The Neighborhood

(This is the second story in an album I am building. For more information, please go to homebrave.com.)

The Neighborhood was inspired by Suburbia, a photo-essay book by Bill Owens. The photos are of Owens’ neighbors in a suburb of Livermore, California, during the late sixties and early seventies. They pose in their garages, bedrooms, backyards… with their stuff— their tools and toys, the accoutrements of suburban lifestyle. With each photo there is a short quote from the person in the photo. This combination, the photo with the quote, is somewhat magical. It’s like you can hear the people talking, like you are there, in the moment.

The story aired in 1988 on the NPR program “Soundprint” (now defunct).

I invite everyone to listen to these stories for free and then decide whether they are worthy of a donation. If so, please go to homebrave.com and look for the DONATE button.

Running After Antelope

(This is the first story in a larger album I’m building. For more information please go to the website homebrave.com.)

Forty years ago, 1985, I was sitting in Art Silverman’s office at NPR in Washington, D.C. Art was a producer for All Things Considered. I was an independent producer, mainly for Weekend All Things Considered. We were working on something, I don’t remember what, and NPR Science Editor Anne Gudenkauf came by to talk to Art.

“Hey, tell Anne your idea for a science story,” Art said to me.

So I said, “My brother, Dave, is a graduate student in vertebrate morphology at the University of Utah, and he has a theory that human beings evolved as endurance predators, able to hunt without weapons by chasing large mammals until they collapse from heat exhaustion. This summer we’re going to test his theory by trying to run down a pronghorn antelope in Wyoming.”

I thought it was a good pitch, but as I spoke I saw Gudenkauf’s eyes cross and when I was done she turned and walked out of Art’s office without comment. It seemed I had insulted her intelligence.

A year later, Running After Antelope aired on All Things Considered and NPR started using it in training sessions as an example for how to produce a science story. Many people scoffed at my brother’s theory, back in the beginning, but now it’s become an accepted theory of human evolution.

Larry Massett edited the story and wrote the introduction, read by Noah Adams.

The music comes from Dire Straits (Why Worry) and Talking Heads (Television Man).

I invite everyone to listen to these stories for free and then decide whether they are worthy of a donation. If so, please go to homebrave.com and look for the DONATE button.

Getting Up Off the Floor

I’ve been wanting to say this for a long time.

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Nasser Hospital

A couple days ago I watched a story on Al Jazeera English about how the Israeli military is using small drones mounted with machine guns to kill civilians in Gaza. These drones are 3-5 feet wide, with four or more propellers. They’re called quadcopters. They move like hummingbirds or bumblebees—hovering and darting. They can go inside buildings and tunnels, or chase someone down the street. Besides guns they carry cameras, loudspeakers and bombs. The Al Jazeera story claimed the Israelis are busy building new prototypes and testing them on the trapped civilians in Gaza.

I did a search under 'Israeli Quadcopters' and saw that NPR did a story on November 20th about a British doctor speaking in the House of Commons about operating on Palestinian children who had been shot by quadcopters in Gaza. So I went to the UK Parliament website and found the video of the doctor’s testimony, and I’m going to play the whole thing, because I think the whole thing needs to be heard. 

The doctor’s name is Nizam Mamode, 62 years old. In the video, he’s sitting in front of a microphone before 10 members of the Committee for International Development. All the members ask a question, so it’s long interview, over 40 minutes, and it’s not easy to listen to. I had to take breaks and come back to it. Some parts are rather horrifying. It begins with an introduction by committee chairman Sarah Champion.

Link to the video.

The Committee listening to Dr. Mamode.

A machine gun mounted on a quadcopter.

Belief Over Reason

My take on what happened in the election.

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Fascism In America

A short essay on what I know about fascism.

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Beirut Epilogue

I wrote this after I got back home the other night, but it took a few days to get it posted. I had a good trip, thanks very much for your support.

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Beirut Part Six

This interview with Dr. Alam gives a very good historical context for the war now going on in Lebanon. I feel lucky to have met him. Here are the links to the book he recommended for more in depth study:

The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi

The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World by Avi Shlaim

The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe

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Beirut Part Five

Four more interviews with people on the street in Beirut.

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Beirut Part Four

An interview with Yehya Youness, owner of Electrip, an electric scooter company in Beirut.

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Beirut Part Three

I made a mistake about the date. I meant Friday, October 11th. This is a short piece recorded in my hotel room following last night’s bombing in Central Beirut.

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Beirut Part Two

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Beirut Part One

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End of Season Two

I’m going to take a break for a few months, or at least until the pandemic is over. Thank you very much for your support. This podcast has been the best thing in my life, professionally, and I couldn’t have done it without you. I hope to be back soon with more stories.

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A Photographer's Account of the Insurrection

Many Trump supporters I spoke with before the election said there would be violence after the election, and now here we are. I missed last Wednesday’s insurrection, but my friend photo-journalist Alan Chin was there. So I called him.

You may remember Alan from a previous episode. I met him in 2001 in Afghanistan. We worked together there and he went on to cover the war in Iraq. He’s covered a lot of war zones. His photos are published in the New York Times and Newsweek. I’ve always been amazed by his spot-on verbal descriptions and accounts, his command of history, and his confidence in the role of photo-journalism.

This is a very good report of what it was like at the U.S. Capitol last week.

All photos by Alan Chin.

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Trump in Dalton, Gerogia, January 4th, 2021, railing against fictitious election fraud and ostensibly supporting Kelly Loeffler’s Senate campaign.

At the Trump rally in Dalton Georgia, January 4th, 2021.

West Portico of the U.S. Capitol, January 6th, 2021.

West Portico of the U.S. Capitol, January 6th, 2021.

West Portico of the U.S. Capitol, January 6th, 2021.

West Portico of the U.S. Capitol, January 6th, 2021.

Virginia State Police using tear gas to clear the West Portico of the U.S. Capitol, January 6th, 2021.

How Much Time Has Gone By: Part Two

Following the river was a good idea, especially across the Great Plains, because it’s really easy to get lost out there. The view is the same in all directions—rolling hills of dry grass that resemble giant waves on the open ocean. It seemed I would never find my way across them. I was lost at sea. But the river knows where it’s going, downhill to the sea, and it has cottonwood trees and green meadows along its shore. Animals and birds live along the river. People come to hang out and fish. Following the river kept me sane and grounded.

The music is from Neil Young’s soundtrack to “Deadman,” a film by Jim Jarmusch. I highly recommend it.

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On the Standing Rock Reservation, North Dakota.

Gabe Romo, Standing Rock Reservation, North Dakota.

South Dakota