A Home in the World

A Home in the World

As human beings become more mobile, the concept of home is changing dramatically. Suddenly we can be "connected" without being "rooted." But real places remain important, both for individuals and for cultural groups. The stories in A Home in the World look at the complex physical and emotional connections between identity and place—between who we are and where we live.

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Feature stories heard in this hour

Kinvara: A Spirit of Place
For much of the 20th century, the town of Kinvara, on Ireland's west coast, was rich in charm but poor in just about everything else. Then the Celtic Tiger awoke. Today, Ireland is one of the richest countries in the world, and Kinvara is crawling with developers and speculators. As Frank Browning discovers, the boom has forced the townsfolk to ask tough questions about what sort of community they want to live in.

Chiloé: A Bridge Too Far?
Chiloé, off the coast of Chile, is known for its misty beauty, quaint architecture and distinctive cuisine. Now the government is proposing to build the longest suspension bridge in Latin America to connect Chiloé to the mainland. Officials say the bridge will improve access to hospitals and other services, and reduce the hassles for tourists. But many islanders aren't sure they want to be connected. Alan Weisman reports.

The Imaginary Village
In 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced to flee their homes to make way for the new state of Israel. More than 50 years later, the villages of Palestine remain intact in the imaginations of refugees and their descendents. The story was produced by Sandy Tolan and Melissa Robbins. Original music was composed and performed by Mohsen Subhi Abdelhamid.

Related stories

Camisea: A Light in the Jungle
For the native peoples of the Amazon, petroleum development has often been an environmental and cultural nightmare. But in Camisea, a huge natural gas deposit in eastern Peru, the oil companies say they're committed to getting it right. Some of the native Machiguenga people see the project as a ticket out of poverty and isolation. Others see a darker side. Sandy Tolan, Jason Felch and Chris Raphael report.

North End Neighborhood
Boston's North End is bursting with Old World charm. Its narrow streets, small shops and ethnic restaurants have attracted young professionals and driven up property values. But a proposed commercial development has newcomers and old-timers at odds over the type of neighborhood they want to live in. As Allan Coukell reports, their positions aren't what you might expect.

Higher Ground: Borneo Resettlement
In the late 1990s, the government of Malaysia uprooted 15,000 indigenous people to make way for the giant Bakun dam. Most were resettled in "model" towns, where unemployment, drugs and crime took root. About 400 members of the Kenyah tribe decided to build their own resettlement center instead. Why does this model community work better than the official ones? Reese Erlich reports.

Series credits

Executive Producer: Jon Miller
Associate Producers: Lara Ratzlaff and Melissa Robbins
Senior Producers: Sandy Tolan and Alan Weisman
Host: María Hinojosa
Engineer: Robin Wise of Sound Imagery
Theme music: Samite, whose non-profit organization is Musicians for World Harmony
Website design: Jackie Cerretani of Lost Art Media

Thanks to (alphabetically): the AIR listserve, Jay Allison, Chris Ballman, Helen Barrington, Vincie Bertolino, Deb Blakeley, Peter Breslow, David L. Brown, Steve Burke, Bill Buzenberg, Betsy Gardella, Deborah George, Peggy Girshman, Nancy Hand, Beckie Kravetz, Loren Jenkins, Martha Little, Ingrid Lobet, Margaret Low Smith, Joyce MacDonald, Amy Mayer, Rebecca Nelson, Eric Nuzum, Keith Porter, Nancy Postero, Jeff Ramirez, Rod Richards, Marcus Rosenbaum, Didi Schanche, Steve Schultze, Stu Seidel, Jacqueline Sharkey, Bill Sokol, Sue Schardt, Bari Scott, Lynn Szwaja, Gwen Thompkins, Jeff Towne, Cecilia Vaisman, Gosia Wojniacka, Ellen Yuan.

Thanks also to the following people for granting interviews for the Worlds of Difference specials: Vohra Anupam, Hurriyet Babacan, Tyler Cowen, Wade Davis, Jonathan Friedman, Chip Gagnon, Barry Gills, Michael Hardt, Debra Harry, Mickey Hart, Ronald Inglehart, Pico Iyer, Mark Juergensmeyer, Smitu Kothari, Luisa Maffi, Ali Mazrui, Bill McKibben, Walter Mignolo, Ashis Nandy, Brendan O'Leary, Agnes Pareiyo, Kaiping Peng, Jules Pretty, Amartya Sen, Richard Chase Smith, Suresh Sharma, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Rhajib Vohra, Owens Wiwa, Mato Wyacopi.

Major funding for Worlds of Difference comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Polson Institute for Global Development at Cornell University and the Department of Journalism at the University of Arizona.

Homelands Productions is a non-profit journalism cooperative specializing in radio documentaries. Its mission is to illuminate complex issues through compelling broadcasts, articles, books and educational forums, and to foster freedom of expression and creative risk through the media arts.