Great Big World

Shannon Cilento
  • 5.0 (6)
  • Places & Travel

Great Big World is a human-centered storytelling podcast exploring people, places, and ideas from around the world that are often overlooked in everyday news and conversation. Each episode invites listeners to look beyond the headlines and discover the deeper connections that shape our shared global experience. 

Episodes

  1. 6d ago

    MAPPY HOUR: Amelia Earhart, Garvaghy Road & Kyrgyzstan's First Satellite

    The world is full of fascinating stories that don't always make our individual newsfeeds. Welcome to Mappy Hour, a new monthly segment of Great Big World where Shannon shares the global developments, unexpected discoveries, and cultural curiosities that have captured her attention. In this inaugural edition, we're traveling from a remote Pacific island in Kiribati, where researchers are renewing the search for Amelia Earhart's missing plane, to Northern Ireland, where a decades-old dispute over an Orange Order parade on Garvaghy Road is reigniting tensions over history and identity. Finally, we head to Central Asia, where Kyrgyzstan's first national satellite launch signals new possibilities for technology, environmental monitoring, and international cooperation. Three very different stories, each offering a new perspective on the people, places, and connections shaping our world.

  2. Aug 27

    UKRAINE: Preserving the Past, Building the Future

    In Ukraine, preserving cultural heritage has become about far more than saving historic buildings. It’s about protecting identity, strengthening communities, and preparing for the future. In this episode, Shannon sits down with historic preservationist Andrew Roblee to explore his work with the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy to help build a new preservation infrastructure in Ukraine. From Soviet-era architecture and cultural heritage targeted during war to preservation as a tool for recovery, they explore what it means to protect the places that tell a nation’s story, even as that story is still being written.

  • 2 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

Great Big World is a human-centered storytelling podcast exploring people, places, and ideas from around the world that are often overlooked in everyday news and conversation. Each episode invites listeners to look beyond the headlines and discover the deeper connections that shape our shared global experience. 

Information

  • Creator
    Shannon Cilento
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    2
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Great Big World