Trinidad and Tobago (S4.05)

November 10, 2019November 11, 2019 / lukejkelly / Leave a comment

In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Trinidad & Tobago, a twin island nation, located just off the northern coast of the South American mainland, around 11 kilometres or 7 miles from Venezuela. It is the southernmost of the West Indies island group, and today is home to around 1.3 million people.

Trinidad, the southernmost and larger of the two islands, has a landmass of around 4,760 km2 (1,840 sq miles), comprising 93% of the country’s territory. Tobago, around 40km or 25 miles to the northeast, is around 300 km2 (120 sq mi) in total. The islands enjoy a warm, tropical climate, and only have two seasons – a dry season for the first five months of the year, and a wet season for the remaining seven. Occupied by Amerindian tribes up to 1498, the islands were then discovered by Christopher Columbus and later became a Spanish colony. Sovereignty over the islands was disputed throughout the 19th century, before the two were unified as one British colony in 1888. Independent since 1962, the country has benefited greatly from the discovery of oil in 1857, and is today one of the richest and most ethnically diverse countries in the region. Trinidad and Tobago is also famous for its extravagant carnival celebrations, and is known as the birthplace of limbo dancing.

This episode, just like all of our recent ones, is supported by our Patreon backers. If you want to help out the show, you can help out by joining us over on www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast to give us whatever you can in terms of financial support and avail of all the lovely awards and extras that entitles you to. If you’re unable to support us financially, you can always leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts from.

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Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Hong Kong, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the UK, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Ireland . (Theme music by Thomas O’Boyle @thatthomasfella)

Some further reading:

Arie Boomert’s book on the indigenous people of these islands can be found here.
“An Introduction to the History of Trinidad and Tobago” by Bridget Brereton
“A Vision for the Indigenous People of Trinidad and Tobago” video
The Collared Peccary, which was obviously delicious to early peoples, can be researched on Wikipedia here.
As discussed in this episode, the native name for Trinidad was Caeri or Iere. You can find more on the native traditions here.
The Caribbean History Archives blog has a wealth of information on Trinidad and Tobago, and has a whole post on Jean-Baptise Philippe’s civil rights campaign on behalf of these islands.
MinorityRights.org also has extensive information on the current-day minority groups of Trinidad and Tobago.
“How Tobago Got its Name”
“A History of Tobago” from MyTobago.info
“1876 Labour Riot in Tobago” – an article from the National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago’s blog about the “Belmanna Riots”
British National Archives information about Trinidad and Tobago in World War 1
Documentary about the country’s participation in World War 2
“A White Guy’s Guide to Canival” from blog The Constant Rambler
Arriana Talma’s article about slang you should know before going to these islands
VICE’s interview with Abu Bakr, the leader of the 1990 attempted coup makes for an interesting watch
CNN Special on the 1990 coup, with footage broadcast from the national television studios

Music that might interest listeners:

“A Celebration of Parang” Documentary by A Tree Without Roots Music, inlcuding “Bienvenido” by The Guerrero Sisters of Lopinot
Trinidad All Stars – Steel pan band
Yuke Yume Indigenous People music performance
Documentary about making a Tobago tambarin drum
Compilation of Tobago folk songs and dances
Calypso “Power” sung by David Bureau
Calypso “Black Power” by Mighty Fluke about the 1970 protests
Carnival Theme 2015, Soca song “Ola” by Olatunji
There is also soca produced by Indian-descended artists, such as Ravi: “D Key”
“O Maninga” by Jiahao Dong is an example of “chutney soca”
History of steelband music

Djibouti (S4.03)

September 9, 2019September 7, 2019 / lukejkelly / Leave a comment

S04E03 Djibouti Audio

In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Djibouti, a small nation located on the Northeast Coast of the Horn of Africa. Bordered by Eritrea to the North, Ethiopia to the West and Somalia to the south, Djibouti lies on the west side of the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, the narrowest point of Gulf of Aden.

Around 30km across the strait lies Yemen. This chokepoint into the Red Sea, which overlooks the approaches to the Suez Canal, has long made Djibouti a desirable location for naval bases. Dominated by two main groups – the Afar and Issa Somali people, Djibouti today is balanced between these two factions, having endured a protracted civil war in the wake of winning its independence from France in 1977. Occupying a total area of around 23,000 km2 (9,000 sq mi), Djibouti is the third smallest country in continental Africa, and today has a population of around 880,000, the vast majority of whom live in the captial city of Djibouti City. Nearly 94% of the population is Muslim while the remaining 6% are Christian, and official languages are French and Arabic. Djibouti today attracts plenty of foreign investment, and aims to become “Africa’s Dubai.”

Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Hong Kong, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the UK, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Ireland . (Theme music by Thomas O’Boyle @thatthomasfella)

Some further reading:

Peter Tyson, writing for PBS Nova, attempts to tackle the “Where Is Punt” question here.
Brittanica has loads of additional info on Adal and the Adal Sultanate, discussed by Joe in this episode.
You can find additional info on the Ifat Sultanate which succeeded it at openedition.org.
The New World Encyclopedia has a wonderful, long form post on the Scramble for Africa, which Djibouti was caught up in.
For more info on our old friend Ferdinand de Lesseps and his ill-fated other canal project, you can listen to our season one episode on Panama.
We also touch on old friend Vasco Da Gama in this episode. The Christmas special minisode referenced is here.
The disastrous Cossack invasion of Sagallo in what was then French Somaliland is profiled in an excellent blog by towardsthegreatocean.com, which Luke quotes from in this episode.
Bruno Macaes profiles modern Djibouti in a recent article for Politico, entitled “The most valuable military real estate in the world.”
The LSE has a long-form article on Somali regiments during WW1.
The Guardian also profiles the “forgotten Muslim heroes who fought for Britain in the trenches” in WW1.
You can read the New York Time report on Djibouti’s declaration of independence in 1977 in the paper’s archives here.
To learn more about the Djiboutian Civil War, which broke out in 1991, see New World Encyclopedia’s lengthy article on the conflict here.
The plans to turn modern Djibouti into “Africa’s Dubai” are detailed by The Culture Trip here.
The SCMP journalist James Jeffrey details his experiences with the new Chinese-backed railway revitalisation project here.

Pitcairn Island (S4.02)

August 12, 2019 / lukejkelly / Leave a comment

S04E02 Pitcairn Island Audio

In this episode of 80 Days: an exploration podcast, we’ll be talking about Pitcairn Island, a tiny volcanic island in the South Pacific, most famous for its mutineer inhabitants, who fled there after the famous Mutiny on the Bounty in 1789.

Pitcairn forms part of a four-island group known as the Pitcairn Islands, but is the only island in the group to be inhabited. Its nearest inhabited neighbours are Easter Island to the East and French Polynesia to the West. Pitcairn is the least populous national jurisdiction in the world, and by far the smallest place we’ve ever talked about in terms of population, boasting only around 50 residents as of 2018, all descended from the 9 Bounty mutineers and the few Tahitians they brought with them to the island. The island itself is rocky, and experiences warm weather year-round thanks to its location just south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Today, Pitcairn is the only remaining British Overseas Territory in the South Pacific. Its economy relies heavily on tourism, as well as the highly-prized honey produced by the bees on the island. While all islanders speak English, their first language is Pitkern, a creole language that has derived from 18-century English dialects and Tahitian.

Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Hong Kong, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the UK, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Ireland . (Theme music by Thomas O’Boyle @thatthomasfella)

Some further reading:

The Pitcairn Islands Study Centre has more info on the early history of the island group.
Joe speaks about his use of Librivox for this episode. He listened to both The Mutiny of the Bounty and Other Narratives by William Bligh and The Eventful History of the Mutiny and Piratical Seizure of H.M.S. Bounty: Its Cause and Consequences by Sir John Barrow, both giving markedly different accounts of the mutiny.
You can read/listen to more on the conspiracy theories surrounding the fate of Fletcher Christian on Skeptoid.
Sir Joseph Banks, the man behind the expedition, is profiled here in Britannica.
Two of the books mentioned by Luke include Mutiny on the Bounty by Peter Fitzsimons and The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty by Caroline Alexander.
Byron’s The Island, inspired by the mutiny and discussed in this episode, can be found here.
An extended version of Mel Gibson’s “I am in hell” scene, a clip of which is used in this episode, can be found here on YouTube.
More on Pandora’s Box and the escape from the HMS Pandora can be found here.
The New Zealand Herald has a feature on the child abuse scandal on Pitcairn, and the island’s struggle to attract residents is detailed here in The Telegraph.
The European Commission has plenty of detail on the economy of the island here.
You can watch Errol Flynn’s 1933 film In the Wake of the Bounty here on YouTube.

Exclaves in Switzerland (Minisode)

June 21, 2019June 23, 2019 / lukejkelly / 1 Comment

In this minisode, Joe explores, literally, the idea of an exclave after wandering into one a couple of years ago. Although we’ve covered a couple of enclaves in the past (including San Marino and The Gambia), this episode is the first time we’ve examined the opposite concept – a tiny piece of a country marooned inside another’s borders.

This is also something of a personal episode for Joe (@anbeirneach), as it marks an end to his time living in Switzerland. Luke (@thelukejkelly) and Mark (@markboyle86) also feature, and we discuss briefly our upcoming fourth season, which is due in a couple of weeks.

For the curious, you can find more on the German enclave of Büsingen am Hochrhein here on Atlas Obscura, or read this article on BigThink. The New York Times article quoted in the episode can be found here, and further reading on Campione d’Italia can be found here and here. Photo’s from Joe’s trips to the exclaves can be found here.

Here is a summary of some data and statistics:

Name:	Büsingen am Hochrhein	Campione d’Italia
Population:	1,350 pop	2,190
Currency:	€, official (CHF, de facto; DM, formerly)	CHF, official (€, accepted)
Area:	7.62 square kilometres	1.6 square kilometres
	Border 17.141 km
Country:	Germany	Italy
Meaning:	Settlement of the People of Boso	Campilonum – a Roman fort
Separation from country:	Cut off by 500m	Cut off by 1 km

In addition to our theme music by the talented Thomas O’Boyle, this episode featured a lot of music and sound effects, graciously made available for free by contributors at FreeSound.org, Free Music Archive and Incompatech, for use under a Creative Commons license, by attribution.

The pieces of music you heard under the text were “Swiftwind” and “How I Used to See the Stars” by Lee Rosevere, licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0. The Overture of Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino” was performed by the University of Chicago Symphony Orchestra (musical director Barbara Schubert), used under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.

Alphorn music and yodelling clips (from the Eidgenössisches Jodlerfest in Brig), as well as the Uileann pipes from the Uileann Pipers Club Schaffhausen Festival were recorded on location by Joe.

The side-by-side Swiss and German phone boxes in Buesingen

A beautifully Germanic house in Buesingen

The shorefront at Campione d’Italia, complete with Italian flag

Italian police car passing in front of the now-shuttered casino in Campione d’Italia

Turkmenistan (S3.09)

March 4, 2019March 4, 2019 / lukejkelly / Leave a comment

S03E09 – Turkmenistan Audio

In this episode of 80 Days: an exploration podcast, we’ll be talking about Turkmenistan, formerly known as Turkmenia, an independent nation in Central Asia. Bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north and east, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest, and the Caspian Sea to the west, Turkmenistan forms part of the historic Silk Road between East and West.

Today, it has a population of around 5.5 million, the lowest of the Central Asian republics. With around 490,000 square km or 190,000 square miles of territory, Turkmenistan is the world’s 52nd-largest country, making it slightly smaller than Spain and somewhat larger than the US state of California.

Annexed by the Russian Empire in 1881, it later became a part of the USSR, gaining independence again in 1991. Dominated by plains and deserts, temperatures here are extreme to say the least. The height of summer can see highs of 50 degrees celsius (120 fahrenheit) which is the highest temperature ever recorded in the whole former Soviet Union, while in winter, temperatures plunge below freezing in many places. Although it’s a very dry country, Turkmenistan is rich in natural resources- beneath the Kara Kum desert, which dominates the middle of the country, lie massive deposits of oil, natural gss and coal. This is the only place we’ve talked about that has a flag with a carpet on it.

Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Hong Kong, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the UK, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Switzerland . (Theme music by Thomas O’Boyle @thatthomasfella)

Above is the location of Turkmenistan.

Here are a few things you may want to read/watch more about:

An extensive resource for early history in this region can be found here at weavingartmuseum.org.
The Battle of Gaugamela, in which Alexander the Great completed his conquest of Darius III’s Persian Empire is extensively explained on Brittanica here.
More information on the earthquake that destroyed Nisa can be found here.
Joe’s excellent quote from Abu Muslim on the unrighteosness of making war on fellow Muslims was sourced from here.
The ruined city of Merv is profiled in this Guardian article, which we quoted in this episode.
The ‘blood of the mighty’ quote on the sack of Merv comes from this book.
The Russian conquest of this region, the key engagement of which was the Battle of Geok Tepe, is explained in detail by RadioFreeEurope here.
Extensive information on the Trans-Caspian railway can be found at Railway Wonders of the World.
The Diplomat has an excellent in-depth article on the Panjdeh Incident between the British and Russians that almost led to war in 1885.
Further reading on the Central Asian revolt of 1916, also known as the Urkun, can be found here or here.
More info on the ‘Malleson Mission’ and the topic of British military involvement in Transcaspia can be found in this Conflict Studies Research Centre report.
Tribal Nation: The Making of Soviet Turkmenistan by Adrienne Lynn Edgar, which was quoted in the episode, can be found online here.
Some additional information on the Turkestan Legion, which fought with the Wehrmacht during WWII can be found on Wikipedia.
The country profile from the U.S. Library of Congress, which Joe mentioned during this episode, can be found here.
TIME magazine has a short section on the devastating and earthquake that hit Ashgabat in 1948 in its ‘Top 10 Deadliest Earthquakes’ article.
The Evolution of Authoritarianism in Turkmenistan by Kareem Al-Bassam profiles much of the misdeeds of Saparmurad Niyazov, also known as Turkmenbashi.
Below is a short video of the Darvaza gas crater or ‘Gates to Hell’, that has become a strange Turkmenistan tourist attraction.

The many varied flags of Turkmenistan throughout history can be seen here and here.
Some further reading on the choice of script in modern Turkmenistan is available here.
The music from this episode was sourced from here.

Thank you once again to all of our patrons on Patreon who are supporting season 3. If you’d like to join them and see what rewards are available for supporters, and get a peek behind the curtain check out our Patreon page. We really appreciate the support and input!

Lesotho (S3.08)

February 4, 2019March 4, 2019 / lukejkelly / Leave a comment

S03E08 Lesotho Audio

In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about the Kingdom of Lesotho, previously the British Crown Colony of Basutoland. This small African country is entirely surrounded by South Africa, making it one of only three nations to be contained entirely within another country’s borders. Lesotho is also one of the highest countries in the world, standing an average of 1500 metres above sea level, making it the fifth highest nation in the world by average elevation. Lesotho has a population of around 2 million, and its capital and largest city is Maseru.

At around 30,000 square kilometres, the country is roughly the size of Belgium or the US state of Hawaii. Its combination of high altitude and a relatively cool climate results in it being free of tropical diseases. Rainfall is highly variable, farming is difficult and the country has few natural resources. Sesotho is the national language, but English is the language of business, government and education.

Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Hong Kong, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the UK, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Switzerland . (Theme music by Thomas O’Boyle @thatthomasfella)

Above is the location of Lesotho, contained entirely within South Africa.

Here are a few things you may want to read/watch more about:

Lesotho is one of the very few places in Southern Africa that has its own ski resort. The Atlantic has written a profile about this resort, which is named Afriski.
SA History provides an exhaustive rundown of the rise of Shaka Zulu and his people, which countered the rise of Moshoeshoe in Lesotho.
Historical Dictionary of Lesotho by S. Rosenberg and R. F. Weisfelder
We spoke a lot about coups toward the end of this month’s episode. You can find the Wikipedia page we mentioned here.
Did you know that Lesotho was the inspiration for Black Panther‘s fictional nation of Wakanda? Director Ryan Coogler has spoken about how he took inspiration from the tiny mountain nation that resisted Boers and Zulus in an interview with Vulture.
“The History of the Basotho traditional blankets” and their influence on Black Panther (The Blanket Wrap website)
We spoke at length about the father of the nation, Moshoeshoe (and his uncanny resemblance to Morgan Freeman) in this episode. You can find out more about him on Brittanica.

Contrast this Western-style appearance with his description in “The Basutos: the mountaineers and their country” (Sir Godfrey Lagden, 1909)
The various Basotho-Free State wars are described here
“Basutoland: Its Legends and Customs” (Minnie Martin, 1903)
Contemporary accounts of Morosi’s rebellion
Toward the end of the episode we spoke about South Africa’s reliance on water from Lesotho. In fact, it Lesotho’s water has earned the nickname ‘white gold’ due to its importance to the economy. The BBC has written a piece about this ‘white gold’ and the crucial role it plays in Lesotho’s development.
Listen too to the NPR Planet Money podcast on Lesotho’s water resources
Power in Colonial Africa by Elizabeth A. Eldredge, which is quoted in this episode, is available for free online here.
Africa Past & Present Podcast episode “Development Dreams in in Lesotho” interviews Jonn-Arni Flessner
New York Times articles from 1994 and 1998 about various incidents of unrest in the country, the latter about the wisdom of the Mandela government’s intervention
The interview with ousted PM Thomas Thabane after the 2014 coup can be found here on YouTube.
The botched South African raid into Lesotho under the guise of peacekeeping was profiled in the Sept 27, 1998 edition of the New York Times, which can be found via their archives here.
If you, like us, are a fan of flags, you can find more info on how Lesotho’s flag came to be on Wikipedia.
Useful Sesotho phrases (from Omniglot)

Some nice music (and characteristic dancing, in some cases) we found:

Traditional Basotho song by Lesotho men
Basotho women performing a traditional song and dance
Mamello Rabochene – “Kajeno Re Batho” – “Today We Are People”: Gospel song
“Mahlanya le Mohoke” – Itsamaele
“Il Cammino della Musica” documentary series visits Lesotho and talks with musicians about instruments and styles used in the Kingdom
We also used a song from Lee Rosevere, available under creative commons license 3.0 by attribution

Thanks to Seán Lyons for his interview about his time working in Lesotho with Irish NGO Action Lesotho. A massive thanks too to all of our patrons on Patreon who are supporting season 3. If you’d like to join them and see what rewards are available for supporters, and get a peek behind the curtain check out www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast. We really appreciate the support and input!

New Caledonia (S3.05)

September 30, 2018April 10, 2019 / lukejkelly / Leave a comment

New Caledonia Audio

In this episode we’ll be talking about the New Caledonia, a French unique collectivity in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, about 900 miles (1,500 km) east of Australia. It includes the island of New Caledonia, where the capital, Nouméa, is located; the Loyalty Islands; the Bélep Islands; and the Isle of Pines as well as a number of far-flung uninhabited islets.

The main island is by far the largest and contains about nine-tenths of the population. It is surrounded by a coral reef, which encloses a large number of lagoons. These lagoons, with their diverse reefs and associated ecosystems, were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008. Sighted and named by Captain James Cook in 1774, it was later colonised by the French and turned into a penal colony.

New Caledonia has a land area of around 18,000 km2 (or 7,000 sq mi), making it just slightly smaller than Israel or the US state of New Jersey. Its population of around 270,000 consists mostly of a mix of Kanak people (the original inhabitants of New Caledonia), other Melanisians and people of European descent.

Your hosts are Luke Kelly in Hong Kong (@thelukejkelly), Joe Byrne in Bern, Switzerland (@anbeirneach), Mark Boyle in Surrey in the UK (@markboyle86) and our guest John Killeen (@johnkilleen90), who visited New Caledonia last year. Theme music by Thomas O’Boyle (@thatthomasfella)

Here are a few handy links for learning more about New Caledonia;

You can learn more about the New Caledonian upcoming independence referendum here on Wikipedia. The referendum is due to take place on November 4th, 2018, although according to a recent report by Radio New Zealand, support for independence is waning.
There’s a handy map of Captain Cook’s voyages around the world on Encyclopedia Britannica. He’s a man worth knowing about!
Here’s an image of the weird forked flagpole we described in this episode.
More info on the delicious-sounding New Caledonian dish Bougna can be found here.
The US government film used in this episode is entitled ‘Our Troops in New Caledonia’ and can be found on Archive.org
Find more on the ridiculously easy to hunt Kagu bird here.
You can view the photos that are described in this episode (courtesy of our friend John Killeen) below. None of John in the bath just yet, unfortunately.

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The music you heard in this episode was from the following sources;

- New Caledonia Melanisian Dancing via Vic Stefanu – World Travels and Adventures
- Disques Pathé ; Phonothèque Nationale ; Université de Paris, Musée de la parole from Collection Brailoiu
- Kini Kinibut by Ok! Ryos
- “Puzzle pieces” by Lee Rosevere, used under Creative Commons 4.0 License (by attribution)

A massive thanks to all of our patrons on Patreon who are supporting season 3. If you’d like to join them and see what rewards are available for supporters, and get a peek behind the curtain check out www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast. We really appreciate every penny!