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.”
Foreign laborers protest working conditions and unfair pay for renovating Barça football stadium
Football Club Barcelona has been giving its stadium a multi-million-dollar makeover. But it’s faced steep fines for labor violations, with foreign workers from Romania to Turkey now protesting, saying they were lured with offers of high pay, only to be treated like indentured servants.
The world’s best comics store says immersive fantasy is key to its success
It’s called Akira Comics, and among its 60,000 volumes, you’ll find everything from the Japanese manga style that inspired its name to fantasy literature to classic Marvel superheroes. But Akira is more than just shopping. Its decor is designed to transport clients to fantasy realms, from “The Lord of the Rings” to “Star Wars” to medieval Europe. The World’s Gerry Hadden takes us on a tour of Akira, a comic store on Madrid’s north side.
Europe wants to attract American scientists
In the wake of federal funding cuts that threaten scientists’ jobs in the US, programs have emerged across Europe to attract those worried American scientists. The World’s Gerry Hadden reports from a university in southern France where incoming Americans are referred to as “scientific refugees.”
Medical wax museum in Spain showcasing 19th-century diseases is set to close
Spain’s wax museum of dermatology, once a treasured teaching tool for medical students, will be closing its doors. Founded in the late 19th century, it contains hundreds of life-sized models of people infected with cutaneous and venereal diseases.
Trump administration cuts funding to Barcelona library over DEI policies
The Trump administration has made it a priority to eliminate DEI programs across the United States and even overseas. It’s put some private companies on notice and warned businesses working with US embassies and consulates to renounce their inclusion policies. But many of these groups are resisting and fighting back.
Spain’s new eviction law may not keep squatters out
The goal of the law, nicknamed the Evictions Express, is to allow property owners with illegal tenants to get them out within 15 days. But the law relies on a court system that’s currently overwhelmed, with cases that are delayed for months or even years. Meanwhile, housing prices continue to rise, making it harder for people to pay rent.