Far From Home

On this 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, I'm re-releasing a radio documentary I produced back in 2001, along with an interview I conducted five years ago (for the 20th anniversary) with David Potorti, whose brother James worked on the 96th floor of Tower One of the World Trade Center. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, President Bush vowed revenge against the perpetrators, but not everyone found his words comforting. Around this time, a small but vocal group of people got together to speak out. They were the parents, spouses, siblings, and children of people who were killed in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and they said they didn’t want the deaths of their loved ones to be used to justify military attacks that could harm innocent civilians on the other side of the world.They called themselves “September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows,” and in late November of 2001, they took part in a walk for peace from the Pentagon to the World Trade Center site. I was a young reporter at the time, and I tagged along and interviewed several members of the group, later producing this hour-long documentary featuring their stories.David Potorti has co-edited an anthology of poetry from over 100 poets who’ve written about September 11th. It’s called Crossing the Rift: North Carolina Poets on 9/11 and its Aftermath. Also check out the book David edited containing essays from members of September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows.As always, you can find, follow, and message Far From Home on Instagram or Facebook. Or you can drop me a line at [email protected]————————-On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org

While I'm taking a break from releasing new episodes, I wanted to share an episode of another great podcast I heard recently and that I thought all of you might enjoy. The show is called Making Peace Visible, and it features conversations with journalists, peace-builders, activists, and scholars on the front lines of peace and conflict. Making Peace Visible also aims to analyze how the media cover conflict as well as to amplify stories of resolution and reconciliation that are often under-reported or even ignored.Their guest on this particular episode is Terrell Jermaine Starr, an independent journalist based in Ukraine whose reporting has appeared in Foreign Policy magazine, The Washington Post, and MSNBC. His work focuses on how Ukrainian politics and society relate to the rest of the world, especially the United States, Europe, and Africa.In the early days of Russia's full-scale invasion, Terrell gained international attention for his up-close-and-personal reporting style, and for helping vulnerable Ukrainians flee the country. Also for being a rare Black American reporter on the ground.On Terrell's own podcast, “Black Diplomats,” and his Substack blog, he provides reporting and analysis on politics in Ukraine, the United States, and beyond, paying special attention to equity and discrimination, and drawing parallels between Putinism and the MAGA movement in the United States. And he also has an ongoing project documenting the lives of Ukrainians of African descent. If you want to keep up with Terrell's reporting, you can follow him on Instagram. If you enjoyed this conversation, you should also subscribe to Making Peace Visible and listen to more episodes from their archives wherever you listen to podcasts.On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian reports fascinating stories from faraway places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org

In the Nørrebro neighborhood of Copenhagen, there's a small building with a garden and wooden seats. It's the Menneskebiblioteket or Human Library, where the "readers" and "books" are actually people having deeply personal and intimate conversations about topics that might normally be considered off-limits or taboo in polite society. It's staffed by volunteers whose life stories and experiences mean they face some sort of stigma, whether it be due to their ethnicity, religion, orientation, occupation, disability, or social status. On this episode of Far From Home, I pay a visit to the Human Library where I speak to a librarian and several "books" as well as the library's founder, Ronni Abergel.Since its humble beginning in Denmark several decades ago, the Human Library concept has now spread to more than 80 countries on 6 continents! You can visit the library's Facebook page to find out about upcoming library events near you.(This episode includes the following music: Shapeshifters, Go to Sleep, Moodswing, Mont Blanc, Ice Pack, The Gall, Scaffoldings, Downtown, and Well and Good by Podington Bear from the Free Music Archives - CC by N.C. 3.0 and 1960s 2 House from Mobygratis) On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian reports fascinating stories from faraway places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org

When he was growing up in Southern California, Addi Somekh wasn't quite sure what to do with his life. But he knew from a young age that he wanted to "spread warmth" and make other people happy. On this week’s episode, the unusual story of how Addi’s quest to do just that set him off on a worldwide mission to make people laugh. Addi and his friend Charlie hatch a plan to travel around the globe making balloon hats for people, but what at first sounds like a fun and quirky adventure turns out to be far more meaningful than they ever could have imagined!Visit my website to see some of Charlie’s amazing photos of people around the world wearing Addi’s balloon hats, and for links to his balloon art, his balloon bass music, his reality TV show, and the documentary that was made about his travels.On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian reports fascinating stories from faraway places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org

When he was 26 years old in 1948, Garry Davis did something that would make the rest of his life really complicated.Over the next six decades, he’d be detained and imprisoned 34 times in 9 countries, dragged off the floor of the United Nations General Assembly, and gain millions of followers, all while confronting countless bureaucrats who had absolutely no idea what to do with him.What set this chain of events into motion was his decision to stand before a guy in a gray suit at the US Embassy in Paris, put his hand on a bible, and read a couple of lines off a sheet of paper renouncing his American citizenship. And he'd never become a citizen of any other country, instead navigating the world as a stateless person without any sort of road map or instruction manual. Garry would go on to found the World Government of World Citizens and issue birth certificates, passports, and other identity documents, all in his quest for unity and peace.If you're interested in learning more about Garry Davis, check out this video about him and also this documentary that was made about him a number of years ago: https://www.theworldismycountry.com/On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian reports fascinating stories from faraway places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org

Over the past few months, President Trump has taken a sort of a slash-and-burn approach to much of the U.S. government, and among the many taxpayer-funded programs he’s axed has been American foreign assistance distributed through the Agency for International Development or USAID. That’s billions of dollars that helped with things like Ebola prevention in West Africa, malaria testing in Myanmar, famine relief to war-torn Sudan, and food deliveries to refugees from Western Sahara.Leading the cost-cutting charge is Elon Musk, who Trump appointed to run the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. In response to criticism, Musk tweeted recently that “no one has died as a result of a brief pause to do a sanity check on foreign aid funding,” but as time has passed, more and more evidence has emerged that that assurance simply isn’t true.The British newspaper The Telegraph reported in early February that a number of people in Thai refugee camps passed away after USAID-funded hospitals were forced to close and medical workers abruptly left the area, cutting off patient’s oxygen supplies. More recently, New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof visited South Sudan, where he heard stories of children who’d died after losing access to their American-funded HIV medications, which had only cost about 12 cents a day. The World Health Organization says that the Trump administration’s decision to cut foreign aid means eight countries could completely exhaust their supplies of life-saving HIV medications in the coming months. And internal memos from USAID itself estimate that dismantling the agency could cause up to 166-thousand worldwide deaths each year from malaria, not to mention a million children who will suffer from severe malnutrition and 200-thousand who will be paralyzed with polio.On this episode of Far From Home, I visit a food distribution warehouse for refugees in southwest Algeria, and I speak to humanitarian workers in Sudan, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and the country of Georgia to hear firsthand accounts of how these budget cuts are directly impacting people around the world. On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian reports fascinating stories from faraway places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org

Montreal is a city often split between English and French languages and cultures, but one thing that almost all residents can get behind is cheering on their beloved hockey team, the Canadiens. This isn't just your run-of-the-mill, sports-crazed city, however. The love of hockey here runs much deeper. It's tied to both the history of the game's creation as well as the identity of the Quebecois people, who've come to see their hometown team as a powerful symbol of their nationhood, even though they're still officially part of Canada.On this episode of Far From Home -- which I originally reported for Here and There, a Canadian Geographic travel podcast -- I visit Montreal where I attend a game amid 20,000 cheering fans, and I even take my own hockey lesson. By the end of my trip, it's clear that what started out as a simple sports story is actually about something much deeper and more meaningful.    Thanks to Liz Beatty and Black Cabin Studios for permission to share this story with the Far From Home audience. Thanks also to Clark McLeod, Mario Lambert, Emma Jacobs, Tourism Montreal, Destination Canada, and Excellent Ice.On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian reports fascinating stories from faraway places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org

The current conflict between Russia and Ukraine is now entering its third year, and it’s been a humanitarian disaster. According to UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, it’s displaced nearly 7 million Ukrainians globally. And on the other side, an estimated 900,000 Russians have also fled their country for various reasons. Among them are economic migrants, conscientious objectors, and political refugees, but also a smaller subset of hundreds of exiled journalists, who’ve had to leave in order to continue to report freely, amid a crackdown on press freedom and free expression. This is the story of one of them, my friend Ivan.For more info on the kidnapping of Ukrainian children, visit https://russiaswaronchildren.orgOn Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian reports fascinating stories from faraway places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org

As we wrap up another year, I'm re-sharing an episode I originally released back at the end of 2020 about a holiday tradition I got to witness while I was visiting Puerto Rico. I often travel over Christmas and New Years, and I love seeing how people in other places have cultural practices that are different from my own. This was one of those experiences. My friend Rob took me to a parranda, which is sort of like a Puerto Rican version of Christmas caroling. But as you’ll hear, this particular parranda had an interesting twist.On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian reports fascinating stories from faraway places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org

As I spent time abroad over the past few months in the lead-up to the American presidential election, I was struck by how often news and politics from back home seemed to be on the minds of all the locals I met. It’s like no matter how far away I went, it was impossible to escape! On this episode I reflect on how important what happens in the United States is to people the rest of the world, and we hear from people in Poland, Haiti, Lebanon, Iran, India, Afghanistan, Puerto Rico, and Uganda about what the election of Donald Trump means to them.If you want to learn more about the work of Frank Mugisha’s organization, visit the webpage of Sexual Minorities Uganda. And be sure to check out The Europeans, the weekly podcast that Wojciech Oleksiak from Poland helps produce. It’s a great way to keep informed on all the important news happening around the European continent, and I always have the latest episode in my personal podcast queue.(Thanks to Kevin MacLeod for his track Desert City, which was used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.)On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian reports fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org