Specials

Worlds of Difference Specials

Each Worlds of Difference hour-long special combines feature stories with narration, the insights of leading thinkers, music and other sound. María Hinojosa hosts. The series is distributed by NPR.

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	Finding a Niche This hour looks at how traditional societies are responding to the challenges and opportunities of the global economy. Features include a lyrical piece on the cultural impact of the collapse of the Newfoundland cod fishery; a report from Scotland's Outer Hebrides, where entrepreneurs are using the Internet to keep an ancient culture from dying; a look at a Mexican town's attempt to market its hand-made liquor; and an account of an Andean village's anguished decision about whether to sell its native potatoes to city buyers.
	Finding a Voice More than half the languages spoken around the world today will be gone before the century is over. What does that mean for the people who speak them? What does that mean for the rest of us? This hour explores the connections between language and identity at a time of dizzying linguistic and cultural change. Stories look at efforts to revive Ladino and Welsh; at contemporary musicians performing in Provençal and Maori; and at an attempt to translate the Bible into an indigenous language in Mexico.
	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 groups. The stories this hour look at the complex connections between identity and place—between who we are and where we live. Features come from a boomtown in Ireland, an island off the coast of Chile, and Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank and Lebanon.
	The Spirit Calls Since the 18th century, people have been predicting that the end was near for organized religion. But religion seems to be getting stronger—and the forces that were once thought to spell its doom may be fueling its revival. Featured this hour are a French family that is reconsidering its Jewish identity; intellectual pagans and Orthodox rockers in Greece; Evangelicals and Buddhists in Korea; and veterans of both sides of an ambitious Mormon missionary program for the Navajo.
	Coming to Terms This hour features four societies compelled to confront the past as they chart their course to the future. Stories are from Burundi, where former enemies are learning how to share power without violence; northern Spain, where a Basque family is divided on the question of self-determination; western Canada, where members of the Haida Nation are symbolically reclaiming what is theirs; and Istanbul, where a novelist digs for memories—and for clues about the future—on the street where she once lived and wrote.
	Choosing a Path For millennia, who we were depended largely on the circumstances of our birth. Today we're exposed to nearly endless cultural options, and identity is increasingly a matter of choice. The stories this hour look at people and cultures at moments of decision about the path to the future. Featured are a Roma couple in Hungary; the Maasai people of Kenya; Hawaiian drug addicts; the Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan; and a grassroots movement in Sri Lanka built on the dream of an alternate road to happiness.

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.