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Episode details

World Service,06 Jun 2019,53 mins

My dream of ballooning over Iraq

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Available for over a year

In 2014 Murtada al-Hachimi was organising Iraq's first hot air balloon festival to project an image of peace to the world. But his plan coincided with the rise of the so-called Islamic State group in the country. E-J Scott is the curator of the Museum of Transology in the city of Brighton in the UK. The collection began when he put a call out, asking trans people to donate things that were important to them - and to tell the stories connected to them. Professor of Philosophy and Music David Rothenberg likes to jam...and his bandmates are birds. David is fascinated by birdsong and he visits outdoor spaces to play with the birds living there. He even likes to imitate their sounds, such as those made by pheasants and nightingales. David’s book is called ‘Nightingales in Berlin'. Image: hot air balloons fill the sky Credit: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

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