Gerry Hadden is an author and journalist who began his public radio career in 1995 at public radio station KPLU in Seattle. In 2000, NPR sent him to Los Angeles, then to Mexico City. From 2000 to 2004, he served as NPR’s Mexico, Central America and Caribbean correspondent and covered presidential elections in Mexico, Guatemala, Haiti and Nicaragua. He extensively reported on immigration, drug trafficking and the varied cultures and characters of Latin America. He also frequently traveled to Cuba, where he reported on US-Cuba relations, the economy, the arts and daily life under Fidel Castro. Four years after watching Jean Bertrand Aristide be sworn in as Haiti’s first democratically elected president, Hadden, in 2004, covered Aristide’s flight from power amidst an armed rebellion. That same year, Hadden moved with his family to Spain. He covers Spain and other parts of Europe from Barcelona for The World, although his stories have taken him as far as Cape Verde, Istanbul and Kyiv. Hadden says that reporting for public radio is the most interesting job he’s ever had besides driving a taxi in New York. When Hadden is not reporting, he spends time with his partner, Anne, and their three children.
Hadden is the author of the NPR memoir, “Never the Hope Itself: Love and Ghosts in Latin America and Haiti,” and the novel, “Everything Turns Invisible.”
Meet Barcelona’s pigeon super-feeders
Barcelona, Spain, has a major pigeon problem, like a lot of cities. But the heart of the problem, government officials say, are the super-feeders: some 350 local residents who don’t just toss a few breadcrumbs from a quaint park bench, but distribute bags of food that attract massive flocks of birds.
Capitalists Anonymous: Weary French seek help in buying and polluting less
There are many addiction support groups out there — from alcohol and drugs to pornography. In France, there’s one called Capitalists Anonymous, for people who can’t stop buying stuff or worry that their daily actions, like commuting in gas-guzzling cars, are hurting the planet.
EU threatens to shut down popular app that pays users to watch videos
The European Commission is calling the new TikTok Lite app “toxic as cigarettes.” It’s a spin-off from the makers of the original TikTok, that pays people to watch videos. The EC says it was launched without regard for risks of addiction, or safeguards against children using it. Now they’re threatening to suspend it.
Lungs of stone: How Silica has sickened a generation of quartz cutters
Quartz is used for countertops in millions of homes around the world — the manmade stone is popular for its beauty and durability. But for workers who make, cut and install quartz counters, it can be deadly. The World reported from Turkey, Spain and Australia — three stops along the quartz countertop supply chain — to learn more about silicosis, an incurable and often fatal lung disease caused by inhaling dust laden with excessive amounts of a mineral called silica.
Europe makes another move to outsource border control with Mauritania deal
The European Union just signed a deal with the West African nation Mauritania: In exchange for hundreds of millions of dollars in investments, Mauritania has pledged to stop the tens of thousands of migrants heading by boat to Spain from its shores.