Africa

Tech Podcast 266: The Strange Case of Blogger Hossein Derakhshan

Audio: Play | Download

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3

As you know, I rarely ask for anything more than a bit of your time, attention, and critical thinking. But, Public Radio International has to pay the bills, and I have a vested interest in keeping this podcast going. I hope you have that same vested interest. Help us keep bringing you the Tech Podcast, and all of our podcasts. Visit this PRI webpage and find out how to donate. We like to think that week in, week out, we have a show worth your time (and maybe a bit of your money), and this week’s no exception. The centerpiece? A segment on Iranian-Canadian blogger Hossein Derakhshan, who is widely considered to be the man who made it possible to blog in the Persian language. Derakhshan was jailed not long after he went back to Iran a little more than a year ago. Cyrus Farivar does an admirable job of taking you through the strange twists and turns of Derakhshan’s life in the past few years.

On a related note, we hear about an effort to better aggregate, tag and categorize Persian language blogs. It’s a collaboration between a Persian language social media website called Balatarin, and The BBC World Service Trust’s Iran Project. Here are the headlines from the research: 1) the Persian language blogosphere is a lot more diverse than many people think, and 2) conservative, pro-government blogging is on the rise. Listen in to find out more.

We start the podcast with a great little story about Peter Onguti, a Kenyan living in Canada, and his quest to bring cheap, low-power FM transmitters to markets in Africa. Naturally, I feel an affinity toward any effort to spread the wonder of radio more widely. And speaking of discussions about appropriate technologies, do check out Rhitu Chatterjee’s World Science Podcast this week. She’s also running a great online discussion with an engineer with real-world experience in designing for the developing world.

We also revisit WTP 263 and digital memory, and dip into the listener mailbag!

We’re on Twitter, Facebook and FriendFeed. Join us!!