Boston Calling

BBC World Service
  • 4.5 (31)
  • PERSONAL JOURNALS

How the world looks through American eyes, and the myriad and unexpected ways that the world influences the United States.

  1. 06/27/2020

    Last call

    After almost eight years on the air, and more than 400 episodes, this is the final episode of Boston Calling with Marco Werman. We have three unforgettable stories that touch on some of the central themes of the program: justice and race, the environment and immigration. We have some heartfelt messages to share from some of our fans from around the globe, and also Marco’s parting words to the loyal listeners of Boston Calling. Image: Host Marco Werman high-fives a fourth-grader at Curtis Guild Elementary School in east Boston (Credit: Steven Davy/The World)

    27 min

  2. 06/20/2020

    In retrospect

    In the penultimate edition of Boston Calling, we’re looking back at some of the moments, from the past eight or so years, that have shaped the world and this programme. We start in 2012, also an election year, finding out how the role of the US presidency and American power looked to the world then. We also take a look back at the Boston Marathon bombings of 2013. We reflect on the US role in the Middle East, and the impact that military deployments have on the lives of US soldiers. Finally, we revisit a conversation with comedian Trevor Noah, from the day after the election of Donald Trump in 2016. Photo: Passengers pass through the main concourse at St. Pancras Station, in April 2018, in London, England. Credit: Richard Baker/Getty Images Images

    28 min

  3. 06/13/2020

    Black lives matter

    The homicide of George Floyd has led to widespread protests in the US. Tens of thousands of demonstrators have been hitting the streets daily, from Minneapolis to New Orleans, and from New York to Los Angeles. But the protests aren’t limited to the US. For the past few weeks, protests and demonstrations have spread across the globe. Issues of police brutality, racism and injustice have plagued nations around the world, including Greece, where people are protesting in solidarity with the death of Geroge Floyd, while also advocating for systemic change in their country. Also, in France, the killing of George Floyd has invoked the memory of Adama Traoré, a black man who died in police custody there; protests in Belgium target statues of King Leopold II, the brutal colonizer of Congo and other countries in Africa; in Kenya, the death of George Floyd strikes a chord, as Kenyans look at police violence in their country; more than 100 African authors have signed a letter condemning the killing of African Americans at the hands of US police forces - Nigerian author Lola Shoneyin is one of them; and US based Nigerian writer, Sefi Atta, shares her experience of race and racism in America. Image: Youth protest with placards in front of riot police officers in Athens, Greece, during a rally against racism and police brutality and in support of the protests in the US, sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis (Credit: Dimitris Lampropoulos/Getty Images)

    28 min

  4. 06/06/2020

    I can't breathe

    The homicide of George Floyd, an unarmed man, while he was in police custody has sparked demonstrations and protests in the US and across the globe. From London and Berlin to Australia and the Netherlands, thousands marched in solidarity after a video showed a white police officer kneeling on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes before he died. The incident touched off outrage in the United States, amid a polarizing presidential campaign and the coronavirus pandemic that has thrown millions out of work. Darnella Wade, an organizer for Black Lives Matter in St. Paul, Minnesota, hopes that this becomes a galvanizing moment for lasting change. Also, black Americans once largely fought alone against police brutality, but as Somali American kids grew up in the same environment, they began to join Black Lives Matter; Dr. Michelle Morse, a professor of medicine at Harvard University explains why the racism in public health is so harmful in the age of Covid-19; America's adversaries are using global attention on the George Floyd protests as anti-US propaganda; and America’s foreign adversaries are also using social media to deepen division in the US.

    27 min

  5. 05/30/2020

    Point of entry

    The pandemic has not stopped children and teenage migrants from showing up alone at the US border, hoping to apply for asylum. But US policy has changed dramatically, and critics say that the Trump administration is using the pandemic as a way to halt any entries across the border. Also, Guatemalans who have been deported from the US are being shunned at home over coronavirus fears; the coronavirus pandemic has also forced refugee resettlement worldwide to grind to a halt, dividing families and stranding them thousands of miles from each other; the US has a long history of xenophobia in times of crisis, which often influences immigration policy; Canadian nurses cross the border to work in the US every day, but the pandemic could change that; and the US-Canada border is closed for all non-essential travel - as a result, businesses in the Niagara region that depend on American tourists are suffering. Photo: Honduran migrants wait to cross the international border bridge from Ciudad Tecun Uman in Guatemala to Ciudad Hidalgo in Mexico. Credit: Johan Ordonez/Getty Images.

    27 min

  6. 05/23/2020

    Looking out for you

    The race to find a dependable vaccine for Covid-19 is on. More than 100 laboratories worldwide are competing to try to get there first, and that makes it more likely that a way to halt the pandemic will be found sooner. But with so many competing interests, it's far from clear that all of the world's citizens will have equitable access to a vaccine, once it is in production. Also, immigrant ‘digital first responders’ provide vital services, informing people about coronavirus and helping local communities, but now they're in a financial crisis; the coronavirus pandemic is also disrupting remittances, and as a result immigrants' families are losing their safety net; many Filipino Americans are on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, so a new initiative is bringing free meals to hospitals heavily staffed by Filipinos; and the surprising cultural contributions of the 1918 influenza pandemic. Image: A scientist examines Covid-19 infected cells at a laboratory in St Petersburg, Russia (Credit: Anton Vaganov/Reuters)

    28 min

  7. 05/16/2020

    The world stage

    We all have similar questions about the coronavirus pandemic. When will it end? How do we recover? Is it safe to visit friends and extended family? Most of us look to medical experts and our elected officials for guidance. Historically, as a superpower, the US has taken a lead in times of global crisis. Former NATO ambassador Nicholas Burns says this is not currently the case. Female leaders are being praised for the way they are leading their nations in these uncertain times, so does gender affect governing style? Jon Huntsman, a former US ambassador to China says that during this pandemic the ‘stakes are high’ for the US-China relationship. Russia expert Fiona Hill explains how President Vladimir Putin has become a ‘wild card’ in Russia's political system. And cybersecurity chiefs, from Facebook and Twitter, explain what they are doing to combat false information in the age of the coronavirus. Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing about coronavirus testing in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC (Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

    27 min

  8. 05/09/2020

    Extra credit

    Adam Carter was awarded a prestigious Fulbright scholarship to teach English to teenagers in Beijing. When the coronavirus outbreak hit, his school there was shut down. Carter is still teaching his students remotely, but he also came up with an idea for a side project: trying to broker deals of Chinese-made personal protective equipment - things like masks and gloves - to American hospitals in need. It's been far more complicated than he imagined. A group of Harvard university graduate students have also created a new PPE supply chain from China to Boston, while other students are on the front lines of debunking Covid-19 misinformation; international students continue to face uncertainty over what the coming school year will look like; while yet another student, her friends and her family, find a unique way to celebrate her graduation; and professional athletes find creative ways to train from while staying at home. Photo: From left, statues of Lucy Stone and Abigail Adams are heeding the advice of the CDC by wearing face masks on Commonwealth Avenue Mall in Boston. (Photo by David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe/Getty Images)

    27 min
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4.5
out of 5
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About

How the world looks through American eyes, and the myriad and unexpected ways that the world influences the United States.

Information

  • Creator
    BBC World Service
  • Years Active
    2013 - 2020
  • Episodes
    173
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © (C) BBC 2020
  • Show Website
    Boston Calling

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