Audio stories from graduate students at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism
Fortunato Brothers is a hallmark of the old-school Italian American businesses that came to define Williamsburg in the 1970s. Opened by three brothers as a local bakery, Fortunatos is still standing and has weathered the storm of gentrification and the neighborhood changing dramatically. But with those changes, the Fortunato family has had to make sacrifices. For the next generation, Angela and Biagio, adapting and working with family hasn’t always been easy.
Streecha, a sleepy Ukrainian restaurant in the East Village has seen business boom since the outbreak of the Ukraine war. Formerly frequented by locals and Ukrainian immigrants, visitors have flocking to try homemade cultural dishes and support the war effort against Russia. But for Kseniya Lapikova, a long-time customer and volunteer who helps make pierogies at Streecha, things are more complicated with half of her family in Russia and half in Ukraine.
In December 2022, as protests against China’s Zero-COVID policy and its treatment of Uyghurs dominated the news, Patrick Hagan visited some of New York City’s Uyghur restaurants to see how these establishments have become centers of resistance, community and culture for the local exiled Uyghur community.
Sabrina Torres meets with local lowrider enthusiasts and discusses how passion and art collide with culture behind this classic car phenomenon in the heart of the East Coast. Along the way, she shares her own personal experiences of growing up in California and her love for lowriders, providing a fresh perspective on the lowriding scene in New York City.
Featuring interviews with lowrider owner, a historian, and a photographer from Los Angeles. So tune in and join her on this exciting journey through the streets of New York City, where lowriders roam free and the passion for these classic cars never fades.
I always knew my father was afraid of the dark, which led me to report and produce this 40-minute audio piece, The Longest Night, on the severe electricity shortages in my hometown Beirut, Lebanon. I tried to paint a portrait of a city plunged into darkness by zooming into the lives of ordinary citizens who have to count on creativity and resilience, to accomplish the most basic tasks of daily life. I found an intersection between the power shortages and Lebanon’s rising hyperinflation in which I guided experts in explaining the economic implications behind this through audio focused interviews.
What does it take to work in 200 degrees of heat? Everyday? For 20 years? At the Russian and Turkish Baths, one man has the answer. Mukhtar Imamutdinov. Join Anja Nilsson as she explores this New York institution, and gets to the bottom of a family feud…
This is not your average love story. Sure, there’s romance and grand gestures, but it’s a lot more complex than that.
This is a story about a woman, bad weather, and making big decisions. Again. And again. And again.
In January 2023, a street sign was taken down in a historically Puerto Rican neighborhood whose demographics are quickly changing. A protest ensues. The city says it was an accident. How?
On the corner of Broadway and West 112th Street sits Tom’s Restaurant. There’s a chance you’ve seen the diner on your screen before. It’s typically American. Apart from its owners, that is.
Telling True Stories in Sound 