From a secret language for gay men to rewilding with wolves in Romania, here are 7 human rights-related podcast episodes we highly recommend.
The Allusionist – 99. Polari
Paul Baker, professor of English language at Lancaster University, shares his research into Polari, the language that allowed gay men to identify and communicate with each other. A fascinating episode, with a bonus section at the end focusing on the grammatical inequality in women’s dating profiles.
Ctrl Alt Delete – #201 Emma Dabiri: Don’t Touch My Hair
Presenter, social historian and writer Emma Dabiri (who is also a columnist for the Dublin Inquirer and a teaching fellow at SOAS) presents her debut book, Don’t Touch My Hair (published by Penguin), about why black hair matters.
This American Life – 674: Get A Spine!
In act one of this episode Nancy Updike uncovers the story behind a rare #MeToo apology that is unusual because it actually addresses the harm caused and “is not curt or vague – it was not a lawyered-up mess of non-contrition in the passive voice. It was a true reckoning, publicly and fully accepted by the person who had been wronged.”
Democracy Now – Damning Canadian inquiry calls the murder and disappearance of Indigenous women and girls “genocide”
A chilling national inquiry has determined that the frequent and widespread disappearance and murder of Indigenous girls and women in Canada is a genocide that the government itself is responsible for. Read more about Canada’s missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls here.
From Our Own Correspondent – Wolf howling in Romania (A very Brussels welcome, from 17:47)
Nick Thorpe visits Romania’s Carpathian Mountains, one of Europe’s wilder regions with an increasing number of grey wolves, to meet the conservationists helping locals to live alongside their wolf and bear neighbours.
Continue listening for a great report from the Dubai by Vivienne Nunis, who meets the world’s first all-women supercar club, the Arabian Gazelles, who hope to extend their reach to Saudi Arabia, when the country has a new wave of women drivers.
Revisionist History Presents: Solvable
Opening a new interview show, Malcolm Gladwell speaks to Rosanne Haggerty, a housing and community development leader, about her innovative strategy to end homelessness for everyone. Forever.
People Fixing the World – Can sleep deprivation help treat bipolar disorder?
This fascinating – and at times heart breaking – episode explores an Italian psychiatrist’s pioneering approach: asking his patients to stay awake for 36 hours three times over the course of a week to reset their circadian rhythms and lift their mood. Sam Judah spends a week with a cohort of patients at a hospital in Milan.
Main image by Eric Nopanen
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