Charlie Bertsch / 21 Dec 2022

Sonic Reporting

Everywhere But There, by Joel Schalit

Battleground editor Joel Schalit’s new album Everywhere But There forcefully demonstrates the need for a new kind of political reporting, one which presents the world as it actually is instead of distorting it in the pursuit of profit.(...)

Raz Mesinai / 23 Sep 2020

Field Recording Tattoos

The Sound of Lockdown

Long gone are the days of walk-ins from sailors on shore leave or drunken bridesmaids. Now it is all about booking months in advance, getting tested for COVID-19 and being respectful of everyone’s safe space.  A tattoo has become one mistake too expensive, and, potentially dangerous, to get without proper consideration.(...)
Women in front. Beirut, November 2019.
Raz Mesinai / 09 Sep 2020

This is What Lebanon Sounds Like

Capturing the October Revolution

Clanging pots, banging cans, all playing in unison. You'd be forgiven for thinking this was a concert, not a demonstration. But, this was Beirut, at the start of the October Revolution and these were demonstrators blurring the line between music and politics. (...)
Joel Schalit / 26 Aug 2020

Syria is Everywhere

Field Recording Rojava

"The Kurds are the Roma of the Middle East." I should have seen it coming. The statement, made by a reporter I worked with, was typical of his repertoire. Like many Europeans, they didn't immediately fit with his idea of the region.(...)