I was living in Afghanistan in 2007 as a freelance reporter when my roommate was nearly kidnapped by a warlord’s goons. That same month, three different US officials used the phrase “baby steps” to describe to me Afghanistan’s “progress” toward democracy. I remember the phrase now because it seemed so tone-deaf. I was walking the streets looking over my shoulder, in a country that did not feel like it was toddling toward free and fair elections, but bounding at alarming speed in the opposite direction. But while I disagreed with the optimistic assessment, I didn’t yet think to question that US-centric premise of that weird decade, a premise that fueled two hubristic wars: that all the countries of the world were inevitably headed, at different speeds and at different times, toward the same finish line.
I remember hearing this when it first came out and being struck by her absolute determination and persistence. I am so sad that NPR let Rough Translation go - it’s by far my favorite podcast, timely, captivating and putting the US in global context instead of making it front and center. I love hearing how things are playing out in other cultures. That perspective is vital.
Hey @greg, another great story - and one I don’t remember listening to, thought I had heard them all. Could you please consider including the name of the episodes in your posts? Or is it there and I just missed it?
Your Future Is Elsewhere
I remember hearing this when it first came out and being struck by her absolute determination and persistence. I am so sad that NPR let Rough Translation go - it’s by far my favorite podcast, timely, captivating and putting the US in global context instead of making it front and center. I love hearing how things are playing out in other cultures. That perspective is vital.
Hey @greg, another great story - and one I don’t remember listening to, thought I had heard them all. Could you please consider including the name of the episodes in your posts? Or is it there and I just missed it?
Brilliant the way the “yardsticks” they were “measuring” with was analyzed (time, distance)
Great reporting, great writing