Planet Mundus: Recent Episodes
Planet Mundus
Planet Mundus is a series of global affairs podcasts taped by journalists from five continents, based in five cities: Aarhus, Hamburg, Amsterdam, London and Swansea.
For this second part of our final #SlowNews podcast on migration and refugees, we look at the Burundian crisis and the refugee situation in the Great Lakes region due to this crisis.
Through the voice of two Burundian refugees and the expertise of humanitarian workers and researchers, we give an overview of the highly underreported political and humanitarian crisis in this East African country which lead to huge migration movements. Since 2015, nearly 400,000 people have been fleeing to the neighboring countries, mainly Tanzania and Rwanda, or continued to Uganda.
How is the situation for a Burundian refugee in these countries? How do the receiving countries and humanitarian organizations handle the arrival of hundres of thousands refugees again? Is there any hope for the Burundian refugees to go back to their home country?
Tune in for answers and learn about this "forgotten case", Burundi.
Our thanks go to our onterview partners (in order of appearance):
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Arsène Arakaza: former chairperson of the Burundian refugee community in Uganda;
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Joe-Philbert Karangwa (Twitter: @joe_karangwa): Burundian journalist in Rwandan exile;
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Eugene Sibomana: humanitarian professional working with Burundian refugees in Rwanda;
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Lucy Hovil (Twitter: @LucyHovil): senior research associate for the International Refugee Rights Initiative (@IntRefRights).
Media & reading recommendations:
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Radio Peace FM (@RadioPeaceFM): refugee radio for Burundians in Rwanda; founder: Joe-Philbert Karangwa;
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Journal Plume du Réfugié: refugee newspaper for Burundians in Uganda; founder: Arsène Arakaza;
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Iwacu: independent Burundian press agency; reporting in Kirundi, French & English; online: https://www.iwacu-burundi.org/
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Lucy Hovil & Thijs Van Laer (2019). "The trouble with plans to send 116,000 Burundian refugees home," in The New Humanitarian. Online: https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/
Music: With the kind authorization of the producer, we used original Burundian drummers' music from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gQcVmDIrtc&lc=z23uvh2jlpv0updql04t1aokg2ktmwfqd55ht5qkvs2zrk0h00410.1557329112845909. Thank you!
Migration continues to be a dominating topic across the world. For example in the upcoming European elections some say it is one of the deciding topics. We take a closer look at it with two concluding #SlowNews episodes on migration to end our podcast-year.
Today, in Part I of our migration focus, we look at migration to and going from Denmark - a special case in the European context: Denmark decided not to follow the common guidelines that EU member states have agreed on.
To get some inside views, we spoke to Eva Singer, Director of the Asylum Department of the Danish Refugee Council. She will guide you with us through application procedures, forced return and the political ‘paradigm shift’ of 2015 in Denmark.
"Migration Part II - A Burundian perspective within the Great Lakes Region" will be online in the beginning of next week.
We are back with a different kind of #SlowNews this week! A zoom in on 4 individual topics that have been covered in the news these past few weeks: 1) Trump’s decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights - a very controversial move; 2) Cyclone Idai in Mozambique, Zimbabwe & Malawi - disaster preparedness in Sub-Sahara Africa; 3) #Kwibuka25 - a quarter century after the Genocide against the Tutsi 1994 in Rwanda; 4) Referendums - a debate in times of Brexit.
We have some weeks of Easter Break before us now - but stay tuned, we’ll be coming back with a special edition of #SlowNews as we currently work on an in-depth episode about refugees trying to return home! Thank you for listening.
This week we’ll provide you with some interesting insights into Nowruz - a huge festival that is celebrated in Iran and Central Asia. Also, we look on further religious and pagan traditions and how they are celebrated in different countries.
In mid-February this year, India and Pakistan again picked up on their long-standing conflict over the most heavily militarized part of the world – Kashmir. Can we best understand the recent events as a mere game of egos, or should we instead interpret them in light of India’s upcoming elections? Our guest journalists in the studio, Tamkinat from Pakistan and Hannah from India, debate what makes Kashmir the bone of contention and discuss its geopolitical and geo-economic relevance, as well as where China stands on the issue. We begin slowly, by contextualizing the conflict in history and questioning how British colonial rule has laid the ground for Pakistan’s and India’s decade-long “sibling rivalry”. We wrap up by questioning why territorial disputes are such a non-negotiable for states today.
This planet mundus show focusses on one of the most essential parts in life - food. We discuss danish dishes, the sustainable supermarket WeFood and spill the tea on where to find the best food in Aarhus for a students on a budget.
++ A closer look at the Nigerian elections and media coverage of elections across the continent ++ At least 20 out of 54 African countries hold elections this year, media is talking about another “African Elections Year”. Nigeria made the start of this with its presidential elections last week on February 23, 2019. In this fifth episode of our podcast #SlowNews we therefore first take a closer look at the Nigerian elections with insights from Kelechi, a Nigerian living in Aarhus. Sticking with the Nigerian elections for a while, we then try to critically evaluate international media coverage of them to conclude on a broader level about how media covers the “African Elections Year” and how you can consume journalistic reports about any elections on the African continent more consciously.
In this episode, we also address some concerns raised about our last podcast on Venezuela (Venezuela 4) and correct a few imprecisions. Please always feel free to send us your feedback!
From the country with the biggest oil reserves in the world to people starving. Venezuela is in a deep humanitarian crisis. What happened? Since May, the people of Venezuela have been protesting against their president Nicola Maduro. Just three weeks ago, the opposition leader Juan Guaidó was declared interim president - against the will of Maduro of course. So now there’s not only a humanitarian crisis but a severe political crisis in Venezuela. These specific events give us a good opportunity to look beyond mainstream media's extensive coverage to elaborate the trends that have shaped the situation in Venezuela for many years and break down dominant narratives. We bring to you a personal story from Kim, a fellow journalism student from Venezuela. Also we look at different countries' reaction to the crisis, and discuss the often quoted "failure of yet another socialist state". Tune in!
In the Planet Mundus Show of the 13th Feb, 2019, the Master students of the Mundus Journalism programme talked about some good news from around the world, looked at Valentine's Day in different countries and travelled to Senegal to meat Thiat from the political movement Y'en a Marre.
How do internationals in Denmark experience crises back in their home countries? For every person, going abroad to study or to work is a huge discussion. We leave behind family and friends, familiarity, a nice apartment or unfinished projects. But for some, it is again harder - because they leave their countries while their own people are suffering from a humanitarian and political crisis. This is the case for quite a few of our fellow students at Mundus Journalism. South America hardly makes it to the news here in Denmark even though huge crises make people suffer outside of our attention. For example, in Brazil with newly elected right-wing president Bolsonaro, people get threatened every day and the future of the country is unclear. Or in Nicaragua hundreds of people got killed by government forces during peaceful manifestations and the president still won’t step down. We will talk to our Brazilian and Nicaraguan friends from the program to learn more about these situations back in their home countries and also we will have the chance to listen to other Latin American women who have a lot of expat and activism experience here in Denmark while the countries they call home are in bad situations. We will talk about their personal experiences and difficulties, but also about possibilities to act while being abroad, giving us hope to change something, no matter where you are. Also, you will have the chance to learn more about support possibilities being an international friend here in Aarhus. Tune in!
About the show: Narrator: Louisa Esther Mugabo Contributors: Méline Laffabry, Juliette Freysson, Denitsa Demitrova, Louise Rasmussen, Valerie Krall Interview partners: Isabela Santos Martel, Mariana Sales de Oliveira & Tiago Bianchi from Brazil; Dánae Vilchez from Nicaragua; Selma Vital from Brazil; Claudia Adeath from Mexico Editors: Louisa Esther Mugabo & Méline Laffabry Text: Louisa Esther Mugabo Picture: Louisa Esther Mugabo, edited by Nanna Vedel-Hertz Music: ‘Fortaleza’ by Topher Mohr & Alex Elena; Mysteries by Dan Lebowitz; Surrender by Dan Lebowitz
More information: Follow Dánae from Nicaragua on Twitter: @DanaeVilchez Article by Dánae in the Washington Post (in Spanish) Café MellemFolk Aarhus Network for Refugee Voices
Universities – As students this is clearly a topic we think about often. But even beyond the student life, higher education is a hot topic across Europe. While some see universities as important institutions that are direly underfunded and overcrowded, others see them as uneconomical money-sinks that are stuck in their own bubble. On this episode we discuss the problems which universities across Europe are facing, attempts at reform, future perspectives and, of course, our own experiences with different university systems.
The annual shopping madness is back – it’s Black Friday! Are you on the run for cheap prices but don’t wanna stand in line in crowded shops?
Why not trying some other Alternatives? Listen to our show and get insights into the background of Black Friday and more sustainable ways of shopping and purchasing.
Also, we provide hands-on tips on where it's worth to go shopping if you maybe even want to do good and be sustainable while doing so.
We are living in a time, where in the news business, speed is considered crucial. We journalists are under pressure to get the story quickly; better yet - get it first. But more and more, we are wondering, what is behind those headlines of the breaking news? Being young journalism students in Aarhus, we have hit the breaks and present to you our new podcast SLOW NEWS. We try to give you an alternative to the mainstream media, and more importantly, we give ourselves as reporters and you, our listeners, time to investigate and understand a news event in depth, seek out untold stories and present different angles. We value meaning over mere information. In this first episode of our podcast, we will introduce you to the concept of Slow News and give you the opportunity to get to know our team.
Are you feeling the Christmas vibe?? Like it or not, the lights are up and Christmas season is underway here in Aarhus and Bridget and Anastasia are live in the studio to talk about it.
With guests Julia, Jesper, and Galina we talk about Christmas traditions in Denmark as well as in Russia and Ukraine.
For some musical inspiration, as always we have a Spotify playlist cued up for you all prepared by Julia. Just search Planet Mundus on Spotify.
Want to see some typical Danish Christmas programming? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKRuvDJrMwA&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR2j-qS9NYQQbN1zXVBek8lq3JlpOeVopct71WX6RwdLIUqGZg1AWn-buqQ
Sit back, tune in, and enjoy!
Cheers,
The Mundus Crew
As the main focus of EuroAlike is Europe we decided to start by the beginning and define what is eurocentrism. Where does it come from? What is it? Is it good, bad or both? How do you talk about Europe without falling into bad habits? Here is our answer and the launching of our new podcast!
This week on Planet Mundus our hosts Roza Ismailaj and Anastasia Park are bringing you advice on how to stay sane as the days get shorter here in Aarhus.
We talk with Bridget Dooley about some great spots in town for a cozy coffee in town, with Tami Tariq about Aarhus' underground comedy scene, and with William Peterson for a Danish perspective of Hygge.
Sit back, relax, and tune in!
Since August 25th, over 600,000 Rohingyas have fled Myanmar. This Muslim minority has been terrorized by its own government and military for over five decades. Despite the fact that Bangladesh has done an enormous job by receiving and supporting thousands of refugees, many of them are also being trafficked and enslaved.
Authors: Cecilia Arregui and Ramon Royandoyan Photo credit: Creative Commons www.planetmundus.com
Climate change is global and Denmark is a country surrounded by water. Two facts that the people who live at the coasts of Denmark feel everyday. Last week, Studenterhus Aarhus organised a study trip to the West coast of Jutland where students learned about the climate challenges this region is facing. But also about the job opportunities that come along for young people, for example the EU-funded Coast to Coast Climate Challenge project and the “Climatorium”.
Author: Pia Behme www.planetmundus.com
At December 9th, Aarhus celebrated the great finale of the European Capital of Culture. It was not only time to celebrate but also time to review the past year. Annabell Brockhues talked with Lene Øster, regional and program manager of Aarhus 2017, about the highlights and the impact the title European Capital of Culture has had and will have on Aarhus and Midjutland.
Author: Annabell Brockhues www.planetmundus.com
Today’s good news deal with a Syrian refugee winning the Children’s Peace Prize, “super beans” offer new solutions to hunger-prone parts of Africa and cow dung as car fuel. Author: Lisa Urlbauer www.planetmundus.com
Do you remember which song you listened to on February 21 five years ago? Ten years ago? Well, we remember which songs were going big more than fifty years ago - today! Among those is the album “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, by Simon and Garfunkel. On February 21 in 1970, Simon and Garfunkel went to No.1 on the UK chart with the album “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and the single of the same title. This episode digs deep into the duo’s final studio album and its most popular singles. Author: Miriam Karout, www.planetmundus.com
Image Copyright: Simon & Garfunkel perform at the Feijenoord Stadion, Rotterdam, The Netherlands in 1982. Source: Nationaal Archief - Nationaal Archief, Den Haag, Rijksfotoarchief: Fotocollectie Algemeen Nederlands Fotopersbureau (ANEFO), 1945-1989 - negatiefstroken zwart/wit, nummer toegang 2.24.01.05, bestanddeelnummer 932-2090 (CC - allowed to share and distribute if author is named)
Last November, the United Nations stressed that Latin America and the Caribbean is the most violent region in the world for women. According to a Small Arms survey conducted in 2016, among the 25 countries with the highest rates of femicide in the world, 14 are from this region. Activist movements and changes in legislation have tried to change this situation in many Latin American states, but women are still being killed just for their sex on a daily basis. Authors: Cecilia Arregui, Mário Braga, www.planetmundus.com
Doing well academically and feeling comfortable in a classroom has a lot to do with adjusting to the study culture of a place. The Danish study culture, with a relatively informal student-professor relationship, intensive pre-class preparation and a lot of group work, can be difficult to navigate for students coming from different backgrounds. This week, we discuss how to to academics like the Danes! Author: Shubham Kaushik, www.planetmundus.com
Imagine you get arrested for posting something on facebook. Or you are facing charges for protesting peacefully against war. Or you are harassed for defending human rights. And then you start receiving letters from hundreds and thousands of people around the world. All these letters show support from people you don’t know. But they will stand by you – and there will stand up for you. That is the idea of Amnesty International's worldwide initiative “Write for rights”, which also took place in Aarhus.
Author: Annabell Brockhues www.planetmundus.com
Are you looking for a job? The Company Dating promoted by the Business and Social Science School might be the right place for you. The event will bring together over 700 students and about 50 companies with concrete job offers in different positions to talk and try to find the right “match”. Jane Madsen, a career consultant at Aarhus BSS, explains how to be prepared and what to expect from the event. Image copyright: Aarhus BSS/Author: Mário Braga, www.planetmundus.com
The fashion retailer H&M burns tons of usable, unsold clothes every year in Sweden and Denmark. What is causing this waste of resources? Pia Behme talked with Else Skjold, Assistant Professor for sustainable design at the Kolding Design School, about recycling, the quality of garments and the consumer’s responsibility.
Author: Pia Pehme Photo copyright: Ogiyoshisan CC BY-SA 3.0 www.planetmundus.com
A reading group in Aarhus is trying to start interesting conversations using feminist texts and building a safe space for discussion about this still-controversial issue. One of our reporters got a chance to attend a reading session and talk to Sophia Kier-Byfield, the initiator of the reading group. Tune in to listen to how the group started, what a reading group session looks like, and the kind of feminism they want to associate with. Author: Shubham Kaushik, www.planetmundus.com
In today’s section on good news, you can hear about two balinese sisters enforcing the prohibition of plastic bags on Bali, the UN trial of Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic, and the EU sanctioning Poland for logging its primeval forest. Author: Lisa Urlbauer www.planetmundus.com
As the current mandate of the UN Peacekeeping mission comes to an end on March 31st, and the Security Council needs to decide what to do with its longest and most expensive mission ever, violence is quickly escalating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). President Joseph Kabila is in the seven year of a five-year term, and has been finding excuses to postpone the elections since late 2016. In the meantime, there are over 120 rebel groups operating in the mineral-rich eastern part of the country, and more than 4.5 million people are displaced from their homes. Author: Cecilia Arregui, Mário Braga, www.planetmundus.com
Beate Zschäpe, Günter Grass, Holger Apfel – and the list goes on: Published in 2014, the song “Beate Zschäpe hört U2” (Beate Zschäpe listens to U2) mentions not only the German extremist but also politicians and artists who expressed antisemitic or racist thoughts. It also stresses the everyday phenomenon of xenophobia: It is Max Mustermann (the German equivalent to John Doe), who attacks a refugee camp in the song. Author: Pia Behme, www.planetmundus.com/Photo credit: ©Robert Eikelpoth
Brazil just faced its worst recession in 30 years. From 2014 to 2016, the country’s Gross Domestic Product fell 8.2%. In the meantime, inflation spiked to 10.6% and unemployment hit a record high of 13.7%. In 2017, however, the Brazilian economy grew 1% boosting hopes across the nation that things will get better from now on. But will they? Slow News explores why the economic recovery is not a sure thing for South America’s largest country. Foto: Pixabay //Author: Mário Braga, www.planetmundus.com
The streets of Perugia, a small city in the heart of Italy, were filled with journalists from the 11th to the 15th of April. It was the 12th edition of the International Journalism Festival: 301 events, 710 speakers and participants from 50 different countries. “I think this is my favourite festival”, said Mark Frankel, the social media editor for BBC News. Planet Mundus’ reporters Shubham Kaushik and Ceci Arregui were in Perugia as volunteers, and in this segment, they both talk about some of the highlights of this massive event.//Authors: Shubham Kaushik, Ceci Arregui, www.planetmundus.com
One of the core activities in Danish society is volunteering. The tradition dates back to the 19th century, where people started collaborating during the evolvement of the Danish Folkehøjskole. Since then, a lot has changed in Denmark - but volunteering is still ingrained in society. Official statistics say, that 35% of the Danish society do voluntary work, that means that 1.9 millionen Danes volunteer at least at some point of the year. Often, events are collaborations between public institutions and association - like last year’s food festival. During the first three days of September, around 900 volunteers helped out at the festival, selling food or washing dishes. All of them needed to be coordinated - which was done by Ellen Emilie Madsen, a 25-year old political science student who chatted with us about her experience on this episode.
Working hard for the money, as Donna Summer's well known song says, is something we all have experienced at some point, which means that high levels of stress have likely occurred at work as well. Lisa talks with Patrick Buggy, a mindfulness writer and coach, about his company Mindful Ambition, which is tackling this issue head on.
One aspect which will continue to follow us in the future of work is the risk of unemployment. In Denmark, the approach to hiring and firing is coined as the Danish Model, or "flexicurity," which has already found recognition by the European Commission in 2007. Our reporter Xiyu Chen takes a closer look at what it means.
Photo credi: Pixabay
Our work of the future will most likely be shaped by automation, artificial intelligence and robotics. Nonetheless, certain factors will be still determined by us humans. In this episode, we will take a closer look at three different topics to explore our relation to work - now and in the future. For our first segment, we welcomed Ellen Madsen, student at Aarhus University, who told us about her experience as the volunteer coordinator at last year’s food festival. After that, we explore "flexicurity," Denmark’s approach to employment and unemployment, which is often discussed as a model for European labor markets. Finally, Lisa explores mindfulness in work with Patrick Buggy.
Jingle credit: Xiao Liang with music by Simon Mathewson.
For Forward Forward Aarhus, our reporter Laura Galante has spoken to Søren Rasmussen about the renovations of The Occupation Museum. But the ongoing work is more than simply replacing old bricks: Through means of technology, the museum is go tell the stories of the past in a new way.
Future Forward Aarhus reporter Karis Hustad sat down with Annette Markham, founder and director of the Creating Future Memory project, to talk about how the project raises citizens' awareness about each and everyone's own "big data" through means of art and participation.
Future Forward Aarhus reporter Lisa Urlbauer has met Wulf Kansteiner, history professor from Aarhus University, to talk about the impact of the digital on how we perceive the past. Because if one thing is sure: How we remember history is not set in stone.
In this episode, we explore the future of history. In our first segment, we will talk about memory culture and whether a computer game about the Holocaust will hit the markets soon. Then, we will hear about the Creating Future Memory Project that helps raising awareness about data collection. Finally, we will take a listen about how the Occupation Museum is getting ready for the future.
Selena Quintanilla: a musician from a special genre of music called Tejano music. She was born and brought up in Texas but had her roots firmly in Mexico. And she wasn’t just a musician. She was also an actress, a spokesperson, a model, an icon. She was also called the Tejano Madonna. (Shubham Kaushik, www.planetmundus.com)
Peru is going through a political turmoil after Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigned to the Presidency. He was accused of involvement in a corruption scheme and stepped down a day before the Senate voted his impeachment. The details of this shake up and what may come next in this South American country is the focus of this week’s Slow News. (Mário Braga and Jacinta Molina, www.planetmundus.com)
The Danish society is pretty liberal when it comes to body culture. If you have ever taken a shower in a public swimming pool, you might have observed something different: People in Denmark don’t seem to have a problem with nudity. Why? (Anne-Kirstine Berger, www.planetmundus.com)
Derek Gripper, a South African guitarist, made the impossible possible: He transcribed and translated West African Kora tunes from Mali. The Kora has originally 21 strings whereas a classical Western guitar only has 6! It sounds like at least two guitars are playing at the same time, but it’s only one man and his magical hands! Tune in to find out how Derek Gripper’s interpretation of African music and also Western classical composer Bach sound like on a “normal” guitar! Author: Miriam Karout, www.planetmundus.com
Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic, most of them invisible for the human eye. Scientists from Germany examined 25 rivers and found microplastics in every single one of them. The study is the first profound data set on microplastics in rivers worldwide. How do the tiny plastic particles affect our health and what can we do to reduce the pollution? Author: Pia Behme, www.planetmundus.com
The European Union is about to close its largest trade deal in history. The partner is Mercosur, South America’s biggest economic bloc. The negotiations have been going on for almost 20 years now. One key factor to understand the impasses and delays in the negotiations is to analyse Mercosur’s incapacity to overcome its huge differences. Formed by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, the customs union turns 27 years old next Monday. But why hasn’t it taken off yet? Authors: Ceci Arregui, Mario Braga, www.planetmundus.com
Because there have been negotiations between authorities and trade unions and they could not agree so far, on April 10th, it might be the first time that a huge strike, or ‘lockout’, will happen in Denmark. This includes everything from transportation like busses and the tram to the whole education system – schools, kindergartens – any public offices in the city will also be shut. The lockout means temporary denial of employment by the public sector. Author: Miriam Karout, www.planetmundus.com
In today’s good news, we will talk about how Google maps introduces accessible transit routes to his app. Now users can find ways which are accessible for wheelchairs or strollers in London, New York, Boston, Mexico City, Sydney and Tokyo. Furthermore, researchers have found a calculation model to predict when bacteria becomes resistant again certain antibiotics. Last, we will tell you how and why the cancer mortality in the EU has decreased within the last years. Author: Lisa Urlbauer, www.planetmundus.com
In this segment, we learn about Kaospilot, a hybrid business and design school for change makers, leaders and social entrepreneurs.
Our reporter, Xiyu Chen, tries to understand the criticism that has fallen on online study platforms initiated by tech startups.
Our reporter, Lucia Camblor, visits the Royal Danish Library in Aarhus and explore this conventional library’s future ambitions.
In this episode, we explore the topic of education. First, we will have a walk through the Danish Royal Library in Aarhus. Then, we will discuss the Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCS) and how new technology is reshaping the picture of the education. Lastly, we take a look at Kaospilot, a school founded in Aarhus that aims to give students an alternative means of education.
Laura talks to assistant professor, Misa Hejná, from the department of English at Aarhus University, about phonetics and the Sounds of Language and Speech research group, informally known as “Phon-Phon for Phun. The research group presents a forum that brings together students and faculty members who share interests in the sounds of language(s) and speech.
Rocío talked to Zoran Lekovic, founder of the group Learning Danish with Danish rap music. On this interview, he explains how he came up with the idea to use rap music in order to help students to improve their pronunciation and expand their danish vocabulary. The project is runned in collaboration with Laerdansk Aarhus and last year it was awarded with the European Language Label given by the European Comission.
Music credit: “The Raps Well (dustmotes Instrumental)” by Cheese N Pot C (Free Music Archive)
Karis checks in with Swap Language, an Aarhus-based tech platform that connects people for in-person language exchanges. The goal is to help travelers, students, and language-enthusiasts share cultures and learn from native speakers. They’ve grown to have over 4,400 users in more than 100 countries over the last two years, and a new law in Denmark may make the need for their startup even more pressing for foreigners in the country.
Music credit: “Forward” by Northbound (Free Music Archive)
In today’s episode, we explore alternatives that have been developed by entrepreneurs living in Aarhus, who want to help people learn a foreign language. First, we will hear about a startup that connects people for in-person language exchanges and then, we will talk about an award-winning language learning methodology that uses hip hop to teach danish. Finally, we talk about the weird and wonderful world of phonetics with a language researcher.
According to a Gallup poll 3 out of 4 Finns are willing to fight for their country - the highest number in Europe. But what is it the Finns are ready to fight for? Who are they afraid of? And what makes a nation patriotic? We will try to outline that and more in today’s episode of The Old Continent, Finland: Unknown Soldiers and Well Known Patriots
Zoran Lekovic is quite possibly the most unusual Danish language teacher in Aarhus. He came to Denmark almost three decades ago as a refugee from Bosnia, and has made this country his home ever since. Exploring Zoran's idea of a home in relation to his history and early years in Denmark opens up the discussion to interesting concepts: Does home even need to be a physical place? How important are languages to really feel at home?, Authors: Shubham Kaushik and Pia Behme, www.planetmundus.com
Are you looking for a job? The Company Dating promoted by the Business and Social Science School might be the right place for you. The event will bring together over 700 students and about 50 companies with concrete job offers in different positions to talk and try to find the right “match”. Jane Madsen, a career consultant at Aarhus BSS, explains how to be prepared and what to expect from the event. (Mário Braga, www.planetmundus.com)
The magnifying glasses of European Union has been hovering over Poland since the parliamentary election of March 2015 when far fight Law and Justice party won the elections. Three personas of Poland share not only the tribune, but influence and power at the backstage - President Andrzej Duda, the newly appointed Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, PiS party leader Jarosław Kaczyński - who is the real leader of Poland? Are they overpowered by a handful of influential priests of the Catholic Church after all?
Episode 4 of the Old Continent sheds lights on the political environment and the games of power inside the Poland, trying to answer, what is most important today on the ground - Influence, Power, or the Church?
A Planet Mundus production, produced at Studenterhus Aarhus
Episode 4 of the Old Continent Podcast will bring you to Poland and the crazy chaos its political arena became since 2015. One of the highlights of the episode - interview with Tadeusz Bartos and his take on the all-covering influence of the church in his country. Look out for the Episode 4 - Poland: Influence, Power and the Church - on air February 20!
Usually we hear about all the ways that technology is warping our brains. Research has shown that our attention span is growing shorter, social media apps can destroy our self esteem, and we’re spending less time with our eyeballs off screen. But at the same time, it isn’t likely that smartphones or the internet will go away. So what if we asked a different question: Can technology actually be used to improve our mental habits?
Bianca, a journalist in Aarhus who is originally from Italy, decided to test this question out. She’s currently writing a story about two apps that she hoped would help get her out of a rut, and she stopped by the Studenterradio studio to tell us more.
By Karis Hustad Music credits: “Siesta” by Jahzzar (via Free Music Archive)
While love seems to dominate the technology and relationships debate, friendships are also impacted by tech. If you move to a new city or country, it’s comforting to know that friends back home are just a text, video call, or snapchat away. But sometimes that easy connection back home makes it harder to hang out with new people in a new city. Sometimes you just have to be brave and ask, is anyone around here lonely too? Gabrielé Ptašinskaitė did it and after a positive response she created the Facebook group “Lonely internationals in Aarhus”. Today with more than 1750 members the group is a tool to meet people when you are a newcomer to the second biggest city of Denmark.
By Rocío Valderrábano
Does technology fundamentally change the nature of love? We’ll hear stories from three people about how technology has impacted their romantic life--for better and worse. First, Joanne, a student from China, who found a surprising new use for Tinder while vacationing on a Portuguese island. Next, Ida, a student from Denmark shares how video calling technology helped her maintain a long distance relationship between Denmark and Australia for 8 years. Finally, Sian, a student from the UK, shares her stories about how she’s given and received heartbreak on Google Docs, a seemingly harmless collaboration product.
By Karis Hustad Music credit: “Love of My Life” by Box Cat Games (via Free Music Archive), “Freezing” by David Szesztay (via Free Music Archive), “Waiting” by David Szesztay (via Free Music Archive)
As more and more people go online, apps like WhatsApp, Skype or Social Media like Facebook allow us not only to chat with our closest friends and family, but maintain real time relationships with people on the other side of the globe. That level of connection is unprecedented. But, are relationships the same, just with shiny new ways of talking? Does our constant connection to a screen, rather than real life, make us more alone than ever? Or is technology and innovation making everything just different enough that it could change the way we look at relationships forever? This episode explores how technology is changing and impacting our relationships.
Music credit: “Love of My Life” by Box Cat Games (via Free Music Archive), “Freezing” by David Szesztay (via Free Music Archive), “Waiting” by David Szesztay (via Free Music Archive)
This week's Slow News takes a deeper look at the humanitarian crisis going on in Venezuela and give a broader sense of the refugee crisis in 2017. Authors: Mario Braga and Ramon Royandoyan, www.planetmundus.com
Reporter Rocío Valderrábano talks to Fantini of Denmark about how they're using nanotechnology and materials science to make trendy clothing that will stay dry from boat to dinner.
Karis Hustad peeked behind the scenes of the Arhus Walks on Water. A fashion runway based on technology that was celebrated in September as part of the activities of Aarhus as Capital of Culture 2017. It’s part of a larger trend in the fashion industry. Where designers weave hardware and software into the clothing we wear every day. And it’s more and more likely to come to your closet.
Anyana Zimmermann, an architecture student originally from Berlin, is currently researching Gellerup, a neighborhood in the district of Braband located in the western part of the Aarhus municipality. It is known for its high crime rate and social problems. But Zimmerman believes better urban planning could improve conditions for the neighborhood.
The Voices of Migration festival aims to make change on the topic of migration through literature and arts.
By: Lisa Urlbauer for Future Forward Aarhus
An urban space is what an individual makes out of it. In the case of the Institut for X, it's a place to jumpstart entrepreneurial initiatives, while cutting down costs and resources by working together. Laura Galante has spoken to the founders about chances and challenges.
The beer business is booming, and as with every industry, tech is starting to influence its future. We dig into a project that is bringing artificial intelligence into the beer flavor and quality control process, and talk to a few beer lovers about their thoughts on these robot brewers of the future.
By: Xiyu Chen for Future Forward Aarhus
Food production is a lot more than what we consume. It’s about the process of growing and disposing of food.
Komposten focuses on the latter. It’s a neighborhood-based food waste recycling network that uses a Japanese technology—called Bokashi—to make composting more efficient. The product is a nutrient-rich natural fertilizer, called humus, and a liquid product for houseplants, called Bokashi tea. They’re currently running a pilot project with 50 participants on Aarhus Ø, with the hopes of convincing the municipality to expand the solution city wide.
By: Karis Hustad for Future Forward Aarhus
On a gloomy fall day, Future Forward Aarhus Reporter Rocío Valderrábano has met Silje Marie Schjødt, curator of the Dome of Visions. The building is an experiment of sustainable building and challenges to rethink how to use spaces that are under development.
Can you imagine living in a reality in which the most sustainable food production method involved the harvesting of insects such as mealworms?
The project inValuable aims to accomplish exactly that, the development of a sustainable insect value chain. Its vision is to create an industry for sustainable protein production based on mealworms.
By: Laura Galante for Future Forward Aarhus
With more and more people moving into cities, recreational areas become more scarce. In 2015, a plain stretch of grass behind the Studenterhus Aarhus has been turned into a community garden. Lisa Urlbauer has spoken with Leila Trapp about the impact the garden has made and the challenges the members are facing. Photo: Fælleshaven Greenshare/Greenshare Community Garden
The future goes beyond technology developments. It also means a change in the social environment. Migration, as a broad topic is an item on every country's agenda. In this episode we introduce you to the "Voices of Migration" festival as well as an architecture student seeking to improve integration in the district of Brabrand.
On this episode of Future Forward Aarhus, we're digging into food. More than 9 billion people will need access to fresh food by 2050 and 2/3rds of them will live in cities. There need to be solutions for sustainable food production and farming in order to feed the future masses. In this episode we bring you stories of three innovators working on the ground to make this future happen. These include a a startup hoping to make bugs into the latest food trend, a research team using artificial intelligence to taste beer, and a new method of food waste recycling that could make composting more sustainable.
On this episode of Future Forward Aarhus, we're talking about cities. Cities consist of more than just buildings and people. Arts and culture, residential and industrial areas, public transportation and recreational areas. Urban planners must meet the challenges cities face in the 21st century. Like other European cities, a number of areas in Aarhus is undergoing major changes. In this episode, we explore three sites in Aarhus three places that give us a glimpse on the future of urban spaces: A community garden, Institute for X, and Dome of Visions.
In this episode of Future Forward Aarhus, we explore the future of fashion—how tech is changing the clothes we wear everyday. First, we’ll hear about a recent fashion technology show that turned Aarhus waterways into an LED-lit runway. Then we’ll hear from a local startup using nanotechnology to develop waterproof clothing.
Too small, too big, not my style anymore: Almost everyone has clothes that he or she does not wear. According to a recent Greenpeace study, more than 40 percent of Italians and Taiwanese have garments in their closets that have never been worn. Two billion pieces of clothing lie waste in German wardrobes. At the same time, the extremely high fashion consumption in the Western world is causing global problems for humans and the environment. “Tøjfællesskabet” is a place where women can exchange their clothes against others. Organised by two friends, Marlene and Stine, the event brings together women and their wardrobes, following the slogan “Gammelt tøj på nye bøjler” (“old clothes on new hangers”). The difference to other exchange meetings: a fair point system. Author: Pia Behme, www.planetmundus.com
Friday bars are a long student tradition in Denmark - starting your weekend by getting drunk with your professors on a Friday noon sounds quite crazy, doesn’t it? Stay tuned to find out why Danish and international students in Aarhus, Denmark’s largest university city, are so in love with Friday bars. Author: Miriam Karout, www.planetmundus.com
Last week the Irish government announced that a referendum to relax Ireland’s strict abortion laws will be held in May this year. The announce reopen the debate this country, mostly Catholic but where thousands of women had traveled overseas to terminate their pregnancies or had taken pills without medical supervision. Author: Jacinta Molina, www.planetmundus.com
Feminism and equal rights is one of the most debated topics of our time. The #Metoo movement or the discussion regarding unequal pay are just examples of it. In Uruguay, and South America, two big issues are domestic violence and femicide. Eli Almic, a prominent female representative of the Uruguayan rap and hip-hop scene, released a protest song called Brujas, the Spanish word for witches, last month. Stay tuned to discover not only some cool beats but also to unravel the strong meaning of the protest verses. Author: Ceci Arregui, www.planetmundus.com
According to Eurostat, Danes produced the most amount of waste per capita in 2016. This week, we sat down with Stine Sparrewath of the Climate Department in Aarhus to learn about how the city deals with its waste in a productive and sustainable way, and other sustainable initiatives taken by the kommune to reach its goal of being carbon neutral by 2030. Author: Shubham Kaushik, www.planetmundus.com
On January 24th, Brazil’s former president Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva was convicted to twelve years in prison by an appealing court in a corruption and money laundering case, as part of the complex car wash investigation that has been going on for almost four years and has reached to hundreds of politicians and business-people in the country. This can influence the outcome of the country’s presidential elections in October, since Lula is the candidate leading the polls. What does this all mean to the leftist leader, Brazil’s politics and democracy? Slow News tries to find the answers. Authors: Mário Braga and Ceci Arregui, www.planetmundus.com
Who has not hear the famous revolutionary tune to Che Guevara - the embodiment of the Cuban Revolution in the 1960s? Fifty years after his death, people all over the world still celebrate the hero as an icon for independence and socialist movements all over the world. Today’s song is a special one - a tribute in Spanish but still understood and sung worldwide. Stay tuned to discover the meaning and social impact of “Hasta Siempre, Comandante!” as written by Carlos Puebla in 1965! Author: Miriam Karout.
Denmark might not look very big on a world map, but what it might lack in square kilometres, the Scandinavian country makes up for in the number of Danes that have made a name for themselves on the global stage. These internationally renowned Danes include artists in all types: painters, photographers, movie directors, street artists, musicians, writers, architects, designers... Let’s discover who are the Danes that came out of the shadow to enlighten the international scene with their talent. Author: Alix Couvelaire, www.planetmundus.com
2018 has just begun and DOKK1 has a lot of options for international students living in Aarhus. Listen to know more about this year's programme and find activities that may suit you! Author: Pia Behme, www.planetmundus.com
The UN is the world’s most idealistic organization: a place where representatives of countries all over the world can get together and talk about governance, peace, human rights, and a bunch of other nice stuff. As fluffy as these conversations may seem, they have a life or death impact on millions of those suffering from the hardships of war and oppression around the world. In this episode of World Class Podcast, we talk about the golden age of humanitarian intervention, its apparent slow down since 9/11, and ask one of the toughest ideological questions of all: can we as a global society possibly share some universal values? Should human rights be prioritized over the sovereignty of countries? Where has humanitarian intervention succeeded and failed?
We ask ourselves these questions and also pass them on to Tonny Brems Knudsen, political scientist and an decade-long expert on the UN and humanitarian interventions. He gives us his perspective on why there has been a lack of action in the face of atrocities in Syria and recently during the Rohingya-crisis in Myanmar.
When we say it, you will immediately think of all sorts of polarizing and intense stories, experiences, and images, built up in the last few years through, for most of us, words in a news story. In this episode of World Class Podcast, we talk about terrorism (!), and try to break the word down into definitions you may not have thought of before. With the help of theory from world-leading academics, we question whether or not terrorism has changed over time and because of globalization, and reveal some key myths about terrorism which we all, at one time or another, have been victim to.
We also talk with award winning war journalist, Nagieb Khaja, who has been captured by the Taliban and also contributed invaluable knowledge to our understanding of terrorism through his documentaries on foreign fighters in Syria. He gives us first hand understanding of what some of the causes are of terrorism, what we can focus on to combat it and how we should understand terrorism. After listening, you won’t fall in any traps in the future, when assessing terrorism. In a strange way, Kylee and Jens felt comforted after exploring the topic - after all, it’s more likely that a lightning strikes you than that you die from a terrorist attack.
What does North Korea, Trump, Putin and China's investment in infrastructure in Africa all have in common? They’re international relations. Maybe you’ve heard the term thrown around by people who sound to you a bit intelligent. Maybe these people are, or maybe they’re just using a couple words to sound smart. The good news is, now you can do the same! In this first episode of World Class Podcast, we go over the four major academic international relations theories, or, the four main ways those quasi-intelligent (or truly intelligent) people talk about international relationships between countries, institutions and other actors. Already bored? Then check this out: After listening, you will have new ways of understanding and framing international relations, which, trust us, is a really cool party trick. As a bonus, we provide you with a starter-kit by framing (spoiler-alert) Kim Jong-un’s thoughts behind killing off his brother in Kuala Lumpur airport and the deployment of Russian troops in the Balkans by Putin. If this doesn’t get you started in your new life as an IR-analyst, nothing will.
We’ve all been touched by international charity before - whether its an emotion-filled advertisement on TV or our own experiences giving money hoping it will reach far off places. Our governments do as well, with every country in the world giving or receiving some form of development assistance or foreign aid at some point in the last 50 years. But aid, like everything, has its flaws. In this episode of World Class Podcast, we talk about the good and bad parts of aid, exploring perspectives from those who steadfastly believe it is the key to helping the world’s poor, to those who believe it creates chronic poverty and is a waste of money.
Rounding out this analysis is our conversation with Anne Mette Kjær, a politics and development professor at Aarhus University, and also a board member of DanChurchAid, one of Denmark’s biggest aid organizations. She tells us where she thinks aid can really make a difference in the continent that she’s spent her life working in: Africa. After listening, your opinion about aid will be much more qualified, you will know what to support and where your money would be spent better on Ben & Jerry’s.
What is China up to over there on the eastern front? In recent years, its economy has had steady growth, and its foreign activities in other countries has changed. Some may call it a success, some may see China’s new rise as a threat, while others say that China still has a long way to go. Interested in getting to the bottom of China’s strategies, Jens is talking very fast and very much for the first part of the show, in order to get through a (very) brief history of China Then we go deep into China’s “state capitalist” economic model, and also the study of international power dynamics, in our exploration of the academic “power transition theory”.
To not be all academic and (let’s be honest) sleep-inducing, our inquiry led us to conversations with political scientist and election observationist Maria Møller Kursch, who gives us a perspective on China’s bizarre involvement with Kazakstan’s politics, and also Stig Thøgersen, a professor of Sinology at Aarhus University, who let us in on what he thinks are the major developmental challenges China still faces. After listening, you will be up-to-date with the most important perspectives on China’s role in the world at the moment, with concrete examples to show off with, next time you discuss China with your dog or grandmother or whoever agrees to listen.
Academics: John Mearsheimer, Steve Chan, Karsten Rauch and Iris Wurm
In October 2017, the city of Aarhus hosted the Global Constructive Conference. Over 400 people from 37 countries took part in it. One of the speakers during this two-day-long conference on Constructive Journalism was Maaike Goslinga. The 27-year-old journalist is the international editor of The Correspondent, an online media company from the Netherlands with an innovative approach to journalism. Author: Cecilia Arregui, www.planetmundus.com
Slow News looks at the Philippines and President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war. Author: Ramon Royandoyan, Mário Braga, www.planetmundus.com
Migrants are not just people coming from the Middle East to Europe. Everyone can be considered as migrant nowadays. The aim of the Voices of Migration Festival is to show the diversity of migration through stories, literature, music and theatre including professionals and everyone who has a story to share. Author: Annabell Brockhues, www.planetmundus.com
2018 was the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation. On this occasion, Aarhus University hosted the "Rethink Reformation" conference where academics discussed how to connect the past with the present in perspective of the Reformation. Author: Pia Behme, www.planetmundus.com
This episode is about a song based on a poem written by Pakistani Faiz Ahmed Faiz in 1947. He belonged to the Progressive Movement, a collective of writers and poets who embodied a revolutionary aesthetic during the years leading up to the 1947 independence of India and Pakistan. Author: Miriam Karout
Jule-dag or J-day is the unofficial kickoff to the Christmas celebrations in Denmark. This quasi-celebration involves the release of special beers. Author: Shubham Kaushik, www.planetmundus.com
As the local elections in Aarhus approach, our team takes a closer look into the Danish parties, its stances and propositions. Know more about them too! Author: Farah Bahgat
As Jordan switches on the world’s largest solar plant in a refugee camp, a Japanese company encourages its employees to quit smoking. Meanwhile, on another part of the world, Sri Lanka takes the decision to ditch fossil fuel vehicles.
Slow News tells the story of Ibrahim Metwally Hegazy, the founder of the Association of the Families of the Disappeared in Egypt. He also disappeared September 10, 2017, at Cairo International Airport. He was on his way to address the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearance, but he never boarded the flight. Authors: Alicia Medina and Ramon Royandoyan, www.planetmundus.com
This week on exploring Danish life and culture, we take a look at the Danish governance system and the upcoming regional and municipal elections. Can you vote? How do you vote? What are you voting for? Find out! Author: Shubham Kaushik, www.planetmundus.com
The winner song of the Eurovision Song contest was 1944 by Ukrainian singer Jamala, a very controversial political background of this heart-breaking song! Author: Miriam Karout, www.planetmundus.com
Copyright of photo: Albin Olsson, CC BY-SA 4.0., https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
Kenya hold the second presidential election in October 2017. One day before, Slow News explains why. Authors: Ramón Royandoyan, Alicia Medina, www.planetmundus.com
During the last weeks timelines of social media networks were flooded with just two words: me too. Women talked about sexual comments, sexual harassment and sexual assault they have experienced under the Hashtag me too. Annabell Brockhues about a rival campaign and an Aarhus initiative which wants to find out: What can happen after those stories have been told? Author: Annabell Brockhues, www.planetmundus.com
Aarhus hosted the constructive journalism conference in October 2017. One of the speakers was Katarina Gunnarsson, a Swedish radio journalist. She is a real storyteller and loves to catch in-depth stories from people, their lives and the simple ups and downs in every day life. Author: Melanie Raidl, www.planetmundus.com
Every country has its own symbols – things that people associate with it. One thing that is very integrated in the Danish culture is also… potatoes? Author: Shubham Kaushik, www.planetmundus.com
The Erasmus Mundus Journalism program is a melting pot of diversity and excitement from students across the world. Listen to the experiences of students in their first weeks in Aarhus and whether their expectations coming to Denmark has been met. Author: Rabiu Alhassan, www.planetmundus.com
The band Mashrou’ Leila from Lebanon have created another hit single – yet featuring a very political discussion. Author: Miriam Karout, www.planetmundus.com. Copyright photo: Tania Trabulsi - Mashrou3
Young people covered in cinnamon is something you could easily come across in Denmark. If you are unmarried and about to turn 25 (or your friend is), better inform yourself about this funny birthday tradition. Author: Shubham Kaushik, www.planetmundus.com
Aarhus new oasis of diversity: In the beginning of 2018, Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke (ActionAid Denmark) is opening Aarhus' new oasis of diversity: Café MellemFolk! It will be a non-profit café focusing on sustainability and global perspective. Kaspar volunteers at MellemFolk and explains how you can become a volunteer as well. Author: Pia Behme, www.planetmundus.com
The blue helmets of the United Nations left the only peacekeeping mission in the Americas in early October. But, in the midst of some controversies, the UN will still assist Haiti with a mission only focused on justice support, called “Minusjusth”. Authors: Cecilia Arregui and Mário Braga, www.planetmundus.com
Lithuania has the highest suicide rate in all of Europe. A combination of old legends, post-soviet blues and taboos have all contributed to the sad statistic. But things are changing, and hope is blooming.
Episode 3 of the Old Continent shows how things are changing and how people are now 'Choosing Life in Lithuania'.
A Planet Mundus production, produced at Studenterhus Aarhus
Planet Mundus Show Christmas Edition from December 20, 2017
A procession of girls, wearing a white robe with a red belt and a crown of candles on her heads - that is what the Santa Lucia tradition in Denmark normally looks like. This year, it was a bit different in Aarhus: The Santa Lucia tradition was done with Kajaks, which brought the light from the bay to the city.
Author: Annabell Brockhues www.planetmundus.com
Planet Mundus Show Christmas Edition from December 20, 2017
Have you ever asked yourself where Christmas trees come from? The business is big in Europe and Denmark is playing a significant role in it.
Author: Pia Behme www.planetmundus.com
Planet Mundus Show Christmas Edition from December 20, 2017
It’s Christmas but millions of people around the globe will be spending the holidays far from home. One of these situations underreported situations is the rising number of Venezuelans leaving their country as the economy collapses and the political turmoil takes over. The UN estimates that hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans are living illegally in Colombia, Brazil and neighbouring Caribbean countries.
Author: Mario Braga and Ramon Royandoyan www.planetmundus.com
Planet Mundus Show Christmas Edition from December 20, 2017
Danes like to celebrate Christmas with traditional Christmas lunches and dinners. One of our reporters has attended such a dinner and helped throughout the preparations and cooking. Chaos and fun are guaranteed!
Author: Miriam Karout www.planetmundus.com
Planet Mundus Show Christmas Edition from December 20, 2017
Author: Shubham Kaushik www.planetmundus.com
You look out at the window at 4pm and feel like it's 10pm, you wake up at 7 am and still feel like it’s the middle of the night…How are you supposed to study for final exams? This week's What's up Aarhus introduces some ideas from Danish Master Student Emil and Italian international student Laura, on how to stay happy and motivated when it’s mostly dark and cold in Aarhus. Author: Melanie Raidl, www.planetmundus.com
An initiative in Amsterdam is using plastic waste to re-design urban space, there’s still hope for the Great Barrier Reef that’s being ravaged by bleaching and warming oceans, and Australia looks all set to legalise same-sex marriage before Christmas - there’s still some good in the world!
Exploring Danish Life introduced us to an especially fun activity for movie-fans this December. With the holidays approaching, people are getting ready to stream their favorite movies in their cozy home. In Denmark you just need to wait for the beginning of the advent calendar, for both adults and children’s shows. Some shows air for the first time with fingers crossed to go viral, while others have managed to get rebroadcasted for years. Authors: Jens Renner and Farah Bahgat, www.planetmundus.com
This week's Music & Society artist went through an interesting life journey, randomly discovering his fame in South Africa. Rodriguez thought he would never be successful in the US, but listen how his story changed. Author: Miriam Karout, www.planetmundus.com
When we hear the terms ‘modern slavery’ or ‘human trafficking’, we cannot help but imagine something that only happens very far away. However, these atrocities sometimes occur right down the corner. Slow News focuses on the United Kingdom, regarded as being at the forefront of global efforts to combat modern slavery, and where the National Crime Agency estimates tens of thousands of victims. Authors: Cecilia Arregui and Mário Braga, www.planetmundus.com
Who has the power: Banks or regulators?
Banks in the UK can be seen lobbying to pressure regulators to pass or scrap a certain piece of regulation. Researchers say they also use their close relationship with regulators to channel their views, especially major banks.
In this Planet Mundus Short, reporter Nehal El-Sherif tells the listener another story. She looks at how the new, challenger banks see the regulations and how they perceive their relationship with the regulators in an industry still dominated by few major, influential banks.
This Planet Mundus Short was produced in May 2016 - before the EU referendum in Britain - as part of Nehal's MA dissertation at City University London.
Music used under CC licences.
The Olympics are just around the corner and its qualifications are in full swing. Thousands of athletes worldwide are fighting for the spots – sweating, bleeding, crying and… paying. A lot of money. But how do they get that money? Planet Mundus went out to meet Olympic hopefuls from Great Britain and Germany. Their funding systems work differently, their problem is the same though: Money is short. But they seem to have found a magic cash injection called – careful spoiler alert – Crowdfunding. This Planet Mundus Short was hosted and produced by Kim Laura Schönrock. The following music was used: Composer: Twin Musicon; Title: Italian Afternoon; link: http://www.twinmusicom.org/ Composer: A Himitsu; Title: Adventures; link: http://youtu.be/8BXNwnxaVQE Composer: Mark Birmingham; Title: Olympic Hopefuls; (licensed)
Planet Mundus travels to the Arctic and back - virtually. We talk to an ice navigator, play with beluga whales and learn about ongoing environmental disasters around the Arctic Circle. Many tried to conquer the northwest and northeast passages and paid with their lives.
The Arctic was never an easy territory to survive in. But with global warming going strong, things seem to be changing. Melting sea ice offers many opportunities to explore but also to exploit the unique Arctic nature. Find out what nuclear energy, military stations and the Arctic haze means for the future of a soon-to-be holiday destination.
Be alert: We also hid a treasure in this show. We’ll give you a hint, when you hear the words ‘sea ice’, play them backwards and listen closely.
We talk with Captain David ‘Duke’ Snider and get his take on ice breaking vessels, amateurs in the Arctic and his job as ice navigator. Hamburg correspondent, Ole Krogsgaard, fills us in on the history of the transpolar sea routes, while our Swansea reporter, Daphne Henning, talks about the possible impact on the environment. Our resident funny man, Jan Willems, rounds up the show with his vision of the Arctic future. Host and editor of this show is Swansea based Hans Liedtke.
Put on your polar boots and enjoy the Artic excursion.
To hold legitimate elections during times of turmoil is obviously no easy picking. Ukraine went to the polls in October 2015 and the ongoing conflict complicated the process. In the end, the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk and the Crimea peninsula did not participate in the voting. The OECD and a number of private organisations served as watchdogs in the crisis-ridden country. More than 1,500 international observers were listed.
For this PM Short, our correspondent Hans Liedtke interviewed election observer Steffen Jensen.
Steffen is a Danish human rights activist and he didn’t spare trouble or expense to challenge corruption and fight all sorts of obstacles. Give it a listen to find out how election observers work. Don’t forget to like us if you like us.
With one month of 2016 already drifting into memory, the Planet Mundus team decided to crash our heads together in order to generate some predictions for what will come to pass in 2016. Will Britain leave the EU? Will North Korea send us to Nuclear Armageddon? Will Donald J Trump be the unlikely saviour of the civilised world? Tune in to find out and hear some predictions that you can put your house on*!
Produced and hosted by John Ainger.
*Don't actually put your house on it. We will not be held responsible.
Is Germany with its strong economy and preachments the EU’s evil dragon, who tries to “Germanize” the other member states or is it a country fighting sacrificially for the Union to stay strong? Planet Mundus took its recorders and questions and went on a road trip through Germany to investigate the role of the country within the European Union. We spoke to the lecturer and former financial journalist for Reuters and Bloomberg, Adam Cox, about the economic situation and Dr. Gisela Müller-Brandeck-Bocquet from the University of Würzburg about a potential EU army. We met strangers and friends on the way, all helping us to understand: Why is Germany so keen on keeping the European Union together? This episode is produced by Nehal El-Sherif and Kim Schönrock. Additional reporting by Jan Willems and Hans Liedtke.
Jan Willems takes a critical look at the media coverage of North Korea. Why would anyone bother with the boring factual stuff, when there are tons of crazy rumours to report?
Did you know that Africa’s largest statue is made by North Koreans? Or that diplomats from the closed country have been caught repeatedly smuggling ivory out of Africa? That this is all part of North Korea’s advanced Africa strategy?
We may not hear of this geopolitical game so often, but it exists, it’s extensive - and perhaps even rational.
Planet Mundus talks to a Guinean student who was forced to spend five years of his youth in North Korea. We tell the story of what North Korea is up to in Africa.
The upcoming Climate Conference in Paris makes the world – yet again – look for some climate protection miracles. We at Planet Mundus went to Central America and found such wonder: Costa Rica – the world’s supposedly soon-to-be first carbon neutral country. Join us for a trip to the land of “Pura Vida”.
Produced by Kim Schönrock
What's Grext? A story from the Greek crisis.
This summer, Planet Mundus travelled to the land of feta and debt in search for an answer to the question: what will bring Greece's economy back on track? Starring: Vasilis Floros the taxi driver, Marios the union worker, a cynical journalist, a communist and an economist.
Produced by Freja C. Eriksen
The refugee crisis has undoubtedly been one of the biggest stories of 2015. The incoming refugees and migrants have been described as swarms, hordes, even plagues. But who are these people? And what do they go through in order to reach their preferred destination?
In this Planet Mundus short we set out to investigate exactly that. We visit refugee centers on Kos, asylum centers in Denmark and talk to refugees and experts alike to understand how the asylum system actually works.
What would you do if you had 30 Billion dollars? Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi uses it to revive the economy of his crisis-shaken country. While international institutions and the money lending governments of the Gulf States might see this, many Egyptians remain unsure and skeptical. For them, lacking transparency and deteriorating living standards raise questions about the sense of how the aid money is used. In this Planet Mundus Short, Nehal El-Sherif and Kim Schönrock try to paint a picture of the economic and social situation in the North-African country and to figure out: Where does the money go?
25 years ago Lithuania declared independence. By the following year all the Baltic states were recognised members of the international community.
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are often understood as three close-knit states, but nothing could be further from the truth. In this episode Gabrielė Gedvilaitė from Lithuania and Merilin Iital from Estonia tell us about the development their countries have gone through and explain why the whole idea of a Baltic-ness is a foreign construction that people from the Baltics don't recognize.
We also talk to Lars Johannsen, professor and expert of the Baltics and examine the challenges facing the Baltic states today.
Host is Kim Laura Schönrock
Being an astronaut is a childhood dream of many. Now this dream can come true. It is a journey into the unknown filled with unforgettable experiences. However, there is one hook: You leave everyone behind - forever.
Three. Billion. Dollars. That is the alleged scope of the current corruption scandal of Brazil’s partly state-owned oil company, Petrobras. Brazilian people took to the streets in the last few weeks and protested against the corruption that seems deeply rooted in the system. How corrupt is Brazil? Planet Mundus episode number eight tries to answer this question.
Picture: mcgmatt/Flickr
Depending on where you are, your perception of drones will differ. Even when the discussion focuses on the use of armed drones, heated debates continue over their advantages and disadvantages or how much ethical concerns should be taken into consideration. In this episode of Planet Mundus, Pakistani-US journalist and human rights activist Noor Anwar gives us an insider viewpoint about the attitudes of Pakistanis toward drone strikes in their country and what is the alternative they see in the fight against militants.
Picture: Steve Rhodes/Flickr
This Planet Mundus Extra gives you two in depth interviews with a Western and a Russian journalist who you may have met already in Episode 6. They are explaining how the Russian media may be part of the reason for President Putin's popularity. In the first part you will meet Matilde Kimer, who works for the Danish Broadcasting Corporation as a foreign correspondent in Russia and Ukraine. The second part features Yura Zhalin. An online journalist for one of Russia’s oldest publishing houses Kommersant, based in Moscow.
Nobody in the world is as popular as Putin, at least within his own backyard. With an approval rating of 88%, the Russians seem to adore the man who arguably has thrown Russia into international isolation and steered Russia into an economic crisis. In this Planet Mundus episode we investigate why.
In order to answer this question, we have interviewed foreign correspondents, university professors and Russian journalists. And we are joined in the studio by two young Russians, Yana Zakhvatova and Varvara Morozova, who will give their personal perspective on Putin and Russia.
And as always we have Jan Willems. This week he is armed with nothing less than the truth: the show ends with a shocking revelation.
In episode number five, Planet Mundus focuses on same-sex marriage and asks: What is it like to be homo- or bisexual in the US? Our reporter Qing Li and John Ainger talked to director Jannik Spildsboel about his opinions and his documentary, “Misfits,” on the topic of gay teenagers in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This addition provides you the whole interview with him.
America: That means freedom, opportunities and equality. For everybody? In episode number five Planet Mundus focuses on same-sex marriage and asks: What is it like to be homo- or bisexual in the US? We look at personal stories from the United States as American journalist Daphne Henning talks about her experiences growing up in the conservative south and we also discuss the curious case of Alabama in the narrative of gay rights.
Planet Mundus goes to Southern Europe. With youth unemployment rates over 50%, the young people in Spain have already been dubbed the ‘lost generation’. But what does that mean for the individual? Planet Mundus talks to Spaniards in Spain and abroad to try and gauge the situation. We also focus on the meteoric rise of Podemos, a party rapidly altering the Spanish political scene.
Plummeting oil prices and the violence of Boko Haram are just two of the enormous problems facing Nigeria shortly before incumbent president Jonathan Goodluck (pictured) is up for re-election. Planet Mundus is visited by Idris Akinbajo, a prize winning investigative reporter and former young person of the year in Nigeria. He is very worried that the election won't stay peaceful. Hear why in this podcast, that also features an interview with prominent Nigerian musician Pasuma Wonder. He is part of an effort to get out the vote among the young people who account for the majority of the population.
A month ago, Barack Obama and Raul Castro announced a historic deal to amongst other establish diplomatic relations. We look at what the Cuban population expects from the change, and what has happened so far.
This Planet Mundus Short features Cuban journalist José Cárdenas and Danish Ph.D. Student and Cuba expert Sjamme van de Voort.
In this show we at Planet Mundus tackle the phenomenon IS in a couple of ways. We go to the Danish mosque that allegedly is responsible for radicalizing a lot of the Danes who've gone to fight jihad. We talk to a journalist who's fled the civil war in Syria and now fights a battle of information from Denmark. And the always hilarious Jan Willems apparently managed to secure an exclusive one-on-one with one of the main beheaders of IS.