The Observer Effect
These are strangers' travel stories. Each time I ask how travel has changed them and hope listening like this evaporates borders.
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 33 minutes
- Episodes
- 135
- Years Active
- 2016 - 2022
136 Exposure Therapy—Sulawesi, Where Rachel Was a Fellow
Rachel was a Fellow with the U.S. State Department’s English Language Program in Sulawesi. She embraced challenges like finding ants in her food to unravel her fears and came away reflecting on how r…
01:01:18 |
Sun 23 Jan 2022
135 So Much More Than One Thing—Mauritius, Where Armen Was a Fellow
Armen was a Fellow with the U.S. State Department’s English Language Program in Mauritius. I asked how the experience changed him … and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to …
00:38:44 |
Sat 15 Jan 2022
134 Moral Injury—Afghanistan, Where Joan Got a Text
Joan took part in this past August’s “Digital Dunkirk,” the frantic effort to help Afghans escape the Taliban when the U.S. withdrew after two decades in Afghanistan. During those sleepless nights, s…
00:44:11 |
Sat 08 Jan 2022
133 All Very Hush Hush—Yemen, Where Aziza Wants to Help People Die
Aziza told me the religious police arrested her and her fiancé in Saudi Arabia. The interrogator asked, “Did you hit the religious police?” I was like, “Damn yes I did!” I asked if that experience ch…
00:37:31 |
Wed 20 May 2020
132 Love Is Stronger Than Death—Benin, Where Jean Reconnected
Jean was readier to answer my questions—as if he had somehow prepared—than anyone I have interviewed in the course of this project when we met randomly at a fountain in an alcove of Casablanca’s wond…
00:42:32 |
Sun 19 Apr 2020
131 La Direction de la Vie—Paris, Where Étienne Considered Suicide
Étienne has decorated his entire Paris apartment with paraphernalia from The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s classic children’s book. I asked what happened when he came home from nearly a y…
01:15:47 |
Fri 10 Apr 2020
130 Black Doesn't Speak—Paris, Where Caracola Clowns
Caracola left Buenos Aires at 19 to study anthropology in Paris but soon realized her calling is to be a clown. She has been studying intensely and touring the world performing in streets and studios…
00:22:17 |
Fri 03 Apr 2020
129 Al-Amin—The Bronx, Where Mohibul Trusted
Mohibul runs the restaurant his father established when he moved from Bangladesh to London. They named it Al-Amin, which means “trust.” I asked how he learned to connect so well with his customers ..…
00:34:42 |
Sat 28 Mar 2020
128 Belonging—Mostar, Where Anja Is Writing a Bible
Anja left Bosnia as a toddler and lives there now to reconnect with her roots. I asked if she has found herself in her journeys ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to …
00:48:55 |
Thu 27 Feb 2020
127 The Beauty of Sorrow—Zipolite, Where Indra Drowned
Indra broke up with his girlfriend in Turkey just months into traveling the world together and set off the series of events that brought him to South Korea. He almost died in Mexico. I asked whether …
00:59:33 |
Thu 20 Feb 2020
126 Vipassana—Tel Aviv, Where Meytal Wants to See
Meytal felt uncomfortable just following the typical path of a young Israeli, school, the army, job, and so she found another path that took her to India—and eventually, back to Israel. I asked wheth…
00:23:04 |
Wed 12 Feb 2020
125 The Fourth Cup—Nazareth, Where Odna Is Being Investigated
Odna was summoned by the police in Nazareth and questioned about her Facebook activity. They said they were secretly listening to her conversations as well. I asked what her name means ... and hope l…
00:47:11 |
Wed 05 Feb 2020
124 Beyond the Beyonds—Limerick, Where Frank Grew Up
Frank McCourt wrote his beloved memoir, Angela’s Ashes, about a childhood spent in Ireland. Una Heaten turned the schoolhouse he attended into a museum honoring his book and his legacy. I traveled to…
00:45:00 |
Wed 13 Nov 2019
123 Around the World in 72 Days—Mexico, Where Nellie Ran Away
Nellie Bly set out in 1889 to beat Jules Verne’s fictional circumnavigation of the globe by ten days and report along the way, but that’s only one among her many adventures. I asked Nathan Mannion of…
00:58:57 |
Tue 01 Oct 2019
122 The Spirit of Dialogue—Egypt, Where Francis Tried to Stop the Crusades
St. Francis of Assisi attached himself to a band of crusaders in the hopes that when he met the sultan in Egypt, his words could dissuade everyone from fighting. I asked a monk named Stephen who live…
00:25:04 |
Sat 24 Aug 2019
121 A Listening Blue—Arles, Where Vincent Dreamed of Japan
Vincent Van Gogh left the Netherlands to paint the South of France near the end of his life and created some of the most famous and lasting works in his short career there. I asked Marion Ley of the …
00:37:49 |
Mon 19 Aug 2019
120 Dublin Live Show—Sweny's, Where PJ Welcomes Joyceans
PJ Murphy dresses like a chemist to greet the visitors to Sweny’s Pharmacy who come to Dublin to experience James Joyce’s novel, Ulysses. At Kennedy’s Pub and Station across the street—that Joyce sur…
00:43:44 |
Wed 14 Aug 2019
119 Seven Words—Maine, Where Rocinante Glowed
John Steinbeck packed up his dog and a few belongings into a camper he christened Rocinante and set out on the road late in life to discover America. I asked the head archivist at the National Steinb…
00:46:25 |
Sat 22 Jun 2019
118 The Last Grain of Rice—Mosul, Where Mikey Saw a Face
Mikey spent years as a helicopter pilot before becoming to a storyteller. You can see his filmmaking at MikeyKay.com. I asked how he approaches interviewing—in other words how he deals with “the obse…
00:21:15 |
Wed 27 Feb 2019
117 The Other Side—L'Abri, Where Ryan Demilitarized
Ryan needed a place to decompress after serving in the military, so he went to L’Abri, a communal living center in the English countryside. I asked what exactly it was that reversed his political sta…
01:08:25 |
Wed 20 Feb 2019
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