Foreign Correspondence

No this is not a repeat of our previous interview with Ian Urbina (@ian_urbina) from three years ago. Ian comes back on the pod to discuss the second season of The Outlaw Ocean Podcast, the audio arm of his independent non-profit news organization The Outlaw Ocean Project. We also talk about work-life balance and his old job working at the Blue Man Group. Countries featured: China, North Korea, Libya, India, Haiti, Greece Publication featured: The Outlaw Ocean Project, The New Yorker, The New York Times Here are links to some of the things we talked about: The Outlaw Ocean Podcast - https://www.theoutlawocean.com/the-outlaw-ocean-podcast/ The Firefighter with OCD - https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/17/nyregion/firefighter-mental-health-ocd.html Jake's bio at Washington Post - https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/jake-spring/   Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod Music: LoveChances (makaih.com) by Makaih Beats From: freemusicarchive.org CC BY NC

Elon Musk incited the troll hordes upon Emily Glazer. Not only did she live to tell the tale, she went on to write bombshell stories on Musk's drug use. Talk about not pulling your punches. Glazer, who reports on power and influence at the Wall Street Journal, talks about her roller coaster career and how she manages to produce so many big stories. Countries featured: United States, Mexico Publications featured: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Sun, Austin American Statesmen   Here are links to some of the things we talked about:  Emily's Daily Northwestern story on female professors' tenure - https://bit.ly/4hriAgD  The Facebook Files - https://bit.ly/4hfAF0I  Her first story on Elon Musk's drug use - https://bit.ly/3UhA9Wj  Her story on Barclays CEO's Jeffrey Epstein links - https://bit.ly/4fdyHvZ  Popular Information newsletter - https://bit.ly/3YdHUh5  Empire of Pain - https://bit.ly/3BSzIve  Her story on drug money in Arizona - https://bit.ly/3YtsqqF    Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod Music: LoveChances (makaih.com) by Makaih Beats From: freemusicarchive.org CC BY NC  

Humo: Murder and Silence in El Salvador connects a gruesome story of mass murder in El Salvador to a larger shift in the country's society with the election of Nayib Bukele. Daniel Alvarenga (@pipianspice), host of the English-language version of the podcast, brings years of experience reporting on El Salvador as well as his experience as a Salvedorean-American to the show. He discusses his backdoor route into journalism, years spent making viral news videos and his struggles to make a career of telling Central American stories. Countries featured: USA, El Salvador, Honduras Publications featured: Al Jazeera (AJ+), Telemundo, KCSB, Rolling Stone   Here are links to some of the things we talked about: Humo podcast - https://bit.ly/3y8tEgM  Newsbroke on AJ+ - https://bit.ly/4c97nxn  His mini doc Why Are Indigenous People Dying at the Border -  https://bit.ly/3LyDKKM  His mini doc Why So Many Palestinians Live in El Salvador - https://bit.ly/3YeFKQ8  Bryan Avelar on X - https://x.com/bavelarr Revista Factum - https://www.revistafactum.com/ Atmos Magazine - https://atmos.earth/ Atmos article on El Salvador - https://bit.ly/3zPUfQ1  Atmos story on Congo cobalt - https://bit.ly/3xX3EVB  60 Songs that Explain the 90s podcast - https://bit.ly/46iTUl1  Locatora Radio episode on protest dad - https://bit.ly/4d7fM56  Menudo: Forever Young docuseries - https://bit.ly/4d831Hw  The book News for All the People - https://bit.ly/3SilzwV    Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod Music: LoveChances (makaih.com) by Makaih Beats From: freemusicarchive.org CC BY NC

“If someone were going to make this story into a movie, I want to hear about the scenes that would be in it.” Notable scenes of Jen Wieczner's career include commuting from Boston to New York while juggling a juice bar job and a journalism internship, scrambling for interviews in Japan, and attending the Goldman Sachs CEO's late night DJ set. Now a features writer at New York Magazine, she discusses how she approaches long-form stories on finance and other topics. Countries featured: United States, Japan Publications featured: Fast Company, Marie Claire, Smart Money, Market Watch, Dow Jones, Wall Street Journal, Fortune, New York Magazine   Here are links to some of the things we talked about: Jen's profile of an abrasive chess master - https://bit.ly/3Xk1nOq  Her story Why Your Boss is Dumping Your Wife - https://bit.ly/4c36wPd  Her profile of Mylan's CEO Heather Bresch - https://bit.ly/4blkawh  Her profile of Steve Cohen's return to hedge funds - https://bit.ly/4elwI9n  Her story on How High Can Bitcoing Go - https://bit.ly/4eADdWa  Her story The Crypto Geniuses Who Vaporized a Trillion Dollars - https://bit.ly/3XrnXou  Her story about nannies in NYC - https://bit.ly/4eqNSTe  The Atlantic article Bill Ackman Is a Brilliant Fictional Character - https://bit.ly/3VGzkYe  Reeve's Wiedeman's book on WeWork - https://bit.ly/4aZMxQk  Jen's story on Mt. Gox in Japan - https://bit.ly/3Vpxmds  Her Fortune profile of the Goldman Sachs CEO - https://bit.ly/3VoC37b  Her NYMag profile of the Goldman Sachs CEO - https://bit.ly/3VHDJKy  New York Post cover on the Oculus leaking - https://tinyurl.com/36dpkc27  New York Daily News cover on the Oculus leaking - https://images.app.goo.gl/3dP4hzYhBeDJLu3p6 Matt Levine's Bloomberg newsletter - https://tinyurl.com/mxyvmmuk  Patrick Radden Keefe's profile of Larry Gagosian - https://tinyurl.com/hukku73u  Jessica Pressler on Wikipedia - https://tinyurl.com/yeyjwsdt  The movie She Said on IMDb - https://tinyurl.com/3shuv74z    Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod Music: LoveChances (makaih.com) by Makaih Beats From: freemusicarchive.org CC BY NC

"To tab. Verb. To rewrite a news article in a tabloid-style." We learn a new word in this episode of the podcast from Sean Collins Walsh, a City Hall reporter at the Philadelphia Inquirer. Sean looks back on his first job at the tabloid Philadelphia Daily News and a career that has landed him reporting back in his hometown of Philly. Countries featured: USA, Uganda Publications featured: Philadelphia Daily News, Austin American-Statesmen, The Philadelphia Inquirer   Here are links to some of the things we talked about: The first FoCo episode - https://bit.ly/44qOJyC  The Toner Prize - https://bit.ly/44lRQIb  Sean's story on the ethics board probe into Jeff Brown - https://bit.ly/44wjlPd    Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod Music: LoveChances (makaih.com) by Makaih Beats From: freemusicarchive.org CC BY NC

A promising journalism career briefly takes a dark turn down the path of Instagram influencing. Alden Wicker, a freelance journalist and author, managed to come out the other side. Her career as a sustainable fashion journalist - as the editor of EcoCult and freelancer for numerous big name publications - culminated with her book To Dye For. We also discuss manifesting, MDMA and sex parties.  Countries featured: U.S.A., Bangladesh, India Publications featured: Huffington Post, LearnVest, Newsweek, EcoCult, WIRED, Quartz, Refinery29, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, VTDigger   Here are links to some of the things we talked about: My story in the Overseas Press Club Award-winning series - https://bit.ly/4ac8bBa  Alden's book To Dye For on Amazon.com - https://bit.ly/4afMBf5  EcoCult - https://ecocult.com  Alden's story for Newsweek - https://bit.ly/43ByRch  Her story about American Spirit cigarettes - https://bit.ly/4aCD5Cu  Her story on a startup sex party with a questionable founder - https://bit.ly/4cEZwcg  Her Harper's Bazaar story on toxic clothing - https://bit.ly/43FM5og  Sourcing Journal - https://sourcingjournal.com Rebecca Solnit's story In the Shadow of Silicon Valley - https://bit.ly/4cD02Hw  Alden's story about Burning Man environmental impacts - https://bit.ly/3xknjOw  The book She Said - https://bit.ly/4aBJmP2    Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod Music: LoveChances (makaih.com) by Makaih Beats From: freemusicarchive.org CC BY NC

Born in Mexico to American parents, David Luhnow (@davidluhnow) returned to report on the country for decades. Luhnow talks about the tectonic shifts in Mexico and yet, how through all this time, the country's institutions continue to fail. The mental toll of years reporting on Mexico's drug war contributed to his leaving to become the current United Kingdom bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal​​. Also, he gets punched in the face. Countries featured: Mexico, Panama, Iraq, Egypt, United Kingdom Publications featured: The Mexico City News, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal   Here are links to some of the things we talked about David's story on the UK university system - https://bit.ly/3szftyy Yaroslav Trofimov on WSJ.com - https://bit.ly/47AewFv David's story A Day in the Life of Baghdad - https://bit.ly/3SKiWoB His story on the Treasure of Nimrud in Iraq - https://bit.ly/3SMB692 His story on the Iraq cigarette company - https://bit.ly/3R5jYKp His story on murder in Acapulco - https://bit.ly/47ksI5f His story on a high school kidnap ring - https://bit.ly/49KE8AY Mexico's Reforma newspaper - https://bit.ly/49CUpb7 Letras Libras - https://letraslibres.com The Rest is History podcast - https://bit.ly/49FBYlT New Yorker story "How the Elderly Lose Their Rights" - https://bit.ly/3sFz3Js José de Córdoba's story on the Russian yacht in Antigua - https://bit.ly/40K1fr4   Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod Music: LoveChances (makaih.com) by Makaih Beats From: freemusicarchive.org CC BY NC

Leaving school at age 16 for a technical apprenticeship, Andrew Downie (@adowniebrazil) would stumble into his first journalism job while traveling in Mexico. Within five years he'd be working for The New York Times in Haiti. After decades of covering Latin America, Andrew now lives in Spain where he is working on a biography of soccer legend Pelé. Countries featured: Brazil, Haiti, Mexico, Spain, Scotland Publications featured: The Mexico City News, UPI, New York Times, The Houston Chronicle, Time magazine, Reuters   Here are links to some of the things we talked about: Andrew's website - https://bit.ly/3rdleRx His biography of Socrates - https://bit.ly/44RTmA9 The Instagram dedicated to Socrates - https://bit.ly/3PxT9xO Tariq Panja on Twitter - https://bit.ly/3EBn3Ln Always Take Notes podcast - https://bit.ly/3sJQ4Sl Unofficial Partner podcast - https://bit.ly/3LiNqt0 Tommy Tomlinson substack - https://bit.ly/45PWQof Wright Thompson on Longform - https://bit.ly/3Ew7hRS   Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod Music: LoveChances (makaih.com) by Makaih Beats From: freemusicarchive.org CC BY NC

Business is a lot like sports. It's competitive and stock prices keep the score. Also keeping score is one of the world's highest powered business journalists: Liana Baker (@LianaBaker), managing editor for the Bloomberg deals team in the United States. She talks about how dabbling in sports, foreign reporting and environment eventually led her down the path of hardcore business reporting on the M&A beat. Countries featured: United States, Israel, Brazil, South Korea Publications featured: MarketWatch, Reuters, Bloomberg   Here are links to some of the things we talked about: Ringette on Wikipedia - https://bit.ly/45ndwTK The Media Line website - https://bit.ly/3qRwSRX Liana tells how she got the story on Soft Bank selling Sprint to T-mobile - https://bit.ly/45kcNTy Her story on Broadcom buying VMWare - https://bit.ly/3OM23pO Dealreporter - https://bit.ly/45HWe3u Barstool Sports - https://bit.ly/45ASoK9 The House of Gucci by Sara Gay Forden - https://bit.ly/3ONWqYn Megan Twohey on Twitter - https://bit.ly/3lVRUIO The Dropout on Hulu - https://bit.ly/45iVtyj   Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod Music: LoveChances (makaih.com) by Makaih Beats From: freemusicarchive.org CC BY NC

Can you name the world's eight bear species? Gloria Dickie (@GloriaDickie), a London-based Climate & Environment Correspondent for Reuters, has documented them all in her book Eight Bears. Gloria tells the improbable story of how she conceived and reported the book while working as a freelancer and living on the road as she traveled the world in search of each bear. Countries featured: USA, Canada, Vietnam, China, India, Peru, Ecuador, UK Publications featured: National Geographic, Mongabay, New York Times, Reuters   Here are links to some of the things we talked about: Where to buy or pre-order Gloria's book Eight Bears - https://bit.ly/3NzkCwQ Chasing Ice documentary - https://bit.ly/46ugiYr The Human Element documentary - https://bit.ly/3CXPDWA Her story on the end of grizzly bear hunting in British Columbia - https://bit.ly/3XynWgc Her story on maggot farming - https://bit.ly/46rwycR Her AirCanada story on pandas - https://bit.ly/3CTsCE6 Her NatGeo story about sloth bears - https://bit.ly/3XBYIOa Her NYT story on Indian tigers maybe getting COVID - https://bit.ly/3XyxW9k Her story about honey bees on U.S. public land - https://bit.ly/3XBEKmv A Private War on IMDb - https://bit.ly/3XBwgMn Fire of Love on IMDb - https://bit.ly/3pwlMBm   Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod Music: LoveChances (makaih.com) by Makaih Beats From: freemusicarchive.org CC BY NC