Silas works at Harding University in Greece, an overseas program where students spend a semester just outside Athens. A former attendee himself, he now leads the trips around the Mediterranean that made such a big impact on his life. I asked whether he could put into words what this kind of experience does to a young person ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Join the Observer Effect Kiva Team→ at Kiva.org. "The mere exercise of attent...
Apr 10, 2017•44 min
Helkin moved to Chicago from Venezuela to study English, with dreams of big city life and plans to return to the company that gave him time off. He ended up falling in love and getting married. I asked why he came out ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Join the Observer Effect Kiva Team→ on Kiva.org. "Trembling knees and an unrelenting sense of failure is one way forward." —Terri Kapsalis
Apr 03, 2017•48 min
Bertrand shared a traditional Italian drink with us from a wooden, six-spouted pot—called La Grolla—one evening in his home in Bordeaux with his girlfriend Anna. We had no idea how rich a story he would tell when we asked what his tattoo means ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Join the Observer Effect Kiva Team→ on Kiva.org. "It seemed to me beyond the realms of possibility that I should travel so far." —Sigmund Freud
Mar 26, 2017•30 min
Anna was once a stewardess and did something unexpected on her regular route to Kenya, but that's just one small part of her story. She met her boyfriend Bertrand in Australia, when she moved there from Italy because of a tragedy. And we met them when we stayed in their apartment in Bordeaux, France through Airbnb. Nearly every night, they cooked a special dish for us since they're chefs. We couldn't believe our good fortune, asking excitedly how all these travels changed her ... and hope listen...
Mar 20, 2017•37 min
Tomek visited Frida Kahlo's Blue House in Mexico City, little knowing that I would interview him while we stood in line. I asked him to describe one of her paintings ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. "As a matter of fact, there is just as much that is interesting, strange, mysterious, and wonderful; just as much to be learned that is edifying, broadening, and refining in a cabbage as there is in a page of Latin." —Booker T. Washingto...
Mar 13, 2017•14 min
Hamou did not want to share his story with me. This is the first anniversary of The Observer Effect. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. "Great eloquence may seem to be inarticulate." —Laozi
Mar 07, 2017•7 min
Carroll moved from Chicago to Arkansas, then Texas. I asked why he didn't feel worthy of going on the trip to Hawaii his kids gave him to celebrate his thirty-fifth anniversary ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Check out Elsie's story on Kiva.org. Only 25 days left to help her reach her goal. Go to this link to make a small loan: https://www.kiva.org/lend/1226339 "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you...
Feb 06, 2017•35 min
Mary Ann wanted to support the effort to block the Dakota Access Pipeline but also wanted to make sure her intent was the right one. I asked whether going to Standing Rock changed her ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Whether you go or not, Mary Ann highly recommends reading the Resource Packet at: Standing Rock Solidarity Network→ Also check out Kiva.org. "A sentence starts out like a lone traveler heading into a blizzard at midnigh...
Jan 30, 2017•46 min
The Hull House Museum in Chicago has one particular item on which they have lavished special attention. Instead of a paper label stuck to the wall simply telling what the object is, they commissioned a book to draw every visitor into a slow museum experience. I tracked down and asked its author, Terri Kapsalis, what role travel played in shaping Jane Addams and Hull House ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. You can buy Terri's book on ...
Jan 23, 2017•1 hr 7 min
The Freud Museum at Berggasse 19 in Vienna showcases among other artifacts from the psychoanalyst's life, his suitcase, stamped with his initials and the name of his adopted city. They also published a book called Freud's Travels. I asked what led him to choose travel as one of the defining metaphors of his work ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Check out Kiva.org to make a loan to a small business owner in a place where capital is h...
Jan 17, 2017•42 min
The Moby-Dick Marathon draws fans of Herman Melville's classic from all over the world to the New Bedford Whaling Museum in Massachusetts every January to read the great book straight through over 25 glorious hours. Afterwards, I sat down with a scholar who has taught Melville in Pakistan and led his own life of adventure. I asked why Melville took that fateful first voyage on the Acushnet in 1840 ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. "S...
Jan 09, 2017•54 min
Gerald and Franz walk for five days every year along the Camino de Santiago, the traditional route of pilgrims from all over Europe to the western coast of Spain, picking up where they left off the last year. We asked why they started their pilgrimage ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Check out Kiva.org to make a loan to a small business on the other side of the world. "On the first day of our pilgrimage I barely used my camera." —Pa...
Jan 02, 2017•8 min
Hitoshi spent a decade saving for his and his wife Yoko's dream of traveling the world only to realize it with their two little daughters just before they hit school age. We asked Sana and Rena what their favorite country is ... and hope listening like this makes borders as meaningless to us as they are to them. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Check out Hitoshi's website→tabikazoku.com. Go to Kiva.org and join The Observer Effect Team to lend capital to a small business in on the oth...
Dec 27, 2016•26 min
Giorgio pivoted from architecture to journalism, now researching and writing novels from his wondrous apartment in one of the more fascinating corners of Rome. I asked what the abstract painting of a man lying prone in a strange body of water on his wall meant ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. It was a dream his mother had. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Join the Observer Effect Team at Kiva.org to lend a small amount of money that makes a big difference in the li...
Dec 20, 2016•27 min
I met Orry panning for gold in the Austrian Tyrol. He taught me the word "petrichor." I asked him to tell his best travel story ... and he did not disappoint. We hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Check out Kiva.org. "Men dig tons of earth to find an ounce of gold." —Heraclitus
Dec 12, 2016•58 min
Vixen, Street Poet, wrote me an on-the-spot work when I ran into her in Oxford. I asked how we can help ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Check out Kiva.org and let us know what you think. "Nothing in the world is as painful as the feeling of not being like." —Sei Shōnagon
Dec 05, 2016•18 min
Jürgen became a US citizen in the Caribbean, nearly missed out on Burning Man, and once got arrested in Oklahoma, but those might not even be his best stories. We asked how to ameliorate solitude—and find mushrooms—in the Swedish forest where he lives now ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Check out Kiva.org to make a small business loan in a developing country and change the world. "What I am about to say is so strange that I scarcel...
Nov 28, 2016•37 min
Isabel coordinated volunteers for Lighthouse Relief in Ritsona refugee camp in Greece, but that wasn't the important part, according to her. This will be the last in our series of episodes from Ritsona for a while. We asked refugees to tell us their stories and volunteers to tell us theirs ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Thanks as always to the musician Dana Boulé. Check out Lighthouserelief.org to see how you can volunteer with refugees in Greece. "And why complain of more,...
Nov 25, 2016•19 min
Hanan did not want to give birth in Greece. She crossed from Turkey after escaping Syria while pregnant. Now little Ahmed is her happiness. We asked how he was born ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Thanks as always to the musician Dana Boulé. "The new must be dovetailed into the old as it were, if it were to endure." —Jane Addams
Nov 14, 2016•20 min
Yousef and his wife made the difficult choice to leave Syria with their children four years after their factory and home were burned to charcoal. They went by rubber boat from Turkey to the island of Chios in Greece. We asked him to tell us the story ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Thanks as always to the musician Dana Boulé. "There are people whom we do not fully know, and yet they live in a warm place within us." —Ta-Nehisi Coates
Nov 07, 2016•29 min
Alberto went rogue while volunteering at Ritsona refugee camp, moving into one of the tents to live closer to his new friends. We followed him there to ask why ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Thanks as always to the musician, Dana Boulé. And a very special thanks to Joan for letting us record him playing saz. Check out Alberto's podcast for nonconformists at mimundoenlamochila.com. "If your photographs aren't good enough, you're not close enough." —Robert Capa
Oct 31, 2016•27 min
Adnan spent 45 days escaping Syria with his four children. Now he's waiting in Greece to find out where the EU will decide to put them. We asked our friend Yousef to translate his story ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. "We were tired of everything, tired in particular of perforating useless frontiers." —Primo Levi
Oct 24, 2016•47 min
Romane was too young to volunteer at a refugee camp in Greece when she first decided to go. We asked how she learned to enjoy "giving without receiving" ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Check out Kiva.org. "This individual is not afraid to confront, to listen, to see the world unveiled." —Paulo Freire
Oct 17, 2016•29 min
Siba needs to move. She has been waiting in a refugee camp seven months for her asylum application to be processed by the EU. She teaches math to children. She lives with her mother and siblings in a tent. She studies English. We did not ask what she wants ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. "I could never tell it so that it could be imagined." —Dante Alighieri
Oct 09, 2016•52 min
Ferdinand spent two weeks naked in Australia. We asked what, if anything he learned ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Check out Kiva.org. “Does what goes on inside show on the outside? Someone has a great fire in his soul and nobody ever comes to warm themselves at it, and passers-by see nothing but a little smoke at the top of the chimney.” —Vincent van Gogh
Oct 03, 2016•17 min
Bishupal tried to renew his visa to study in the United States, from Morocco; they told him he needed to go back to Nepal. We asked whether travel really changes people, since he's a professor of postcolonial theory ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Check out Kiva.org to make a small business loan in a place where it can really make a difference. "All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments...
Jul 04, 2016•39 min
Flore studied abroad in Portugal through the Erasmus Programme and unexpectedly fell in love. We asked what it felt like when the program ended and she had to go home ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Check out Kiva.org to knit the world one stitch closer together. "Coming home at last at the end of the year, I wept to find my old umbilical cord." —Matsuo Bashō
Jun 27, 2016•17 min
Johannes is a social worker in Vienna serving primarily Afghan refugees caught in Europe's migrant crisis. We asked where else he's traveled ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Check out Kiva.org to knit the world one stitch closer together. Circles-cafe.com comes up in this conversation too—if you're ever in San Marcos La Laguna, Guatemala go have a drink in the only coffee shop I know where coffee trees grow inside the shop! "When st...
Jun 20, 2016•28 min
Calum is a driver for Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland. We begged him to reveal what famous people he's chauffeured, even though he said he never would divulge anyone's secret ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Check out Gleneagles.com. And check out Kiva.org to lend a small amount that can make a big difference—knit the world one stitch closer together. "Neither in your conversation be without method, nor in life be so busy as to have no...
Jun 13, 2016•17 min
Sergio walked the 800 kilometers from Sevilla to Marrakesh in 17 days. We asked why such a good madness came over him ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé. Check out Pachilofeos.es, the mountaineering club that inspired Sergio's journey. Check out Kiva.org to make a small business loan to someone in another country. "Following a road from beginning to end is particularly satisfying both in literature and in life." —Italo Calvino
Jun 06, 2016•45 min
