Mariachi el Bronx: Punk Rockers Channel Mexico

Anchor Marco Werman fills us in on Mariachi el Bronx, the LA-based punk band that undertook a format change to mariachi music.

An L.A. Sheriff Looks Back on 9/11

The sheriff reflects on 9/11 and the role of community policing and building ties with the Muslim immigration community.

Belgium Band Triggerfinger

Triggerfinger is one of the hottest bands in Belgium.

If By Yes releases ‘Salt On Sea Glass’

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If By Yes is the name of a new band that’s just out with its debut album. At the same time, The World’s Marco Werman reports, the band members are having to process the distressing news from their native Japan. Download MP3
Video: If By Yes performs “Mogawai” live

Los Angeles-based lawyer exposes Iranian bands

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Cyrus Farivar profiles Iranian-American attorney Kia Kamran in Los Angeles who is behind some of the new Iranian-American bands on the music scene in LA and beyond. Download MP3
Video: Pomplamoose’s Expiration Date

Charmaine Clamor’s jazzipinho style

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Los Angeles-based Filipina jazz singer Charmaine Clamor performs for us in our studio, just days after singing for the President of the Philippines. Clamor speaks to anchor Marco Werman about her recent visit to Manila and her style of jazz, which she likes to call “jazzipinho”. Download MP3
Video: Charmaine performs live at WGBH studios

La Feria de Los Moles

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We’re on the mole beat for our Geo Quiz. There will be plenty of this traditional Mexican sauce to go around this weekend at a special event in Los Angeles. It’s called La Feria de Los Moles. And it’s organized by immigrant communities from the two Mexican states most associated with mole – Puebla and Oaxaca. So where in LA is this festival happenning? Download MP3

Learning in two languages, and new Zulu words

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In this week’s World in Words podcast, a back-to-school edition about learning in a second language. We have stories about English language learning, Arabic language immersion, and the challenges of one Creole-speaking highschooler in New York City. Plus, the first Zulu-English dictionary in 40 years has just been published in South Africa. Download MP3

Very Be Careful

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There are a lot of bands in the US today blending Latin tinged rhythms with – rock, pop, hip-pop, pick your genre. It started with Santana in the ’60s and has moved right to today with groups like Ozomatli. But the group Very Be Careful wants to be different. They stick close to their Colombian roots. Marco Werman explains more on today’s show. Download MP3

• Very Be Careful
• CD information from Amazon

Understanding Chinese, birds and Glaswegians

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We select our top five language-related stories from the past month. Among them: Some birds develop distinct dialects based on the decibel levels of their habitats; Companies doing business in Glasgow are offered interpreters to translate the local dialect; And Chinese expats do battle over which script U.S. schools should use to teach Chinese – traditional characters, favored in Taiwan and Hong Kong, or simplified characters, used in mainland China.

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Cambodian-American rapper praCh Ly

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Cambodian-American rapper praCh Ly creates tracks that are as popular in his homeland as they are here in the United States. He raps in both Khmer and English, and in both languages, he’s unafraid to tackle the history of violence in Cambodia, and the gang violence he grew up with in Long Beach. Corey Takahashi takes you on a drive with praCh Ly. Download MP3 (Photo: Corey Takahashi)

• Video from The World: praCh talks about his music, and his past
• praCh’s record label
• More about praCh’s music

Annual ceremony

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We board a trolley in the city we are looking for in today’s Geo Quiz. We’ll cross two rivers. And we’ll pass a shopping street that you could easily mistake for New York or Los Angeles…

Bilingual romance in Paris, “whatever” in Mexico, and the fog of Pentagon acronyms in Afghanistan

Novelist Vanina Marsot’s new novel “Foreign Tongue” is about French, English, being bilingual, and translation. If you’re a fan of false cognates, this one is for you. Also, a Spanish expression beloved by Mexicans, and the Pentagon latest acronyms. Listen