Beirut Part Two

Solidod in Bozeman, Montana, 2012. Photo by Jake Warga. Larry met Solidod by chance, or happenstance. He happened to be in Florida on vacation and he happened to be walking through an apartment complex in Vero Beach looking for another guy and he ended up meeting Solidod. She invited him into her apartment and then she told him her life story and they became friends. Shortly after that, Larry and Solidod went into a recording studio and made this story for Hearing Voices. Solidod in the recording studio, Bozeman, Montana, 2012. Photo by Jake Warga. The cover of Solidod’s e-book, available here. Solidod and her husband, by Solidod. My Indian, by Solidod. Solidod’s wedding belt. Solidod makes beaded belts and bracelets. She asked me to post her phone number so you can call and order a special design: 772-538-9701.

23 Aug 20190s

I wanted to see the place where a war between the United States and Iran may begin. It turned out people over there couldn’t talk to me on tape because they live in countries without a tradition of free speech and they all feel they are being watched, and I didn’t want to get anybody in trouble. So this is a travelogue, a story about what it’s like to be there.The psychedelic Persian Gulf surf music is by Hayvanlar Alemi (he’s actually from Turkey). Here’s the link to his website. Donate Abu Dabi Workers taking a break in Khasab, Oman. On the boat heading out to the Strait of Hormuz. Near Kumzar, Oman, in the Strait of Hormuz. Fujairah, UAE. Tuna and Sardines, Muscat, Oman. Muscat, Oman The call-in-for-spiritual-advice show. She has a white pen in her hand. In the dunes near Dubai, UAE.

10 Aug 20190s

Alan Chin talks about his experience covering wars since 9/11.

9 Juli 20190s

For the solstice, the sun tunnels in the West Desert of Utah. Stories about going to war come from the top down, from media corporations that manufacture consent for war among the people. Stories about not going to war move from the bottom up, starting in conversations between family and friends, people speaking out for no money but just because they feel obligated to speak. In this approach there’s a shift in context where fear is taken out of the narrative—we are not being attacked, maybe these people are not our enemy. Maybe the real enemy is our government and our media that are being controlled by the military industrial complex. I believe bottom up stories can break apart the power structure coming down from above, so this is one of them. Donate Scott Carrier and William J. Astore on the house raft in Woods Hole Harbor.

23 Juni 20190s

Maybe like the Phoenix rising from the ashes following a drawing by M.S. Escher.

31 Maj 20190s

Interviews with taxi and ride share drivers from New Orleans to Jacksonville.

7 Maj 20190s

I just got back from speaking at two radio conferences in Europe. I saw the leaves come out on the trees along the canals in Amsterdam. I woke up in Ireland next to a pasture with four wooly alpacas, one just a baby. I spent days talking about how podcasting works from the bottom up, forming a lattice of connections that reach around the skin of the earth. This is better than the top-down fear-mongering of the corporate media. I said these things with confidence, because of you. I get letters from every continent including Antartica and they all sound like they were written by the same person...because we’re all in the same lattice.For more music by the Mermen click here. Donate

16 Apr 20190s

This is a story I produced last summer for The New Yorker Radio Hour. It’s about a controversy over one of the newest long-distance hiking trails in the United States. It was a difficult story to cover and explain, but I had excellent help from the NYRH producers and editors. I’d like to work for them again. Donate Ron Strickland, father of the Pacific Northwest Trail. The PNT crosses the Kootenai River Valley, north of Sandpoint, Idaho.

14 Mars 20190s