On Spec Podcast

Tribal identities continue to play a role in social and political rifts  in many parts of the world, even erupting into outright conflict. In the  southern African nation of Zambia, a younger generation now attempts to  bridge the gap between different tribes. But long-held stereotypes make  it difficult for Zambians to discard their tribal identity entirely.  Zambian jour...

For several decades now, the region of Nagorno-Karabakh has been a source of tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan, occasionally resulting in a real war, like in 2020. But along the shores of lake Joghaz, there are villagers old enough to recall what it was like to live together when both countries were Soviet republics. Today the border is sealed, but villagers can sometimes still hear conversat...

Host Nadene Ghouri and journalist Bartholomäus von Laffert talk about On Spec's latest episode, which tells the story of how activists working to save the lives of migrants and refugees crossing the Mediterranean have found themselves facing criminal charges for their work.

Europe is prosecuting human rights activists that help save lives in the Mediterranean Sea, where thousands of migrants and refugees have drowned as they attempt to evade some of the world’s most powerful naval forces and reach European shores in search of a better life. The charges, allegations of human trafficking that could land activists in prison for decades, have been helped along by a spy,...

Guest Host Nadene Ghouri tells the story of how her search for a surrogate mother for her child brought her to Ukraine, and how she found herself repaying the ultimate kindness by helping one woman flee the war there.

In Season Four, we bring you stories from six countries.  Next, we take a personal look at the Ukraine refugee crisis.

The French town of Calais is at the heart of a massive security infrastructure program meant to keep refugees and migrants from crossing the English Channel into the United Kingdom. Over the past 20 years, French and British authorities have spent hundreds of millions of pounds on walls, fences, cameras, more police, and security agents to keep people away from the shores. In order to do so, priva...

In Africa, herbal treatments are used to heal viruses in the absence of  modern medicine, but disinformation about these treatments and how they  can cure COVID-19 is having a deadly impact. Government officials and  local healers out to make money sell these treatments with fake news.  Congolese journalist Patrice Chitera, who has used these treatments for  his ailments i...

Hong Kong protesters were on the streets for more than a year to fight for their freedom of expression after China announced laws to further curb their rights in 2019. Police violently attacked protestors, threw opposition politicians in jail and the country has been polarized as disinformation spreads. Journalist Lisa Jane Harding, based in Hong Kong for 19 years, reports through the eyes of a po...

Some of the world’s most active climate deniers reside in the United States. Arkansas suffers from flooding and is one of the conservative red states where many farmers, who have the most to benefit from green policies, are actually voting against their best interests because of disinformation. Arkansas native and journalist Alice Driver introduces an organic farmer, who’s a climate activist, to a...

Suno India speaks with journalists Prachi Pinglay and Kunal Shankar, who produced On Spec's Season 3, Episode 4 - Love in Times of Hate.  They discuss what the impact of fake news has been on India, and what it was like reporting and putting together the episode for On Spec. 

The Modi government has an agenda to make India a Hindu nation, and they have tapped into old prejudices and disinformation to brainwash influential and ordinary people into hating minorities, particularly Muslims. Indian journalist Prachi Pinglay Plumber is a Hindu married to a Muslim, and she touches on her own experience of interfaith marriage, as she tells the tale of India’s demise from a sec...

Since the elections in Brazil that brought Jair Bolsonaro to power,  Brazilian journalists Giovana Fleck and Carol Grune have been hearing  politicians insult women, threaten them with rape, and try to take away  their rights as women. For Carol, the polarized politics of Brazil led  to a breakup with her father. Giovana helps Carol tell her story as the  father and daught...

Putin’s Russia is a homophobic country. The state media spouts anti-gay rhetoric and creates fake news, Parliament passes laws that curtail LGBTQ activism, and hate crimes are on the rise. But in bigger cities, there are also thriving gay scenes, and a new generation of Russian activists is seeking to change public opinion. British journalist Theo Merz, who’s gay, takes us to Moscow where he lives...

Turkey hosts the largest number of refugees in the world, but they are facing a brutal backlash from Turkish society. In February 2020, during the onset of the pandemic, the Turkish government misinformed refugees that they could leave Turkey and enter Greece. Turkish photojournalist Özge Sebzeci boarded a bus from Istanbul to Greece filled with migrants headed to Europe, and she tells the story o...

Get ready for Season Three: Disinformation!  On Spec takes a deep dive into the global abyss of fake news, bringing you the story of how the scourge of disinformation is effecting ordinary people in seven different countries.

Scott Gurian, an American journalist and the voice behind Far From Home podcast, transports us to Mashad, Iran, inside a pilgrimage site where he and his fellow travelers find themselves grappling with cultural and religious differences. Then Scott tells On Spec his reflections about the trip, and how he managed to avoid Iran’s government minders to record his story.

Phoenix is one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S., an example of urbanization shaped by generations of immigrants. An Arizona native, journalist Alisa Reznick gives a tour of the old and new Greater Phoenix through the eyes of her extended family, who came three generations ago from Mexico, and new migrants struggling to get asylum.

In this collaboration with Foreign Correspondence podcast, On Spec host  Fariba Nawa gives a raw, intimate interview to Jake Spring about her  two-decade career, family, and the struggles of straddling two cultures  as a journalist. You can listen to all episodes of the podcast Foreign  Correspondence, where you will hear deep dive interviews with a diverse  grou...

What has quarantine been like for children during the pandemic? Are they finding their creative little selves and building stronger family ties? Or turning into online zombies and losing their social skills? Or are they becoming child laborers to help their families survive? It depends on the kids and the country. On Spec host Fariba Nawa takes you inside her home in Turkey with her daughters, and...

In this collaboration with the Continuum Collective, we are exploring the rise in gender-based violence during the pandemic and what can be done about it. On Spec's host Fariba Nawa joins Jillian Foster, the host of the Continuum Collective's Radicals & Revolutionaries Lab podcast, and Teri Yuan, the host of the Engendered podcast.

With  families in lockdown, and social services unavailable, experts say  domestic violence is increasing, and being ignored during the  coronavirus outbreak. Menel Raach talks to a woman in Iraq who is trying  to find a safe place to live amid the lockdowns there, and to lawyers  and experts about what is being called a "shadow pandemic" of domestic  violence.

You probably know someone who has discovered their inner chef in the last few months.  In New York, photographer Jackson Krule discovered he was a baker.  Unable to go out and photograph the Orthodox Jewish community he has been documenting, he started baking challah bread at home and posting photos online.  Now it's turned into a business that delivers all over the country.  A...

How is being on lock down effecting our mental health, and how are mental health professionals trying to continue to provide help when they cannot meet someone in person? On Spec intern and journalist Kasper Dilmaghani talks to therapists and one woman who opens up about her depression.  Here is the story on how the pandemic is effecting our mental health, from Tunisia, Mexico, Poland, Hong K...

What if you don't have control over your own self-isolation? More than two million people are in prisons in the US, which has the highest incarceration rate in the world.  Oscar Durand speaks with Efrén Paredes, Jr about the prison where he is incarcerated serving a life sentence for a robbery and murder committed when was 15 years old.  He maintains his innocence.  In 2012, the US...