Cyrus on: CBC’s Spark and TVO’s Search Engine

I’m a little behind on keeping up with my own work these days. I’ve been busy with getting ready for Germany, a book deadline and some personal issues lately.

That said, I’m tearing things up north of the border.

I was interviewed by the ever tenacious Jesse Brown on Search Engine to talk about my recent visit to Washington, D.C. to attend Secretary Clinton’s speech on Internet Freedom.

You can check out that interview here.

I’m also on CBC Spark this week, doing a piece on Internet filtering in the workplace.

You can listen online here, or:

Sunday afternoons on CBC Radio One at 1:05/1:35 NT (4:05 PT)
Tuesday afternoons on CBC Radio One at 3:05/3:35 NT

Cyrus on: PRI’s The World (Jan. 21, 2010)

Dear Friends,

My piece on Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s speech on Internet freedom is airing today. (Thanks again to Wayan Vota, Clark Boyd, my cousin Nena do Nascimento, Austin Heap and Dan Colascione for making this trip possible!)

It will be available on any of these stations (and their Internet streams):

NYC – 3 pm Eastern – WNYC – 820 AM – www.wnyc.org
Washington, DC – 8 pm Eastern – WAMU – 88.5 FM – www.wamu.org
Los Angeles – 12 pm Pacific – KPCC – 89.3 FM – www.kpcc.opg
Boston – 4 pm Eastern – WGBH – 89.7 FM – www.wgbh.org
San Francisco – 2 pm Pacific – KQED – 88.5 FM – www.kqed.org

You can also likely find it on your local public radio station, and The World’s site later in the day and also on my site if you miss the broadcast.

Also, don’t forget about The World’s Tech Podcast, hosted by my boss, Clark Boyd. It comes out every Friday.

Lemme know if you hear it!

[audio:http://cyrusfarivar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/012120103.mp3]

Cyrus on: PRI’s The World (Jan. 13, 2010)

Dear Friends,

I’ve been informed that my piece on Google’s new policy towards China will be airing today.

It will be available on any of these stations (and their Internet streams):

NYC – 3 pm Eastern – WNYC – 820 AM – www.wnyc.org
Washington, DC – 8 pm Eastern – WAMU – 88.5 FM – www.wamu.org
Los Angeles – 12 pm Pacific – KPCC – 89.3 FM – www.kpcc.opg
Boston – 4 pm Eastern – WGBH – 89.7 FM – www.wgbh.org
San Francisco – 2 pm Pacific – KQED – 88.5 FM – www.kqed.org

You can also likely find it on your local public radio station, and The World’s site later in the day and also on my site if you miss the broadcast.

Also, don’t forget about The World’s Tech Podcast, hosted by my boss, Clark Boyd. It comes out every Friday.

Lemme know if you hear it!

[audio:http://cyrusfarivar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/011320105.mp3]

New Year, New Job

So it’s a new year, another birthday, and vacation is sadly over — time to get back to a regular working schedule and real life.

But this year is different, given that five months from now, my wife and I will be moving to the birthplace of Ludwig von Beethoven and the former capital of West Germany: Bonn, Germany.

Late last month, I accepted a position as the new host and producer of Spectrum, a weekly 30 minute, international English-language radio show broadcast by Deutsche Welle English, the English language service of Deutsche Welle, the German public radio network. You can think of it like the German BBC — 100 percent publicly funded, and broadcasting in various languages over shortwave, FM re-broadcasts and Internet. I hope to use the skills that I’ve learned working with PRI’s The World, NPR, CBC’s Spark, TVO’s Search Engine, and BBC’s Digital Planet to take Spectrum to the next level. My focus will be especially on Germany and more largely, other science and technology innovations in Europe. (Tere, Eestlased!)

In case you saw some of my tweets a few weeks ago referencing Bonn, I was over there in December to meet the rest of the DW English crew (including the head of DW English, Kristin Zeier), do a little work, and generally see if I’d be a good fit. In the end, I decided to take the position because I think it will be a professionally engaging, and ultimately, a fun job.

In the meantime, Rebecca and I have been taking German lessons at the Gerlind Institute here in Oakland, which has been great so far. I hope to have at least an advanced beginner level by the time that we arrive in Bonn. (Ich hoffe!)

We’ll be in Bonn for at least two years (perhaps longer?), and hope to use our vacation exploring new regions in Germany, and the neighboring countries that we didn’t make it to when we were in Europe in 2008 and 2009, like Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and other countries especially in central and eastern Europe. I especially look forward to eating at Peshku in Pristina (Kosovo) with Balkanophile Nate Tabak in Fall 2010 or Spring 2011.

If anyone is interested in renting our 650 square foot, one-bedroom cottage here in Rockridge (North Oakland) starting in June 2010, please contact me directly.

Otherwise, I welcome any and all tips/suggestions for living in Bonn/western Germany, traveling in Europe, and learning German. Also, come visit us in Bonn!

Thanks again so far to Kristin Zeier, Felix Leder, Tillmann Werner, Steve Paine, Tim Wojcik, Kate Bowen, Holly Fox, Courtney Tenz, Mark Mattox, Stephanie Siek, Sean Sinico, Sam Edmonds, Barbara Gruber, Trinity Hartman, Andy Valvur and everyone else that I look forward to working with at DW who will help us make this transition just a little easier.

Tschüß!

December 21: Cyrus on PRI’s The World

Dear Friends,

I’ve been informed that my piece on the Internet legacy of the late dissident Iranian cleric, Ayatollah Montazeri, will be airing today.

It will be available on any of these stations (and their Internet streams):

NYC – 3 pm Eastern – WNYC – 820 AM – www.wnyc.org
Washington, DC – 8 pm Eastern – WAMU – 88.5 FM – www.wamu.org
Los Angeles – 12 pm Pacific – KPCC – 89.3 FM – www.kpcc.opg
Boston – 4 pm Eastern – WGBH – 89.7 FM – www.wgbh.org
San Francisco – 2 pm Pacific – KQED – 88.5 FM – www.kqed.org

You can also likely find it on your local public radio station, and The World’s site later in the day and also on my site if you miss the broadcast.

Also, don’t forget about The World’s Tech Podcast, hosted by my boss, Clark Boyd. It comes out every Friday.

Lemme know if you hear it!

Happy Holidays to all!

[audio:http://cyrusfarivar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/1221092.mp3]

November 29: Cyrus on CBC’s Spark

Dear Friends,

I’ve been informed that my piece on the world’s first custom-designed Islamic search engine, IMHalal.com, is airing this week on CBC’s Spark!

It will be available on CBC Radio 1 at the following times:

Wednesdays at 11:30 a.m. (12:00 NT)
Saturdays at 4:00 p.m. (4:30 NT)

If you find yourself outside the reach of the CBC’s antennae, feel free to listen to it online, here, or of course, via podcast.

November 20: Cyrus on CBC’s Spark

Dear Friends,

I’ve been informed that my piece on the recent UCLA conference on the 40th anniversary of the Internet is airing this week on CBC’s Spark!

It will be available on CBC Radio 1 at the following times:

Wednesdays at 11:30 a.m. (12:00 NT)
Saturdays at 4:00 p.m. (4:30 NT)

If you find yourself outside the reach of the CBC’s antennae, feel free to listen to it online, here, or of course, via podcast.

November 13: Cyrus on The California Report

Dear Friends,

I’ve been informed that my piece on the creation of the world’s longest California roll, is airing today on, appropriately enough, The California Report.

It will be available on any of these stations (and their Internet streams):

FRI – San Francisco – 4:30/6:30/11 pm Pacific – KQED – 88.5 FM – www.kqed.org
SUN – Los Angeles – 10:30 pm Pacific – KPCC – 89.3 FM – www.kpcc.opg

You can also find it on The California Report site later in the day and on my site if you miss the broadcast.

October 28: Cyrus on PRI’s The World

Dear Friends,

I’ve been informed that my piece on the one year anniversary of the arrest of Iran’s “blogfather,” Hossein Derakhshan, is airing today.

It will be available on any of these stations (and their Internet streams):

NYC – 3 pm Eastern – WNYC – 820 AM – www.wnyc.org
Washington, DC – 8 pm Eastern – WAMU – 88.5 FM – www.wamu.org
Los Angeles – 12 pm Pacific – KPCC – 89.3 FM – www.kpcc.opg
Boston – 4 pm Eastern – WGBH – 89.7 FM – www.wgbh.org
San Francisco – 2 pm Pacific – KQED – 88.5 FM – www.kqed.org

You can also find it on The World’s site later in the day and on my site if you miss the broadcast.

Also, don’t forget about The World’s Tech Podcast, hosted by my boss, Clark Boyd. It comes out every Friday.

Lemme know if you hear it!

Update: Audio is here!