Recent comments in /f/worldnews

npr OP t1_j9harx9 wrote

A tech nerd! I defer to my producer and engineer colleagues on this one. When I'm in the field on my own, I usually use an RE-50 mic...but this is mostly because it's what NPR gave me at the very beginning of my career (more than 20 years ago), and it is indestructible. Also because I fear change.

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npr OP t1_j9hahtv wrote

We visited a town in Southern Spain called Palos de la Frontera just after the day that the US calls either Indigenous People's Day or Columbus Day. We didn't see Spain making any over effort to re-assess the legacy of colonialism in the way the US has. Colonialist attitudes can be hard to uproot. Put another way - racism is real. In Spain, the population is overwhelmingly white. European politicians have a lot to gain by portraying people from Africa as invaders. But of course this isn't unique to Spain, or even to Europe. Donald Trump began his first presidential campaign with the racist claim that Mexico was sending rapists to the United States. One of his most frequent applause lines as president was that he would build a wall along the southern US border. One reason we wanted to do this project is because these themes are playing out all over the world. To me, whether political leaders believe their talking points is almost less important than the impact those policies are having on the world.

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