Rough Translation
How are the things we're talking about being talked about somewhere else in the world? Gregory Warner tells stories that follow familiar conversations into unfamiliar territory. At a time when the world seems small but it's as hard as ever to escape our echo chambers, Rough Translation takes you places.
Latest episodes
Jun 15, 2022 • 40min
Stuck@Work: Your Country's Brand Is Escape, But You Can't
When Portugal forbade bosses from contacting employees after hours, international media jumped at the chance to cover the new law. Portuguese workers were oddly quiet. Why?Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Jun 8, 2022 • 30min
Lunching@Work: When Eating at Your Desk Is Forbidden
In 2021, France suspended a law that forbids eating lunch at work. We talk to an American teacher relieved to see it go and a French historian determined to bring it back.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Jun 1, 2022 • 40min
Slackers@Work: A Song for the Exhausted
A video ricochets across Chinese offices, and a scooter thief becomes an icon for brewing discontent. Why is a thief who says he's tired of working viewed by the Chinese state as such a threat?Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
May 25, 2022 • 3min
New Season: @Work. Starting June 1.
We're back @Work. The new season of Rough Translation will tell surprising stories from workplaces and work cultures around the world.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Apr 27, 2022 • 20min
The Good Russians
Hundreds of thousands of Russians are leaving Russia. They're facing an uncertain welcome abroad. Poet and writer Linor Goralik joins us to read from "Exodus 22," her uncomfortably frank conversations with Russians who – before the war – lived in a Westernized bubble, ignoring the mounting threats of Putin's regime. Then, the bubble burst.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Apr 15, 2022 • 17min
The Scarf and the Snuffbox
What can a blank piece of paper, four ballerinas, a scarf and snuff box mean in Russia? A conversation with Russian Anthropologist Alexandra Arkhipova about how anti-war protestors resist the war in Ukraine through code and hidden messages.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Mar 30, 2022 • 16min
Letter of Unhappiness
When Naira calls her parents back home in Russia to talk about the war in Ukraine, they treat her as an outsider and a threat. She finds a way to break through the propaganda wall, with inspiration from a chain letter.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Mar 15, 2022 • 41min
The Culture Front
When protecting a language is used as justification for war, how can its speakers fight back? A conversation with Russian speakers of the diaspora who are rethinking their relationship to language, identity, and the Russian community.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Mar 2, 2022 • 31min
Fighting Words In Ukraine
Vladimir Putin joined the KGB at age 23. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy got his early training in a no less Soviet institution–the world of competitive comedy. We update our 2019 episode about a high-stakes comedy competition in Ukraine.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Feb 16, 2022 • 51min
Presenting 'TED Radio Hour': Work, Play, Rest
The past few years have shaken the fundamental ways we live. It's... disorienting. But it's also an opportunity to reexamine how we spend our time. In this episode from TED Radio Hour, speakers investigate evolving notions of what it means to pay our bills.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
