Hearing Voices - Radio Stories / All

Dubai and the Desert 4:30 Jake Warga

Dubai is a city that tries to escape the desert, and now the desert is where people go to escape the city. A look at the relationship between the two, and how reviving the ecology also helps bring back the cultural past. See Jake's Dubai desert photo gallery.

Broadcast: May 10 2010 on PRI/WGBH/BBC The World Subjects: Environment, Travel

Jumeirah Mosque 3:04 Jake Warga

The clerics at the Jumeirah Mosque in the United Arab Emirate of Dubai are opening their doors to tourists. To help demystify Islam, visitors learn the basics of the religion with a guide.

Broadcast: Apr 14 2010 on PRI/WGBH/BBC The World Subjects: Religious

Soldiers pose in front of Mahmoon Palace, Tikrit, Iraq.

Mahmoon Palace 3:24 Jake Warga

Recently, as part of the US draw-down in Iraq, the US base in Tikrit, "JCC" or Joint Coordination Center, was handed back to the Iraqis. Sergeant First Class George Havel, a soldier with 232 Regiment spent four months in Tikrit, helping to coordinate emergency services. Sargeant Havel gave journalist Jake Warga a tour of Mahmoon Palace, originally built to celebrate Saddam Hussein’s birthdays. US forces had been occupying the palace up until the recent hand-over, living in its marbled halls under golden chandeliers.

Broadcast: Apr 7 2010 on PRI/WGBH/BBC The World Subjects: War

Major James Lockridge after learning of an IED explosion that killed 5

Iraq: Major Lockridge- Bohemian Rhapsody 2:47 Jake Warga

The first of our Soldier's Soundtrack series: Embedded with the 3rd Infantry Division, US Army, Baghdad, the producer plugged into the soldier's iPods and asked them what they were listening to, why they liked the song, and what their lives were like. To Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," Major James Lockridge tells us, "The United States Army can go anywhere at anytime or anyplace. I learned that during the first war. I wouldn't want to be anybody that had to face the United States."

Broadcast: Mar 22 2010 on PRI/WGBH/BBC The World Subjects: Music, War

Couple in period dress dancing on Henley-on-Mersey, Bells Parade, Latrobe, Tasmania

Australia Day, Tasmania 3:02 Jake Warga

On January 26 1788, a British fleet carrying hundreds of convicts from England arrived in what became the colony of New South Wales. Australia Day is celebrates the founding with great gusto in Tasmania. In the town of Latrobe, the day is filled competitive wood chopping, whip-cracking and ferret racing (photos).

Broadcast: Jan 26 2010 on PRI/WGBH/BBC The World Subjects: Travel, Historical Anniversaries, Entertainment

Troops pose outside the Mahmoon Palace bandstand, Tikrit, Iraq

Iraq: Soldiers’ Wishes 1:42 Jake Warga

Christmas wishes from soldiers at U.S. Army Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Northern Iraq: Sgt. First Class Siatuu Quarterman, Sgt. First Class Claudia Bullard, Staff Sgt. Brian Allen, Specialist Nico Kane, Staff Sgt. Robert Lacome, and Simon Welte.

Broadcast: Dec 24 2009 on APM Marketplace Subjects: Holidays, War, World

Sgt. First Class Jodie Manford and the 3rd Infantry Division Band on stage

Iraq: Singing Soldier 2:04 Jake Warga

From Northern Iraq, U.S. Army Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Sgt. First Class Jodie Manford and the 3rd Infantry Division band spread some holiday cheer via Chrismas songs.

Broadcast: Dec 21 2009 on PRI/WGBH/BBC The World Subjects: World, War, Holidays

Swords to Plowshares 5:11 Alix Blair

While in Iraq, former U.S. Army Sergeant Matthew McCue witnessed the power and peace-making potential of agriculture. When he returned to the States he worked with the Farmer-Veteran Coalition, and now works at the French Garden Farm near Sebastopol. Says McCue: "I still want to make the world a better place. I think i can do more good with a shovel than with an M-16." McCue worked with the Farmer-Veteran Coalition and the French Garden Farm in Sebastopol CA, This story was originally produced for the SpeakeasyDC Storycast.

Broadcast: Nov 11 2009 on PRI/WBUR Here and Now Subjects: War, Food

Route 66 Postcard 8:20 Jake Warga

A road trip along historic route 66 in New Mexico, exploring America's past and present. Tour includes a Santa Fe cooking class, a hot air balloon ride above Albuquerque, Acoma tribal traditions, a mining museum in Grants and a historic hotel in Gallup.

Broadcast: Oct 13 2009 on NPR All Things Considered Subjects: Travel, Historical

Norfolk Island 5:04 Jake Warga

Captain Cook gave Norfolk Island its first tourist slogan when he spotted it in 1774: "Jewell of the Pacific". In 1825 it became "Hell on Earth," the most feared of England's penal colonies in Australia, designed as, "a place of the extremist punishment short of death." Later, it was given to the decedents of the Mutiny on the Bounty to settle. Now, the tourism slogan is: "Norfolk Island... be surprised" -- and the island has become completely dependent on tourism. (Check Jake's Norfolk photo gallery.)

Broadcast: Sep 1 2009 on NPR All Things Considered Subjects: Travel, Historical