Far From Home

Over the past 2 months, more than 5 million people have left Ukraine, and another 6-and-a-half-million have fled their homes and are now displaced elsewhere within their own country, making this Europe’s largest humanitarian crisis since World War II. Neighboring countries are struggling to keep up with the exodus, but they’ve generally been fairly welcoming, which many critics have pointed out is...

On this episode, I speak to Savelli and Olexander, two Ukrainians who’ve suddenly had their lives upended after the Russian military invaded their country. ————- On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org

Central Asia is not a place that most Westerners know or think about very often. But now that I’ve been there, my ears perk up on the rare instances when it makes the news, as was the case on two separate occasions over the past few weeks. In light of recent developments in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, I re-play excerpts of some episodes I featured several years ago on the first season of Far From...

Take Santa Claus. Then ditch the red suit and the flying reindeer, and you’ve got a guy who’s all about giving. On this last episode of my third season, I tell the story of the time my dad tried out the role and got more than he bargained for! This story originally aired many years ago on NPR’s Day to Day. Thanks to my editor Russell Lewis. ————- On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journa...

Nearly 2 years into the Covid-19 pandemic, new waves of infection continue to spread around the world, and the Omicron variant is causing renewed fears in places that previously thought they had the virus under control. So I’m releasing another episode in my series where I check in with friends and colleagues around the world to get a sense of what things are like where they live. This time we hea...

Having grown up just outside of New York City, I visited most of the big tourist attractions like the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and Rockefeller Center when I was a kid. But when you spend a lot of time in a place and get to know it well, you start to discover some really cool but lesser-known areas, and those are the ones I always like to share with friends when they come from...

When you travel, it’s inevitable that you’ll occasionally have weird or random experiences, where you might have certain expectations before you arrive at a place, but then you’re totally thrown for a loop. Sometimes it’s frustrating, and other times it ends up being a pleasant surprise, but either way, it’s unexpected, and there’s this moment where you can’t help but stop, take a breath, and thin...

In the immediate aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks, President Bush vowed revenge against the perpetrators, but not everyone found his words comforting. Around this time, a small but vocal group of people got together to speak out. They were the parents, spouses, siblings, and children of people who were killed in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and they said they didn’t wa...

Knowing the rules and being able to navigate them can be a big part of feeling safe in any city. On this episode of Far From Home, I share an episode from another great podcast I recently discovered called “Here There Be Dragons,” where host Jess Myers speaks to residents of Stockholm, Sweden trying to figure out the norms, how to use them, and how to change them. Will they have to bend to Stockho...

July 17th, 2021 marked the fifth anniversary of the day my brother Drew and I — along with our friends Jane and Rosi — set out from southern England on an 11,000 mi (18k km) road trip across Europe and Asia. Over the seven weeks that followed, we’d cross 18 countries, 8 time zones, 5 mountain ranges, and a few deserts, before eventually ending up in Ulan-Ude, Siberia, just north of Mongolia. And a...

When you travel – especially if you’re in a distant and unfamiliar place – it’s inevitable that sooner or later, things will happen that are beyond your control. You’re thrown a curveball and you’ve got to do your best to stay calm, be creative, and improvise. On this episode, I feature two stories from friends of mine who got caught in unexpected and frightening situations outside their comfort z...

COVID-19 has closed borders and made travel difficult if not impossible for many of us over the past year-and-a-half. But radio signals don't need passports or plane tickets. They circle the earth, bouncing off the atmosphere. So even if you’re confined to your home, it’s possible — with a good antenna — to listen to voices from the other side of the world. On this episode of Far From Home, award-...

On this episode of Far From Home, I continue my series where I’m checking in with friends and colleagues around the world to get a sense of the many ways COVID-19 is affecting people and how their governments are handling the pandemic. This time we hear voices from Tunisia, Switzerland, Cameroon, Antigua and Barbuda, Mexico, and the Czech Republic. If you’ve missed the previous two installments of...

April 26, 2021 marks the 35th anniversary of the 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the former USSR — which remains the worst nuclear accident in history — so I’m re-releasing an episode from my second season where my friend Donna and I visited the site of the explosion and toured abandoned buildings in nearby villages. You can read more about my trip and see photos and videos o...

Each year on April 19th, residents of Oklahoma City commemorate the anniversary of the 1995 bombing in their city, which prior to September 11th bore the distinction of being the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil. On this episode of Far From Home, I dig into my archives to share two stories I produced about the bombing from back when I was a reporter at a small public radio station in Ok...

Over the past week, violence has once again broken out in Northern Ireland. During one skirmish in Belfast last Wednesday, rioters threw Molotov cocktails, several police officers were injured, and a double decker bus was hijacked and burnt to the ground. It was the latest flare-up in long-simmering tensions between Catholic nationalists — who are calling for a united Ireland — and Protestant loya...

Over the past year, COVID-19 has had all sorts of ripple effects that most of us never imagined: Air pollution plummeted as people stopped flying. Companies closed their office buildings for good as working from home became the new norm. And here’s another change you might not have thought much about: The pandemic has radically altered how the world sounds. On this episode, I’m joined by Berlin-ba...

Having hiked the Appalachian Trail, Justin and Patrice La Vigne thought they knew what they were getting into when they decided to embark on Te Araroa, a 2000 mile path across New Zealand. But they ended up being blown away by the kindness and incredible hospitality of the people they met along the way. If you’re interested in learning more about their journey, you can visit their website to read...

I’m taking a break between seasons right now, but I’m popping back into your feed with a special bonus episode I’m sharing from a really great podcast called Foreign Correspondence. It’s hosted by Jake Spring, who’s a journalist for Reuters based in Brazil. On his program, Jake does fascinating interviews with other journalists around the world, and on his latest episode, Jake interviewed me about...

On this final episode of Season 3, I return to where I began 2020 in Puerto Rico, on the last trip I took prior to the pandemic. I join my friend Rob at a parranda — the Puerto Rican version of Christmas caroling — except this parranda has a unique twist. ——————— On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Cher...

COVID-19 may have forced most of us to take a break from traveling for the foreseeable future, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some really cool places to discover right in our own neighborhoods. On this episode, I join about a dozen suburban adventurers on an exploration of Toney’s Brook, a local stream that flows through — and under — the town of Montclair, New Jersey, close to where I live. S...

While Americans were celebrating Halloween and heading to the polls, Peruvians were busy commemorating El Dia de los Defuntos, the day at the beginning of November each year when they remember their deceased relatives. On this episode of Far From Home, I visit one of the world’s largest cemeteries on the outskirts of Lima, Peru as thousands of people flock to their loved ones’ graves to eat, drink...

On this episode of Far From Home, I continue my series where I’m checking in with friends and colleagues around the world to get a sense of the many ways COVID-19 is affecting people and how their governments are handling the pandemic. This time we hear voices from Lithuania, South Africa, India, Ghana, and Guam. If you have a unique perspective or experience on COVID-19 from your part of the worl...

You probably missed it amid everything else going on in the world recently, but last week was the 15th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, so on this episode, we’re staying within the U.S. for a change and going to New Orleans, revisiting what the storm was like for residents of the city and looking at parallels with the current situation with COVID-19. Katrina left lasting footprints on New Orleans...

On this episode of Far From Home, I’m beginning an occasional series where I’m checking in with friends and colleagues around the world to get a sense of the many ways COVID-19 is affecting people and how their governments are handling the pandemic. This time we hear voices from France, Haiti, Brazil, the UK, Peru, the United Arab Emirates, and Japan. I’m hoping to do more shows like this, and I’d...