VOX

A) VOX Dispatch summaries

1) Japan's rising right-wing nationalism (they were deprived of their pride after losing ww2 and want to showcase the many achievements of japan in bringing up their economy while hiding their past atrocities. Nationalism)
2) Why Japan has so many vending machines (low low-skill labor available and expensive rent makes it a good choice for vending machines to thrive. Whatever they can automate, they will automate)
3) I didn't bring business cards to Japan. Big mistake. (its common courtesy to offer business cards at the beginning)
4) Flying over the melting arctic made climate change feel much more urgent (climate change is melting our ice caps and will increase earth temperatures)
5) Why Norway is full of Teslas (Beautiful overview of Oslo, Norway. The country funds its subsidies for its electric vehicles by selling oil to developing countries. It is a bit ironic that it's green movement is funded by burning carbon emissions else where)
6) Are huskies Russian? Depends on who you ask.(overall beautiful video on training of sled running dogs and the classification of the history of Serbian/Russian huskies)
7) The world’s stashing seeds in the Arctic. Just in case (the shelter isn’t as future proof as we thought it would. It stores seeds and genetic information of what makes those seeds in the case the world has some major disaster)
8) Why a Haitian graffiti artist is protesting foreign aid(foreign aid helped Haiti after the earthquake but most money went to private organizations instead of the government so it hindered the country long term development)
9) Meet Haiti’s surfing pioneers(sports helps support a strong shared identity in a country and can improve the country’s well-being)
10) How a Haitian village cooks with sunlight(90% of Haiti’s forest is gone due to people chopping trees for firewood. The solar cookers give a safe alternative to cook food so that Haitians don’t have to cross the border into Dominican Republic for firewood)
11) The wall of eyes trained on the US - Mexico border (The US spends lots of money on the border patrol, majority of it on high-end surveillance technology to track down migrants alongside border patrol agents using hunting techniques to track down migrants. However, only 30% of migrants get caught while the other 70% make it through. So we do have to ask if the increased spending is worth it)
12) The ancient city designed to track time (The mayans built large pyramids that could track the day of the year based on the sun's position relative to the mountains)
13) The only wild monkeys in Europe (the monkeys made a home in the small part of Spain same as the British. They have learned to live alongside humans so they still play around and sleep with humans walking everywhere. It reminds me of the temples I visited in Kathmandu with monkeys everywhere and dogs as well. They don't have a home other than the small forest areas within the giant temple).

B) VOX Borders Season 1

1. Divided island: How Haiti and the DR (dominican republic) became two worlds

(this documentary shows how two populations on different sides of the same island can develop very differently based on outside forces. Even now, the discrimination is still alive where darker skinned folks are targets for deportation in the DR).
2. It's time to draw borders on the Arctic Ocean

(as global warming melts the ice in the arctic region, it opens up opportunities for oil and gas drilling. However, most of the area is up for debate as different countries are applying to have official ownership of the arctic region. Some countries such as Russia are pushing for it through increased military presence in its Arctic coast alongside funding of Russian communities in arctic islands)
3. Inside North Korea's bubble in Japan

(initially I was surprised to see a North Korean bubble in Japan. Especially due to all the terrible things North Korea has done. However, with the the rise of anti-Korean sentiment in Japan, Japan-born Koreans have nowhere to rely on support for other than North Korea itself. As a result, I can’t bring myself to blame them that much)
4. How the US outsourced border security to Mexico

(The US in an effort to reduce migrants from central America, it supported Mexico to do its dirty work by increasing crackdowns and militarization in arresting migrants. As a result, migrants often have to take different routes to avoid getting caught which leaves them more vulnerable to thieves and lack of support on their journey.)
5. Building a border at 4,600 meters

(Initially, people went up to the mountains to escape taxes and a ruling government. They formed their own communities and culture free from influence from the outside world. However, due to the effects of modernization, a lot of the culture is lost as borders are stopping migrating families and kids are being sent away for education and work.)
6. Europe’s most fortified border is in Africa

(It is a very similar case of the US and Mexico. Spain is supporting Morocco to do its dirty work of keeping African migrants from moving over to Melilla. There have been a large movement of migrants in the past years so some countries have opened their arms and allowed migrants asylum while others have fortified their borders and punished any trying to enter. The ones that suffer the most are migrants who often die and get hurt in this journey that is getting more difficult and dangerous.)

C) VOX Borders Season 2

Since I was born in Hong Kong and lived there for almost 7 years, I am more excited for this season of Borders.

1. How 156 years of British rule shaped Hong Kong (It's wild how Britain started trading with China mainly for tea. When it ran out of silver to give, it sold opium to get silver and buy tea. Hong Kong ended up being a British colony and there was a divide between the British and the Chinese. The Westerners were mainly residing uphill where its more quiet and green while the Chinese reside at the bottom. As time went on, both the cultures and the people intertwined whether its in the tea, food, education, and language. As for their identity, the residents of Hong Kong don't identify as Chinese, nor do they identify British. They feel a mix of both. )
2. China is erasing its border with Hong Kong (Hong Kong blew up economically under British rule and after the hand off, China allowed Hong Kong to continue its normal way of life because it represented a huge share of China's GDP. However, as many cities in China developed into economic powerhouses like Shenzen, Beijing, and Guangzhou, China didn't have incentive to respect that freedom anymore. As a result, you see China interfering in Hong Kong's way of life whether its by prioritizing speaking mandarin over Cantonese or by trying to install pro-China candidates in Hong Kong. This promoted a lot of protests from Hong Kong youth and many people went out to vote as a result)
3. How feng shui shaped Hong Kong's skyline (Feng Shui is about trapping good luck and allowing bad luck to escape. For example, in feng shui dragons leave from mountains to go to the sea so any buildings in between have large holes to allow for dragons to go through. If not, bad luck will surround them. Feng Shui lasted in Hong Kong because it was under British rule while it mainly stopped in mainland China due to the communist revolution. Bad luck also affects surrounding buildings so the government sets up a fund to pay owners affected by bad feng shui of surrounding buildings.)
4. The decline of Hong Kong's iconic neon glow (neon lights were a representation of an active night lifestyle especially in Hong Kong. The neon lights also made its way into futuristic sci-fi and Japanese culture as well. However, LED lights are quickly taking over as they are cheaper and easier to install. With the neon lights fading out, they are becoming more of a curated art rather than a business advertisement).
5. Inside Hong Kong’s cage homes (a lot of people in Hong Kong live in cage/coffin homes. Hong Kong is the freest economy on earth due to no sales tax, very low corporate taxes, and less regulations. However, it only uses about 25% of its land for housing and a much smaller percentage of it for large-dense housing. You end up with extremely tall apartment buildings and rooms smaller than a car parking space. The artificial land scarcity drives up prices of housing as Hong Kong is the most expensive city in the world to live in. However, the government which owns the land in Hong Kong can sell it to real estate companies for astronomical prices that duke it out in an auction. The HK government uses that revenue to fund its public services and maintain its free market. As a result, the policy ends up serving the market while the HK people are squeezing into smaller and smaller homes.)

D) VOX Borders Season 3

1. Why Colombia has taken in 1 million Venezuelans(Venezuela is experiencing an economics crisis. Massive inflation due to bad government policies have put most Venezuelans into poverty and unable to buy food and medicine. As a result, many have fled into Colombia which has accepted a million migrant with open arms. In the past, Venezuelan allowed migrants when Colombia had a civil war going on and this could be seen as a way of them paying back the favor. The two countries also have a strong sense of unity.)
2. How this drug lord created a hippo problem in Colombia(Pablo Escabar was the world's biggest drug lord with a cocaine empire. He used the drug money to fund his estate which was a large zoo consisting of tigers, snakes, and hippos. Hippos are native to Africa and he had some shipped to his zoo where they live in the swamp. With no natural predators nor droughts to keep them in check, the hippo population in Colombia in that one zoo is growing rapidly. Hippos cause the most deaths from a wild animal in Africa and they are the most violent mammals. They kill crocodiles. When the government started killing them to prevent any hippo from killing Colombia residents, there was a backlash and the court banned killing of hippos. Many people have this belief that hippos are cute and friendly. As a result, the best solution might be to move them to a different area where they can be contained.)
3. Why Shakira loves this African beat (cumbia de Colombia. cumbia is a type of music defined by its unique but simple rhythm. It originated in Columbia when escaped African slaves from the Spanish empire built their own communities in the forests. They used wood and animal fur to make drums. When the music reached the indigenous people, they introduced flutes as well into the mix. As time went on, singers were added to the cumbia mix alongside the accordion. While cumbia has evolved a lot, its distinct rhythm stays the same and is often present in many present Latin music.)
4. Why Colombia is losing the cocaine war (Colombia has lots of rainforest area far from the city that is being cut down to make farms. Many of the farmers grow coca, which is the plant that is processed to make cocaine that is sold by cartels to the rest of the world. In order to prevent that, the government sprays herbicide into farms, perform raids, and pay farmers to grow legal food instead of coca. However, many farmers that switched have difficulty making profit as legal foods cost a lot of money to grow, harvest, and transport which is difficult with all the undeveloped roads. Compared to coca, you can easily transport a kilo of coca in your backpack and make a lot of money. If the government wants to reduce the growth of coca, they have to invest more into connecting the farmers to the cities with better roads and better farming equipment.)

E) VOX Borders Season 4

India
1. How this border transformed a subcontinent | India & Pakistan (Before their divide, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan were one big country with people of different cultures and religions living together. It was mainly Hindus/Sikhs and Muslims. It was also a colony of the British but after world war 2, British was in huge debt and planned a 5 year exit plan. However, the 5 year plan changed into a 4 months plan. A British lawyer tasked with drawing the borders of the new countries used census data to divide them based on whether it was Hindu/Sikh majority or Muslim majority. After the British government left, the partition became official and it was one of the largest forced migrations of people with Hindus migrating to India and Muslims migrating to Pakistan. There were lots of chaos and violence erupted during the migration with lots of deaths. After the migration, war broke out between India and Pakistan before the borders were solidified. Now, when you look at the people from both countries, despite their different religion, a lot of things are very similar whether its their language, food, geography, or culture. However, both sides have increasing nationalism and hatred towards one another due to political leaders on both sides.)
2. How India runs the world's biggest election (India has the biggest democracy in the world with 900 million eligible voters. India is a big country with various terrains so voter officials have to travel by train, car, bicycles, boats, elephants, camels, and hike to make sure each Indian citizen can vote without moving farther than 2 km away from their home. Rather than an Election Day, there is an election month with different phases. The electric voting machines also have symbols to identify different parties and policies since some of the voters cannot read or write.)
3. India and Sri Lanka's violent fight over fish (On the southern-east area of India, there is a fishing community of Tamil people. On the other side is Sri Lanka and on its north-west area, there is also a fishing community of Tamil people. Both sides were fishing equally despite the invisible sea border between them. However, there was a uprising going on in Sri Lanka from the Tamil minority so there was a ban on fishing for 25 years. During the ban, the Indian government provided subsidies to Indian fishermen to buy bigger boats and better equipment to haul in more fish and prawn to export to other countries. Soon, they begin to fish in unoccupied in Sri Lankan waters as well. Once Sri Lankan's war was over, fishermen continued fishing but had difficulty competing with Indian fishermen's bigger and better boats. As a result, the Sri Lankan navy enforced the border, killed or detained any Indian fishermen that crossed it and confiscated their boats. The Indian fishermen hate the Sri Lankans for stealing their boats and attacking their fishermen while the Sri Lankans hate them for stealing their fish in their seawaters.)
4. India's trucks are works of art (In India, trucks compose a huge part of it's economy as it moves goods around. Truck drivers paint their trucks with various fonts, bright colors, religious imagery, and safety warnings. Truck drivers spend long times driving away from home and the art helps their truck feel more like a second home. It also provides a sense of peace as many of them drive long hours in dangerous conditions.)
5. India’s cow vigilantes are targeting Muslims(In India, it is illegal to kill or eat cows because cows are considered sacred in Hinduism. The recent rise of India's Nationalist Party has caused a surge in cow vigilantes that track and kill people suspected of eating/kill cows. However, the large majority of victims are Muslims and many attacks were based on rumors. This cow protection movement has been used by many to hurt Muslims and target their businesses.)