World Ocean Radio - History Heritage and Cultural Traditions
This week on World Ocean Radio, two new books for readers to consider this fall: "The High Seas: Greed, Power, and The Battle for the Unclaimed Ocean" by Olive Heffernan, and "What the Wild Sea Can Be: The Future of the World Ocean" by Helen Scales. Both books evoke hopeful possibility while exploring the extent of the ocean and the implications of ongoing exploitation and excess.
After a recent visit to Japan, an island nation, World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill ponders, what if, as in Japan, we applied values individually, locally, and nationally to our purchases, foodways, institutions, public relations, our life choices? Look from the East, look from the West: are we not all islanders?
This holiday season on World Ocean Radio we return with a special reading of "Christmas at Sea", an evocative poem by Robert Louis Stevenson written in 1883. Stevenson, the son of a lighthouse engineer, had intimate knowledge of nor'westers... Merry Christmas to all from the World Ocean Observatory.
Christmas at Sea
A poem by Robert Louis Stevenson
Christmas at Sea is an evocative seasonal poem published in 1888, five years after Robert Louis Stevenson’s beloved novel, Treasure Island, was published. The Scottish writer was the son of a lighthouse engineer and had intimate, first-hand knowledge of extreme weather, storms and nor'westers. Christmas at Sea appears in an anthology of poems compiled by the Radio4 program Poetry Please: The Nation’s Best-Loved Poems, with a forward by Roger McGough, published in 2014 by Faber & Faber Books.
Christmas at Sea is in the public domain.
This week on World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill talks about the power of storytelling and the vast catalog of tales of adventure, sailors, song, battle, Captain's logs, letters home, and more that tell the stories of our ocean culture and civilization.
This week on the RESCUE series we're continuing our discussion of the water cycle and the ways it defines our cultural identity from global to local. We are surrounded by evidence of our cultural ocean: we see it at all shores both fresh and salt, we see it the location of our settlements, in our bridges and dams, in fishing vessels and practices, in ports, and so much more. In this episode we'll explore these myriad connections in depth.
Our annual gift to World Ocean Radio listeners. In this episode, host Peter Neill reads "At the Fishhouses" by Elizabeth Bishop, a poem from 1955 that distills Bishop's seaside meditations and evokes the clarity of meaning contained in personal encounters with the ocean. A favorite of ours, with profound relevance for the New Year. Please enjoy.
This week on World Ocean Radio we have a special seasonal reading of "Christmas at Sea", an evocative poem by Robert Louis Stevenson written in 1883. Stevenson, the son of a lighthouse engineer, had intimate knowledge of extreme weather, storms, and especially nor'westers. Merry Christmas to all from the World Ocean Observatory.
This summer we are revisiting some of our favorite World Ocean Radio episodes that highlight optimism for the ocean. This week we outline the myriad ways that UNESCO World Heritage sites both on land and at sea are an essential part of a strategy to conserve and protect the ocean’s vast contributions to our scientific knowledge, and their importance for our cultural history, for protection, conservation, diversity, sustainability, survivability, and as treasured pieces of our cultural heritage, connecting us all for generations to come.
This week on World Ocean Radio: part twenty-four of the multi-part BLUEprint series. In this episode: the myriad ways that UNESCO World Heritage Sites—on land and at sea—are an essential part of a strategy to conserve and protect the ocean’s vast contributions to our scientific knowledge, and also their importance for our cultural history, for protection, conservation, diversity, sustainability, survivability, and as treasured pieces of our cultural heritage that connect us for generations to come.
In World Ocean Radio's Slavery: Heritage and Identity series we discuss the maritime origins of slavery; the last slave ships that ran kidnapped cargo from Africa to North America; the atrocities of the slave trade and the continuity of structural racism within the U.S. and elsewhere; examples of people of African origin taking back their history and cultural interpretation; the ways in which our shared identity have been shaped by an amalgamation of cultures; projects around the world established to liberate the history surrounding slavery and the slave trade; the conservation and protection of submerged heritage resources; and educational curriculum in Africa and beyond designed to promote connection and ocean literacy. This episode represents the five-part series in one 25-minute episode
This week on World Ocean Radio we share the final episode of the five-part Slavery: Heritage and Identity series. In this broadcast we look at the ways we as global citizens can promote and connect with the ocean community to advance understanding of the African experience as part of our shared maritime history. We highlight two examples of projects in Africa promoting connection and ocean literacy.
This week on World Ocean Radio: part four of the five-part Slavery: Heritage and Identity series. In this episode we discuss the history of La Amistad , the 19th century Spanish slave ship that ran kidnapped human cargo to Cuba to support the sugar plantations. La Amistad is famous for the 1839 slave uprising and capture of the vessel, the ensuing legal battle for their freedom, and the construction effort of a replica ship launched in 2000 to continue an international conversation about slavery and its impacts on African Americans' past, present and future.
In this episode of World Ocean Radio, part three of the five-part Slavery: Heritage and Identity series, we introduce listeners to Diving with a Purpose, an organization dedicated to the conservation and protection of submerged heritage resources by providing education, training, certification and field experience to adults and youth in the fields of maritime archaeology and ocean conservation, and to document and protect African slave trade shipwrecks and the maritime history and culture of African Americans.
What were thought to be the remains of America's last slave ship--the Clotilda--were unearthed on a muddy river bank in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta in Alabama in 2018. These purported remains, and the artifacts from another slave ship, the São José-Paquete de Africa, are important symbols of the cultural relationship and interconnected history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, part one of a five-part series entitled Slavery: Heritage and Identity, we discuss maritime culture, the last slave ships, the atrocities of the slave trade, and the ways in which our cultural identity in the United States has been shaped by an amalgamation of cultures.
This week on World Ocean Radio we have a special reading of "Christmas at Sea", an evocative poem by Robert Louis Stevenson written in 1883. Stevenson, the son of a lighthouse engineer, had intimate knowledge of nor'westers... Merry Christmas to all from the World Ocean Observatory.
The World Ocean Observatory is partnering with Main Street Bucksport this year for the 4th annual International Maritime Film Festival, a celebration of maritime heritage, spirit of adventure, concern for the environment, and ingenuity of boats and waterborne pursuits. In this week's episode of World Ocean Radio we discuss the upcoming festival and call for submissions, and reflect on the importance and power of the written word, photographs and film to make us aware of issues and to act toward change with new conviction.
The word 'indigenous' is used a lot these days, especially in terms of territorial rights to land and of invasive species of flora and fauna. In this episode of World Ocean Radio we discuss the origins of nature, especially in terms of the interaction between humans and the natural world, the rights of nature, and the world's most invasive species and biggest threat to biodiversity: homo sapiens.
We wrap up our seven-part thematic overview of the ocean edge this week by discussing the cultural edge: the place alongshore where we interact with nature, with our spiritual selves, and with each other. We assert that the ocean is the ecosystem that connects us all, bringing us together as one population of humanity and civilization, capable of discovering solutions that will benefit all living things. The Cultural Edge is part 7 of a 7-part series dedicated to the ocean edge, exploring what takes place there, from the real to the symbolic.
We have long enjoyed the ocean edge for leisurely ends: as a place to gather with family and friends to enjoy surf and sand, and to relax in the freedom and solace that being near the ocean provides. In this episode of World Ocean Radio we argue that we must reclaim the spaces near the ocean edge for recreation, for coastal protection and for authentic connection to the sea. The Leisure Edge is part 4 of a 7-part series dedicated to the ocean edge, exploring what takes place there, from the real to the symbolic.
A recent east coast storm unearthed the remains of America's last slave ship in Alabama: the Clotilda. These remains, and the artifacts from another slave ship, the São José-Paquete de Africa, are important symbols of the cultural relationship and interconnected history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. In this episode of World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill speaks about maritime culture, the last slave ships, the atrocities of the slave trade, and the ways in which our cultural identity in the U.S. has been shaped by an amalgamation of cultures which has formed our settlement, movement, music, and language in powerful and positive ways.
Summertime along the coast offers us the opportunity to reflect on why the ocean matters, and its importance in our lives. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill shares insights from the great American naturalist and author Rachel Carson, by reading from her seminal book "The Edge of the Sea."
In this week’s episode of World Ocean Radio we discuss the work of artist Jason deCaires Taylor, creator of underwater sculpture museums that explore the balance between society and nature and speak to how humans have affected the environment and our future place in it. His works, located in underwater museums offshore of Cancun and Spain, ask us to examine the transformations of nature and challenge our perspectives on life, community, identity, empathy, and understanding.
In this week's episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill reads "The Fish," a poem by Marianne Moore from a collection entitled "American Sea Writing: A Literary Anthology“ which contains unique writings of American voices and experiences related to ocean passage and coastal observation.
Mario Soares, former PM and President of Portugal, statesman, exile, political prisoner, "father of democracy", passed away last week at the age of 92. In this episode, host Peter Neill pays tribute by discussing his many political and environmental achievements as contributions to the 20th century, most notably the creation of the Independent Ocean Commission's report “The Ocean, Our Future” and the Global Water Contract, both important policy documents with requirements and recommendations to guide the international community for the preservation of earth’s ocean resources.
Summertime again, and what better time to pack a few books and head to the beach? In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill suggests some of his favorite books for ocean lovers. His list runs the gamut from complicated and comprehensive to entertaining and mystical. And he recommends a new book by Captain Peter Wilcox, an adventurous non-fiction book that has action and intrigue, and highlights public consciousness, public awareness and protest of ocean issues that Wilcox’s Greenpeace has been dedicated to for more than forty years.
