Hi, it's Dana. We're taking this week out to finish our next episode, so in the meantime, we wanted to

re-air one of our favorite episodes from the Kernan Culture's archives. This one came out in 2020,

and it's about the little-known stories behind two street names, one in Tehran and one in Khartoum.

We'll be back next Thursday with a brand-new episode. See you then. Take care.

On the 23rd of June 2020, the New York Times published an article called How to Rename a Street.

Choose the street carefully.

Roadways with few or no addresses, like highways, are the easiest to rename.

The article was written in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement in the U.S. this year,

as activists and ordinary citizens fought injustice inside their buildings and on the streets.

Here's producer Azana Duodh reading from this article.

Changing street names cannot fix injustice, but don't underestimate its power either.

So while we all know the names of our streets...

The name of the street I live on is Gneist Straza.

Oh, okay, Kittesuru Road.

Well, my street is a number, so it's not very exciting.

It's called Outos Hans.

How many of us actually know the meanings behind those names?

Absolutely not, no.

I have no idea, actually. I could ask.

That's a really good question.

Do you know what your street name means when it was put up, by whom?

And how much do these names even matter?

...