Another World


Joby Fox: Belfast in Braddock

Joby Fox, the bassist for the Northern Irish band Energy Orchard, on the filming of the music video for their single “Sailor Town” in Braddock, PA, 20 years ago.



Helen Skullduggery: Tattoos + Women in Belfast

For Helen’s website for her parlor Skullduggery Tatu, here it is.

Helen at Work On Dublin Road

Helen at Work On Dublin Road



Belfast Pub Quiz
July 21, 2009, 9:01 pm
Filed under: Radio | Tags: , , , , ,


Pawel Is A Comic Artist

Pawel Piechnik came to Belfast a few years ago to work as an architect, now he’s back in Poland, in Poznan,  and (officially) traded in architecture for comics.  See his work here.



The Ireland Institute of Pittsburgh

Jim Lamb – Ireland Institute of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh

As the Troubles have petered out, Irish-American groups find themselves in a difficult new landscape.  Funds for cross-Atlantic programs have dried up, the Walsh Visa program has reached its end, and the groups have to redefine their missions to match the new political reality of Northern Ireland.

The Ireland Institute of Pittsburgh, with its president Jim Lamb, is taking this transition in stride.  It remains one of the most active Irish-American groups in sponsoring exchange programs, and it’s expanding its focus to include new ventures to promote links between Pittsburgh and Ireland.  The Institute aims to contribute to community developmenton both sides of the sectarian divide, and to export the lessons it has learned to other deeply divided societies.

Produced for The Politics Show



Gentle Dental
February 23, 2009, 2:38 pm
Filed under: Radio-Video | Tags: , , , , ,


Ricky Busks Belfast


Michael The Boxer


Americans on Northern Ireland, No. 3

 US on NI – Sam May

Sam in Belfast

Sam in Belfast

Sam May took an interest in Northern Ireland young.  A history buff in school, he participated in Civil War re-enactments and ended up in the 69th Pennsylvania Infantry, a regiment that had been made up of Irish immigrants.   His fellow re-enacters introduced him to Irish Rebel songs and Republican ideology — but at the same time Sam was conflicted.  He had family links to Ireland — but to Protestant Ireland in the North.   

Out of this confusion, Sam started to read up on Irish history, and it led him to Tony Novosel’s class at Pitt.  But studying the Troubles hasn’t necessarily made it any easier to stake out opinions about what’s best for Northern Ireland.

Produced for The Politics Show



Ep. 42: The Boxer

 Another World Episode 42

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Michael

Michael Mason Saunderson started boxing at 11 with a tube in his stomach, thanks to his cystic fibrosis. He abandoned it around 17, when he was drinking heavily, getting tattoos and eating poorly.  But now, at 21, he’s an amateur boxer in Belfast once again, living cleanly, and foraging careers in television and theater.

In today’s episode, Michael takes on an onslaught of questions.  Does he expect to have a career in boxing?  How is it to be from a Protestant background, fighting in a predominantly Catholic club?  When he walks down the street, does he size up every passing man for whether he can take him?  What’s his personality in the ring?  And, if he’s so intent on never returning to a hospital, why does he fight?



Ep. 41: Terri Hooley’s Good Vibrations

 Another World Episode 41

Terri Hooley

Terri Hooley

Terri Hooley, purveyor of the Good Vibrations record shop in Belfast, and the man who released The Undertones’ “Teenage Kicks” talks about the evolution of the music scene in the city.  Even as his contemporaries abandoned Northern Ireland for less bombs and more culture, Terri stuck to the city.  From Them + Van Morrison playing the Martime Hotel in the 1960s, through the coming of punk with shouts of SS RUC, to the current crop of young Belfast talent, he walks us through his unprofitable, trouble-making, fame-brushing career.



Southerners in the North, no. 2


The Bodhrán Lesson
December 18, 2008, 6:45 pm
Filed under: Radio-Video | Tags: , , , , , ,


Kebab Shops: Egyptian Man
November 30, 2008, 3:15 am
Filed under: Radio-Video | Tags: , , , , , , ,


Ep. 39: Being English in Northern Ireland

Another World Episode 39

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Belfast past midnight

Thriteen years ago, Nervys Young came from a village outside of London to Northern Ireland.  She intended to stay for a three year degree program and has not left since.  Ned talks about how totally naive she was when she first moved here, whether she’s ever considered herself a local, how people react to her accent, and why she hasn’t run for the hills yet.




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