under Sofia? From the secret Party tunnels supposedly running under the demolished tomb of the communist leader Georgi Dimitrov, to the infrastructure of the beloved heating utility company Toplofikatsiya, we examine one of the most believed urban legends. With the help of: Ivan Bakalov. Here you can see photos from his walk in the tunnels under the Mausuleum in 1991. Radomir Mirchev of Vermin Games and Stalker LARP Bulgaria and  other lovers of the underground.

There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. In Sofia it’s even on the map – the so-called Zona B-5 neighborhood. In episode 3 we enter the zone where one of the last architectural utopias of the communism sank. with Architect Aneta Vasileva from WhAT Association, a specialist in modernist architecture; MAD, SGB or Makso, “the father of Bulgarian graffiti”; Adelina Popnedeleva, contemporary artist and founder of the “The 8th of March” group whose video “The Zone” is part of the permanent collection of the National Art Gallery. and world famous producer and DJ KiNK. Music in the episode: Withdrawal by Krāllār, City Rap Beats by Stankbeat on Freesound, CC BY-NC 3.0, Reinterpreted Twilight Zone Intro by Koryc on Freesound.

"There’s always somebody cutting something with an angle grinder" - this bizarre observation was grafittied all over Sofia in the 2000s and anyone who's tried to enjoy a nap on the weekend knows it's true. An informal slogan of the city of sorts, it was viral before the age of social media, making its way into short stories and books. But... where did it all start? In E01, we investigate the sound of Sofia. Bogdan Rusev is a Bulgarian writer and translator of modern fiction, author of novels, short stories and children's books. His novel A Tourist, He Thought was published in the UK by Austin Macauley in 2016, and his second novel in translation Come to Me was published in 2019 by the Dalkey Archive Press, translated by Ekaterina Petrova. Vikenti Komitski is a Bulgarian contemporary artist based in Berlin. Svilen Ivanov is a Sofia-based musician who extracts music from hacksaws and angle grinders. An angle grinder is a handheld power tool used for cutting metal and stone. The title song Everybody is by Sofia-based Saturated Pixels whose first LP Mystery is out on May 10th 2018. Additional voices by Ben Bush and Alexander Gyurovski. Additional sounds used under Creative Commons:  Venise, Italie - Bells of San Marco place by Claire Sauvaget, CC BY 3.0 on Radio Aporee; Istanbul Galata Bridge soundwalk by john grzinich, CC BY-SA 3.0  on Radio Aporee; Berlin Public Transport by nikohbf, CC Sampling Plus 1.0 on Freesound.org

In E02 we investigate how graffitti culture seeped into Bulgaria and unravel a 20-year-old war! Where did it all start - in Sofia or Targovishte? . The story is told by MAD, SGB or Маxо, Nasimo, Еsteo, ХРОМЕ и Yoko from The Top Stoppers/BassYYokoto/Stick Insect Special thanks to Bulgarian rap band NISHTO! who lent us samples from their pioneering 1994  EP "Shte razdavam pravosudie ("Delivering Justice") Additional voices by Martin Petrov, Juri Rahnev and Miroslav Christov. Additional sounds used under Creative Commons:  Sound from http://www.freesound.org/people/klankbeeld/, Gunshots by WIM CC BY 3.0 on Freesound.org; , CC BY-SA 3.0  on Radio Aporee; Shaking a box of paint spray and spraying by magnus589,CC Sampling Plus 1.0 on Freesound.org, "Train Passing, A.wav" by InspectorJ of Freesound.org, "Mozuchna Korozia" and "Shte Razdavam Pravosudie" by NISHTO