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.

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

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

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

'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

Trump’s arraignment has ‘serious implications’ for good governance in Africa
The sword of the Royal House of Avis on a stylized cross decorates the 56-meter high Monument to the Discoveries by the Tagus river in Lisbon, Thursday, March 30, 2023. 

Vatican rejects Doctrine of Discovery after years of pressure from Indigenous activists

The 15th-century Doctrine of Discovery provided the legal basis for the colonial-era seizure of Native lands. Sociology professor Cora Voyageur, who is also a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, joined The World's host Carol Hills to discuss the significance of the Vatican's repudiation of the doctrine.

Vatican rejects Doctrine of Discovery after years of pressure from Indigenous activists
Smoke rises from the Trade Ministry in Baghdad after it was hit by a missile during US-led attacks, March 20, 2003.

An Iraq vet grapples with lingering toll of war

Former US Army Sgt. Kayla Williams, who is currently a senior policy researcher at RAND Corporation, was among the 160,000 coalition troops who were deployed for the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. Now, 20 years later, she reflects on her experiences with The World's host Marco Werman.

An Iraq vet grapples with lingering toll of war
Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, author of the book, "A Stranger in Your Own City: Travels in the Middle East's Long War," in Istanbul, Turkey.

Iraqi author Ghaith Abdul-Ahad on the 'unbuilding' of Baghdad

Iraqi author Ghaith Abdul-Ahad has a new book called, "A Stranger in Your Own City: Travels in the Middle East’s Long War." It's an ode to a city shattered by war. Abdul-Ahad speaks with The World’s Marco Werman about his childhood home, the cycle of sectarian violence set in motion by the US-led invasion in 2003 and what might lie ahead for the centuries-old, cosmopolitan city.

Iraqi author Ghaith Abdul-Ahad on the 'unbuilding' of Baghdad
US Special Envoy Rina Amiri addresses the 16th annual International Women of Courage (IWOC) Awards virtual ceremony at the State Department, Monday, March 14, 2022, in Washington. 

US special envoy: Taliban ‘puts women’s right at peril everywhere’

With continued violations of women's rights in Afghanistan, US Special Envoy Rina Amiri tells The World's host Marco Werman that not normalizing the Taliban government is crucial to fighting hardline elements in the country, and for setting a precedent in other places.

US special envoy: Taliban ‘puts women’s right at peril everywhere’
People who lost their houses in the devastating earthquake, lineup to receive aid supplies at a makeshift camp, in Iskenderun city, southern Turkey, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023.

'Assad can't clean up his act with a natural disaster,' US Amb. to UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield says

After a catastrophic earthquake destroyed northwest Syria, assistance is slowly trickling in. It took a full week for the UN to strike a deal with the Syrian regime to open two additional crossings into the region. US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield talks with host Marco Werman about the situation.

'Assad can't clean up his act with a natural disaster,' US Amb. to UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield says
Malala Yousafzai pointing at a poster advertisement of her documentary, "Stranger at the Gate."

'There is hope': Malala Yousafzai promotes tolerance, connection with new documentary

Malala Yousafzai's new Oscar-nominated documentary, "Stranger at the Gate," features a former US marine suffering from PTSD who sets out to bomb a mosque in Indiana, but changes his life around after the community embraces him. Yousafzai joins The World's Marco Werman to discuss the film and her own experiences.

'There is hope': Malala Yousafzai promotes tolerance, connection with new documentary
US State Department Counselor Derek Chollet smiles ahead of a meeting in Serbia, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023. 

America’s top priority is to help Ukraine ‘defend itself’ as a sovereign nation, Blinken adviser says

What are Washington's current strategic goals and limitations in Ukraine? And how do they align with Kyiv? Derek Chollet, a counselor at the US State Department who advises Secretary of State Antony Blinken, joined The World's host Marco Werman to shed some light.

America’s top priority is to help Ukraine ‘defend itself’ as a sovereign nation, Blinken adviser says
A Taliban fighter stands guard as people wait to receive food rations distributed by a South Korean humanitarian aid group, in Kabul, Afghanistan, May 10, 2022.

Afghan women say they are ‘dying in slow motion’ after killing of former female MP

Mursal Nabizada, who decided to remain in Afghanistan after the Taliban took over in 2021, was killed by gunmen on Jan. 15, along with her bodyguard. A friend and former colleague of hers, Fawzia Koofi, speaks with The World’s host Marco Werman about her memories of Nabizada and the ongoing plight of women in the country.

Afghan women say they are ‘dying in slow motion’ after killing of former female MP
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, center left, meet with Angolan President Joao Lourenco during the US Africa Leaders Summit 2022

US aims to ‘amplify Africa’s voice’ as leaders gather for summit in DC, Amb. Thomas-Greenfield says

The three-day US-Africa Leaders Summit kicked off on Tuesday, with 49 African leaders gathered in Washington, DC. US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told The World that the United States is "committed to engaging with the continent," even as Beijing and Moscow expand their engagement there.

US aims to ‘amplify Africa’s voice’ as leaders gather for summit in DC, Amb. Thomas-Greenfield says
In this photo taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran, Iranians protests the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the morality police, in Tehran, Oct. 1, 2022. 

Amid ongoing protests, Iran's morality police ‘lies in ruins,’ analyst says

Ali Vaez, director of the International Crisis Group's Iran Project, talked with The World’s host Marco Werman about how sustained protests in Iran may be impacting the power of the so-called "morality police."  

Amid ongoing protests, Iran's morality police ‘lies in ruins,’ analyst says