Boots on the ground, eyes on the news…
No matter how much news we’re fed, there is really no substitute for having a person go somewhere, see something, hear it, taste it, and tell you about it. Helen Nianias listened in to foreign correspondent podcasts from around the world and introduces some of the best.
USA: PRI’s The World
This daily podcast from the USA is newsy in tone, looking at everything from the Harvey Weinstein saga to North Korea’s nuclear capabilities. Marco Werman anchors the programme, bringing in different stories and interviewees throughout the course of each episode. Though the programme often touches on difficult and saddening topics, he doesn’t shy away from getting the whole story. The lens is very much an American one, with US analysts and experts pulled in, and stories in Washington often taking centre stage. Each episode is around 45 minutes long.
UK: the BBC’s From Our Own Correspondent
Whether it’s a story about a rave in the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar you’re after, a tidy overview of economic catastrophe in Venezuela, or stories from defunct Gambian torture chambers, there is very little that you won’t find in the FOOC archive. In every episode, the indomitable Kate Adie – the BBC’s veteran correspondent whose most famous exploit was facing the tanks in Tiananmen Square – introduces vignettes from correspondents who have seen something unusual, moving, or stand-out on their travels. Often using something small, like a colour, or a taste, or a meaningful encounter, they spin stories that fit into complicated political or humanitarian situations. Each episode is around 30 minutes long.
Australia: ABC Radio Correspondents Report
This Australian podcast wraps in an array of subjects, from the joyful to the tragic, in every episode. British etiquette for the Royal Wedding, for instance, is covered in delightful detail, and the detention of refugees on Australia’s Manus Island is given coverage that you’re unlikely to find elsewhere. For those who are looking for something specific, the contents of each episode are uploaded individually, so if you’re a Russia nerd or looking to learn more about Indonesian politics, there’s a dedicated item to download. Each full episode is 30 minutes long, but the individual items run to from three to eight minutes.
Subscribe to Correspondents Report from ABC Radio
USA: Rough Translation from NPR
There is only a handful episodes from this NPR podcast, but each digs satisfyingly into a topic to present a fuller picture. Taking in a quirky selection of subjects, such as a “flirt coach” for Middle Eastern and Asian refugees in Germany, or the weaponisation of yoga in India, you follow the correspondents as they try to piece together fragments of a broad story. Following them on their quest to bring you the story, listeners pick up interesting facts and anecdotes, and feel folded into the reporting. Each episode is around 30-45 minutes long.
UK: the BBC’s Our Man In The Middle East
As the BBC’s Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen has seen more than his fair share of turmoil, uprisings and war. He unpicks the notoriously complicated politics and historical sagas of the region with a lightness of touch and elements of the unexpected – the borders of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories are evoked neatly via an anecdote about gas canisters, and you feel like you’re with Jeremy as he drives across the eerie dusty highways of Iraq while blasting Lionel Richie covers through his car speakers. Given the volatility of the region, death is never far away, whether it’s the execution of a dictator, the passing of a colleague, or the slaughter of a minority group. The often senseless loss from myriad conflicts and attacks is explained tenderly, but in a matter-of-fact style. Each episode is 15 minutes long.
