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-word War Poems: https://www.npr.org/2018/07/02/625501009/war-poems American Surrogate: https://www.npr.org/2017/10/17/547332434/american-surrogate Discover Rough Translation's archive of timeless episodes here: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510324/rough-translation Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

When falling in love can mean risking your life, the Love Commandos in India will protect you. But at what cost? This is episode 1 of our series Love Commandos. 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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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' English Prepone That! Your Accent Is Funny! Readers Share Their ESL Stories Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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...

One weekend. An amateur smuggling operation. A wartime mission. The story, in collaboration with Radiolab. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy