Postcards From Nowhere with Utsav Mamoria

A city finds itself at the centre of the world's attention twice in a span of ten years, but for completely opposite reasons. In 1984, it became the first Balkan country to host the Winter Olympics. In 1992, it was home to the first televised war in human history. This week, in the third episode of Dark Tourism, we take you to the city of Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and tell a story of love, loss and remembrance. Tune in, and understand what it means to live in a country after a war has ended. You can reach out to our host Utsav on Instagram: @whywetravel42 (https://www.instagram.com/whywetravel42) You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What would you do if you were forced to pick up a gun at a tender age of 10? And fight numerous wars for the next ten years, without ever having any choice? This isn't fiction, but the story of countless youth from Cambodia who grew up in the 70's. This week, in the second episode of Dark Tourism, we listen to the story of Aki Ra, a man who turned around not only his life, but that of his country too, and created a museum unlike no other in the world. Tune in, and listen to the inspirational story of Ak Ra, and how we must visit countries which have been ravaged by war. You can reach out to our host Utsav on Instagram: @whywetravel42 (https://www.instagram.com/whywetravel42) You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Since 1993, the Kazimierz district in Kraków, Poland has seen a huge influx of tourists, thanks to the film Schindler's List, an uplifting story of how the Schindlers saved a thousand mostly Polish German refugees from the Holocaust. The phenomenon is not unique. Starting a new series, Dark Tourism, we explore why are we so attracted to places of death and suffering. In the first episode, we shift our gaze towards the more ubiquitous, but less observed sites of dark tourism, and how a single such site in Bogota, Colombia triggered a new way of looking at the world. Tune in, and discover the fascinating phenomenon of Dark Tourism. You can reach out to our host Utsav on Instagram: @whywetravel42 (https://www.instagram.com/whywetravel42) You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On January 23, 1960, at a little after one in the afternoon, two men seated on small stainless steel boxes inside a forged steel-alloy cabin, settled gently onto a patch of ivory-coloured silt on the floor of the Mariana trench. At a depth of 35,800 feet, they had achieved every explorers dream. But what has become of the human desire for exploration, especially in pandemic times? This week, join Utsav as he travels to one of the most visited places in India: Goa, and witnesses something unique to come away with an oft ignored insight on human exploration. Tune in, and discover how even going back to the same place again can provide us with new experiences. You can reach out to our host Utsav on Instagram: @whywetravel42 (https://www.instagram.com/whywetravel42) You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does Venice, a floating city with an algae problem and Finland, a country battling climate change have in common? And what could it possibly have to do with stamps? This week, in the fifth episode of Currencies and Stamps, we explore the intersection of stamps and climate change, and how are countries are bringing out these problems through their stamps. Tune in, and discover how Venice and Finland have been printing the stamps of the future. You can reach out to our host Utsav on Instagram: @whywetravel42 (https://www.instagram.com/whywetravel42) You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why would the sleepy Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan decide to suddenly issue talking stamps? Or the tiny West African nation of Burkina Faso issue stamps featuring the American singer and musician Elvis Presley? In fact, these were not frivolous pursuits by deluded monarchs or a tin pot dictator but were well thought out strategies. This week, in the fourth episode of Currencies and Stamps, we delve into the unique phenomena of how countries issue stamps with people who have no connection to them. Tune in, to discover how the simple act of issuing stamps could hold the key to the fortunes of smaller and often forgotten countries. You can reach out to our host Utsav on Instagram: @whywetravel42 (https://www.instagram.com/whywetravel42) You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when a British civilian administrator in the Indian government, a graduate in math and physics from Cambridge, on a fatal mission to organize a guerrilla network against the Japanese disappears? And what does that have to do with currencies? This week, in the second episode of Currencies and Stamps, crisscrossing Britain, Japan, Burma and Manipur, we delve into a rather unexplored aspect of currencies: What if the currency you hold is a reminder of personal tragedy? Tune in, to uncover how currency can be a reminder of tragedy, and what it means ot trace the footsteps of a lost loved one. You can reach out to our host Utsav on Instagram: @whywetravel42 (https://www.instagram.com/whywetravel42) You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does the Oscar winning iconic director Stanley Kubrick have in common with a Chess grandmaster? And what does it have to do with banknotes of Armenia? This week, in the second episode of Currencies and Stamps, we travel all the way to Armenia and uncover how banknotes can be used to trace the cultural changes of a young nation. Tune in, and understand how banknotes, when turned into objects of everyday symbolism can become the carrier of a new nations confidence at the world stage. You can reach out to our host Utsav on Instagram: @whywetravel42 (https://www.instagram.com/whywetravel42) You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What could Marie Curie, a two time Nobel Prize winner and the famous poet Jane Austen possibly have in common? And what does that have to do with banknotes, an everyday object we scarcely pay any attention to? This week, starting a new series, Currencies and Stamps, we travel from the WW 1 trenches in France to modern day UK and Tunisia and answer a simple question - What does a banknote tell us about a country? Tune in, and understand why you should closely look at the notes of a country and what secrets it could reveal. You can reach out to our host Utsav on Instagram: @whywetravel42 (https://www.instagram.com/whywetravel42) You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Erling Kagge, is no ordinary man. In 1992, skiing and walking 1300 kilometres, over 52 days, he reached the South Pole. Alone. A few hundred miles away, there is a waterfall known as the Blood Falls, after the red water which constantly flows out of its parent glacier. But what do Earling and the Blood Falls, have to do with the Moons of Jupiter. In the fifth and final episode of the series, Alien Landscapes, we travel to the most inhabitable place on earth, Antarctica, to uncover the secrets of the cosmos, the earth and the sea. Tune in, and understand what Erling went on to achieve, and the startlingly simple life insight he has to share with us.Find more travel stories on #PostcardsFromNowhere with Utsav Mamoria. You can reach out to our host Utsav on Instagram: @whywetravel42 (https://www.instagram.com/whywetravel42) You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.