studio071610pod.mp3

Spy Fiction, Disco Revolution

<p>This week, it feels like the 1970s all over again. Eastern European  spies grab headlines and flamboyant disco stars top the charts. Kurt  Andersen talks with Alan Furst, author of the new thriller <em>Spies of the Balkans</em>.  And a professor explains how disco changed music and American society  way more than we think. Plus, the experimental bands Matmos and So  Percussion get together, and music happens when they break out a cactus  and a bucket of water.</p>

Studio 360

Arts, Culture & Media

How To Play A Cactus

Salah Fareeq Al-Feroun's farm sits unattended without the necessary water to cultivate Iraq's signature anbar rice, Al-Meshkhab, Najaf Province, Iraq, Aug. 30, 2023.

Food

Iraq's signature anbar rice is disappearing amid water shortages

A couple embrace during a protest in Trafalgar Square, London, Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023. They are demanding the release of all hostages allegedly taken by the militant group Hamas.

Sacred Nation

'A link with my ancestors': Britons reconnect with Jewish roots for EU passports

The border between Belarus and Latvia is about 100 miles long and is partially separated by a fence monitored by border officers.

Migration

A migrant crisis at the Latvia-Belarus border

Books

New book taps into the cultural history of eyeliner

Xhosa boys undergoing ulwaluko, one of three rituals covered in the study.

Lifestyle & Belief

Ubuntu offers lessons in how to treat people with disabilities – a study of Bomvana rituals

Israeli soldiers carry a stretcher toward a helicopter near the border with Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023. 

Israel-Hamas war

Israel and Hamas reach temporary ceasefire agreement

The first Cuban tres players at Berklee

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

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

Pussy Riot feminist activist collective, from left to right, Alina Petrova, Diana Burkot, Masha Alyokhina, Olga Borisova.

Protest

A conversation with Russian protest group Pussy Riot

Environment

Confidence in UN climate talks at a low point ahead of COP28 in Dubai 

Matmos

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