Worlds of Difference

Series produced by Homelands Productions

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Worlds of Difference is a six-hour limited series that uses sound-rich features to explore the impact of global change on local cultures worldwide.

Worlds of Difference looks at how local cultures around the world are responding to the pressures of global change. Six hour-long programs combine sound-rich features with narration, music, collected sound, and the comments of leading thinkers. Stories come from 23 different countries. The programs are hosted by María Hinojosa and distributed to public radio stations by NPR.

Each of the specials addresses a theme: the relationship between cultural identity and the market; identity and language; identity and place; identity and religion; identity and the past; and identity and the path to the future. Each hour can stand alone, and there is no necessary order.

PRODUCERS: Producers include Sandy Tolan, Alan Weisman, Jon Miller, Chris Brookes, Dmae Roberts, Frank Browning, Marianne McCune, Vera Frankl, Julian Crandall Hollick and Karen Michel.

BROADCAST HISTORY: Most of the individual features aired in slightly different form on NPR newsmagazines or on NPR's Living on Earth between June 2003 and October 2005.

CLOCK: "Finding a Niche" follows the Public Radio Collaboration clock (billboard 0-1, news hole at 1-6 min, 1-min breaks at 21 and 41:30). The other five hours follow the NPR specials clock (billboard 0-1, news hole 1-6, 30-sec break at 6, 1-min breaks at 19 and 39).

PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS: Audio promos (30-sec) are posted for each hour, and one is available for the series as a whole in the attached files section of this page. Photos are also available. Contact Jon Miller at jon@homelands.org for more information, logos, etc.

WEBSITE: Stations are encouraged to link to the project website (http://homelands.org/worlds), where listeners can find photos, audio, articles, a complete story list, profiles of contributors and links to additional resources.

LICENSING: The programs are free to all NPR member stations through September 26, 2006. Non-member stations please contact Joyce MacDonald at jmacdonald@npr.org.
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Worlds of Difference looks at how local cultures around the world are responding to the pressures of global change. Six hour-long programs combine sound-rich features with narration, music, collected sound, and the comments of leading thinkers. Stories come from 23 different countries. The programs are hosted by María Hinojosa and distributed to public radio stations by NPR. Each of the specials addresses a theme: the relationship between cultural identity and the market; identity and language; identity and place; identity and religion; identity and the past; and identity and the path to the future. Each hour can stand alone, and there is no necessary order. PRODUCERS: Producers include Sandy Tolan, Alan Weisman, Jon Miller, Chris Brookes, Dmae Roberts, Frank Browning, Marianne... Show full description


Additional Files

  • A Maasai elder in Kenya prepares a fifteen-year-old bride for her wedding. (Maasaibridegroom.JPG)
  • Farmer Lucia Villa and her son. Villa grows more than 70 varieties of potatoes on her plots, more than 13,000 feet above sea level. (Perufarmer.JPG)
  • Music for all six specials in txt format (WoDhoursmusiclist.txt)
  • Rundowns for the six special hours. (WofDrundowns.txt)
  • 30 sec audio promo for series (piece-specific promos are with each hour) (WoDSeriesPromo30.mp2)

31 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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In the jungle of Peru, an American anthropologist and an indigenous tribesman work against time to create a high-tech "cultural map" of the tribe's...

Bought by WBEZ, PRX Remix, and Documentary on One - RTE, Ireland


  • Added: Apr 16, 2007
  • Length: 09:43
  • Purchases: 3
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A Roma couple who married as teenagers campaign against child marriage.

Bought by WBEZ, PRX Remix, Documentary on One - RTE, Ireland, and KXOT Public Radio


  • Added: Apr 11, 2007
  • Length: 11:32
  • Purchases: 4
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An enormous grassroots network in Sri Lanka seeks to provide an alternative to conventional economic development.

Bought by PRX Remix, WBEZ, and The PRX Podcast


  • Added: Apr 11, 2007
  • Length: 10:59
  • Purchases: 3
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After generations of resistance, the Maasai of Kenya are looking to education as a way to keep their culture from dying.

Bought by WBEZ


  • Added: Apr 11, 2007
  • Length: 07:10
  • Purchases: 1
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A drug-treatment program on Oahu's depressed west coast uses traditional teachings to combat methamphetamine addiction among native Hawaiians.

Bought by WGDR and Documentary on One - RTE, Ireland


  • Added: Apr 11, 2007
  • Length: 07:49
  • Purchases: 2
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Native artists in the Ecuadorean Andes return to their people's sacred mountain.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Apr 11, 2007
  • Length: 05:45
  • Purchases: 1
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A well-known Turkish novelist confronts her country's modern history on a nondescript street in Istanbul.

Bought by WAMC Northeast Public Radio and PRX to iTunes


  • Added: Apr 10, 2007
  • Length: 13:26
  • Purchases: 2
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With just four surviving native speakers, a tiny tribe of Amazonian Indians tries to revive its dying culture.

Bought by WBEZ, WBEZ, and The Nature Podcast


  • Added: Apr 10, 2007
  • Length: 14:33
  • Purchases: 3
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Jon Miller visits a nationalistic rock band comprised of Orthodox monks in Greece.

Bought by PRX Remix and KZUM


  • Added: Jul 07, 2006
  • Length: 06:40
  • Purchases: 2
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Producer Alan Weisman reports on how evangelical Christianity is spreading rapidly across South Korea, and coming into conflict with the traditiona...

Bought by WBEZ


  • Added: Jul 07, 2006
  • Length: 07:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Triphon Olympios officiates at a naming ceremony at the annual gathering of Greek pagans on Mount Olympus.. , Credit: Photo by Jon Miller
Jon Miller reports on a resurgence of interest among Greeks in their pre-Christian roots.

Bought by Documentary on One - RTE, Ireland


  • Added: Jul 07, 2006
  • Length: 06:26
  • Purchases: 1
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Producer Frank Browning visits an Irish town where economic prosperity has locals wondering how to move forward while keeping their traditions intact.

  • Added: Jul 06, 2006
  • Length: 10:36
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Chile's government is proposing to build the longest bridge in Latin America to connect the island of Chiloe to the mainland. But as Alan Weisman ...

Bought by The Nature Podcast and CKMO


  • Added: Jul 06, 2006
  • Length: 13:35
  • Purchases: 2
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Producer Marianne McCune tells a complex story about language, religion, identity, tradition and trust in the Mexican village of Yaganiza, where an...

Bought by PRX Remix and WBEZ


  • Added: Jul 05, 2006
  • Length: 10:27
  • Purchases: 2
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Julian Crandall Hollick follows two groups of musicians in southern France who are pushing the boundaries of French identity, using a blend of regg...

Bought by KUT-HD


  • Added: Jul 05, 2006
  • Length: 08:49
  • Purchases: 1
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Sound-rich feature about a Mexican village's efforts to keep its menfolk from leaving for the United States by marketing its hand-made liquor.

Bought by WBEZ


  • Added: Jul 05, 2006
  • Length: 08:31
  • Purchases: 1
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Languages around the world are disappearing at an unprecedented rate. But Welsh is making a comeback, and children are leading the way. Jon Mille...

Bought by Documentary on One - RTE, Ireland


  • Added: Jul 04, 2006
  • Length: 04:01
  • Purchases: 1
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To the sounds of Maori-influenced dance and techno music, musicians Mina Ripia and Maaka McGregor speak about their desire to move their culture fo...

Bought by Documentary on One - RTE, Ireland and KXOT Public Radio


  • Added: Jul 04, 2006
  • Length: 03:54
  • Purchases: 2
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Sandy Tolan visits with some of Bulgaria's last Ladino speakers as they try to keep their language from going silent.

Bought by WBEZ, Documentary on One - RTE, Ireland, WFUV, and Third Coast International Audio Festival


  • Added: Jul 04, 2006
  • Length: 07:55
  • Purchases: 4
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Winner of the 2006 Edward R. Murrow Award for best national news documentary, Saints & Indians tells the story of a program that placed thousands o...

Bought by Prairie Public, KUER, New Hampshire Public Radio, KZMU Moab Community Radio, KSJD and more


  • Added: Jul 01, 2006
  • Length: 15:40
  • Purchases: 20