One of the best reasons to read foreign news sources is to get a sense of the world beyond one’s own borders — by which is meant both the official lines of geographic demarcation, and the manner in which cultural norms lead to a self-selected understanding of reality, of life. To read about, say, the Grand Canyon in a Swedish newspaper’s travel section is to have a very different view of it than from, say, Sunset magazine, which considers the national monument to be part of its backyard. This sense of perspective is as true of everyday objects and events as it is of national treasures. And it is true of the news, as when the field recording catalog that is the great Touch Radio podcast series, which is based out of Britain, adds a recording of protests in Hollywood, all chanting and helicopter whirs and drumming and honking and, still, some birdsong (MP3).
Track originally posted for free download at touchradio.org.uk.