Rough Translation

As we head toward a new year, former Rough Translation host Gregory Warner reflects on "goal disengagement" — letting go of past goals, rather than coming up with New Year resolutions. He recommends three of his favorite episodes aligned with this theme for Rough Translation fans and new listeners. Episodes are in the show notes below. And we encourage you to visit our archives with some timeless Rough Translation gems.When Failure is a 4-Letter Word: https://www.npr.org/2019/07/05/738963753/when-failure-is-a-four-letter-wordWar Poems: https://www.npr.org/2018/07/02/625501009/war-poemsAmerican Surrogate: https://www.npr.org/2017/10/17/547332434/american-surrogateDiscover Rough Translation's archive of timeless episodes here: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510324/rough-translation

In this bonus episode of Love Commandos, Gregory Warner interviews musician John Ellis, who composed Rough Translation's original theme music in 2017, and songwriters Amira Gill and VASU, who jointly created the new theme song for Love Commandos. They discuss their musical processes, and how they incorporate stories into their music. Love Commandos will be releasing more bonus episodes like this one over the next few weeks, where the team will continue to take listeners behind the scenes of the show and continue exploring the themes of love and marriage in modern India. To access those episodes, sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded.

In Episode 5 of Love Commandos, couples seeking to shut down the Love Commandos' shelter band together for a risky plan. Want to hear bonus episodes of Love Commandos? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded. Subscribe to host Gregory Warner's Rough Transition substack newsletter.

On Episode 4 of Love Commandos, couples in the shelter feel pressured to stay indefinitely. We try to figure out why. Want to hear episodes of Love Commandos a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded. Subscribe to host Gregory Warner's Rough Transition substack newsletter.

On Episode 3 of Love Commandos, stories of life inside the Love Commandos shelter begin to diverge as co-founder Sanjoy Sachdev shows a different side.Want to hear episodes of Love Commandos a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded. And subscribe to host Gregory Warner's Rough Transition Substack.

On episode 2 of Love Commandos, an inter-caste couple in India hits a breaking point. They make one last-ditch phone call to try to stay together. Want to hear episodes of Love Commandos a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded. Subscribe to host Gregory Warner's Rough Transition newsletter on Substack.

When falling in love can mean risking your life, the Love Commandos in India will protect you. But are they really who they promise to be? Want to hear episodes of Love Commandos a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded. And follow host Gregory Warner on Substack here.

They seemed like superheroes. In a country where arranged marriage is the norm, the Love Commandos promise to protect love couples and help them marry. But is this a group of protectors in the way they promise to be?

We leap into the gap between love stories and real life. And hear a sneak peek of Rough Translation's newest season! Subscribe here to Gregory's substack.

Gregory talks "inside baseball" of American English. And we revisit an episode that sparked a lot of conversation among listeners in 2021–about the global pursuit of "good English" and what it takes to change the multi-billion dollar industry built around it.Write to us at roughtranslation@npr.org and follow Gregory's Substack.Read more at NPR's global health and development blog, Goats and Soda.Tower Of Babble: Nonnative Speakers Navigate The World Of 'Good' And 'Bad' EnglishPrepone That! Your Accent Is Funny! Readers Share Their ESL Stories

The unlikely places that fandom can take us, and how to know when we've gone too far. This week, we revisit an episode from 2020. And don't forget to subscribe to Gregory's Substack.

Gregory tells a story about his first job out of college. And we revisit an episode from 2017. Also, what's your favorite Rough Translation episode? Let us know.

Our host Gregory Warner reads your tweets and drops some big news about Rough Translation. Subscribe to Gregory's Substack and follow him on Twitter to stay on the journey. And coming soon: episodes revisiting our archives, plus an exciting summer season in collaboration with NPR's international desk.

We travel to Ukraine to follow a shipment of abortion pills, and discover a complicated conversation about pregnancy and choice in wartime. Part 2 of our collaboration with Radiolab.

It all started with a photograph. A photograph from 1991 of a prison takeover in rural Alabama. A photograph of a group of men on the roof of that prison holding a bedsheet scrawled with a message: "Pray for us." In the first episode of the new season of White Lies, hosts Chip Brantley and Andrew Beck Grace go searching for answers to the questions raised by this photograph. Who were these men? What on earth had made them want to take over that prison? And what became of them after? As they search, they uncover a sprawling story: a mass exodus across the sea, a secret list, and the betrayal at the heart of this country's ideals. Want to hear the next episode of White Lies a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded.

One weekend. An amateur smuggling operation. A wartime mission. The story, in collaboration with Radiolab.

Who is Black in Australia? (Or "Blak?") Our friends at The Stoop listen to the calls of the kookaburra and reexamine the global reach of the American Black Panther Party to understand the relationship between Blackness and Indigeneity down under.

A hyperlocal news site in Red Hook, N.Y. posts a job opening. A journalist in Ukraine applies. And what readers think of as "local news" is going to change dramatically.

726 miles in one day. Gas station sushi. Mysterious loading docks. We hit the road with two American women who found long-haul trucking as a means of escape and self-transformation.

Nigerian novelist Chibundu Onuzo dreams of returning to Lagos, but she worries she'll struggle to adapt in the city of her birth, where the word "oppressor" is often used as a compliment. In this episode, she seeks advice from her "big boss" older brother.

Who are you at work? In this episode, two stories of people who really commit to embodying their work selves. The result? New realms and new personalities.

Many of us think we can't share our stories of failure until we've reached success. Some Mexico City entrepreneurs started a club to change that, and the world took notice.

When Portugal forbade bosses from contacting employees after hours, international media jumped at the chance to cover the new law. Portuguese workers were oddly quiet. Why?

In 2021, France suspended a law that forbids eating lunch at work. We talk to an American teacher relieved to see it go and a French historian determined to bring it back.

A video ricochets across Chinese offices, and a scooter thief becomes an icon for brewing discontent. Why is a thief who says he's tired of working viewed by the Chinese state as such a threat?

We're back @Work. The new season of Rough Translation will tell surprising stories from workplaces and work cultures around the world.

Hundreds of thousands of Russians are leaving Russia. They're facing an uncertain welcome abroad. Poet and writer Linor Goralik joins us to read from "Exodus 22," her uncomfortably frank conversations with Russians who – before the war – lived in a Westernized bubble, ignoring the mounting threats of Putin's regime. Then, the bubble burst.

What can a blank piece of paper, four ballerinas, a scarf and snuff box mean in Russia? A conversation with Russian Anthropologist Alexandra Arkhipova about how anti-war protestors resist the war in Ukraine through code and hidden messages.

When Naira calls her parents back home in Russia to talk about the war in Ukraine, they treat her as an outsider and a threat. She finds a way to break through the propaganda wall, with inspiration from a chain letter.

When protecting a language is used as justification for war, how can its speakers fight back? A conversation with Russian speakers of the diaspora who are rethinking their relationship to language, identity, and the Russian community.

Vladimir Putin joined the KGB at age 23. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy got his early training in a no less Soviet institution–the world of competitive comedy. We update our 2019 episode about a high-stakes comedy competition in Ukraine.

The past few years have shaken the fundamental ways we live. It's... disorienting. But it's also an opportunity to reexamine how we spend our time. In this episode from TED Radio Hour, speakers investigate evolving notions of what it means to pay our bills.

A jazz dance born in Harlem in the 1920s ends up in a tiny Swedish town. What happens when Black dancers try to bring the Lindy Hop home?

An Irish journalist discovers she belongs in a place she's never been. A 6-year-old boy decides he's from another country. Stories about finding home far from home.

You can zoom around the world through sight and sound, but you can't taste at a distance, right? Stories about what happens when we try.

Marla kept a detailed account of Iraqi civilians harmed by war. How did she recruit people in the U.S. military to help them? And what toll did it take on her? Part 2 of the story of Marla Ruzicka. You can find Part 1 here.

Marla Ruzicka didn't belong in a war zone. Nobody in Afghanistan knew what to make of her. Until Marla started to solve a problem that no one thought could be solved.

Two worlds: dress uniforms and foosball tables. The military and Silicon Valley used to work hand in hand. Now, why won't big tech build them a new gonculator?

Alicia's situation raises questions about the VA's caregiver program. And a new diagnosis changes everything for Matt. How will Alicia and Matt start healing their respective wounds, borne out of different battles? Find part 2, Battle Lines, here. And part 1, Battle Rattle, here.

Alicia Lammers takes on the twin roles of wife and caregiver to her veteran husband. What happens when your husband becomes your official duty? Part 2 of the story of Matt and Alicia Lammers. You can find Part 1, Battle Rattle, here.

He's a veteran looking for love. She's a civilian who learns more about war than she ever imagined. Part 1 of the story of Matt and Alicia Lammers.

In the first episode of our new season, we hear from people on two sides of an invisible divide.