Rough Translation

As we head toward a new year, former Rough Translation host Gregory Warner reflects on "goal disengagement" — letting go of past goals, rather than coming up with New Year resolutions. He recommends three of his favorite episodes aligned with this theme for Rough Translation fans and new listeners. Episodes are in the show notes below. And we encourage you to visit our archives with some timeless Rough Translation gems. When Failure is a 4-Letter Word: https://www.npr.org/2019/07/05/738963753/when-failure-is-a-four-letter-word War Poems: https://www.npr.org/2018/07/02/625501009/war-poems American Surrogate: https://www.npr.org/2017/10/17/547332434/american-surrogate Discover Rough Translation's archive of timeless episodes here: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510324/rough-translation

Transcribed - Published: 27 December 2023

As we head toward a new year, former Rough Translation host Gregory Warner reflects on "goal disengagement" — letting go of past goals, rather than coming up with New Year resolutions. He recommends three of his favorite episodes aligned with this theme for Rough Translation fans and new listeners. Episodes are in the show notes below. And we encourage you to visit our archives with some timeless Rough Translation gems. When Failure is a 4-Letter Word: https://www.npr.org/2019/07/05/738963753/when-failure-is-a-four-letter-word War Poems: https://www.npr.org/2018/07/02/625501009/war-poems American Surrogate: https://www.npr.org/2017/10/17/547332434/american-surrogate Discover Rough Translation's archive of timeless episodes here: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510324/rough-translation

Transcribed - Published: 27 December 2023

In this bonus episode of Love Commandos, Gregory Warner interviews musician John Ellis, who composed Rough Translation's original theme music in 2017, and songwriters Amira Gill and VASU, who jointly created the new theme song for Love Commandos. They discuss their musical processes, and how they incorporate stories into their music. Love Commandos will be releasing more bonus episodes like this one over the next few weeks, where the team will continue to take listeners behind the scenes of the show and continue exploring the themes of love and marriage in modern India. To access those episodes, sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded.

Transcribed - Published: 30 August 2023

In Episode 5 of Love Commandos, couples seeking to shut down the Love Commandos' shelter band together for a risky plan. Want to hear bonus episodes of Love Commandos? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded. Subscribe to host Gregory Warner's Rough Transition substack newsletter.

Transcribed - Published: 23 August 2023

On Episode 4 of Love Commandos, couples in the shelter feel pressured to stay indefinitely. We try to figure out why. Want to hear episodes of Love Commandos a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded. Subscribe to host Gregory Warner's Rough Transition substack newsletter.

Transcribed - Published: 16 August 2023

On Episode 3 of Love Commandos, stories of life inside the Love Commandos shelter begin to diverge as co-founder Sanjoy Sachdev shows a different side.Want to hear episodes of Love Commandos a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded. And subscribe to host Gregory Warner's Rough Transition Substack.

Transcribed - Published: 9 August 2023

On episode 2 of Love Commandos, an inter-caste couple in India hits a breaking point. They make one last-ditch phone call to try to stay together. Want to hear episodes of Love Commandos a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded. Subscribe to host Gregory Warner's Rough Transition newsletter on Substack.

Transcribed - Published: 2 August 2023

When falling in love can mean risking your life, the Love Commandos in India will protect you. But are they really who they promise to be? Want to hear episodes of Love Commandos a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded. And follow host Gregory Warner on Substack here.

Transcribed - Published: 26 July 2023

They seemed like superheroes. In a country where arranged marriage is the norm, the Love Commandos promise to protect love couples and help them marry. But is this a group of protectors in the way they promise to be?

Transcribed - Published: 21 July 2023

We leap into the gap between love stories and real life. And hear a sneak peek of Rough Translation's newest season! Subscribe here to Gregory's substack.

Transcribed - Published: 12 July 2023

Gregory talks "inside baseball" of American English. And we revisit an episode that sparked a lot of conversation among listeners in 2021–about the global pursuit of "good English" and what it takes to change the multi-billion dollar industry built around it. Write to us at [email protected] and follow Gregory's Substack. Read more at NPR's global health and development blog, Goats and Soda. Tower Of Babble: Nonnative Speakers Navigate The World Of 'Good' And 'Bad' English Prepone That! Your Accent Is Funny! Readers Share Their ESL Stories

Transcribed - Published: 10 May 2023

The unlikely places that fandom can take us, and how to know when we've gone too far. This week, we revisit an episode from 2020. And don't forget to subscribe to Gregory's Substack.

Transcribed - Published: 26 April 2023

Gregory tells a story about his first job out of college. And we revisit an episode from 2017. Also, what's your favorite Rough Translation episode? Let us know.

Transcribed - Published: 12 April 2023

Our host Gregory Warner reads your tweets and drops some big news about Rough Translation. Subscribe to Gregory's Substack and follow him on Twitter to stay on the journey. And coming soon: episodes revisiting our archives, plus an exciting summer season in collaboration with NPR's international desk.

Transcribed - Published: 31 March 2023

We travel to Ukraine to follow a shipment of abortion pills, and discover a complicated conversation about pregnancy and choice in wartime. Part 2 of our collaboration with Radiolab.

Transcribed - Published: 3 February 2023

It all started with a photograph. A photograph from 1991 of a prison takeover in rural Alabama. A photograph of a group of men on the roof of that prison holding a bedsheet scrawled with a message: "Pray for us." In the first episode of the new season of White Lies, hosts Chip Brantley and Andrew Beck Grace go searching for answers to the questions raised by this photograph. Who were these men? What on earth had made them want to take over that prison? And what became of them after? As they search, they uncover a sprawling story: a mass exodus across the sea, a secret list, and the betrayal at the heart of this country's ideals. Want to hear the next episode of White Lies a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded.

Transcribed - Published: 27 January 2023

One weekend. An amateur smuggling operation. A wartime mission. The story, in collaboration with Radiolab.

Transcribed - Published: 20 January 2023

A hyperlocal news site in Red Hook, N.Y. posts a job opening. A journalist in Ukraine applies. And what readers think of as "local news" is going to change dramatically.

Transcribed - Published: 3 August 2022

726 miles in one day. Gas station sushi. Mysterious loading docks. We hit the road with two American women who found long-haul trucking as a means of escape and self-transformation.

Transcribed - Published: 13 July 2022

Nigerian novelist Chibundu Onuzo dreams of returning to Lagos, but she worries she'll struggle to adapt in the city of her birth, where the word "oppressor" is often used as a compliment. In this episode, she seeks advice from her "big boss" older brother.

Transcribed - Published: 6 July 2022

Who are you at work? In this episode, two stories of people who really commit to embodying their work selves. The result? New realms and new personalities.

Transcribed - Published: 29 June 2022

Many of us think we can't share our stories of failure until we've reached success. Some Mexico City entrepreneurs started a club to change that, and the world took notice.

Transcribed - Published: 22 June 2022

When Portugal forbade bosses from contacting employees after hours, international media jumped at the chance to cover the new law. Portuguese workers were oddly quiet. Why?

Transcribed - Published: 15 June 2022

In 2021, France suspended a law that forbids eating lunch at work. We talk to an American teacher relieved to see it go and a French historian determined to bring it back.

Transcribed - Published: 8 June 2022

A video ricochets across Chinese offices, and a scooter thief becomes an icon for brewing discontent. Why is a thief who says he's tired of working viewed by the Chinese state as such a threat?

Transcribed - Published: 1 June 2022

We're back @Work. The new season of Rough Translation will tell surprising stories from workplaces and work cultures around the world.

Transcribed - Published: 25 May 2022

Hundreds of thousands of Russians are leaving Russia. They're facing an uncertain welcome abroad. Poet and writer Linor Goralik joins us to read from "Exodus 22," her uncomfortably frank conversations with Russians who – before the war – lived in a Westernized bubble, ignoring the mounting threats of Putin's regime. Then, the bubble burst.

Transcribed - Published: 27 April 2022

What can a blank piece of paper, four ballerinas, a scarf and snuff box mean in Russia? A conversation with Russian Anthropologist Alexandra Arkhipova about how anti-war protestors resist the war in Ukraine through code and hidden messages.

Transcribed - Published: 15 April 2022

When Naira calls her parents back home in Russia to talk about the war in Ukraine, they treat her as an outsider and a threat. She finds a way to break through the propaganda wall, with inspiration from a chain letter.

Transcribed - Published: 30 March 2022

When protecting a language is used as justification for war, how can its speakers fight back? A conversation with Russian speakers of the diaspora who are rethinking their relationship to language, identity, and the Russian community.

Transcribed - Published: 15 March 2022

Vladimir Putin joined the KGB at age 23. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy got his early training in a no less Soviet institution–the world of competitive comedy. We update our 2019 episode about a high-stakes comedy competition in Ukraine.

Transcribed - Published: 2 March 2022

The past few years have shaken the fundamental ways we live. It's... disorienting. But it's also an opportunity to reexamine how we spend our time. In this episode from TED Radio Hour, speakers investigate evolving notions of what it means to pay our bills.

Transcribed - Published: 16 February 2022

A jazz dance born in Harlem in the 1920s ends up in a tiny Swedish town. What happens when Black dancers try to bring the Lindy Hop home?

Transcribed - Published: 22 December 2021

An Irish journalist discovers she belongs in a place she's never been. A 6-year-old boy decides he's from another country. Stories about finding home far from home.

Transcribed - Published: 15 December 2021

You can zoom around the world through sight and sound, but you can't taste at a distance, right? Stories about what happens when we try.

Transcribed - Published: 8 December 2021

Marla kept a detailed account of Iraqi civilians harmed by war. How did she recruit people in the U.S. military to help them? And what toll did it take on her? Part 2 of the story of Marla Ruzicka. You can find Part 1 here.

Transcribed - Published: 10 July 2021

Marla Ruzicka didn't belong in a war zone. Nobody in Afghanistan knew what to make of her. Until Marla started to solve a problem that no one thought could be solved.

Transcribed - Published: 30 June 2021

Two worlds: dress uniforms and foosball tables. The military and Silicon Valley used to work hand in hand. Now, why won't big tech build them a new gonculator?

Transcribed - Published: 23 June 2021

Alicia's situation raises questions about the VA's caregiver program. And a new diagnosis changes everything for Matt. How will Alicia and Matt start healing their respective wounds, borne out of different battles? Find part 2, Battle Lines, here. And part 1, Battle Rattle, here.

Transcribed - Published: 16 June 2021

Alicia Lammers takes on the twin roles of wife and caregiver to her veteran husband. What happens when your husband becomes your official duty? Part 2 of the story of Matt and Alicia Lammers. You can find Part 1, Battle Rattle, here.

Transcribed - Published: 9 June 2021

He's a veteran looking for love. She's a civilian who learns more about war than she ever imagined. Part 1 of the story of Matt and Alicia Lammers.

Transcribed - Published: 2 June 2021

Is it true that "you can't understand" if you've never been to war? In the first episode of our new season, we hear from people on opposing sides of a widening divide.

Transcribed - Published: 26 May 2021

As the U.S. pulls out of Afghanistan, we look back at a time when Taliban poetry and a local cooking show became part of the war. And the U.S. had the perfect person to fight on that front.

Transcribed - Published: 5 May 2021

Heather Hansen used to teach people to speak "perfect" English. Until she realized that so-called "bad English" might be a better way to communicate.

Transcribed - Published: 21 April 2021

Our favorite McDonald's in Marseille, France has reached its afterlife. It took court cases, spray paint, and the slogan you know turned upside down (literally) to get there.

Transcribed - Published: 7 April 2021

In the wake of the shootings in Atlanta, a Korean-American writer reconnects with her own family.

Transcribed - Published: 26 March 2021

Two very different approaches to wooing vaccine skeptics. And how a little FOMO can go a long way.

Transcribed - Published: 10 March 2021

What happens when your guidebook isn't written with you in mind? Nanjala Nyabola on her new book: Travelling While Black.

Transcribed - Published: 25 February 2021

Your stories and creative solutions to not quite fitting in.

Transcribed - Published: 10 February 2021

From Montréal to Edinburgh, and from São Paulo to Taipei: your stories about belonging, or longing to just be.

Transcribed - Published: 27 January 2021