Hearing Voices - Radio Stories / Public Affairs

1906 photo of street and trolley tracks ripped by quake

City Will Rise 2 8:51 Jesse Boggs

April 18 marks the centennial of one of America's greatest catastrophes, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. In the second of a two-part report on the legacy of the quake and its fiery aftermath, we look at the almost-immediate campaign to put a positive spin on the disaster. [transcript]

Broadcast: Apr 18 2006 on NPR Day to DaySeries: San Francisco 1906 Earthquake Subjects: Public Affairs, Environment, Historical, Historical Anniversaries

City Will Rise 1 8:59 Jesse Boggs

April 18 marks the centennial of one of America's greatest catastrophes, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. In part one of our two-part re-examination of the events following the quake, we look at how bad luck and human error exacerbated the disaster. [transcript]

Broadcast: Apr 17 2006 on NPR Day to DaySeries: San Francisco 1906 Earthquake Subjects: Public Affairs, Environment, Historical, Historical Anniversaries

Nevada Water Rights 7:46 Scott Carrier

The Southern Nevada Water Authority launches a plan to build a pipeline connecting Las Vegas with underground wells located 200 miles away. The move would provide Las Vegas with millions of gallons of water, but local farmers and ranchers argue the pipeline would dry up their water source, hurting their livelihood and the environment. [transcript]

Broadcast: Feb 20 2006 on NPR Day to Day Subjects: Environment, Public Affairs, Justice

Downwinder Diaries: Nuclear Blast 4:24 Claus Andreasson

In 1953, a 32-kiloton nuclear bomb was detonated at a Nevada test site. Within two years, some farmers and much of their livestock living downwind of the blast contracted cancer and died, most likely because of the nuclear fallout. Janet Gordon’s brother Kent was one on many affected. From the series Downwinder Diaries. [transcript]

Broadcast: Jul 15 2005 on NPR Day to Day Subjects: War, Public Affairs, Historical, Technology

Slab City 7:02 Ben Adair

About an hour south-east of Palm Springs, California is Slab City, what some call the last free-place in America. It’s sort of a drifter’s camp that, due to a bureaucratic technicality, is under nobody’s jurisdiction. Pulitzer-Prize winner Charlie LeDuff introduces us to some of the inhabitants, searching for freedom, and something more. Produced for KPCC- Southern California Public Radio series Pacific Drift.

Broadcast: Jun 4 2005 on APM Weekend AmericaSeries: Pacific Drift Subjects: Acoustic, Public Affairs

The Last Frontier 10:02 Jesse Boggs

Post-991 security changes on the Texas-Mexico border affect people living on both sides of La Frontera.

Broadcast: Apr 30 2005 on APM Weekend America Subjects: Public Affairs, International, Historical, Hispanic

Homeless Romanian Dwarf 2:42 Larry Massett

Winter in a cold country is hard on the homeless, especially in Romania, where cities are full are people with no place to live. That’s a statistic, though. We hardly ever meet these people as actual human beings. Writer and anthropologist Alyssa Goodman describes an encounter she witnessed on the streets of Bucharest, late one night. [transcript]

Broadcast: Apr 20 2005 on NPR Day to Day Subjects: Public Affairs, Youth, International

Private Sector 59:00 Nancy Updike

Award winner: Congrats to Nancy for winning the Scripps Howard Foundation National Journalism Award for Excellence In Electronic Media/Radio. 20,000 civilian contractors are part of the American forces in Iraq. They have been killed by roadside bombs, they were interrogating prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Ira devotes the whole This American Life hour this documentary on the lives of several: including a Boston policeman teaching Iraqis the trade, and a screener at Baghdad airport: private citizen on the payroll of an occupying power.

Broadcast: Mar 11 2005 on PRI/WBEZ This American Life Subjects: War, Business, International, Public Affairs

Training Iraqi Judges 3:06 Scott Carrier

In a joint effort sponsored by Sweden’s International Legal Assistance Consortium and the British government, U.S. District Court Clerk Markus Zimmer has been training some Iraqi judges in Prague. [transcript]

Broadcast: Mar 4 2005 on NPR Day to Day Subjects: War, Public Affairs, International

Dream of Democracy: What Pols Do 1:37 Barrett Golding & Jonathan Menjivar

Political candidates are wooing Americans with rhetoric, but they're not impressing everyone: The thoughts of Chicago college students who remain cynical about the world of politics.Produced for WBEZ Chicago Matters "Our Next Generation". [transcript]

Broadcast: Sep 6 2004 on NPR Day to DaySeries: Dream of Democracy Subjects: Youth, Public Affairs, Politics