podcast

Episode 59: A Refugee Camp Based On Solidarity

Pikpa Camp has been threatened with closure by October 15th, 2020!

For more information on how you can help to #SavePikpa join this group.

Originally from Athens, Efi Latsoudi studied psychology and worked with a range of vulnerable communities before moving to Lesvos in 2001. Efi’s experiences and her story provide a historical perspective on the refugee crisis in Greece that we almost never get from traditional media. For starters, refugees didn’t start coming to Greece in 2015. That story starts much earlier, and many of the problems and tensions we are seeing today are a repeat of events that took place more than a decade ago. Efi Latsoudi began her work with refugees on Lesvos in the mid 2000’s but it was in 2012 that she founded PIKPA camp, a self-organized squat-camp for refugees, and a political statement about how vulnerable people might be housed and treated if communities and resources were brought together in a more thoughtful and compassionate way. To put it bluntly, PIKPA is the antithesis of Moria Camp. The camp is also very small. At its height in 2015 it hosted around 600 people. But its capacity is closer to 150. However PIKPA is far more than a space for alternative housing. It distributes food, offers language classes and other services, and since its opening in 2012 it’s served tens of thousands of people.

This episode is the third segment of a multi-part collaboration between Latitude Adjustment Podcast and Croatian NGO, Are You Syrious.

 
 
For More Information About PIKPA Camp and Mosaik Support Center

For More Information About PIKPA Camp and Mosaik Support Center

 
 
 

Episode 53: The Protests - Iraq

The current protests in Iraq began at the start of October. Much like the ongoing protests in Lebanon, the protests in Iraq have largely been mobilized by youth, with no clear leadership, and with a decidedly anti-sectarian focus, with demands to address chronic unemployment, and to reform entrenched corruption and rule by political elites.

They are also the largest protest in Iraq since the end of the Saddam Hussein regime. Unlike Lebanon, protests in Iraq have seen a heavy handed response from the government that has already led to more than 300 deaths.

We speak with political analyst Raed Jarrar to get more context, and to learn what and who are behind the protests and just who is running Iraq these days.

This episode is the second in a series that Latitude Adjustment podcast will be putting out on current protests around the world. Be sure to check out the other episodes in the ongoing series.

#LatitudeAdjustment_Protests

 
 
 
 

Episode 23: Reporting India

Meena Menon is the author of three books, and her reporting career has seen her covering a broad range of topics in India, and also took her to Islamabad, Pakistan as the correspondent for The Hindu. We discuss her experiences as an Indian reporting from Pakistan and India-Pakistan relations, the suicides of tens of thousands of Indian farmers since the 1980’s and the colonial legacy of the cotton industry, the 1992-93 sectarian riots in Mumbai, and her thoughts on the upcoming general elections in India, the world’s largest democracy. You can find links to her three books below.

Latitude Adjustment is 100% listener supported. If you dig our content and our mission then swing by our new Patreon page and sign up to contribute a dollar or two (or more) a month so I can pay the bills while I make things. Thanks!

Correction: in the introduction I mistakenly stated that the Babri Mosque was located in the state of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

 
 
 
 

Episode 12: Squat the Planet founder

Matthew Derrick is the founder of Squat the Planet, an "online community for misfit travelers". Starting out as a personal travel journal StP has evolved into an online community of anarchists, travel punks, train hoppers, and people from all walks of life connected by their commitment to "travel by any means necessary". Matt and I talk about his travels and what he envisions for the future of StP. Also be sure to check out my appearance on the Squat the Planet Podcast at the link below. Be sure to catch the Squat the Planet Podcast live streaming every Sunday at 12pm Pacific Coast Time.

Check out the PDF or order a hard copy of Matt’s book, “The Anarchist’s Guide to Travel”

 

My appearance on the Squat the Planet Podcast…

Episode 5: From Syria to Berlin, Part 1 of 2

Aram AlSaed was a paramedic and a student of fine arts before he left Syria in 2015, traveling by bus, plane, boat, and by foot to reach Germany, while stopping along the way to provide medical and translation support for other refugees.

In this first of a two-part interview, I speak with him about life in Syria before the war, when things began to change, his work as a paramedic in Syria, when he realized that it was time for he and his brother to leave, and his journey up to the German border. 

Be sure to browse the additional content provided below for current information on the state of the refugee crisis in the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. 

And be sure to catch the second half of the interview in the next episode. 

 
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Sign up & stay informed!

Are You Syrious provides daily news digests from the field, mainly for volunteers and refugees on the route, but also for journalists and other parties.

 
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Information resources for refugees & asylum seekers...

There are more than 60,000 refugees in Greece and an overwhelming demand for information to understand what is happening to them. Refucomm is a nonprofit registered in Germany and working in Greece to provide multilingual instruction materials and videos that inform people about their rights, asylum procedures, and how to prepare for their interviews.

Episode 4: Clara de la Torre- Pro Boxer, Firefighter & Traveler

Clara is one of those people who just seem programmed from birth to dive into life with both feet and to experience as many things as possible along the way. And aside from stints as a professional boxer and a wilderness firefighter, she's seen a lot of the world from some unusual vantage points. I met Clara in New Mexico about 9 years ago, before I started my own long stretch of solo travel. Aside from discussing her travel and her career paths, we also talk about growing up as hyper religious kids and we examine the similar experiences that we've had in dealing with grief. Plus I struggle to remember some stuff I read about Socrates a long time ago, and try to see how his observations might apply to daily life and the way we approach relationships with others.

And, we’ve just launched a Patreon page for Latitude Adjustment podcast. The show will remain free to the public, but if you find value in it then please consider supporting us with a dollar or more per month to help make our efforts sustainable. And remember to tell your friends about us! Thank you for your support!

 

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Clara recommends Kiva for those looking to make an impact…

“Kiva is an international nonprofit, founded in 2005 and based in San Francisco, with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty.”

Episode 2: Tara Todras-Whitehill, Middle East Photojournalist

I met Tara in Cairo in 2012, and then again in Washington DC. A recipient of the James Foley Award for Conflict Reporting, she's been on the move for a long time, both as a veteran of Middle East reporting with Reuters, AP, and the New York Times, and now with her own production company, Vignette Interactive, which helps humanitarian nonprofits tell their stories through mixed media. Her photos have lead the front page of the New York Times and recent assignments have taken her to Nepal and Nigeria. 

We discuss her intense first day on the job in Beirut, how she got into photojournalism, the challenges and advantages of being a woman in her field, work-life balance in a notoriously demanding profession, and the relationships between foreign reporters and the local teams and communities they interact with.

And, we’ve just launched a Patreon page for Latitude Adjustment podcast. The show will remain free to the public, but if you find value in it then please consider supporting us with a dollar or more per month to help make our efforts sustainable. And remember to tell your friends about us! Thank you for your support!

 

 

Photo credits left-to-right: Matt Ford, Evelyn Kahungu-Kihara, and Kevin Frayer

 

It's the Latitude Adjustment Manifesto Teaser Intro Episode!

Welcome to Latitude Adjustment and to a journey around the world through conversation!

This will be an interview-format show, but for this initial teaser episode I'll be introducing myself and offering some reflections from my years of solo travel across the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, Europe, and the US-Mexico borderlands. Also, thoughts on why it's our moral and civic duty to be curious, examining some of the formulas that are often used to manipulate populations into allowing and committing acts of violence, why we should give ourselves permission to be ignorant, and an invitation to participate in the conversation after each show. I'm just one guy figuring this out, so thanks for your patience and for tuning in! Join the conversation group on Facebook and swing by iTunes and leave a nice review... it will help the show get noticed. 

Latitude Adjustment is 100% listener supported. If you agree that we need more independent media that prioritizes curiosity and connections over fear and divisions then please support us with a monthly donation through our Patreon page. Thanks!