Citizen Reporter

Erik Nelson moved from house to house as an urban dweller, never living in a space that he felt connected to. Until he found forest land that appealed to him and built his own home there.  Or as he explains it:  "While most people find a job and then live near that job, we picked the place where we really want to live and then made it work with jobs we could get." But approach to work isn't the only thing interesting about how Erik and his family live. In this podcast we talk about the reasons for making your own home on the side of a hill in Vermont, how the experience was building it and how it is now living there. In his experience we find yet another example of those who have left the conventional path and made their own home in a unique place/way. Recommended: Erik's Vlog, Wreck & Salvage and the entire collection of house photos on flickr.

The goal to live life on their terms took Ryanne and Jay from New York City to San Francisco and eventually to Western Virginia.  It is here that this dynamic couple set out to build their own home, grow some of their own food, work on their terms, and generally tinker with life choices that were previously not an option or unaffordable.  The result is an inspiring start to healthy, stimulating and more sustainable life at a time where so many feel such goals are unreachable. In this program I'm joined by Ryanne and Jay via skype as they explain how they came to this decision and all the aspects of the home and life they have built together in a place you might not have expected to find them. Their Flickr Photos documenting their projects Ryan is Hungry, the Vlog Follow Jay and Ryanne on twitter

What happens when two New Yorkers leave their successful careers and fabulous apartments in favor of building their own house and a new kind of life on a former trailer park in New Mexico? 5 years ago Wendy Tremayn and Mikey Sklar set off to live life in a radically different way in Truth and Consequences, New Mexico. Building their own home-compound. Growing a lot of their own food. Using alternative energy and sources for basic needs. And working from home as independent professionals and entrepreneurs. Whats more, they've been blogging and vlogging the process the whole way. How did they do it? What do they say about the experience 5 years in? Whats the biggest drawback or benefit? Listen to this inspiring couple as we cover all this and more. Part 1 in a series that focuses on the topic of making your own home, work, and life in what these days might be considered a nonconventional way. (note there was an extremely loud storm in Amsterdam as I recorded this interview, so be ready for the sounds of rain

This month saw one of the first major uprisings against the government in Angola in recent memory. It was organized, you guessed it- with the help of social media. After Gaddafi, President José Eduardo dos Santos is the longest running leader of an African state (32 years). And just like with  the now-fugitive Muammar, many are saying this presidency has gone on for too long. But can change finally come to Angola? Joining me for a podcast conversation about the reports that have come out of Angola this month is citizen of the world and Global Voices contributor Janet Gunter.  Together we try to understand and explain where the country stands when it comes to politics, economy, human rights, and prospects for the future.

When the city of Vancouver made the push to get the Winter Olympics, Joe Bowser and citizens throughout BC were opposed. Through the ballot box and demonstrations they expressed their disapproval. As a result, they were spied on, targeted, and to this day followed by a Canadian government that knows no limits and sees opposition as terrorism. I caught up with Joe at CCC2011, just a few weeks ago. He had presented his experience as the target of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that has left him with little doubt that the present and future of Canada is dark. In this interview we discuss: The Winter Olympics Proposal The B.C. budget crisis First Nations People of BC Anti-Olympics Network Annecy Olympics The Harper Government The future

An investigative journalist in the Netherlands has exposed major security flaws in a major government project which promised safe and easy travel throughout the country. He has been reporting the results of his work to both the public and the government. The goal was to inform the public while also pressuring decision makers to address this problem before further damage is done. The result, however, is that Brenno de Winter is now being prosecuted for his journalistic investigation. Laws that protect a journalist in such a situation? -the Netherlands doesn't have any. How can that be? In this podcast Brenno explains the saga as he now faces jail time as punishment for having exposed massive flaws in a 3 billion euro investment (OV-Chip Card) carried out with public funds. Follow Brenno on twitter for the latest info on the case AND the card.

There is a direct connection between armed conflict in Congo and the minerals we use in our phones and computers. Bibi Bleekemolen has been investigating that connection, in an effort to understand how it works, who is involved, and what can be done about it.  Her focus is the role that electronics companies have in the raging conflicts in eastern Congo. Earlier this year she went along as part of the fairphone fact finding mission to Katanga.  In this podcast we discuss the aftermath of that journey as well as Bibi's extensive research into the topic. Recommended Links about Conflict Minerals and Congo: SOMO NIZA

Earlier this year Michael Schaap went to DRCongo as part of the Fairphone fact finding mission. The goal was to better understand how the minerals that make up our technology, our mobile phones, are mined and how they travel from miners up through all the middle people and eventually to the mobile phone producers.  Can this process be carried out ethically? Where people are not taken advantage of or abused while doing their work and earning a living? Michael saw first hand how this process works and where things could perhaps change. But does the organization have the resources and support to achieve their goals? What lessons came out of the visit to Katanga?

Since the beginning of 2011 Juan Rodriguez has been working in Afghanistan with the mission to help this country communicate.  This has meant bringing internet connectivity to schools, mobile phones for farmers, and an array of crowdsource projects for health, security, and agriculture.  On one beautiful and relaxed Friday afternoon in Jalalabad, Juan and I sat in the garden of the wonderful Taj to record this program and tell this story.

You don't often hear from poets in Afghanistan, but beyond all the politics and violence that gets all the press, they've been there all along, writing, reciting, performing... My guest is Wida Sharifi, a poet and writer based here in Herat. She joins me to tell me about how she got her start in poetry and how the world of poetry works in Afghanistan. We also get into literacy, television, work, and more.

The violence and threats occasionally are reported about in the mainstream media. The threats to funding have also grabbed headlines this year. Almost two years since the murder of Dr. Tiller, what is the state of abortion in the United States? For those who perform the procedure. For those who need or want the procedure. How have things been changing for all the actors involved over the past few years. To explain the state of things I'm visiting with one of my favorite people,  Leah, of the Philadelphia Women's Center. She was last on the program back in December of 2007, discussing the state of abortion in America at that time.

The way people talk and think about poverty has a major influence in how it is addressed in society. The problem is that there is a limited amount of research regarding perceptions of poverty in different parts of the world and throughout history. Armando Barrientos, Professor and Research Director at the Brooks World Poverty Institute (Manchester),  has extensive experience with research and policy related to perception of poverty. He joins me on this podcast to talk about what trends can be identified and even a bit of possible good news when it comes to global poverty.

Driving outside of Tbilisi on the way to the ancient city Mtskheta, my hosts and I talk about Georgian language and how it has been effected by decades of Soviet Occupation and migration patterns. We also delve into Russian-Georgian relations today and how war is still very much part of the language and memory of the nation. You can follow one of the guests on this episode via his twitter account. The other guest will remain anonymous.

I suddenly find myself in the republic of Georgia and the first thing one needs when arriving in a new country such as Georgia is a guide. Mark Mullen knows Georgia, he has been here since the late 90's and pays close attention to what is going on in the present. Who better to sit down with on my first night in Tbilisi, to talk about this country. Mark's Podcast about Georgia

As I travel around the Northeast of the United States, I am also struggling to keep up with events unfolding in Spain. Disturbing events as protesters throughout the country suffer the wrath of a police force out of control. While millions throughout the country assemble in city squares demanding political and social reform, their story goes mostly unreported and downplayed by many international media outlets.  What is going on in Spain? On today's podcast I talk about the situation, while also giving an update to several themes from recent podcasts.

As a designer, at some point David Kousemaker became interested in finding where our old phones and electronics in general end up once we in the western world throw them away.  His interest took him to parts of Indonesia, China, Brazil and Thailand, among other places. There he observed not only how things like mobile phones are broken down, recycled, rebuilt etc, he also saw how entire industries and ecosystems form around these practices. Through his photos and blog entries you can follow his travels and see some of the highlights.  David Kousemaker met up with me here in Amsterdam to talk about how he got into this subject and what he learned from the journey about just how big an impact our love of gadgets is having on this world.

Eleanor Saitta

Nadia Plesner is a concerned citizen of the world as well as an artist, and she's deeply troubled by what has been happening in Darfur. She's also frustrated with the lack of media coverage the topic recieves, while showbiz news has no such shortage of attention.  In her painting "Darfurnica" as well as her other work, Nadia has been depicting images of  the horrors that people live in Darfur, the political maneuvering that goes on, and images of what makes major media headlines instead of Darfur.  In part of Darfurnica, there appears the infamous photo of the ghastly thin Sudanese child, adorned in Paris Hilton style with a chiwawa in one hand and a Louis Vuitton bag in the other. This is the story of how the painting came together, and how LV would file a lawsuit against Nadia. Demanding that she not show her artwork which contains images of their bag, and calling for her to pay an expensive penalty (€5,000 per each day the painting is shown) if she doesn't take down her work.  The case is pending a decisi

In post Katrina New Orleans, prisons and the justice system suffer from a long list of problems, many of which were there before the floods. They're also the subject of a battle being fought by community leaders to change and fix how crime is addressed in a city fighting to rise again. My guest for this podcast is Jordan Flaherty, a journalist and community organizer based in New Orleans, where he works on an impressive list of social issues. His book, Floodlines: Community and Resistance from Katrina to the Jena 6 focuses on the struggle of people in New Orleans, the stories of community and culture that do not often reach the mainstream media.

Several weeks following our initial interview with Matthew Dons following the Earthquake-Tsumani and subsequent Nuclear Accident in Japan; we're back again to do an update. Together we discuss the Japanese media, food supply, the rescue-emergency workers, and the behavior of the nuclear industry since this disaster.