Radio Diaries

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Radio Diaries
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First-person diaries, sound portraits, and hidden chapters of history from Peabody Award-winning producer Joe Richman and the Radio Diaries team. From teenagers to octogenarians, prisoners to prison guards, bra saleswomen to lighthouse keepers. The extraordinary stories of ordinary life. Radio Diaries is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Learn more at radiotopia.fm

  1. Two Years in the Life of a Saudi Girl, Revisited

    2 DAYS AGO

    Two Years in the Life of a Saudi Girl, Revisited

    When we first met Majd Abdulghani, she was 19 years old, living in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We gave her a recorder to keep an audio diary about her life.  Majd chronicled her dreams of being a scientist, her resistance to having an arranged marriage, and what it was like to be a teenage girl living in one of the most restrictive countries in the world for women. Her story first aired in 2016. A lot has changed in Majd’s life over the past nine years. Last year, she completed her doctorate at Oxford University, where she was Saudi Arabia’s first Rhodes Scholar. She and her husband have a four-year-old daughter, and they recently moved home to Saudi Arabia after several years abroad. Saudi Arabia has changed a lot, too. Back in 2016, women weren’t even allowed to drive. Now they can. And many more women have careers now—including Majd. She’s now a successful scientist working for a company based in Riyadh. We recently met up with Majd while she was in Boston for a conference. Here's her diary from 2016, along with our conversation about how things have changed since then. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
    37 min
  2. The End of Smallpox

    30 JUN

    The End of Smallpox

    Vaccines have been in the news recently. Over the last few weeks, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has changed vaccination recommendations and gutted an influential committee that recommends which shots Americans should get. Some experts worry that these changes could lead to outbreaks of diseases the US has long had under control. So this week, we're revisiting a story we made a few years ago about the world's very first vaccine, and the disease it helped eradicate: smallpox. Smallpox was around for more than 3,000 years and killed at least 300 million people in the 20th century. Then, by 1980, it was gone. Rahima Banu was the last person in the world to have the deadliest form of smallpox. In 1975, Banu was a toddler growing up in a remote village in Bangladesh when she developed the telltale bumpy rash. Soon, public health workers from around the world showed up at her home to try to keep the virus from spreading. This is her story. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
    14 min
  3. The Detainees of Crystal City

    13 JUN

    The Detainees of Crystal City

    To justify mass deportations, President Trump has invoked an old wartime law: the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.    The Alien Enemies Act was last used after America’s entry into World War II. In response to the Axis countries’ detainment of Americans who were deemed potential spies, the Roosevelt Administration came up with an elaborate plan: find and arrest Germans, Japanese and Italians living in Latin America and detain them in camps in the U.S.  The government would use them to exchange for American prisoners of war. Liked this story? Find photos and more at radiodiaries.org. You can also support our work by going to radiodiaries.org /donate.  Follow us on X and Instagram @radiodiaries.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
    16 min
  4. Prisoners of War

    1 MAY

    Prisoners of War

    It's been 50 years since the end of the Vietnam war. In honor of the anniversary, we're revisiting a story about a notorious American military prison on the outskirts of Saigon, called Long Binh Jail.   LBJ wasn’t for captured enemy fighters—it was for American soldiers. These were men who had broken military law. And there were a lot of them. As the unpopular war dragged on, discipline frayed and soldiers started to rebel. By the summer of 1968, over half the men in Long Binh Jail were locked up on AWOL charges. Some were there for more serious crimes, others for small stuff, like refusing to get a haircut. The stockade had become extremely overcrowded. Originally built to house 400 inmates, it became crammed with over 700 men, more than half African American. On August 29th, 1968, the situation erupted. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
    20 min
  5. March of the Bonus Army

    17 APR

    March of the Bonus Army

    Author James Baldwin once wrote, "I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually." On this episode, we go back to 1932 when a group of World War I veterans set up an encampment in Washington, D.C., and vowed to stay until their voices were heard. It was a remarkable chapter in American history, and a demonstration of the power of citizens to come together for a cause. This is the story of the Bonus Army. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
    16 min
  6. The Girls of the Leesburg Stockade

    3 APR

    The Girls of the Leesburg Stockade

    On July 19, 1963, at least 15 Black girls were arrested while marching to protest segregation in Americus, Georgia. After spending a night in jail, they were transferred to the one-room Leesburg Stockade and imprisoned for the next 45 days. Only twenty miles away, the girls' parents had no knowledge of their location. A month into their confinement, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) heard rumors of the girls' detention and sent photographer Danny Lyon, who took pictures of them through barred windows. Within days, these photographs appeared in publications around the country. As the girls' ordeal gained national attention, they were released without charges. This is the story of the 'Stolen Girls.'  ***** To see more photos by Danny Lyon, visit bleakbeauty.com and Instagram. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
    16 min
  7. Guest Spotlight: Signal Hill

    20 MAR

    Guest Spotlight: Signal Hill

    This week we're featuring a story from a brand new audio magazine we've been listening to called Signal Hill. "Pie Down Here" features oral history interviews with farmworkers and Communist Party members who organized a sharecroppers' union in Alabama during the Great Depression. The interviews were recorded by historian Robin Kelley for his book, Hammer and Hoe. You can learn more about Signal Hill and check out the rest of their first issue—eight original stories—at signalhill.fm. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
    37 min
  8. Making Waves: The Woman Who Warned The World

    6 MAR

    Making Waves: The Woman Who Warned The World

    In 1939, Time Magazine called Dorothy Thompson a woman who “thinks, talks and sleeps world problems — and scares men half to death.”  They weren’t wrong.  Thompson was a foreign correspondent in Germany in the years leading up to World War 2, and she broadcast to millions of listeners around the world. She became known for her bold commentaries on the rise of Hitler. The Nazis even created a “Dorothy Thompson Emergency Squad” to monitor her work. She was an eloquent and opinionated advocate for the principles of democracy. But by the end of the war, those strong opinions put her career in jeopardy.  This is the story of the woman who tried to warn the world.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
    13 min
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Hosts & Guests

About

First-person diaries, sound portraits, and hidden chapters of history from Peabody Award-winning producer Joe Richman and the Radio Diaries team. From teenagers to octogenarians, prisoners to prison guards, bra saleswomen to lighthouse keepers. The extraordinary stories of ordinary life. Radio Diaries is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Learn more at radiotopia.fm

Information

  • Channel
    Radiotopia
  • Creator
    Radio Diaries & Radiotopia
  • Years Active
    2006 - 2025
  • Episodes
    248
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    Copyright © 2017. All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Radio Diaries
  • Provider
    PRX

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