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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The Imaginary Village is a story about the meaning of "home" for three generations of Palestinians living in refugee camps.

Bought by PRX Remix, KZYX, and KFAI Minneapolis


  • Added: Jun 05, 2004
  • Length: 18:06
  • Purchases: 3
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A Zapatista co-op sells organic coffee on the growing global "solidarity market."

Bought by KZSC, PRX, KUER, WCOM, KFAI Minneapolis and more


  • Added: Apr 05, 2005
  • Length: 08:16
  • Purchases: 11
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A sound-rich documentary about the efforts of traditional societies to find a niche in the global marketplace, with stories from Peru, Canada, Scot...

Bought by KUNM, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, Yellowstone Public Radio, WPSU, WUMB and more


  • Added: Apr 12, 2005
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 27
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A look at the connections between language and identity, with stories from Bulgaria, Wales, France, New Zealand and Mexico.

Bought by CI Dolphin Radio, WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass., Yellowstone Public Radio, WPSU, WUMB and more


  • Added: Oct 03, 2005
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 6
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An exploration of the relationship between religion and cultural identity, with stories from France, Greece, Korea and the American southwest.

Bought by Yellowstone Public Radio, WPSU, WUMB, and WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass.


  • Added: Oct 03, 2005
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 4
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A look at cultures that must look to the past in order to move forward, with stories from Burundi, Spain, Canada and Turkey.

Bought by Yellowstone Public Radio, WPSU, WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass., and WUMB


  • Added: Oct 03, 2005
  • Length: 58:57
  • Purchases: 4
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A sound-rich hour featuring people facing moments of decision about identity and the future, with stories from Hungary, Kenya, Hawaii, Bhutan and S...

Bought by Yellowstone Public Radio, WGBH Radio Boston, KUOW, WFIU, WPSU and more


  • Added: Oct 03, 2005
  • Length: 58:57
  • Purchases: 7
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An exploration of the changing relationship between culture and place, with stories from Ireland, Chile and the Middle East.

Bought by KTNA, Yellowstone Public Radio, WKSU, KUHB, WPSU and more


  • Added: Oct 03, 2005
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 8
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An award-winning documentary on the collapse of the Newfoundland cod fishery and its resounding effects on the local community.

Bought by HowSound, WAMC Northeast Public Radio, PRX Remix, KFAI Minneapolis, Documentary on One - RTE, Ireland and more


  • Added: May 04, 2006
  • Length: 14:57
  • Purchases: 8
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A Peruvian farming community weighs the risks of entering the market.

Bought by WBEZ and KXOT Public Radio


  • Added: May 09, 2006
  • Length: 10:28
  • Purchases: 2
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The Internet helps revive a dying culture in Scotland's remote Outer Hebrides islands.

Bought by New Hampshire Public Radio


  • Added: May 09, 2006
  • Length: 08:41
  • Purchases: 1
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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
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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 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