The secret Somali mixtapes | Far Flung with Saleem Reshamwala

Design Matters with Debbie Millman

Design Matters Media

Arts, Design

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 30 June 2022

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It’s 1988, and Somalis are fleeing the city of Hargeisa. People are trying to get out, trying to save their families and sometimes their things. But in the city’s radio station, staff are packing cassettes and reel to reel recordings into a secret underground bunker. What's on them? A slice of the country’s musical heritage, to remain for years in an underground room—until now. Listen to songs from the episode on this special playlist on Spotify: https://tedtalks.social/3yct0Mj

This story was produced in collaboration with Kerning Cultures, a podcast telling stories from the Middle East and North Africa, and the spaces in between. You can find the podcast wherever you're listening to this.

This is an episode of Far Flung with Saleem Reshamwala, another podcast in the TED Audio Collective. If you want to hear more episodes exploring ideas in Caracas, Barcelona, Puerto Rico, the world of dreams and beyond, follow Far Flung with Saleem Reshamwala wherever you're listening to this.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ted Audio Collective
0:07.5	Hi everyone.
0:08.5	I want to share something special with you today.
0:11.0	An episode of Far Flung with Saleem Reshamwala, another podcast in the Ted Audio Collective.
0:18.2	It's a podcast that travels all over the world to find the most interesting ideas that flow
0:23.6	from a particular spot on the map.
0:26.6	And I think we've all discovered in the last few years that we don't always need to
0:30.5	travel to feel thrilled about a new place.
0:34.2	So let yourself be transported with this one.
0:37.1	And if you want more, follow Far Flung with Saleem Reshamwala wherever you're listening
0:42.9	to this.
0:45.0	The year is 1988.
0:47.1	And in Hargasa at the time in northern Somalia, MiG-17 fighter jets streak across the sky
0:53.8	back and forth above the city.
0:56.0	On the ground, soldiers are going door to door, looting warehouses, shops, even mosques
1:01.8	where families have hidden their valuables.
1:05.0	They thought they'd be safe, but the president, Siyad Barre and his regime forces are bombarding
1:11.0	their own people from the air.
1:14.4	It's supposed to be the final blow in a military campaign to squash the growing, insurgent
1:19.0	groups challenging his presidency, but instead it marks the beginning of a bitter civil
1:24.8	war that will ravage the country for decades to come.
1:28.4	Officially, it still hasn't ended.
	...

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