The Interview with Hugh Herr

BBC has a wide range of mesmerizing and inspiring and unique podcasts. While their documentary series sweeps you away as much by its depth as by its variety, their Interview allows you a sumptuous bite into the life of some of the most inspiring, a few controversial (yet inspiring) figures. But the most likable aspect of the Interview is that most of the time such personalities are not really famous around the world. However, they are always into something that is of importance to the larger sections of society or have always done something from which others find a scope to learn from! It helps you understand that you don't have to look for role-models who are famous

Here is one such interview. In BBC's own words..

"Owen Bennett-Jones meets Hugh Herr who lost both his legs below the knee in a mountaineering accident and set out to design his own artifical legs."

Enjoy!

Courtesy BBC

Podcasts

I am a lousy reader. I read only when I have no other way, usually the tel-evil-sion, to keep myself occupied. So, my encounter with podcasts has ever since provided me with a win-win solution - a way to keep in touch with the world while skipping the reading part!

All BBC podcasts are awesome. My favourites though are the documentary archives that offers excellent global coverage of a global problem (like failure of carbon trading) or an in-depth coverage of a local problem (eg. Opium problem in Afganistan) .

The other one I love is The Economist podcasts. They are not as aggressive as the BBC, but, in a more mellow fasion, encapsulate the main stories of latest edition in its "From the Paper" and provides a good context to the future in its "The World Next Week". There are a numerous other audio and video documentaries. But the most recent and the best section that I found by far in the Economist is the "Doing business in.." section. If you are about to make a business trip to a foreign country and are apprehensive about what you may encounter, this is the best place for you. It has a list of 25 cities (and counting) for each of which an Economist correspondant provides a great 15-minute audio round up of what you are likely to encounter from the moment you land in the airport to the time you punch out. And I mean everything! Getting cab services, hotels, facts to be aware of, cultural aspects and local superstitions, local business etiquette, places to visit, best and worst time to visit, things to buy and cuisines to try and more. By the time the audio is done, you would feel ready for the travel! Sadly (or happily depending on your outlook) no cities of India is included yet.

Now that I am in Tokyo, I proudly present