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
96 Cara de Bobo—Mexico City, Where Gabo Read Kafka
Gabriel García Márquez began his writing career in Cartagena, Colombia, but it took him all over the world. I asked a guide there, Duran Duran, to tell me what exactly happened during his exile in Me…
00:21:30 |
Mon 21 May 2018
95 The Universal Particular—Dublin, Where James Etched His Heart
James Joyce never lived in Dublin again once he left yet poured all he knew of the city into his masterpiece Ulysses. I asked the Friends of the Joyce Tower Society in Sandycove, where the novel begi…
00:56:43 |
Tue 15 May 2018
94 First Sighting of the Sea—Valparaíso, Where Pablo Brought 2,000 Refugees
Pablo Neruda's house in Santiago, Chile has been preserved as a museum, called La Chascona. I asked Javier Ormeño Bustos to explain how travel shaped the great poet's life ... and hope listening like…
01:12:49 |
Mon 07 May 2018
93 NGO Hopping—India, Where Mathias Led His Blind Great-Grandfather
Mathias first went with his great-grandfather to India at age 7, but that's only one of the many stories he told me about his travels and how they have fed into all the aid work he does now. I asked …
00:26:12 |
Mon 30 Apr 2018
92 The Wave and Sea—Europe, Where Eltaj Wants to be a Famous Writer
Eltaj left Sudan and crossed the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy, where we met in a small migrant camp at an abandoned train station in Rome. I asked if he wanted to visit the Keats-Shelley House t…
00:17:56 |
Mon 23 Apr 2018
91 The Persistence of Memory—Sardinia, Where Majda Took Dragan
Majda took us into her home in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina with a glass of grappa. I asked why she had to rebuild that home ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to …
00:36:23 |
Mon 16 Apr 2018
90 Certain Half-Deserted Streets—Amsterdam, Where Ilmari Could Feel Something
Ilmari describes himself as an Eskimo with blond hair. We met in the Sahara Desert. I asked if reindeer and the Northern Lights really played a large role in his life growing up in Lapland ... and ho…
00:32:18 |
Tue 13 Mar 2018
89 One Thousand Degrees of Heat—Merzouga, Where Ilham Fell Down a Sand Dune
Ilham did everything she could to live in Marrakesh. I asked how to make lemon saffron chicken tajine ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé.…
00:20:07 |
Mon 05 Mar 2018
88 A Small Dot on the Horizon—Syria, Where Johan Went to Counter Prejudice
Johan coordinated volunteers at a refugee camp in Greece. I asked why he had moved from Sweden to Syria previously ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician…
00:28:57 |
Mon 26 Feb 2018
87 Asylum—Sweden, Where Ibrahim Is Waiting
Ibrahim escaped Eritrea through the Sahara Desert hidden in the back of a car, crossed the Mediterranean Sea from Libya to Italy crowded into a boat, and now waits in Sweden studying in an old school…
00:34:52 |
Mon 19 Feb 2018
86 A Forlorn Émigré—Guantanamo, Where Alanka Can't Talk About
Alanka could only briefly share a few impressions of Cuba, but the real story is how he and his family got out, and even better what happened in Japan. I asked how these places shaped him ... and hop…
00:33:40 |
Mon 29 Jan 2018
85 The Tear, the Kick, and L'Abri—Malta, Where Marsh Grew Up
Marsh spent decades smuggling Bibles behind the Iron Curtain. We met at L'Abri, a quiet home in the English countryside, where people come to sort out their questions about God. I asked what was the …
00:56:21 |
Tue 23 Jan 2018
83 The Online Student—London, Where Mohammad and I Met Up
Mohammad flew to London from Kuwait while I was there, so we had coffee together. I asked if he likes to travel ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, D…
00:12:41 |
Mon 08 Jan 2018
82 The Good Host—Fügen, Where Eliska Runs Haus Sonneneck
Eliska realized her dream of living in the mountains year after year, and the result is one of the best Airbnb locales in the world. I asked what effect meeting so many fascinating travelers has had …
00:17:13 |
Mon 01 Jan 2018
81 The Hipster Doctor—Russia, Where Onur Camped for the First and Last Time
Onur had a lot to say about his appearance that I lost when I deleted the first part of our conversation in another "slight" episode. I asked why he came to Belize ... and hope listening like this ev…
00:17:13 |
Fri 29 Dec 2017
80 The Viking—Thailand, Where Torleif Eats, Eats, Eats
Torleif is a self-proclaimed Viking. I asked what he thought of the food in Thailand in another "slight" episode ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, …
00:06:19 |
Wed 27 Dec 2017
79 El Payaso—Argentina, Where Camiseta Worked for Five Minutes
Camiseta plays accordion in Buenos Aires every weekend. This is the first of a series of "slight" episodes, encounters I recorded that may not warrant a full treatment but deserve to be heard nonethe…
00:04:36 |
Tue 26 Dec 2017
78 The Scrumptious Simoom—Bethlehem, Where Flic Sheltered at an Inn
Flic had nowhere to sleep when a sandstorm overtook her in Bethlehem. I asked what it was like living in China ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician, Da…
00:20:39 |
Mon 25 Dec 2017
77 Half of Many Things—Tibet, Where Lhamo Concretized Her Parents' Stories
Lhamo runs Momo Tibetan Dumplings Corner in Brussels with a particularly keen ethical conscience. I asked what it felt like the first time she visited her homeland ... and hope listening like this ev…
00:44:28 |
Mon 18 Dec 2017
76 A Collection of Homes—Oman, Where Carina Started a Journey through Ash
Carina hosts Easy German on Youtube, but that's actually only a small part of her and her husband Janusz's larger story. I asked whether the majority of Germans felt remorse after World War II ... an…
00:59:49 |
Mon 11 Dec 2017
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