Clark Boyd
Clark Boyd is a former Senior Producer and Reporter for The World.
I'm a former Senior Producer and Reporter for PRI's The World.For more than 16 years, I've been been traveling the globe in search of interesting people to put on the radio, on the web, and even on television. I recently did a two-year stint for The World in Brussels, where I mostly covered Europe's ongoing financial crisis. Before that, I served as The World's technology correspondent, and also hosted a weekly technology podcast. Since returning to the Boston newsroom, I have tackled a variety of projects, including the creation of Boston Calling, a weekly program for the BBC World Service.Away from the office, I enjoy fine Belgian beers and single malt Scotch whisky. I like books by Kurt Vonnegut, and early Miles Davis on vinyl. Occasionally, I spoil a good walk by picking up a golf club, usually to disastrous results. More occasionally, I pick up a bass guitar, and then smash it.
Did Led Zeppelin rip off the opening to ‘Stairway?’
The opening chord progression in Stairway to Heaven is one of the most famous in rock music. But representatives of a 1960s US band called Spirit say that Robert Plant and Jimmy Page got the idea from them. A federal judge in Los Angeles says a jury should decide.
Why Australia has a walking fish problem
A fish that can live out of water for up to six days poses a threat to Australian native species. The invasive fish, originally from Papua New Guinea, “walks” using its gill plates from waterhole to waterhole and has already reached Australian island territories.
Finding the courage to write about cowardice
“Coward. Chicken. Yellow-belly.” Those were insults the French used against the gunmen who carried out the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January. Cowardice, in fact, is currently enjoying a bit of global resurgence as a put-down. So much so that Boston University professor Chris Walsh decided it was time to write a book about the subject. The first hurdle? Finding source material.
Why Greek voters bucked Europe, backed an anti-austerity party
Voters in Greece have thrown their support behind Alexis Tsipras, the leader of a left-wing, anti-austerity party called Syriza. Tsipras says his first task as prime minister will be to renegotiate the tough economic measures imposed on Greece by the Eurozone, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. Tsipras says he wants to give Greeks their dignity back.
Why other European cities might be frightened by the events in France this week
From the massacre at the Charlie Hebdo offices to the bloody end of a nationwide manhunt, events in France this week have laid bare the fault lines with, and within, the country’s Muslim population. That tension extends far beyond France’s borders, and into almost every other European country.