Josh Coe is a producer for The World based in Boston. He joins The World from The GroundTruth Project, where he worked on three seasons of the award-winning GroundTruth Podcast as well as edited and reported stories covering a range of topics including geopolitics, nuclear policy, immigration, the 2020 elections and extremism.His bylines can be found in English, German and Albanian-language publications such as The Boston Globe, The GroundTruth Project, Qiio Magazin and the Albanian Centre for Quality Journalism.Josh is a graduate of Emerson College, where he majored in Journalism and minored in both Global Studies and Creative Writing. He speaks German and can survive in French.
Protests in Nigeria over demolition of Makoko — the ‘Venice of Africa’
Last week, police in Nigeria’s largest city fired tear gas on people protesting the ongoing demolition of Makoko, an enormous informal settlement that stretches out into the Lagos Lagoon. With an estimated 300,000 inhabitants, the DIY housing settlement on stilts connected by canals is considered the largest of its kind in the country and was once home to some of Lagos’ poorest. The World’s Host Marco Werman learned more about the impact of the demolition from Nnimmo Bassey, a Nigerian environmental activist and architect.
People are ‘open books’ at Copenhagen’s Human Library
At The Human Library in Denmark’s capital, readers can check out actual living people who volunteer to serve as “open books.” The idea is for them to be able to have one-on-one conversations and ask questions in an attempt to “unjudge” each other. The initiative has become popular around the world, but the organizers say these open-minded conversations seem less and less welcome in today’s climate of rising divisions.
A discussion about Denmark’s forced IUD program for Greenlandic Inuit women and girls
The World’s Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Victoria Pihl Sørensen, a Danish historian who has studied Denmark’s IUD program in Greenland, to understand how the policy took shape and the impacts on an entire generation of Indigenous people.
‘Floating Farm’ in the Netherlands wants to keep food above rising seas
The Dutch city of Rotterdam is no stranger to the challenge of keeping water out, with some areas sitting more than 20 feet below sea level. As climate change increases the risks of storm surges and flooding, one local dairy farm has taken an unusual approach to adapting: putting its dairy production out to sea.
‘Bone music’ brought Western tunes to Soviet fans by recording songs onto X-rays
Stephen Coates began collecting contraband Soviet bootlegs, known as “ribs,” over a decade ago. He also researched the Soviet-era “art” of recording Western music records using discarded X-rays. Coates discussed this topic and his book with The World’s Host Marco Werman.