Joyce Hackel

Producer

Joyce Hackel is a producer at The World who aims to find the right voice for stories that will make you stop and listen.

Joyce Hackel spends much of her day tracking down the right person to tell the nuanced stories that help explain the world today.  
Joyce started out writing deadline copy from a DC sweatshop called States News Service in the mid-80s.  After reporting one story too many about Congressional dysfunction (it was bad even then) , she ditched the Capitol Hill press pass and bought a one-way ticket to El Salvador. There she wrote for The Christian Science Monitor and filed freelance radio pieces from a closet lined with egg cartons.  (She also met a British guy she’d eventually marry, but that’s another story…) Eventually she became a staff correspondent for Monitor Radio and was dispatched to Africa for four years.  She filed from more than a dozen African countries, reporting on clan warfare in Somalia,  genocide in Rwanda, and Nelson Mandela's landmark election.  She won a few awards for her Africa radio pieces, and in 1996 headed to the University of Michigan as a journalism fellow.   Since then,  Joyce has worked as a Senior Editor at Living on Earth, and has edited WBUR’s Morning Edition. Some day she and her journalist hubby vow they'll get back on the road.

Activists from the Standing Together Movement play drums at a demonstration.

Standing Together leaders discuss attempts to open Jewish-Arab dialogue amid Gaza war

As political and military leaders negotiate over the fate of civilians on both sides of the war in Gaza, there are Israeli and Palestinian people who are working together to search for common ground. The World's host Marco Werman had a discussion with two leaders from Standing Together, the largest Jewish-Arab grassroots organization in Israel. They are both Israeli citizens. Sally Abed is Palestinian and lives in Haifa. Alon-Lee Green is Jewish and lives in Tel Aviv.

Standing Together leaders discuss attempts to open Jewish-Arab dialogue amid Gaza war
Bodies of Palestinians killed by an explosion at the Ahli Arab hospital are gathered in the front yard of the al-Shifa hospital, in Gaza City, central Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023.

Gaza's infrastructure near collapse as Israel-Hamas war continues

Gaza's infrastructure near collapse as Israel-Hamas war continues
Rubble from destroyed building and homes in Gaza

Gaza resident: 'We all have the feeling we won't make it until tomorrow'

Gaza resident: 'We all have the feeling we won't make it until tomorrow'
A portrait of the owner of private military company Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin lays at an informal memorial next to the former 'PMC Wagner Centre' in St. Petersburg, Russia, Aug. 24, 2023.

Reported death of Wagner Group leader 'strengthens Putin's hold on power,' analyst says

Reported death of Wagner Group leader 'strengthens Putin's hold on power,' analyst says
The site at Campus Galli near the German-Swiss border where carpenters are erecting a medieval utopia.

A group of carpenters in Germany is erecting a medieval utopia using only 9th-century tools

A group of carpenters in Germany is erecting a medieval utopia using only 9th-century tools
grain facility in Ukraine

US Amb to UN: ‘We’re hopeful’ the Black Sea Grain Initiative can be revived

Since Russia pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative in July, its troops have been attacking Ukraine’s ports, destroying 220,000 metric tons of grain in the past week alone. But US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that the grain deal could be brought back to life.  

US Amb to UN: ‘We’re hopeful’ the Black Sea Grain Initiative can be revived
Maroon silhouette of two people performing in front of a crowd of people

Mahraganat artists in Egypt are defining hip-hop culture, despite government crackdowns

Hip-hop has taken root in Egypt. Authorities are trying to suppress it. But the raw power of the music may be unstoppable. Yasmine el Rashidi, author of "Laughter in the Dark: Egypt to the Tune of Change," tells host Marco Werman how young Egyptians are pushing hip-hop to the limit.

Mahraganat artists in Egypt are defining hip-hop culture, despite government crackdowns
USAID Administrator Samantha Power is interviewed by the AP at USAID Headquarters in Washington, Aug. 4, 2022.

USAID chief says she's haunted by how many people are unable to leave Sudan

The ongoing fighting in Sudan is being described as a civil war, with fears of possible genocide. The World's host Marco Werman speaks with Administrator Samantha Power, who heads the US Agency for International Development (USAID) about the unrest and humanitarian support to those who need it most.

USAID chief says she's haunted by how many people are unable to leave Sudan
three diplomats shake hands in front of an embassy building

‘Open lines of communication’ are crucial to improving relations with Beijing, Amb Nicholas Burns says

US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns was in the room this week when Secretary of State Antony Blinken sat down with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Amb. Burns spoke with The World’s Marco Werman about Taiwan, Ukraine and why US and Chinese military leaders have stopped talking to one another.

‘Open lines of communication’ are crucial to improving relations with Beijing, Amb Nicholas Burns says
Nelson Mandela, left, and his wife Winnie, raise clenched fists as they walk hand-in-hand from the Victor Verster prison near Cape Town, South Africa on Feb. 11, 1990.

'Winnie and Nelson': A new book explores a fraught political partnership

Author Jonny Steinberg’s new book, "Winnie and Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage," explores the complex relationship between Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, two of the world’s best-known freedom fighters. Steinberg joined The World’s host Marco Werman to discuss the fraught political partnership of these iconic revolutionaries.

'Winnie and Nelson': A new book explores a fraught political partnership
COVID-19 antigen home tests indicating a positive result are photographed in New York, April 5, 2023.

Pandemic recovery will require much focus and attention, Dr. Atul Gawande says

The COVID-19 pandemic has killed about 7 million people worldwide, ravaging health care systems and economies. Dr. Atul Gawande, head of global health at the US Agency for International Development, spoke with The World's Carolyn Beeler about how pandemic recovery "will require as much focus and attention as it did when it first started."

Pandemic recovery will require much focus and attention, Dr. Atul Gawande says
The World

In Sudan, global powers fuel conflict

Outside powers are propping up the rival generals who have plunged Sudan into chaos in recent days. E

In Sudan, global powers fuel conflict
As a photo of her husband Chinese human rights activist Ding Jiaxi is on display in the background, Sophie Luo testifies during a hearing before The Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) at Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on Fe

Wife of jailed Chinese dissident denounces sentence

Chinese authorities have sentenced two of the country’s most prominent human rights lawyers to more than a decade in prison, each on subversion charges. Sophie Luo Shengchun, the wife of jailed dissident Ding Jiaxi, speaks with The World’s Marco Werman.

Wife of jailed Chinese dissident denounces sentence
A woman walks outside of a COVID-19 testing center at the Incheon International Airport In Incheon, South Korea, on Feb. 10, 2023. 

'The pandemic is still with us': The bumpy road to the end of COVID

Pinpointing the “end” of the coronavirus pandemic depends on the vantage point. The World's host Marco Werman spoke with Dr. Michael Mina, a leading epidemiologist and the chief science officer at EMed, a digital health care company, along with Zeynep Tufekci, a sociologist and professor at Columbia University, to learn more about the "bumpy, difficult off-ramp" from COVID-19.

'The pandemic is still with us': The bumpy road to the end of COVID
Trump in court

Trump’s arraignment has ‘serious implications’ for good governance in Africa

Chris Maroleng, executive director of Good Governance Africa, talks with The World’s host Marco Werman about how Trump’s legal woes impact the rule of law in the sub-Saharan region of the continent.

Trump’s arraignment has ‘serious implications’ for good governance in Africa