Far Flung with Saleem Reshamwala

Jan 27/2024

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  This week on Far Flung we’re excited to introduce TED’s newest podcast, Good Sport, hosted by veteran sports producer Jody Avirgan. What can sports teach us about life – and each other? Good Sport brings you invigorating stories from on and off the field to argue that sports are as powerful and compelling a lens[...]
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  In 2017, Alex Honnold did what even the world’s best rock climbers thought was impossible. He climbed to the top of El Capitan– a granite rock mountain more than 3,000 feet high– without a rope, harness, or net. His audacious feat was the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary “Free Solo." On this episode of ReThinking,[...]
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  Where do you go to feel a sense of community? On the outskirts of Istanbul, one refugee community gathers to recreate a sense of home and empower themselves at a boxing gym. Listen to how the Uyghur community in Turkey is fighting in and outside of the ring to preserve their culture and identity, and[...]
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  The Bean needs to move over—there’s a new art movement in Chicago, and it’s led by artists who are completely reimagining how residents think about the spaces around them. From an artist who turned abandoned homes into art by painting them in colors rooted in Black culture, to another who used a multimedia exhibit to[...]
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  Where do you go when you sleep? An enchanted forest…or haunted woods? Flying over a breathtaking mountain top… or in a crowd, wearing just your underwear?! According to the Bön Tibetan Buddhist tradition, wherever you “go” in your dreams matters, and dreams can tell you a lot about yourself–if you know how to listen. From[...]
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  Barcelona is a city that can’t be separated from its art–you might picture Gaudí architecture, Picasso paintings, or flamenco and jazz spilling onto the streets and into the night. But there’s another art scene that’s breaking into the mainstream from the margins–led by the city’s street vendors, known as manteros. Listen to how this group[...]
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  When was the last time you really took notice of the wind? Whether it’s a cooling breeze on a hot day, or a dust storm blowing into every crevice of your body, the wind is an unpredictable and constant, yet invisible force in our lives. Countries and cultures around the world even have names, gods,[...]
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  Icelandic is an ancient and iconic language. So iconic, in fact, it was a major inspiration to J.R.R. Tolkien when he was writing Lord of the Rings. Iceland even has institutes that promote its longevity, and this care has allowed the language to persevere over 800 years! But with the digital age, and the strict[...]
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  Sandy beaches, amazing wildlife, Caribbean blue seas—Puerto Rico is known as the Island of Enchantment for a reason. But it’s also one of the oldest colonies in the world. And as a U.S. territory, Puerto Ricans have very little say in the U.S. government. The island has a complicated history—but its people are constantly fighting to[...]
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  To get to school, work, or another town in Nepal, it helps if you don’t have a fear of heights. That’s because this mountainous terrain (it’s home to Mount Everest after all) is connected via THOUSANDS of bridges. Whether permanent or seasonal, made of bamboo and rope or pulleys and wire, suspended above incredible mountains[...]
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  It’s 1988, and Somalis are fleeing the city of Hargeisa. People are trying to get out, trying to save their families and sometimes their things. But in the city’s radio station, staff are packing cassettes and reel to reel recordings into a secret underground bunker. What's on them? A slice of the country’s musical heritage,[...]
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  We all know that information is power; but what if you live in a country without a free press or regular access to the internet? You have to be creative, and find nimble ways to help your community stay informed. That’s exactly what journalists in Caracas, Venezuela are doing by delivering the news every weekday…on[...]
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  You don’t need to travel to feel thrilled about a new place; if the last two years have taught us anything, it’s that the ideas, cultures, and charm of our world can reach us wherever we are. This season on Far Flung with Saleem Reshamwala, we journey across the globe to bring you incredible, unique[...]
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  Jon Batiste has had a record year—he was the most nominated artist at the Grammys, winning five of his ELEVEN nominations across multiple categories, including Album of the Year. When he’s not making musical history, he’s a touring artist, late-night band leader, and Oscar-winning composer. In this episode, Jon talks with Adam about the creative[...]
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  Great news—Far Flung will be back for another season in June. We can't wait to take you on ten new audio journeys across the world, from Puerto Rico to Nepal to Somalia to Chicago and beyond. But before that, something different. We're sharing an episode of another podcast Saleem hosts called More Than A Feeling.[...]
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  Did you consider moving over the last two years? If you did, you’re not alone. People all over the world for so many different reasons considered moving: to be closer to family, to live somewhere more affordable, to kick back in a warmer climate. When Mona wrestles with this question, she pulls out a spreadsheet[...]
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  “I thought I'd come to paradise,” said Jane Ball Groom upon arriving in Soul City, North Carolina. It wasn’t amenities or location that made Soul City paradise, but the promise of what it could be: a city built by Black people, for Black people. Our guests take us back to 1969 when the city was[...]
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  Traveling is tricky right now and, for most, the boundaries of our worlds have shrunk dramatically. So a lot of people are spending a lot more time in virtual places, like Sea of Thieves, Fortnite, Ultima Online and more. Explore how these online worlds help us push past real-world boundaries and have vastly new experiences,[...]
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  Imagine a view with almost perfect visibility, a near edgeless, perfectly black night sky. That’s the Painted Desert. Join us on a field trip with architect Wanda Dalla Costa, who will take us through the desert to explore the architectural practices of several indigenous tribes and reveal how light and design influence the way we move through[...]
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  Meet Liberato Kani, a hip hop artist in Lima, Peru—or as he says, “the Andean Bronx”. At his concerts, a typical call and response you hear is "Quechua es resistencia": Quechua is resistance. Though Quechua is spoken by nearly ten million people, Peru's native language is at risk of dying off because of anti-indigenous prejudice. Liberato[...]
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  What happens to a tourist paradise when no one shows up to visit? Rapa Nui, known to many as Easter Island, typically welcomes more than 120,000 visitors each year—which is a lot for a place with only 10,000 residents. After COVID-19 shuts down flights to this remote island, citizens reimagine what their lives, their livelihood,[...]
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  Nearly 400 years ago, a tiny town in Germany made a bargain with God: spare its people from the Black Plague and we'll put on a play in your honor... forever. And it worked! Now every decade, the entire town comes together to stage the play, drawing massive crowds to one of the largest religious[...]
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  Harnessing the creativity of a megalopolis isn't easy, but Mexico City shows us how it's done. Follow a real-life superhero who dons a luchador mask and cape to protect his fellow residents from speeding cars, learn how citizens are hacking their way to a better public transport system, and see what it takes to crowd-source[...]
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  With each step, you slide 400,000 years back in time. Where are you? Behind a hardware store in New Jersey — which also happens to be a massive prehistoric graveyard. The only thing that can save it from turning into an apartment complex is geologist Ken Lacovara, a Leslie Knope-type local government official, and a[...]
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  Fun, fierce and frivolous: AfroBubbleGum is an art movement from Nairobi, Kenya, that challenges the narratives often seen about Africa as limited to war, poverty and devastation. But sharing this joyous art is no frivolous task — it can even mean having your work banned. See why AfroBubbleGum faces opposition and what artists, like filmmaker Wanuri[...]
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  Let's say you go into labor in the back of a taxi. The traffic is so bad you don't know if you'll make it to the hospital on time. You make the obvious call to the local radio station—which serves as an emergency hotline, lost and found, and community noticeboard all at once. Now a[...]

Far Flung with Saleem Reshamwala is a journey across the globe in search of the world’s most surprising and imaginative ideas. It’s not a travel show, exactly. It’s a deep dive into the ideas that shape a particular spot on the map, brought to you by local journalists and creators. Weave through the streets of Bangkok with a motorcycle midwife. Time-travel with dinosaurs behind a hardware store in New Jersey. Meet a guy who dresses up as a luchador to protect citizens from traffic in Mexico City. Drop in, listen up, dig deep. (And yes, we used to be called Pindrop!)