The Big Ponder (2021)
This transatlantic podcast explores abstract concepts and phenomena through personal radio essays.
I collaborated with fellow radio producer, Monika Müller-Kroll, to produce two of the episodes in the series.
#1: I Love You, I Hate You
“We have the right to hate Germany because we love it,” German writer Kurt Tucholsky wrote. Listening to positions from both sides of the Atlantic, we explore the love-hate relationships people have with their home countries.
Photo (c) screenshot from transatlantic Zoom interview
#5: Little America Revisited
Since World War II, there have been countless American GIs stationed at military bases all over Germany. We talked with some of the people who lived in these “Little Americas” and decided to stay in Germany after the end of the Cold War.
Photo (c) Allied Museum, Berlin-Dr. John Provan Collection
Producer Jenny Marrenbach adapted eight episodes of “The Big Ponder” into German for rbb kultur. You can hear me voice a translated version of “Little America” in German here. You can also hear my contribution to the translated episode, “The Diary,” in German here.
The Big Pond (2019)
I co-produced three of the 52 episodes in this yearlong series with my KCRW Berlin colleagues, Monika Müller-Kroll and Nikki Motson.
#31: The Berlin Ringbahn
Hop on board Berlin’s Ringbahn, a suburban train that carries over 400,000 passengers each day and circles some of the city’s most authentic and lively neighborhoods. We interviewed Berliners at several of the train’s 27 stops as well as a photographer, a public transportation aficionado and a researcher fascinated by the culture of waiting.
Photo (c) Ama Split and Riky Kiwy
#36: Luftbrücke – 70 Years of Memories
On June 24, 1948, the Soviet military administration officially cut off roads and rails into West Berlin in the Berlin Blockade, isolating it from the rest of West Germany. In this episode of The Big Pond, we reflected on the Berlin Airlift, a massive multinational effort to bring vital supplies to West Berliners via plane during the blockade. To tell this story, we interviewed some of those who experienced it firsthand.
Photo (c) Monika Müller-Kroll.
#48: Legacies of the Berlin Wall
“It was chaos, it was total chaos.” When the Berlin Wall unexpectedly fell in 1989, it triggered a time of massive flux for the newly reunited capital of Germany. Subcultures and international trends combined with other creative forces to establish Berlin as a mecca for artists. We spoke with Berliners who helped build the city’s lasting legacy.
Photo (c) Martin Reiter Kunsthaus Tacheles Archive