International Voices with Udo Fluck

Join Udo and his guest, Christian Moya, a Peruvian music and culture educator for the last podcast of this year. Moya has lived for many years in New York City, surrounded by a large Latino population. When he moved to Missoula with his wife, he was not sure he would find the same sense of community. But he was pleasantly surprised that, while Missoula's Latino community is fairly small, it is thr...

For the November podcast episode of International Voices, Udo is joined by Major General (ret.) Donald Loranger, who was appointed in 2012 to the National Security Education Board by President Obama. The board oversees the National Security Education Program, which increases the United States’ capacity to deal effectively with foreign cultures and languages. Major General Loranger served in the Un...

Udo talks to Julia Tai, the Music Director of the Missoula Symphony Orchestra & Chorale . Maestro Tai is also the Music Director of Philharmonia Northwest, and the Co-Artistic Director of the Seattle Modern Orchestra. Her career has led to acclaimed performances and rehearsals with the American Youth Symphony, Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra, Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic (Czech Republic), Bois...

With the start of every fall, students are returning to the University of Montana, in Missoula. Among them are international students from around the world, either returning to campus, or as new students starting their undergraduate or graduate studies at UM. Join Udo as he is talking to Andrei Dinu, a graduate student from Romania, Lina Spaes an undergraduate student from France and the 2023-2024...

In August 2022 beloved Missoula major John Engen passed away at the age of 57. This August episode is dedicated to Mayor Engen, who was known for his wit, his kindness, thoughtfulness and his vision for the future of a progressive Missoula. This podcast is a re-broadcast of the original podcast from March 2020, in which Udo and John talked about the importance of cultural programming in the Garden...

During their visit in June, Udo invited five members of the delegation from Missoula’s sister city Palmerston North (Palmy), New Zealand, to The Trail studio, to talk about how sister cities do not only benefit their city governments, but bring many advantages to the academic, economic, and tourism sectors as well. The Palmy delegation visit to Missoula commemorates the 40th anniversary celebratio...

  Udo talks with Dr. Callaway, an internationally renowned plant and community ecologist, who was one of three Montanans on a prestigious short-list of “The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds”. Callaway has focused his international research of the past three decades on the interactions within plant communities and ecosystems. Research from his UM laboratory indicates that when humans intro...

After exactly a year, Mike Smith and Udo Fluck are doing it again for the May podcast! Turning the Tables and Switching the Microphones. Mike is talking to Udo in this special episode, about the GROW - G lobal R espect of O thers in the W orld Outreach Program in K-12 schools. GROW has expanded consistently, over the years, and nearly doubled its seminar delivery in four local school districts in...

This is the third and final episode in a three-part series, on organizations, services and products that have aided Missoula in becoming a more diverse community. In this episode, Udo is joined in the studio by Latisha Buck Elk Thunder and Dacia Griego, Co-Founders of Indigenous Made Missoula (IMM). They visit with Udo about turning their dream into reality in 2022, when they founded IMM, in respo...

This is the second episode in a three-part series, on organizations, services and products that have aided Missoula in becoming a more diverse community. Listen to Udo talking to several leaders in our community that have done exactly that. In this second episode of 2023, his guest is Susan Hay Patrick, Chief Executive Officer of United Way of Missoula County. Susan talks to Udo about the 90-year...

This is the first episode in a three-part series, on organizations, services and products that have aided Missoula in becoming a more diverse community. Udo talks to several leaders in our community that have done exactly that. In this first episode of 2023, his guest is Eamon Fahey, Deputy Director of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) Missoula branch. He talks with Udo about the 90-year hi...

This is the 3rd and final episode of a series focusing on “Managing Cultural Adjustment and Culture Shock”. In this last episode of 2022, Udo visits with Paul Mwingwa, a resettled refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who wears many different hats, in addition to being the Refugee Congress Delegate for Montana. Paul is also a Caseworker Assistant at the International Rescue Committee...

This is the 2nd part of a multi-part series, focusing on “Managing Cultural Adjustment and Culture Shock”. Last month Udo was fortunate to talk to Shiena Greata Medrano, a student at the University of Montana, but born and raised in the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines, which is also where she started her education. Shiena first settled in Philipsburg, Montana, a city of under a thou...

Udo is joined by Shiena Greata Medrano, an Accounting and Management Information System Major at the University of Montana, and, if that was not enough for a full-time student, she is also the Indigenous/Rural Outreach Ambassador at Accelerate Montana, an Executive at the UM Pacific Islanders Club and the International Student Association. Shien was born and raised in the city of Manila, the capit...

Tune in this episode and learn more about the 40th anniversary of the sister city connection between Missoula and Palmerston North, New Zealand through Gabrielle Nguyen, the International Relations Manager and Kate Harridge, the Education Advisor, in Palmerston North. Find out how “education” and “international relations” are connected, how students in both locations can benefit from that bond, an...

Join Udo, as he is visiting with Heather Adams, who founded and was Executive Director of the Downtown Dance Collective for 13 years, has danced, taught, directed, choreographed, organized, and produced, and started in June, after Tom Bensen’s retirement, as the new Executive Director of Arts Missoula. Heather has been involved in the art scene since her arrival in the Garden City, in 1999, and co...

Join Udo, as he is talking, to Dr. Coreen Duffy, Conductor of UM’s Chamber Chorale, Dr. James Randall, Director of UM’s School of Music, Chorale Member Saxon Holbrook, and UM Chorale Students: Mira Smith, Spencer Price, Kylar Sprenger, and Sophia Boughey, about their local community voices being heard by international audiences, as they are touring England and Germany this month, their feelings of...

Mike Smith is talking to Udo Fluck in this special episode, celebrating more than two years of International Voices podcasts. Enjoy their conversation about why and how Udo settled in Missoula, what inspires him, the importance of friends near and far, his passion for the arts and education, his connection to his Alma Mater, the importance of family, and some surprises too. This is part one of a t...

Join Udo, as he is talking, for the first time, with six individuals in one episode. His guests are: Dr. Thomas Gallagher, Dean and Professor of the Missoula College, Katie Dalessio, Director of Fiscal and Personnel Services, Amy Nack, Chef and Faculty in the Culinary Arts Program, Matt Parkey, Manager of the Blackfoot Café on the Missoula College campus and two students, currently enrolled in the...

In part 2 of a 3 part series on Food As Cultural Diplomacy, Udo is joined by Beth Baker, program manager, and Rozan Shhib, kitchen assistant of Missoula’s Soft Landing United We Eat (UWE) Program. Beth grew up in Germany and Syria. She learned Arabic, lived in a small Palestinian village for two and a half years, and is excited to work with Missoula’s refugee and immigrant communities, combining h...

Join Udo, as he is talking, for the first time with two guests in one episode, that is all about international cuisine. Meet Silvia Wirick and Wisam Raheem, two foreign-born chefs who are cooking under the Big Sky, in their local kitchens, running restaurants and food trucks, preparing meals inspired by recipes and spices from their homelands. Both culinary artists are dedicated to the authenticit...

Deputy Consul General Zamir talks about Israel’s leadership role in technology, innovation, and the arts, how they have impacted the country and how other countries in the region have benefitted from Israel’s investments. Reducing the carbon footprint, while simultaneously benefitting from innovations made in the medical field, in solar and wind energy, as well as in ocean desalinization are discu...

Join Udo for his conversation with Ms. Sandhu, as she talks about the British Government’s mission in the US, the United Kingdom hosting the United Nations Climate Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow, and what it means for the UK to lead on such a global issue. How climate actions impact indigenous communities, how cultural engagement is important for policy and how diversity values translate into real...

Udo talks with geochemist Dr. Rachold, from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), which serves as an information and cooperation platform between German stakeholders from science, politics and industry. Dr. Rachold’s research focuses on land-ocean interactions in the Siberian Arctic and he led several land- and ship-based Russian-German expeditions. Th...

This month's podcast with guest Nathan Rott, NPR journalist, focuses on international reporting on wildfires and how recent fires have burned areas flames aren't usually able to penetrate, like rainforests in Australia. The conversation also addresses the bigger issue scientists have been warning about for a while with wildfire: That a warming climate means parts of the world that used to NOT burn...