So yes, I’ve taken a job with a non-profit organization called Internews in Sudan doing community radio. My official title is Community Radio Technical Manager. I’m taking care of 4 FM community radio stations in Southern Sudan, and likely building 2 more in the coming year. The Internews office is in Rumbek, which is my base of operations:
My door’s on the right. I’ve got my own office/workshop with air conditioning(!) and for my friends at 890 ESPN Boston, yes it has a window.
There are two expat staff members in Rumbek that I work with: Deb (the program director), and Ellie (the training manager), plus two local staff members: Alfred, our accountant, and Richard, our logisitics coordinator. I also work very closely with Kevin, who is a freelance IT/ Engineering consultant from Kenya. He’s been doing work with Internews for about 2 years and is fantastic because he’s been involved in all the station construction and upgrades and problems, so he knows the ropes and is a really nice guy to boot.
The stations themselves are low power (250 Watt) FM stations located in Kauda, Leer, Malualkon, and Kurmuk. Broadcast range is about 50-75 km. It’s community radio, so what Internews does is hire local people and train them radio journalism and production using laptops. At this point the stations are on the air about 12 hours/day and about 70% of the content is locally produced, while the other 30% are things like long-form radio dramas talking about various issues like HIV awareness.
For a pistol duel, the parties would be placed back to back with loaded weapons in hand and walk a set number of paces, turn to face the opponent, and shoot. Typically, the graver the insult, the fewer the paces agreed upon. Alternatively, a pre-agreed length of ground would be measured out by the seconds and marked, often with swords stuck in the ground (referred to as “points”). At a given signal, often the dropping of a handkerchief, the principals could advance and fire at will. This latter system reduced the possibility of cheating, as neither principal had to trust the other not to turn too soon. Another system involved alternate shots being taken—the challenged firing first.
Many historical duels were prevented by the difficulty of arranging the “methodus pugnandi”. In the instance of Dr. Richard Brocklesby, the number of paces could not be agreed upon; and in the affair between Mark Akenside and Ballow, one had determined never to fight in the morning, and the other that he would never fight in the afternoon.
The bittersweet final Open Studios for 319 A St. is October 17, 18, 19. I’ll be open, and the plan is to finish the 13-track Modern Medicine LP to commemorate the occasion. I’m also very happy that Family Dinner For One will be joining me in my studio for the weekend, so plan to stop by and get some tunes and some threads…
Interesting interview with prominent British psychoanalyst Hanna Segal in The Guardian. Excerpt:
“Generally, we delegate what you might call the ‘mad’ functions - fighting, religion - to subgroups: the army, the church. But those subgroups must be under the control of the working part of the group. My point is that when mad things start happening, it’s when subgroups get out of control, and particularly when they combine: God, money and the military is a particularly deadly recipe.” The Iraq conflict, she argues, was about “the need for an enemy”, and “a religious fanaticism linked to, and covering up, mass robbery”.
Today, Segal believes, our collective sanity is threatened by “a delusional inner world of omnipotence, and absolute evil, and sainthood. Unfortunately, we also have to contend with mammon.” And since we tend to submit to the tyranny of our own groups, “speaking our minds takes courage, because groups do not like outspoken dissenters.” The battle now “is between insanity based on mutual projections, and sanity based on truth”. And all we, as citizens, can do is “struggle to expose lies, and strive for the preservation of sane human values”.
She is not convinced she will ever see that battle resolved (”This is my last interview,” she says gaily. “You’d better do a good job.”) But the important thing, she insists, adopting the vivid symbol she first found in Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic fable The Road, is to “keep a little fire burning; however small, however hidden. I find this extraordinarily helpful: we live in a mad world, but for those of us who believe in some human values, it is terribly important that we just keep this little fire burning. It is about trusting your judgement, and the power of love. A little trust, and a little care”.
