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Mirage Travel Writing Podcast

William Barlow

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Welcome to Mirage Travel Writing Podcast, I’m your host William Barlow. After two decades of indigent wanderings, I’m coming to you with stories, curiosities, and questions. In this first season, there will be narratives of sleeping on the streets in European capitals. There will be tales of crocodile men in remote Central African Republic and armed groups in eastern DR Congo all told through the experience of an aid worker. We will try to understand what it means to be a foreigner in clanic ...
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Travel Writing World

Jeremy Bassetti

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With an emphasis on non-fiction travel books, books on place, nature writing, and travel literature, host Jeremy Bassetti talks with the world’s most celebrated writers about their work and about the business and craft of travel writing in this award-winning podcast. Past guests include travel writers like Paul Theroux, Pico Iyer, and Rolf Potts. The show also covers topics related to travel journalism and travel photography.
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Imagine that you’re a psychologist, a therapist. Outside the window of your office is the Mediterranean landscape of Southern Turkey—hills with small trees. There are Roman ruins and mosques on the horizon. The year is 2017 and the war in Syria, 20 miles south, is at its height. I am your patient. I lay on your couch telling you a story in free ass…
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I was going to start this episode with something personal to introduce myself, but perhaps it’s not an opportune time to introduce myself when the following story is about scoring hookers in Paris. I will say, if this subject offends you, don't listen. This episode is dedicated to the late, great, Henry Miller, who is no doubt now turning in his gr…
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This is a confession to a breaking and entering in Germany. This is not an alibi but rather a justification for why I did it. This is a love story and a story of a golddigger. So come travel to France and Germany in an attempt to prove probate fraud. All music by Christopher Mathis from the album Woodlandsgaze. Outro by the South Hill Experiment, B…
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In this episode, we rehabilitate a house in France, we get married (almost), and travel to Germany to bug my father-in-law's house. This begins a longer narrative (continued in future chapters) of battling a golddigger, a younger woman, who tried to extort money out of my girlfriend's father. So if you’re interested in German inheritance law, demen…
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In this episode, we go on a vertiginous tour through the Western World, guided by one night stands, aging parents, and a lone suicide bomber. From Cape Town, Sydney, Istanbul, Athens, Sevilla, Madrid, Paris, Mexico City, to Havana we look for love in all the wrong places, we search for grit in city centers a century too late, and like a debt collec…
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The Bangui Magnetic Anomaly, refers to a variation in the Earth's magnetic field centered at Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. I wrote a story with the same name in response to a friend's question—what is a day like in the life of an aid worker in Central Africa? The article was written, beer soaked and sunburnt on a back porch, …
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I’m calling as I drive through Saxony Anhalt, in eastern Germany, because I’ve drank more coffee than water and need to talk. We've talked a lot about travel in the past, you know, in our 20s, always writing to one another with the question of where to live. From ever-changing locations, we would hand in our trip reports via email. I would attach c…
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I once thought each culture had its neuroses, I now think each culture is a neurosis. Neurosis is defined as a particular atrophied behavior, the expression of which results from some sort of malady. Mental conditions that are not caused by organic disease, but involve symptoms of stress, such as obsessive behavior, but not a radical loss of touch …
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Multiple times a day, on a whim or by demand, I sing my son the song The Wheels on the Bus. He's just turned two and loves repetition. He watches my lips as I describe the movements of wheels, wipers, and the driver as the driver says move on back. All over an idealized town, this bus drives over a dozen times a day. At any time of the day, I can r…
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Travel writing is always going on about place. And travelers are forever comparing and positioning themselves between home and away. But if you travel long enough, the home you think you know will vanish in time and as you touch down in your home country or hometown, you’ll suddenly realize there's often nowhere to return to. Leave us a message or …
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A blow by blow of a humanitarian aid distribution in eastern DR Congo The aid industry is selling you a lie but it’s one that’s necessary. The poignant photos on aid organization websites showing beneficiaries in Africa and Asia as grateful recipients of aid are misleading. The lie is necessary because you, the viewer might not know that Giving Thi…
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In this episode we have a crash course in clanic values in Palestine when yours truly is robbed and the question of justice—formal justice or informal justice is forced upon me, the wayward traveler. Intro music by Sam Widaman, episode music by Bull of Heaven, He is Not Dead, but Sleepeth Leave us a message or question 🫠 If you enjoy what you're li…
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Anyone who has ever had his or her heart shit on, enjoyed needle drugs, or rotted away in Sub-Saharan Africa might have witnessed things and could have things worthwhile to say. Worth what? I haven't the faintest idea. At least not yet. This is a story. It could be mine, or it could be yours. In all reality, it is of little significance, the Africa…
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In this episode we have the politics of foreign aid as it relates to the KONY 2012 campaign told through a story about an aid worker kicking painkillers in the Central African Republic. We have crocodile men, a cameo by Celine Dion, and we turn the narrative of Central Africa as a warzone full of witch hunts on its head. Intro music by Sam Widaman,…
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Thomas Bird joins me on the podcast to talk about his book Harmony Express: Travels by Train Through China (Earnshaw Books 2023).We talk about Thomas's new book and his creative journey, the development and history of China's rail network, freelance writing in China in the early 2000s, China's diversity, his advice for "writing for the ages," and m…
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Herbert Marcuse's book "Eros and Civilization" proposes a non-repressive society by attempting a synthesis of the theories of Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud. He describes a utopia based on aesthetics, sensuality and play, as opposed to our current construction of civilization based on reason, production and repression. When I was a horny twenty-year-o…
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Thomas Swick joins me on the podcast to talk about his book Falling Into Place: A Story of Love, Poland, and the Making of a Travel Writer (Rowman & Littlefield 2023).Thomas and I chat about Tom’s creative journey, his time in Poland, the evolution of the travel writer as an occupation, the importance of having life experiences for writers, and a l…
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Toady I’m bringing you a conversation I had with Ryan Murdock for his Personal Landscapes Podcast. He was kind enough to not only chat with me about my book The Hill of the Skull on his podcast, but let me re-broadcast a the conversation here on Travel Writing World. We talk about sacred mountains, anthropology, Bolivia, globalization, pilgrimage, …
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When I was living in West Africa, I learned the hard way why people are poor. And why, during the International Year of Microcredit, why the clients of the microfinance institution where I interned failed to reimburse their loans, and why that was a good thing. Intro music by Sam Widaman, episode music by Christopher Mathis available on bandcamp Le…
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A quick update to announce my new photobook memoir The Hill of the Skull launches today on Kickstarter. The campaign runs from September 25 until October 26, 2023.The book features a 7,000-word memoir, around 50 photographs, an afterword by celebrated author Pico Iyer, and a behind-the-scenes dialogue I had with the award-winning British photograph…
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Tom Parfitt joins me on the podcast to talk about his book High Caucasus (Headline 2023).Tom and I have a sober conversation about the 2004 Beslan School Massacre, his reporting in Russia, and his 1,000-mile walk across the Caucasus in southern Russia. I also ask Tom about Ukraine, and his commonly held assumptions or ideas about the people of the …
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Jeff Biggers joins me on the podcast today, and we’re talking about his new book In Sardinia: An Unexpected Journey in Italy, which is as much a cultural history of the island as it is a travel book. In this wide-reaching conversation, we talk about D. H. Lawrence and the travel literature about the island, Sardinia’s ancient history, a few environ…
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Tim Hannigan is back on the Travel Writing World podcast, this time to talk about his new book The Granite Kingdom: A Cornish Journey, which is a literary and literal journey through Cornwall. In addition to Cornwall’s culture and geography, Tim and I also chat about re-centering maps, identity, walking, slow travel, the Tamar River, the Tim Hannig…
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Leon McCarron joins me today, and we’re talking about his new book Wounded Tigris: A River Journey through the Cradle of Civilisation (available in the UK on 6 April 2023 and in the USA from 7 November 2023).Leon is an author of several travel books, including The Land Beyond: A Thousand Miles on Foot through the Heart of the Middle East and The Ro…
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Hello, everyone. This is episode 101 of the Travel Writing World podcast, and it will be a short one. In the introduction to episode 99, my recent interview with Pico Iyer, I mentioned that I am taking a break from my normal, fortnightly schedule of interviews in 2023 to focus on a few projects. Well, today I want to announce one of those projects …
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J.F. Penn joins me today, and we’re talking about her new book Pilgrimage.Joanna is an author of many fiction and non-fiction books, and the host of several podcasts including The Creative Penn Podcast for writers and the Books and Travel podcast. In addition to talking about her new book Pilgrimage, we also talk about voice in writing and creative…
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Pico Iyer joins me on the podcast again. And this time we’re discussing his new book The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise. As the subtitle reveals, The Half Known Life is a book about the idea of paradise. But it is also a book about living in the real world and embracing the unknown, topics that Pico and I chat about in today's podcast.We al…
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As you’ll remember from the announcement in episode 94, we’re publishing four of Bill Colegrave’s interviews here on Travel Writing World. Today’s episode is Bill’s last interview, this one with Sara Wheeler. Now, most of you will be familiar with Sara for her books like Terra Incognita and The Magnetic North. And she wrote a biography of Apsley Ch…
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As you’ll remember from the announcement in episode 94, we’re publishing four of Bill Colegrave’s interviews here on Travel Writing World. This is his third interview, this one with Michelle Jana Chan. Michelle is an award-winning journalist and Travel Editor of Vanity Fair. She is the author of Song, a novel about a boy who leaves his impoverished…
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As you’ll remember from the announcement in episode 94, we’re publishing four of Bill Colegrave’s interviews here on Travel Writing World. This is his second interview, this one with the late Alexander Frater, the celebrated journalist and author who brought us works like Chasing the Monsoon: a Modern Pilgrimage Through India.Purchase Chasing the M…
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As discussed in the previous episode, we’re publishing a few of Bill Colegrave’s interviews here on Travel Writing World. Today is the first interview out of four, this one with Tony Wheeler who, along with his wife Maureen, founded Lonely Planet.Purchase Scraps of Wool by Bill ColegraveIf you decide to purchase your books from Amazon, please use o…
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Bill Colegrave joins me today to talk about his book Scraps of Wool: A Journey Through the Golden Age of Travel Literature, which is a collection of passages from some of the world’s best-known works of travel literature.As you’ll hear in the interview, Bill recorded interviews with Tony Wheeler, the late Alexander Frater, Sara Wheeler, and Michell…
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Jennifer Barclay joins me on today's episode and we’re talking about her book The Taverna by the Sea: One Greek Island Summer (Bradt 2022).In this episode, we talk about Jennifer’s fascination with living on the Greek islands and her experience working in Greece. We also talk about her experiences as a literary agent and the process of selling trav…
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Joining me today is Mary Novakovich. And we’re talking about her book My Family and Other Enemies: Life and Travels in Croatia's Hinterland (Bradt 2022).In this episode, we talk about a rustic region in Croatia called Lika, where her family is from, and its appeal. We also talk a bit about travel literature about Croatia and her experiences finding…
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Hello, everyone. No interview today. But I do have some news.During the month of August, I’ll be traveling through the Andes mountains—from Santa Cruz, Bolivia overland to Cusco, Peru. Every day, from August 2 until August 31, 2022, I will send an email documenting my experiences to subscribers of a “pop-up” newsletter I’m calling 30 DAYS IN THE AN…
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Joining me today is Robert Kaplan. And we’re talking about his newest book Adriatic: A Concert of Civilizations at the End of the Modern Age. As you know, Robert is the author of many books, including The Ends of the Earth, An Empire Wilderness, and the controversial Balkan Ghosts.In this episode, we talk about why the Adriatic is so interesting hi…
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Benedict Allen is my guest today. He is the author of several books, including most recently Explorer: The Quest for Adventure and the Great Unknown. I ask him about his urge to explore, and about what I poorly articulate as his “old school” mode of traveling the world. We chat about about making bonds while traveling, about homecomings, and about …
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David Eimer is my guest today. He is the author of two books, The Emperor Far Away: Travels at the Edge of China and A Savage Dreamland: Journeys in Burma, the latter of which we talk about today.We start off this episode talking about Burma, its politics, and its peoples. But about halfway, we shift gears and chat about travel literature. Specific…
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Joining me today is Shafik Meghji, and we’re talking about his new book Crossed Off The Map: Travels in Bolivia (Latin America Bureau 2022), which, as the name implies, treats the author’s many years of travels to and work in Bolivia, a country that is off the tourist radar.We talk about the indigenous languages spoken in the country, the history o…
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Joining me again today is Nicholas Jubber and we’re talking about his newest book The Fairy Tellers, which follows several fairy tales—their origins and evolutions—and explores the people who originally told them. As you’ll hear, fairy tales (like all stories) are rooted deeply in place. Of course we talk about some fairy tales themselves, but we a…
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Joining me today is Marcia DeSanctis. And we’re talking about A Hard Place to Leave, a collection of stories that covers the last decade of her travel writing career. In addition to her book, we also talk about finding one’s writing voice, stories vs essays in the travel context, and the difficult task of putting together and pitching a collection …
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Joining me today is Rebecca Lowe and we’re talking about The Slow Road to Tehran: A Revelatory Bike Ride Through Europe and the Middle East, her debut book. The book documents her 11,000-kilometer bicycle journey through Europe to Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, and finally to Iran.Don’t let the “Slow” in its title fool you. It is a fast-pac…
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Today I’m speaking with Sara Wheeler and Jonathan Chatwin about Apsley Cherry-Garrard’s The Worst Journey in the World, a book that is often cited as one of the most important travel books of the 20th century. This year marks the centenary of the book’s publication.My first guest today, Sara Wheeler, knows a thing or two about Antarctica and Apsley…
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Joining me today is Colleen Kinder. She’s the editor of the online literary journal Off Assignment and she has a new book out. The book is called Letter To A Stranger: Essays To The Ones Who Haunt Us (Algonquin 2022). It is a volume of essays from her journal’s flagship column “Letter to a Stranger.” It's a wonderful anthology packed with 65 essays…
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Joining me today is Jessica Vincent who, along with Monisha Rajesh, Simon Willmore, and Levison Wood, edited a volume of essays called The Best British Travel Writing of the 21st Century (Summersdale 2022). I ask Jess what makes the “best” travel writing, anyway? And we talk about how the pandemic reshaped our approach to travel and how it helped r…
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Joining me today is Dave Seminara. His newest book, Mad Travelers: A Tale of Wanderlust, Greed and the Quest to Reach the Ends of the Earth, tells the story of William Baekeland, an alleged con artist who offered to help extreme travelers reach some of the world’s most remote frontiers. Now this book is much more than an exposé on William; it offer…
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This is just a quick announcement to say that in celebration of the 2022 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards, I’ll be in Stanfords’ London bookstore on March 2 speaking with Colin Thubron and Tharik Hussain about their award-nominated books and about genre of travel writing. We will be also be joined by special guest Monisha Rajesh. After the con…
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Joining me today is Nori Jemil. Her book, The Travel Photographer’s Way (Bradt 2021), was nominated for the 2022 Edward Stanford Travel Photography Book of the Year. In this conversation, we do talk about her book. But, as you’ll hear, the conversation quickly becomes a deluge of helpful advice about photography. And we only scratch the surface her…
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Joining me today is Ursula Pike. In the mid 1990s, Ursula boarded a plane to Bolivia and began her term of service in the Peace Corps. A member of the Karuk Tribe, Pike expected to make meaningful connections with other Indigenous people around the world. But her experiences forced her to question her assumptions about the world.Ursula wrote about …
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Joining me today are Gary Fisher and David Robinson, two historians who recently edited a new volume of essays called Travel Writing in the Age of Global Quarantine (purchase here). Gary and David are historians and this episode touches on some of the academic debates about the genre of travel writing. If this conversation interests you, I recommen…
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