Around the World #39: Tamara Gil

I'm a fan of Tamara Gil.

My guest today is Tamara Gil, a multimedia journalist based in Beijing, China. Tamara and I had a long and interesting conversation, during which we covered quite a large number of topics. Be sure to check out the Show Notes below for more info.

Here's my podcast with Tamara Gil:

Download this Episode (right-click and choose “save as”)

Here is a link to Tamara's Twitter Feed.

And here are two videos that Tamara made from the Naadam Festival in Mongolia, which we talked about during the podcast:

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Show Notes:

Tamara works as a multimedia journalist for Efe Noticias.
Chinese has the most native speakers (955 million), followed by Spanish (405 million) and English (360 million).
New York City has about 1.2 million Puerto Ricans. San Juan's metro population is 2.3 million.
The Foreign Services Institute has a ranking of the difficulty of learning languages. Unsurprisingly, Chinese is a Category 5 (the hardest).
Voice of America recently put out an interesting article concerning Rex Tillerson's lack of media access.
Former South Korean president Park Geun-hye was impeached last month. Now she could be charged with bribery, a crime that could land her in prison for ten years or more.
South Korea will elect its next president on May 9.
Here is a great BBC article explaining North Korea's current nuclear technology.
For more info about the West's strategy in dealing with North Korea, I'd highly recommend The Impossible State by Victor Cha.
The BBC has more info about the latest laptop ban. This article, as well as other media I've read, focuses on the fact that we'll have to talk to our neighbor or read a book while flying. It'll be just like the good old days! But my concern has nothing to do with this. I'm worried about my laptop getting broken or stolen. This is no laughing matter; the media (at least from what I've read) doesn't seem to get it. Especially considering the fact that journalists (AKA the media) are commonly targeted by hackers. And now they have to hand their laptops over to airlines – maybe even to hostile governments – and hope for the best. This is far more important a concern than keeping yourself entertained during a long flight.
Shangri-la, China is 10,367 feet (3160 meters) above sea level.
Where are the people at? This map shows China's population distribution.
Here's a short video about the Naadam Festival in Mongolia:
The movie about the Mongolian family is called The Cave of the Yellow Dog. You can buy it on Amazon.
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History is the best podcast out there. I talked about Wrath of the Khans during this show.
The Netflix show that's set in Kublai Khan's time is called Marco Polo.
The Lost City of Z by David Grann is a great book about Percy Fawcett's 1925 journey into the Amazon. A movie of the same title is now out. I can't wait to see it.
Conspiracy theories abound about Malaysian Airlines flight MH370's disappearance. Here are some of them.
And finally, here's some more info about the 2014 protests in Hong Kong, AKA the Umbrella Revolution.

And now for some photo fun! Here are some pictures of some of the places Tamara and I talked about:

The Burj Khalifa is the world's tallest building, at 2722 feet and 163 floors.

The Dubai Mall has all sorts of elegant art and architecture. Here are some umbrellas hanging from the ceiling

When it's 45 degrees outside, it's good to know you can stay inside. In this case, I'm riding the metro toward the center of the city. The trains are automated, so you can stand in front and look out the giant windows.

Click for more photos and stories from Dubai.

Here are a few pictures from Australia: