World in Progress

In Saudi Arabia, people can report anyone via a policing app – a woman was recently sentenced to prison for more than three decades over a tweet. And in Peru, people defend their age-old tradition of chewing coca leaves.

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More and more people enjoy traveling the world while working remotely — as digital nomads. And an increasing number of them are now flocking to Bansko, a small town in the Bulgarian mountains.

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On this week’s show, we look at how different groups around the globe are preserving their cultural heritage. Indigenous embroiderers in Mexico are fighting back against the fast fashion industry they say has stolen their designs. A 400-year-old Italian opera has captivated Morocco, and the language you’ve never heard of still spoken on the Spanish-French border.

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The world's population is set to hit 8 billion on November 15. On this week's show, the UN's Sara Hertog helps us separate fact from the fiction when it comes to understanding exactly what that means for the planet. Plus, a story of death, an old recipe for sweets and the future of Japan. We'll also hear why Georgia's farmers, bakers and government officials are uniting around ancient grains.

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A number of surprising initiatives across the globe are making the world a safer place for kids. We’ll hear more about those ideas. We’ll also hear from a girl who made her first foray into international policy as part of a children’s advisory team, and from Philip Jaffé of the UN’s Committee on the Rights of the Child about its working group on child participation.

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The Brazilian Amazon has been destroyed at alarming rates in recent years, with huge areas being cut or burnt down to clear the land for cattle. It has become more and more dangerous for those trying to protect this globally important eco system, with indigenous peoples bearing the brunt.

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This week we tag along with two reporters as they disembark on a one-of-a-kind cruise to the North Pole. Passengers on board are in it for a luxury cruise. Meanwhile, a group of scientists are enjoying a different luxury on board altogether: the chance to study the effects of climate change. As it turns out, they’re also grappling with the impact of the war in Ukraine on their work.

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Protests in Iran have now entered a fourth week after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in police custody. She had been detained by the so-called morality police for allegedly wearing her headscarf too loosely. Her death has triggered protests all over the country. And in Guatemala, indigenous women rise up against land grabbing – it's a dangerous battle.

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When you think of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, what comes to your mind first? The carnival celebrations, the samba dances? Its famous beaches? Did you know that Rio was one of the biggest slave hubs in the world? Historians have unearthed some gruesome details.

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Water shortages are on the rise as drought grips more and more countries across the globe. On this week’s show, we take a closer look at who has the right to water, where water is being weaponized and what governments can do to help people cope.

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