and song interpreter Jim Ghedi came to folk music through a side door He grew up playing in bands and putting on shows at a DIY collective in his native Sheffield where it was far more common to see an experimental noise gig than an acoustic guitar He started to dig into folk-rock groups like Pentangle and Steeleye Span and traditional singers like the Watersons he was putting on folk nights at the DIY space “There was a bit of a joke at the time where I was the only one playing like that in that space and the only one putting on nights like that and finding people from other cities like to come in and play that music,” he says “But I was in a music community that was very attentive and wanted to hear it they were there to enjoy the experience of listening to someone express themselves.” Ghedi’s take on traditional music has always been colored by his experiences in that DIY scene There’s a collision of the ancient and the radically new That juxtaposition comes through louder than ever on his fourth and newest album There’s a reason our man is dressed like Lord Byron on the cover of a record where he almost exclusively plays electric guitar While his outsider’s approach has largely been embraced by the experimental music world Ghedi says it can still rankle the trad folk purists I haven’t really felt welcomed,” he says “I try not to think about it too much but I definitely feel like the way that I do this or the fact that I haven’t come into it from a traditional point of view can kind of ruffle some feathers ‘You haven’t been sat in the sessions for 15 years You weren’t there when you were 10 years old!'” and there he fell into a folk scene that he found more hospitable than the one back home He sat in at sessions and played a lot of music but he found that he wasn’t writing much where the political and social climate shook him out of his Irish reverie It’s an album marked by apocalyptic imagery and omens of death with deeply personal original compositions and traditional songs plucked from Northern English working-class traditions Since 2015’s Home Is Where I Exist Now To Live And Die a fairly traditional fingerstyle guitar album he’s worked to expand his sound with each release “That album was very much just trying to figure out a way of playing a guitar that I really wanted I started incorporating voice,” he says “I can see a progression from how I started to incorporate my voice on A Hymn For Ancient Land I’m getting more into what I want to say as a sound where I’m not focusing on just one aspect.” stream Wasteland and read our track-by-track interview Wasteland by Jim Ghedi You mentioned voice and getting more confident using it Why was it important for you to introduce the record that way I think the falsetto was really interesting on this album I started playing around with drop tunings on the electric “Old Stones” was written about a friend who passed away There was a stone circle that he loved out in the Peak District in Derbyshire I went out to that stone circle and just kind of sat there with him One of the lines was specifically about him and I noticed my voice went real high to try to express that emotion the low tuning pushed my voice into a higher register when I wanted to kind of get up there in that emotive way “Old Stones” was written in one sitting after I went out to the stone circle My voice sounds like it’s in a different place.” I thought that could be a nice way to have something new to try to work more on a wider range for my voice “Old Stones” was the first track on there that I was like and you wrote very pointedly in that tuning Because that’s obviously a bit of a departure But it fundamentally is going to sound like an acoustic guitar I really wanted to try to convey some of my wider influences and a kind of mood that hasn’t been necessarily achieved on the others And soon as I got that electric and I downtuned it I was really into stoner doom shit when I was late teenage with something that was really dark and fucking doomy and gnarly It opened up a lot of wider sonic influences that the acoustic guitar just couldn’t do Were you thinking about drums at the same time That’s the other big thing on this record: The loud which is pretty unusual for stuff in this world as soon as I started writing in that guitar tuning on the electric pushing that boundary just like the electric opened that world up the drums there could be fucking really big.” They kind of came hand-in-hand with that on some of the songs that I wrote myself I started thinking about big-sounding drums in certain bits This is the same recording that you put out in 2022 you talked about hearing Harry Cox’s version that Alan Lomax recorded What struck you about that version the first time you heard it I think it was a friend of mine who’d mentioned the archive There’s so many interesting archival recordings of random singers and I really was trying to find what was going on in England at that time with Alan Lomax I found some really interesting stuff in the Midlands very familiar with Harry Cox’s singing and I found this recording of him in the pub He did a bit of an interview after with Alan and he was chatting about how he couldn’t remember the rest of the song because some guy was playing a tin whistle while singing it in a pub and he could only remember those two verses because then it’s open to interpretation with what was going on politically in the UK hearing those two verses of just this old guy in a pub complaining about how shit England is this is classic.” And this still is happening now and you could hear that conversation tonight fucking cry of anguish about how shit this country is?” So yeah There’s a film in Sheffield called Threads that was done in the ’80s GHEDI: I don’t know if you’re familiar so I remember my mom saying how terrified everyone was when that came out or that was the imagery that I wanted that recording to channel I’m curious about your selection process in general is there something that they have in common that you hear that tells you this might be interesting in my style.” you’re inspired by the beauty of the melody and all the rest of it you kind of have to stand up with it and be like “That was connected to this on a personal level for me.” I can have ideas of my own that might be different I can bring something to this in a way that’s me which feels like on that one was definitely there Sometimes it’s saying something that’s already kind of what I’ve been thinking “What the fuck is going on here?” And everyone was “What the fuck is going on?” And then hearing that connected to that feeling and those conversations that were going on There’s a repertoire of working-class narratives There’s something that being from quite a working-class background myself in folk,that it’s kind of nice where I come across a traditional song that’s through a narrative of working people It’s nice when I hear a thing like the “Trafford Road Ballad” at the end of the album It’s from a narrative that feels important to put into folk music and have it there with everything else It’s not just prancing around in the fucking meadows There’s real people who have real lives The hornpipe is not really a big part of the American folk music tradition but they’re played in a way that doesn’t necessarily sound like hornpipes We kind of messed it around and made it a little bit old-timey But I picked that tune because I was in Dublin There was this record that was called English Fiddle Players “Who the fuck is that?” I looked on the liner notes it was quite important for me to try to find traditional stuff that was from my neck of the woods and they’re so kind of dirge-y and minor-y It also felt a bit weird that I just pulled that album out and there’s this fiddle player from Sheffield I was spending months and months trying to find a decent English fiddle tune And I was trying to find something minor-y and something that had real edge and floor to it There’s a lot of hornpipe material in English fiddle music a lot more than Ireland and Scotland and America I guess it does go with the English fiddle lilt a bit more and there was definitely a period of time where there was just shit-tons of hornpipes When I was looking into English fiddle tunes When we were talking about moving home to Sheffield and trying to transcribe that into music There was a journey to the airport from County Clare I was actually playing that melody in in the house quite a bit in Clare that melody is so nice.” And it kind of forced me to not disregard it just because it’s not in a minor key and write about that connection between coming home and one experience to the other.” That was very much in that track There was a collection of poetry I wrote over the pandemic and there were certain lines that kept sticking out that I wanted to put into a song With the chorus of “cruel is the way,” and the first line of The Waste Land being “April is the cruellest month,” I thought maybe you were doing that “Wasteland” was just constantly in my head about the themes of what I was trying to get at and of having this strange kind of familiarity but unfamiliarity And “Wasteland” just summed that up GHEDI: I got this version from a recording by Lal and Norma Waterson from the Watersons It was on a compilation called The Mighty River It’s basically a discography of all the Watersons’ work And there were these live recordings on some of the CDs and one of them was them two singing this song in an upstairs room in a pub in Hull which is a road that runs straight through Sheffield And it’s a worker who’s away from home who’s writing this song because he’s missing his family What did you like about doing a stripped-down arrangement for this GHEDI: I wanted it to be really basic and live I guess in the same way as the reference point of that version from Lal and Norma just really liked the idea of having these sparse strings that are slightly off and almost acting as a bed to push up the emotion of what I was singing Let’s just be in a room and accept what happens there.” It’s a weird mix You wouldn’t put a fiddle with a bass and then be like “That’s it,” because it’s just a massive leap because of the wonkiness that I was trying to do We rely on reader subscriptions to deliver articles like the one you’re reading Become a member and help support independent media The next sound after that song ends is probably the heaviest part of the record: the intro of “Sheaf & Feld.” It’s so heavy and dissonant There were conversations at the time where like people were like It’s gonna be too much.” But in my head I was like that’s exactly what I want there.” For the second side to just hit it I stuck with my guns when there was a bit of pushback with that The apocalyptic atmosphere that I think some of this record has comes through the most for me on that song Could you feel that happening in the writing or was that something that came through arrangement and performance I knew that that this was going to be really fucking gnarly Because I was just really fucking hitting that chord I knew that once the drums were going to be on it I wanted these strings to be gut-wrenching where these things are just happening around you I didn’t really know how that one was going to go in the studio That was a completely creative-driven idea Let’s go hard into where we’re laughing at it.” It must have felt good to realize you had the confidence to pull off something so out-there Do you feel like you could have done a song like this on a past record GHEDI: I don’t think it would have worked on the others I wasn’t pulling from the same place I think it could only really exist on this album “Sheaf” is really important to me because it’s an exercise in where things can go I’m constantly driven by a new creative decision And “Sheaf” is something that made me go like where the fuck is it going on the next one?” That’s just opened a load of fucking sonic choices and maybe this goes deeper into something else on the next album so there was a dog that was missing in the area around where I grew up And I was doing a lot of walking around there at the time And then there was this sign that kept coming up everywhere: “Missing dog please help find.” And I kind of vaguely knew the guy who’d lost the dog And everyone was looking around for weeks and weeks Everyone was just trying to find this dog that was missing I kind of went to town with what that could symbolize I just kind of leant into this thing being a metaphor Does spending time in nature play a role in your process I think on the last two [albums] more than this one But I find walking and being in nature massively helpful You’ve got time to take in things that surround you There’s a massive concept of death in this one was a huge thing that was constant throughout the album was also a reference for me that symbolized death and to work through and process stuff that people go through Nature can be a real big tool to kind of help yourself through really shit times Did you feel like you were assembling your Dream Team I was very lucky to be around a lot of talented musicians and Ruth and Cossie are really good friends I was again trying to find English ballads and I found that song from Ken Hall and Peta Webb I found them singing “The Seasons” on ITMA which is the Irish [Traditional Music] Archives And I found them singing this song in a pub in Dublin “I’ve been trying to find an English ballad that has the same weight as Irish ballads and this Irish lad came up to me and was like it’s great that you’ve been singing this song from my great-great-granddad.'” He was like Just when I thought I had something good!” [laughs] I was like Her voice and my voice together is definitely quite unique and I was sitting with just them two voices But then I just couldn’t stop hearing Cossie’s and Ruth’s voices in the last bit of the song So I just asked them guys if they were up for doing something and they recorded it remote and just nailed it and you’ve worked with her in the past as well What do you like about working with Amelia GHEDI: I think we come from quite a similar place in terms of where we’re reaching from in terms of our influences and our backgrounds She hears an arrangement really quick in her mind where she’s not coming into it as a trad folk musician where she’s been playing in punk folk bands and found herself really leaning hard into traditional music so our choices and our tastes of where we pull from are very similar Cossie is from a bit more of a traditional background I would have never fucking come up with that.” It’s good to have those kinds of people on your music There’s a line that jumped out at me immediately when I first heard this: “We’ve been struggling to cope with our mental health.” To me but you’ve set it against this more timeless world that you’re creating there was someone who wasn’t a fan of that line for that reason I wanted to get a bit of that in that song “We are struggling with our mental health.” People were like You wouldn’t say that.” But I was like So it was definitely intentional to have that song a bit more personal There are certain lines that are a bit more jarring There’s another moment I want to ask about where everything drops out and goes to silence I had an idea to snap in on the third there and it comes in with that high fucking screeching I wanted it to sound like this wailing fucking thing and just really go for the big crescendo finish on it “Trafford Road Ballad,” feel like a coda There’s a line in “Wishing Tree” where it’s a storm and these two characters are breaking down That’s kind of what “Wishing Tree” is about Everything’s a bit fucking mad and chaotic dipping down out of “Wishing Tree” was very much like you are coming out of a storm It took quite a bit of time to get that right to make the weird sounds that we were doing get into an interval you were talking about specifically drawing on English folk songs that come from a working-class tradition With “Trafford Road Ballad,” obviously How does that resonate with you in the context of what you see in England today the song was so cool because it’s this working-class guy where the only chance he’s got to travel with his loved one and see the world is to go back into the Army I’d rather stay in this working-class community with my fucking Monday to Friday if that means me having to fucking go and shoot some innocent people.” That song was wider than the singular character in that singular time That’s a message that’s so important now That’s another narrative that shows how you can make the choices with what you’ve got That is the thought that people are leaving the album with here’s some fiddle tunes from Yorkshire The most important stories and least important memes The stunning video for “Wasteland” by Jim Ghedi is beautifully bleak editor and cinematographer Jordan Carroll has infused the visual with so much drama and atmosphere perfectly fitting for a timeless song like this Carroll says: “The idea was initially inspired by the album artwork featuring Jim sitting in a quarry We asked ourselves: why is this character there so we filled in the blanks and built a story around it.” It’s an inventive piece of art in its own right an original composition from the Sheffield folk singer Ghedi has created an intense and brooding song that swells as the instrumental layers entwine Neal Heppleston’s bass and Joe Danks’ percussion provide the foundation for Ghedi’s ethereal voice rising up and soaring while Ghedi’s guitar and strings from David Grubb and Daniel Bridgwood-Hill swirl around Dean Honer’s synths The sound is ambitious and the impact is rich and full Ghedi says of the approach: “The lyrical content needed something more band-driven and loud to deliver them Incorporating the electric guitar in my songwriting was also a big part of opening the sound up using drop tunings pushed me to use my voice in a wider range which forced me to use falsetto a lot which I haven’t previously done before That then opened the sound up and gave me creative ideas for bigger arrangements and to sonically really push things.” There’s real poetry to the lyrics and Ghedi’s images Interview: Danny George Wilson on “You Are Not A Stranger Here” Bandits On The Run “Back Home” – welcome back Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value" This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Excellent – he’s on tour next March:https://www.jimghedi.com/tour If you enjoy what you're reading and don't want to support us on a monthly basis you can help us keep this site free from looking like one of those awful REACH sites by making a one off donation towards our running costs Be daring, be yourself, be willing to take risks and stand alone. Vanessa Collier’s music is gritty, raw, and at times, either downright sad or bubbling happy. As with most songwriters worth their salt, her songs […] “All of a sudden, time stood still, and we watched our plans and expectations float away like lost balloons.” For Angela Easterling, life began in South Carolina and, except for college years in Boston, has been […] Past, present and future are inseparable in her songs. There is an openness to Maya de Vitry that is refreshing to come by. Formerly in the Stray Birds, a bluegrass band, the Lancaster, Pennsylvania-born musician is […] As always in these prescriptive articles there must be a drawing of boundaries and Clint’s first article in the series seemed to have dealt with the idea that you should define americana in a narrow sense […] Steve Earle announced his arrival in our lives with his debut album in 1986. Since then, he has racked up almost thirty studio and live albums under his own name or in collaboration with others. I […] I heard from a colleague, who has contact with associates of Eric Taylor, that he had died on March 9th 2020 following a period of illness. I immediately checked the web for confirmation but there was […] On the cover of Wasteland, Jim Ghedi sits at what looks like a quarry in a tattered outfit of a battered and bruised but not quite totally beaten dandy from a few centuries ago the red glow of the background suggesting we may well be in hell’s waiting room The starkly brutal surroundings and apocalyptic undertow proves a perfect match to the Sheffield-based folk guitarist’s fourth solo album (sixth if you count two excellent sets of guitar instrumentals as a duo with Toby Hay whose 2018 solo album The Longest Day is an unsung gem) There’s often solid reasons to be skeptical when an artist embarks on a bold departure from their usual musical habitat Widescreen and epic in intent yet deeply personal and intimate in execution brutal and bleak in its themes but ultimately full of stark and brutal beauty Wasteland – which finds Ghedi plugging in and amplifying the volume and intensity to unleash a very literally huge new sound - proves a startlingly assured exception to the rule As well as being compulsory listening for anyone impressed by the simultaneously respectful and iconoclastic rebooting of folk traditions exemplified by Lankum unflinchingly assertive results should prove equally compelling for fans of vintage British folk-rock ala Fairport Convention aficionados of grittier and doomier ends of post-rock and drone fiends who have blown out their eardrums at Sunn 0))) shows Wasteland deserves to be counted amongst the genuine masterpieces to have emerged from the ongoing folk renaissance Get the Best Fit take on the week in music direct to your inbox every Friday The classic line-up reconvene 50 years since they splintered Peter Gabriel AND Phil Collins interviewed Also in the issue: Marianne Faithfull – MOJO bows in tribute; Television – the long shadow of Marquee Moon; Graham Nash – on Crosby Stills and Young; Bob Marley – behind the icon Plus: Kim Deal; David Bowie; Salif Keïta; Steven Wilson; Pentangle; Hawkwind; Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy; Boz Scaggs; farewell Garth Hudson; and… Todd Rundgren sings Bacharach THIS MONTH’S COVERMOUNT CD is Curiouser And Curiouser: Prog Rock Nuggets COVER STORY: GENESIS Fifty years since their watershed split mad costumes and tricky time signatures of a rock one-off “We were resilient,” they remind Mark Blake TELEVISION In the mid-’70s four New Yorkers ripped up the guitar group rule book Fifty years on they’re still making sense of the fallout BOB MARLEY The stories behind intimate shots of the reggae superstar Chrissie Hynde and more from Dennis Morris’s new book but at 83 the cutting voice and canny diplomat of CSNY has songs to sing and things to achieve: “I want to touch the flame.” KIM DEAL Why has it taken the Pixies and Breeders legend a lifetime to release her first solo album “I’ve been busy,” she assures Grayson Haver Currin SALIF KEÏTA Battling prejudice at home while achieving eminence abroad Mali’s “Golden Voice” is not done fighting thanks to some enduring advice from Fela Kuti WILL OLDHAM How the artist generally known as Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy swopped acting for singing and found fresh inspiration among Nashville’s master craftsmen Herman’s Hermits and more remember America’s Brit Beat madness of 1964-65: “Our guitarist had the shirt ripped off his back.” REVIEWED Steven Wilson / Pentangle / Elton John / Fugazi / Sex Pistols / Bryan Ferry / Bob Mould / Candi Staton / The Murder Capital / Neil Young / Sam Fender / My Morning Jacket / Jason Isbell / The Loft / Steely Dan / The Tubs / Edwyn Collins / House Of All / Cindy Lee / Brian D’Addario / The Chills / Patterson Hood / Jeffrey Lewis / The Limiñanas / Mdou Moctar / Alabaster DePlume / Panda Bear / Andy Bell / Kathy McCord / P.P Arnold / The Creation / The Lijadu Sisters / Guy Clark Marianne Faithfull / David Bowie – life in the Spiders’ web / Hawkwind amp up / 50 Years Of Ace… compiled / Jim Ghedi and Annie & The Caldwells rise up / The Scientists’ primitive cool / How To Buy… Boz Scaggs / The Bangles’ annus principus / Garth Hudson – exit to organ / Todd Rundgren sings Bacharach Company number 01176085; Bauer Radio Limited Company number: 1394141; Registered office: Media House Peterborough PE2 6EA and H Bauer Publishing Company number: LP003328; Registered office: The Lantern H Bauer Publishing are authorised and regulated for credit broking by the FCA (Ref No: 845898) Alt-folk aficionado Jim Ghedi is now firmly anchored back on Steel City shores bringing with him a fresh outlook and an energised sound to boot The Sheffield-based musician left South Yorkshire for the west coast of Ireland just before the 2020 lockdown where the relative isolation allowed him to take a deep breath Wasteland – arguably his most ambitious and emotionally charged work to date It sees the artist exploring the modern world’s bleakness while embracing moments of beauty when life throws them your way brooding and unafraid to ask vulnerable questions A sense of disenchantment and detachment run through its ten songs counteracted by shoots of hope and passion but now is unfamiliar,” he says of the album’s title track “And your relationship with the sense of maybe losing a place or losing your sense of a place and tussling with that.” Listeners familiar with Ghedi’s shtick will recognise a striking sonic evolution moving away from his folk roots into a more expansive “The lyrical content needed something more band-driven and loud to deliver it,” he explains “Incorporating the electric guitar in my songwriting was also a big part of opening the sound up which forced me to use falsetto a lot – something I haven’t previously done before That then opened the sound up and gave me creative ideas for bigger arrangements to sonically really push things.” with graceful vocals and deft instrumentation before erupting into an explosion of noise Subsequent tracks like ‘Wasteland’ and the stomping ‘Sheaf & Feld’ showcase this shift further – sweeping strings and crashing percussion brilliantly capturing both despair and resilience “I’m definitely taking a new direction on this album,” he reflects “But ‘Wasteland’ in particular kind of covers this middle ground where it is electric and it is big As with previous albums – such as A Hymn for Ancient Land (2018) and In the Furrows of Common Place (2021) – he continues to use folk traditions as a lens to examine contemporary life His working-class roots and relationship with Sheffield have always been central to his identity as an artist and living in Ireland only made him feel closer to that “Being out there made me want to own our own stuff more,” he says “They’ve got all of their culture and music they like play it to death… it’s inspiring Sheffield’s got an incredibly creative DIY scene and music scene and history – let’s be more proud and loud about it “The lyrical content needed something more band-driven and loud to deliver it.” Delving deeper into the record’s key messages he adds: “There is a strong working-class narrative and representation both within the traditional and original songwriting on the album It was important to voice and choose material that represented or expressed issues that correlated with things going on around me.” Among these is ‘What Will Become of England’ based on a recording by English folk singer Harry Cox taken from the Alan Lomax Archive tells the story of a northern dock worker who refuses to go to war “It’s about a lad who works on the docks in Salford and the only chance for him to go and see the world is to go back in the army,” says Ghedi ‘Fuck that.’ I’m not going to go and kill innocent people just for the sake of trying to travel.” he insists Wasteland is not just about destruction but also optimism mental health and how the natural world provides solace and meaning for that loss and how these worlds blur into one another.” Recorded over two years at Tesla Studios in Sheffield with engineer and producer David Glover the album features a wide cast of musicians Ruth Clinton from Landless (vocals) and Amelia Baker from Cinder Well (vocals) Ghedi is preparing for a special homecoming show at Sidney & Matilda on 6 March where he’ll showcase the album with a full-band performance Those attending the gig can expect something different from past performances: his shift to a fuller heavier sound means a new kind of energy on stage and half the audience were people who knew me for the folky stuff ‘What’s this?’ and the other half absolutely loving it.” he’s confident there’s something in the show for everyone “There’s still stuff for people to grab onto… but there’s also something new in the mix There’s so much going on in this city – just fucking go down Wasteland represents both a culmination of his past work and the beginning of something new “It feels like a completely open door now… anything’s possible I think this album is the closest I’ve got to the sound I’ve been working towards over the years It feels like it’s at a place which most represents me.” Jim Ghedi plays Sidney & Matilda on 6 March. Tickets (£15) available here @jimghedimusic Copyright © 2025 Blind Mice Media Limited We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience and analyse our traffic We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below The cookies that are categorised as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site We also use third-party cookies that help us analyse how you use this website and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data This cookie is necessary within your session Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors Google Analytics sets this cookie to store and count page views session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns A new placard at Ghedi Air Base implies that U.S nuclear weapons stored at the base have protected “the free nations of the world” after the end of the Cold War nuclear bombs arrived at Ghedi Torre Air Base in northern Italy Air Force still deploys nuclear bombs at the base The U.S.-Italian nuclear collaboration was celebrated at the base in January A placard credited the nuclear “NATO mission” at Ghedi with having “protected the free nations of the world….” That might have been the case during the Cold War when NATO was faced with an imminent threat from the Soviet Union But half of the nuclear tenure at Ghedi has been after the end of the Cold War with no imminent threat that requires forward deployment of nuclear weapons in Europe the nuclear NATO mission now appears to be a financial and political burden to NATO that robs its armed forces of money and time better spent on non-nuclear missions muddles NATO’s nuclear arms control message and provides fake reassurance to eastern NATO allies nor Italian government will confirm that there are nuclear weapons at Ghedi Torre Air Base The anniversary placard doesn’t even include the word “nuclear” but instead vaguely refers to the “NATO mission.” One of the biggest is the presence of the 704th Munitions Support Squadron (MUNSS) Air Force unit of approximately 134 personnel that is tasked with protecting and maintaining the 20 U.S The MUNSS would not be at the base unless there were nuclear weapons present There are only four MUNSS units in the U.S Air Force and they’re all deployed at the four European bases where U.S nuclear weapons are earmarked for delivery by aircraft of the host nation A satellite photo from March this year shows part of the nuclear infrastructure at Ghedi Torre Air Base Another tell sign is the presence of NATO Weapons Maintenance Trucks (WMT) at Ghedi NATO has 12 of these trucks that are specially designed to enable field service of nuclear bombs at the storage bases in Europe A satellite image provided by Digital Globe via Google Earth shows a WMT parked near the 704th MUNSS quarters at Ghedi on March 12 shows two WMTs at the same location (see image above) These trucks will drive out to the 11 individual Protective Aircraft Shelters (PAS) that are equipped with underground Weapons Storage and Security System (WS3) vaults to service the B61 bombs The WS3 vaults at Ghedi were completed in 1997; before that the weapons were stored in bunkers outside the main base disassembled into its main sections as needed It is during this process of weapon disassembly when the electrical exclusion regions of the nuclear bomb are breached that a U.S. Air Force safety review in 1997 warned that “nuclear detonation may occur” if lightning strikes the shelter NATO is in the process of replacing the WMTs with a fleet of new nuclear weapons maintenance trucks known as the Secure Transportable Maintenance System (STMS) The trailers will have improved lightning protection NATO provided $14.7 million for the program in 2011 Air Force awarded a $12 million contract to five companies in the United States to build 10 new STMS trailers for delivery by June 2014 NATO’s new mobile nuclear weapons maintenance system is scheduled for delivery to European nuclear bases in 2014 The new trailers will be able to handle the new B61-12 guided standoff nuclear bomb that is planned for deployment in Europe from 2020 The B61-12 apparently will be approximately 100 lbs pounds (~45 kilograms) heavier than the existing B61s in Europe (see slide below) – even without the internal parachute This suggests that a fair amount of new or modified components will be added each trailer will be equipped with hoist rails The new B61-12 bomb will be heavier than the B61s currently deployed in Europe. For pictures of actual B61-12 features, click here The deployment to Ghedi 50 years ago was not the earliest or only deployment of U.S nuclear weapon systems were deployed to Italy The first weapons to arrive were Corporal and Honest John short-range ballistic missiles in August 1956 They were followed by nuclear bombs in April 1957 and nuclear land mines in 1959 All but one – nuclear bombs – of these nuclear weapon systems have since been withdrawn and scrapped most B61s in Europe were stored in Germany and the United Kingdom Italy has the honor of being the NATO country with the most U.S nuclear weapons deployed on its territory; a total of 70 of all the 180 B61 bombs remaining in Europe (39 percent) Italy is also the only country with two nuclear bases: the Italian base at Ghedi and the American base at Aviano 31st Fighter Wing with two squadrons of nuclear-capable F-16 fighter-bombers was temporarily forward deployed to Lask Air Base in Poland in March 2014 The United States, also a signatory to the NPT, has committed “not to transfer to any recipient whatsoever nuclear weapons…or control over such weapons…directly or indirectly; and not in any way to assist or induce any non-nuclear-weapon State to…acquire nuclear weapons… the B61 nuclear bombs at Ghedi are under the custody of the 704th MUNSS but the whole purpose of the NATO mission is to equip train and prepare in peacetime for “transfer” and “control” of the U.S nuclear bombs to the Italian air force in case of war Maintaining the NATO nuclear strike mission in Europe does not come cheap or easy but “steals” scarce resources from non-nuclear military capabilities and operations that – unlike tactical nuclear bombs – are important for NATO security standards for storage of nuclear weapons But these costs are getting harder to justify given the serious financial challenges facing Italy The air force’s annual flying hours dropped form 150,000 in 1990 to 90,000 in 2010 training reportedly declined by 80 percent from 2005 to 2011 and training for air operations other than Afghanistan apparently has been “pared to the bone.” In addition the Italian defense posture is in the middle of a 30-percent contraction of the overall operational logistical and headquarters network spending part of which is scheduled to replace the current fleet of Tornados in the nuclear strike mission has already been cut by a third and the new government has signaled its intension to cut the program further maintaining a nuclear mission for the Italian air force better be really important This adds up to roughly $12.5 billion for sustaining nuclear bombs in Europe over the next decade Whether the price tag is worth it obviously must to be weighed against the security benefits it provides to NATO and whether there are more important defense needs that could benefit from that level of funding The anniversary placard displayed at Ghedi Air Base claims that the U.S. non-strategic nuclear bombs have “protected the free nations of the world” even after the end of the Cold War. And during the nuclear safety exercise at Ghedi in January, the commander of the U.S. Air Force 52nd Fighter Wing told the U.S and Italian security forces that “your mission today is still as relevant as when together our country stared down the Soviet Union alongside a valued member of our enduring alliance.” (Emphasis added) it is hard to find any evidence that the deployment of non-strategic nuclear weapons in Europe after the end of the Cold War has protected anything or that the mission is even remotely as relevant today The biggest challenge today seems to be to protect the weapons and to find the money to pay for it NATO’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine strongly suggests that NATO itself does not attribute any real role to the non-strategic nuclear weapons in reassuring eastern NATO allies of a U.S Yet this reassurance role is the main justification used by proponents of the deployment the reassurance effect appears to be largely doctrine talk while NATO’s actual response has focused on non-nuclear forces and exercises To the extent that a potential nuclear card has been played such as when three B-52 and two B-2 nuclear-capable bombers were temporarily deployed to England earlier this month it was done with long-range strategic bombers The fact that nuclear fighter-bombers were already in Europe seemed irrelevant when the United States deployed long-range bombers over Korea to reassure South Korea and Japan against North Korean threats No eastern European ally has said: “Hold the bombers the Netherlands and Turkey are here to reassure us against Russia.” the non-strategic nuclear weapons in Europe are fake reassurance because they are useless and meaningless for the kind of crises that face NATO allies today or in the foreseeable future NATO pays a king’s ransom for the deployment with very little to show for it President Obama has asked for $1 billion to reassure Europe against Russia But he could get a dozen non-nuclear European Reassurance Initiatives for the price of sustaining and deploying the non-strategic nuclear bombs in Europe Doing so would help “put an end to Cold War thinking” as he promised in Prague five years ago This publication was made possible by a grant from the Ploughshares Fund and New Land Foundation The statements made and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the author Nuclear weapons budgeting is like agreeing to buying a house without knowing the sales price The United States Air Force has forward deployed about one-third of its B-2 stealth bombers to Diego Garcia or about half the B-2s considered fully operational at any given time the campaign to abolish nuclear weapons has experienced numerous wins that were celebrated at the Meeting of State Parties USAF personnel loading a B61 nuclear bomb trainer on an F-16 fighter-bomber at Aviano Air Base NATO announced Monday that it had started its annual nuclear exercise code-named Steadfast Noon The week-long exercise is taking place over Southern Europe and involves aircraft and personnel from 14 NATO countries “Steadfast Noon involves training flights with dual-capable fighter jets backed by surveillance and refuelling aircraft This exercise helps to ensure that NATO’s nuclear deterrent remains safe The nuclear bases in southern Europe have received several upgrades during the past few years This includes adding additional security perimeters to strengthen protection of the nuclear weapons stored at the bases Two of these bases – Aviano in northeast Italy and Incirlik in southern Turkey The second nuclear base in Italy – Ghedi near Brescia – that might be part of Italy’s hosting of this year’s Steadfast Noon exercise is currently undergoing several important nuclear weapons related modernizations that are intended to serve the NATO nuclear strike mission for years Dutch F-16s and German Tornadoes are operating out of Ghedi AB alongside Italian Tornados and Belgian F-16s and possibly Czech Gripen are operating out of Aviano AB The Steadfast Noon exercise appears to involve operations out of both Ghedi AB and Aviano AB The USAF currently stores an estimated 100 nuclear bombs in Europe restructuring and uncertainty about Turkey have reduced the inventory NATO announced the Steadfast Noon is taking place over southern Europe but did not identify the main operating base Steadfast Noon exercises are hosted by a different country each year Last year it was hosted by the Netherlands and centered at Volkel AB The reference to southern Europe implies this year’s Steadfast Noon is hosted by Italy and probably centered at Ghedi AB and Aviano AB is northern Italy (Aviano hosted in 2010 and 2013) Ghedi AB is home to the Italian Air Force’s 6th Stormo wing B61 bombs with PA-200 Tornado of the 102nd and 154th fighter-bomber squadrons There are an estimated 15 B61 bombs stored in underground vaults at the base The bombs are in the custody of the USAF’s 704th Munition Support Squadron (MUNSS) a 130-personnel strong security and maintenance unit embedded at the base Ghedi AB is currently undergoing significant upgrades to receive the new F-35A fighter-bomber next year, installing double-fence security perimeters, and having recently completed modernizing the Weapon Storage and Security System (WS3) and Alarm Communication and Display (AC&D) system. The contract for the WS3/AC&D work, which was awarded in September 2016 provided for sustainment upgrades to the WS3 cryptographic system used to encrypt WS3 alarm data and will perform an AC&D system upgrade by replacing obsolete components and the buried cable These upgrades are clearly visible on satellite images as are a new “bunker building” under construction in the 704th MUNSS area along with the new Secure Transportation and Maintenance System (STMS) trucks (see images below) Several nuclear weapons related upgrades are underway at Ghedi Air Base The new double-fence security perimeters around eight protective aircraft shelters (left side of image) as well as the former nuclear alert area (lower right side) are similar to the security upgrades previously completed at two other bases in southern Europe: Aviano and Incirlik air bases The area inside the perimeters is commonly referred to as the NATO area a reference to the NATO nuclear strike mission they support NATO installed a total of 11 underground vaults inside 11 protective aircraft shelters at Ghedi AB Each vault can store up to four B61 bombs (normally only one or two bombs are present) But there’s a mystery: The new security perimeters only surround 10 of the 11 shelters One possibility is that the remaining vault in the 11th shelter is a training vault or that the number of active vaults has been reduced But a satellite image from April 2018 might provide a hint The image appears to show the markings from the burying of the new AC&D cables that connect the vaults in the shelters with the monitoring and communications facilities at the base a pattern emerges: the cables appear to connect exactly 11 shelters including seven inside the new security perimeter possibly so that damage to a cable in one spot won’t cut off communication with the vaults on the other side (see image below) A satellite image appears to show which shelters are connected to the nuclear command and control system at Ghedi Air Base There is another mystery: Several shelters connected to the apparent AC&D cable grid are located outside the new security perimeters (right side of image) and several shelter that do not appear to be connect to the grid are inside the perimeter (left side of image) Since survivability was one of the justifications for building vaults instead of a central weapons storage area it would make sense that vaults would be scattered across the base But the 11 vaults were completed at a time when there were many more nuclear bombs stored at Ghedi AB than today: over 40 bombs in 2000 compared with about 15 bombs today Perhaps the four vaults outside the perimeters are backup vaults that do not contain bombs under normal circumstances All remaining weapons would be stored in the seven vaults inside the perimeters under normal circumstances With a capability to store up to four B61 bombs each even the five vaults inside the main security perimeter have more than enough capacity to store the 15 bombs currently estimated to be located at Ghedi AB These upgrades at Ghedi AB are intended to support the NATO nuclear strike mission at the base for decades into the future which will begin arriving at the base probably as early as in 2022 is significantly more capable than the Tornado aircraft it replaces Moreover, the B61-12 gravity bomb is about three times as accurate as the B61-3/-4 bombs current stored at the base The increased accuracy is achieved with a new guided tail kit that will enable strike planners to hold at risk targets more effectively with the B61-12 than with the current B61 versions the B61-12 is thought to have four selectable yield settings ranging from less than 1 kilotons to about 50 kilotons a strike planner would be able to select a lower yield option for the attack and therefore create less radioactive fallout or attack targets that currently require a higher-yield strategic bomb from a B-2 bomber The F-35A with the B61-12 “brings an entirely new strategic-level capability.” but “Adding ‘nuclear capable’ to a 5th-Gen fighter that already brings several conventional-level capabilities to the table adds strategic-level implication to this jet.” This publication was made possible by generous support from the John D Jun 21, 2022U.S. Air Force and Royal Netherlands Air Force F-35A Lightning II aircraft conduct a bilateral air-to-air training exercise over the Netherlands, Feb. 22, 2022. (Tech. Sgt. Rachel Maxwell/Air Force)ROME — The Italian Air Force is to get a second air base ready to host the F-35A by the end of this year as deliveries of the aircraft ramp up, according to officials. Work is now underway at Ghedi air base in northern Italy to allow the basing of F-35As there and their inclusion in Ghedi’s 6th Air Force Wing, which currently flies Tornados. Last week, the first F-35A to join the wing touched down at Ghedi for a ceremony involving Air Force top brass. Italy has so far taken delivery of 16 of the 60 F-35s it plans to acquire, with two currently involved in pilot training in the U.S. and the remaining 14 based with the Air Force’s 32nd Wing at Amendola. The aircraft, which flew to Ghedi, returned to Amendola after the ceremony and will remain there while work continues at the 6th Wing. A second aircraft due to join the 6th Wing will be delivered in July, the Air Force has said. ”There is a large scale renewal underway at Ghedi to allow it to host the F-35,” an Air Force spokesman said. “According to plans, the base will be ready by year end — with an initial set-up — to host the new aircraft,” he added. As newly delivered F-35As arrive at the 6th Wing, the Tornados at Ghedi will be gradually phased out by 2027. The Air Force has not yet revealed how its F-35A fleet will be divided between Amendola and Ghedi. Final assembly of Italy’s F-35s is being undertaken at the country’s own final assembly line at Cameri air base in northern Italy. Italy is also planning to buy 30 F-35Bs, equally divided between the Air Force and Navy, with three delivered so far to the Navy and one to the Air Force. Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News. Facebook pageTwitter feed RSS feedDefense News © 2025 Historic Magnolia Hotel features encounters with the supernatural Chet visits the haunted Magnolia Hotel in Seguin—but he’s not alone when he does I’d heard that Seguin’s Magnolia Hotel is one ghostly getaway where eerie encounters are a nightly occurrence A block east of the Guadalupe County Courthouse two-story frame building and learned that its history dates to the mid-1800s Texas Ranger James Campbell built a log cabin on the site in 1840 and Ranger Jack Coffee Hays married the owner’s daughter there in 1847 and current owners Erin and Jim Ghedi saved it from abandonment after it was named to advocacy group Preservation Texas’ 2012 Most Endangered Places list Erin Ghedi had taken my tour reservation and met me at the door Knowing she voluntarily lives in a haunted hotel I was surprised when she greeted me with a calming smile My first brush with the unexpected occurred on the first floor which felt anything but haunted: I encountered a warm and welcoming home with bright lighting and antiques in every corner which was decorated with frontier memorabilia and a large portrait of Campbell Ghedi described how guests catch the scent of Campbell’s burning cigars or hear his boots walking across the wooden floor the rocking chair in the corner moved back and forth and he likes to do that too,” Ghedi said Ghedi told stories of the 13 ghosts that inhabit the building guests encounter the 1850s owner and her children a person who had been enslaved blows out candles Ghedi supports each story with photographs from guests and a binder full of historical research the Ghedis have transformed a portion of the second floor into an Airbnb rental while the rest remains the same as when they bought it While you may feel them touch you and you may feel scared they cannot hurt you.” I had never been touched by a ghost and was not sure I wanted to start now Ghedi handed me a flashlight and a device with blinking lights to signify when spirits were present My flashlight beam illuminated walls with crumbling wallboard and bathrooms full of broken tiles and fixtures the overwhelming scent of rose perfume filled the air Rosebud is excited that a gentleman is visiting She was a madam here for many years.” I didn’t believe my nose and even accused Ghedi of spraying the room with rose scent Ghedi believes all the ghosts are voluntarily present and can leave at any time—all except one I walked into the room and experienced an overwhelmingly heavy feeling I decided to walk out before I learned more about this spirit I’m certainly a skeptic when it comes to haunted places but I’ve got no explanation for the things that happened on my tour I do know that if you’re looking for a rendezvous with the strange you need to check into this historic hotel that’s so fascinating some guests never check out Chet Garner shares his Texplorations as the host of The Daytripper on PBS. See where else Chet has gone Texploring This article appeared in the May 2020 issue Texas Co-op Power Magazine and TexasCoopPower.com are produced by Texas Electric Cooperatives Terms of Use. © 2020, Texas Electric Cooperatives. All rights reserved. Site by White Lion The best of Texas delivered to your inbox every month This website uses cookies to enhance your experience. Read our WAMU Privacy Notice. This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings. If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again. Sign up Sign in Maria Omare. All photographs by Hassan Ghedi Santur.Maria Omare greets me warmly when we meet at Kibera Drive Kenya that is home to an estimated 250,000 residents referring to the fictional land in the film “Black Panther.” I’ve come to Kibera to see The Action Foundation a grassroots organization Omare started eight years ago to support children with disabilities in social inclusion we come to a three-story building painted in bright yellow and blue that stands high above the corrugated tin roofs of Kibera an occupational therapist named Victor Ogula balances an infant on a physioball stretching the child’s spine as far as it can go Mondays and Thursday are occupational therapy days at the center Dozens of parents bring their children who suffer from physical disabilities of varying severity Omare tells me that occupational therapy days are emotional for her As gratifying as it is for her to see children making progress on their ability to crawl or walk or stand upright hearing them scream in pain remains a distressing experience But she takes solace in the knowledge that every severely disabled child who is getting help is one less child institutionalized in a care home According to the last major survey of disability among children in Kenya, conducted in 2016 13 percent of Kenyan children live with some form of disability For wealthy and middle-class Kenyan parents for families in places like Kibera with few private resources or government assistance Omare’s center serves as a refuge — not just for the children Omare founded The Action Foundation in 2010 because she was tired of a pervasive narrative that tells children with severe disabilities your lives are worthless.” But she was certain she didn’t want to open yet another care home She abhors the institutionalization of disabled children that excludes them from society and creates an “out of sight out of mind” mentality in the public consciousness should instead be on helping the parents so that they can provide the best care possible for their disabled children in their own homes among their loved ones MMaria Omare’s career as an advocate for children living with disabilities started almost by accident during her second year at Kenyatta University in Nairobi she volunteered with the Special Olympics as a nutritionist Omare says that she didn’t volunteer out of some noble desire to save the world “significantly broke,” and the position came with a stipend Omare met severely disabled fellow Kenyans individuals living with conditions like down syndrome a build of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain that causes severe physical disabilities Omare started volunteering at a care facility for the disabled It was an experience that left her feeling despondent about the quality of care and support the children were receiving in that home She remembers the place as a kind of warehouse “There was no joy and happiness,” she says “No one cared to find out the children’s interests Omare says she and her fellow volunteers would play with the kids She noticed that the children were not only happier but they made noticeable gains in their communication and cognitive skills sometimes they would go back to school and when they returned All the gains they made with the children evaporated “It’s like they would shelve our toys and go back to default mode,” Omare says of the people who ran that care home Omare looks back at her volunteer experience as a turning point She began to see disabled children as more than just a collection of ailments or a burden to be endured Omare opened The Action Foundation center in Kibera She chose this particular place because the need was immense Her friends and family thought she had lost her mind for wanting to work in one of the poorest and most emotionally difficult parts of the country At times she even thought the idea was crazy But she still collected funds from family and friends and she put down a rental deposit on a one-room space she bought a padlock and a mat for the floor Omare remembers sitting in the middle of the room and asking herself “What in the world have you gotten yourself into?” With this assistance, she started offering regular play dates for disabled children with their parents and siblings. And recently, she recruited the help of the Maasai Mbili Art Collective a group of young artists in the neighborhood to come to the center and teach art to the children But there were also more serious systemic and societal issues Omare began to enlist the help of other NGOs the Action Foundation Hub has education programs to advance the inclusion of children with disabilities into mainstream schools Their program Somesha supports teachers to provide inclusive learning environments while Waridi Girls Initiative provides mentorships and teaches disabled girls about their sexuality and reproductive rights and age-old myths about disabled children as “cursed” have all contributed to a cultural ambience in which these children are neglected In September 2018, Disability Rights International (DRI) released a shocking report titled “Infanticide and Abuse: Killing and confinement of children with disabilities in Kenya.” The report paints a grim picture: “DRI found children with disabilities in overcrowded and filthy conditions children spending lengthy time in restraints and isolation rooms [Through] neglect and the withholding of medical care… children with disabilities are intentionally left to die.” Omare is quick to point out that her center is not an institution like those described in the DRI report but rather a community hub where parents bring their children for support one of the requirements of the center is that parents must be involved in the daily care of their children Many do not acknowledge that their children have severe disabilities and refuse to seek necessary help as early as possible Omare tells me about some of the children whose lives were improved dramatically through early intervention who at the age of 9 was not going to school because his spina bifida made him unable to control his urine or bowel movements vowed to perform surgeries pro bono whenever he returned to Kenya the Action Foundation has facilitated 20 surgeries since 2014 — including on Lester who had a corrective surgery to one of his legs The foundation was also able to negotiate for Lester to attend a school that provides education to kids with disabilities “What a shame it would have been,” Omare says “if Lester was kept at home because all he needed was support to be in the right environment that can meet his needs.” Omare tells me the stories of other children whose lives have been made immeasurably better through the center’s early medical intervention and treatment the foundation has helped almost 240 children with various needs She rattles off the names and accomplishments of some of those children with the familiarity and pride of a mother She confesses to a tendency to carry on her shoulders the weight of the parents and children the center serves But it’s a weight she carries with poise and good humor I was struck by her bubbly energy and optimism in the face of so much hardship all around her comes from the “belief that I was placed in this universe for a purpose I go to daily Mass just to balance myself before I start the day.” She believes the government should be responsible for these children but that it has largely left that responsibility to NGOs like hers “How do we get the government to support organizations such as ours?” she asks herself “How do we get the government to collaborate with us to provide more support to parents?” One of the reasons Omare wishes she had more support is that despite the successes of the past few years “We still worry about paying the bills and sorting out the basic needs of the kids,” she says To supplement donations from Kenyan citizens and various grants the center started some income-generating activities of its own such as making and selling crafts and renting out the hall on the third floor of the building for community events these funding challenges don’t damper Omare’s enthusiasm for the work She has big dreams for The Action Foundation She wants to make the center in Kibera a national incubator for innovations on disability issues Helping bring about real transformation in the lives of children and youth with disabilities is what inspires her to keep going even when it is so tempting to give up Whenever she accepts an award or speaks at a conference she feels like she is speaking for a whole community of children and their parents Read more from our series on Equity in International Education See all responsesHelp haunted Magnolia Hotel in Seguin shows lots of activity in children’s roomVideo shows movement in rumored-to-be-haunted Texas hotelMary Claire Patton SEGUIN Texas – The historic Magnolia Hotel in Seguin which is rumored to be haunted has new evidence that spirits are active inside its walls who co-owns the hotel with her husband Jim captured some serious movement on their cameras around 10 p.m which can also be seen in the video player above a ball can be seen rolling across the floor along with tiny rem pods that only light up when they’re touched “The most exciting thing is watching the shadow figure enter the room on the top left corner by the door She told KSAT that she can tell several spirits are in the room at the time of the recording because the ball moves in addition to a shadowy figure that enters the room on the left at the same time a dress on the right is ruffled “That is our children’s room where all of our little spirits enjoy playing because of all the toys,” Ghedi said “This was definitely sweet Emma because she is the one who enjoys rolling the ball.” Ghedi said she thinks the shadow figure is a spirit named Mrs The story of little Emma Voelcker isn’t for the faint of heart “Emma is the little girl who was murdered in her own bedroom in 1874 while she was sleeping Helene Faust was also blinded in the same attack when a man For years it was believed that Wilhelm Faust murdered the pair Faust was even convicted of the murders but never made it to the jail because he was killed by Emma’s father Ghedi discovered in the past several years that Wilhelm didn’t kill Emma or his wife “The real murderer confessed doing it on his dying bed four years later,” Ghedi said Ghedi is an author and a historian in addition to being an owner of the hotel “Emma began showing up right after we started remodeling the hotel,” Ghedi said “Each time she would provide us with clues to help solve who the true murderer was Now she has grown attached to the other children’s spirits love for her which is why she comes forward so often.” Ghedi, who said she knows of at least 20 spirits at the hotel, offers tours and overnight stays at the hotel which she rents out as a bed and breakfast The hotel is known worldwide for its paranormal activity and unique history Built as a log cabin in 1840 by James Campbell the Magnolia evolved over the years into a stagecoach station and a hotel The Magnolia Hotel is located at 203 Crockett Street in Seguin Copyright 2021 by KSAT - All rights reserved Email Newsletters KSAT RSS Feeds Contests 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Sign up Sign in Then there was National Geographic’s 2018 mea culpa: “For Decades, Our Coverage Was Racist. To Rise Above Our Past, We Must Acknowledge It.” There is a relatively small group of photographers and editors at large media houses they held the power to shape our visual understanding of some of the biggest stories in the world quick-to-respond age of social media has at last given people of color and hold to account some of the most powerful media outlets in the world The Polis Project, a research and journalism cooperative based in New York, recently published a lengthy report titled “Misogyny and Racism as Spectacle and Performance: A Critique of Mahesh Shantaram’s ‘The African Portraits’ and ‘Forbidden Love.’” It deconstructs images by the well-known Indian photographer Mahesh Shantaram I recently spoke with the author of the report and founder of The Polis Project the privileging of certain voices over others and ultimately who has the power to tell the stories to shape our collective perception of the world “I was immediately struck by the aesthetic — the lighting the rendering in these images of Africans living in India and the texturization done to make their skin appear darker…There was no context or articulation of how their presence in this space affected their lives The images portrayed members of the African diaspora in India in poses with distant empty gazes.” which has been edited for length and readability Hassan Ghedi Santur: Your recent report explores the ethics of representation and who gets to shape narratives Suchitra Vijayan: This story is a chance for us to talk about how toxic misogyny and race and representation work This [report] was not something that we wanted to take on but given that the mainstream publications we reached out to refused to write or talk about it that’s when The Polis Project decided that now was the time for us to do a paper But it cannot be about just this one man. That’s why we also talk about The New York Times photos of the Nigerian girls who were abducted by the Boko Haram who is one of the most celebrated female photographers of our generation who still continues to produce [problematic] work and other photographers and writers have been thinking about for a really long time HGS: It had been said that social media has had a democratizing effect on our world We can engage with and challenge people who hold positions of power in the media in a way that we never did before the people who hold power when it comes to representation are beginning to get challenged And it’s not just a white/brown issue or white/black issue; in this case the person photographing the black diaspora in India was a brown man But then this brown man came from a place of privilege But it’s still surprising that nobody challenged his problematic work from the get go Lynsey Addario hasn’t been challenged in any real sense by anybody in her own clique nobody in The New Yorker or The New York Times or any art magazines has ever critically gauged any kind of critique against her but against the body of work she’s produced These people are getting challenged more and more now The New York Times is no longer the institution that goes unchallenged “I do not agree with you,” and I think that is phenomenal “Why do they not change?” I think that’s because the power centers are still predominantly headed by people who are white or come with a certain Anglo-Saxon idea of how the world works And I think we still need to challenge those power structures The best response to [the current power structures] is smaller magazines that produce phenomenal work We need to support them more and we need to find a way to get more audience for them and make sure that there is a home for critical HGS: How do we deal with storytellers with good intentions who want to tell the stories of others SV: I think storytelling is what makes us human How do I teach my 2-year-old about the world without stories The capacity to tell stories, and relate to another person’s story, is the most human thing we can do. For example, there is a book in India [“Invisible Men: Inside India’s Transmasculine Networks”] about trans men and it [inspired] a very fascinating conversation because all the trans men that the author interviewed have come out since the book has been published and said and you created a story that was not there.” So the people whose stories she claims to tell have all now come out and said And yet this author continues to be invited to festivals and speak This is where we really need to just make sure that we keep asking the same questions: Who is telling the story Why do we privilege this voice and not the other And having millions of them only makes our lives richer and our politics better HGS: One thing that has drawn me to storytelling is the belief that because I’m a human being I have the capacity to tell stories about the lives of others If we believe in the logic that people should only tell their own stories is there a risk of losing faith in the humanity of storytellers who are different from us And that’s why I said the most human thing one can do is to be a storyteller When I say that people should tell their own stories it’s in relation to the fact that even people who want to tell their own stories are often not given the opportunity When James Baldwin writes about his people he writes about them in a way that is powerful The problem is that the James Baldwins of the world are often erased in order to make way for others it comes down to the fundamental question of who owns knowledge who enables other people to produce knowledge And that’s why it’s important that knowledge should not belong to one person or group neither should the profits of that knowledge belong to one corporation whether it’s The Washington Post or The New York Times and the Amazons and Jeff Bezoses of the world have the capacity to produce knowledge and own that knowledge It’s important that we build institutions of power so that in 50 years time there are [media outlets] as influential as The New York Times or The Washington Post in the global south HGS: One of the sentences that jumped at me while reading your report gets at the idea of “the banality of bearing witness as an excuse to produce extractive work.” Talk to me about this notion especially in the context of photographers who travel to faraway places with the intention to bear witness The idea of bearing witness is often very problematic as a concept We no longer need James Nachtwey to fly to war-torn Bosnia We live in a surveillance economy where we are constantly just bearing witness Which means that the capacity to see does not automatically become the capacity for action if it doesn’t lead to concrete action or change Is photographing a woman who was gang raped by the Sudanese army and put on the cover of Time Magazine practically naked able to stop the war Can any of the Time Magazine subscribers who loved that cover tell us now what’s happening in South Sudan Does the function of Lynsey Addario photographing this girl fundamentally change the nature of the conflict or how we relate to it I think there’s a certain consciousness among a lot of brown and black writers and thinkers who are asking: What does this function mean photographers who tend to come from a certain level of privilege; who still see themselves as certain saviors; and who believe that the very act of them being there somehow changes things Some rights reserved See all responsesHelp Sign up Sign in The Royal Nairobi Golf Club sits directly adjacent to Kibera slum. Twice a day, a passenger train barrels through the slum, less than a meter away from people’s homes and businesses. Next door, affluent residents play golf surrounded by greenery. Nairobi, Kenya. Photograph by Johnny Miller.What do MicroEnsure They are all lucrative businesses in Africa that have collectively lifted hundreds of thousands out of poverty And the innovators behind these companies saw opportunity where others could only see poverty At least this is how the authors of the new book, “The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty” see it The authors of the book — the renowned Harvard Business School professor Clayton M along with co-authors Efosa Ojomo and Karen Dillon both researchers at the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation — argue that the decades-long fight against global poverty has not been successful because so many well-intentioned people have been following a broken formula: “Identify areas that need help defined as surviving on less than $1.90 a day.) is that “alleviating poverty is not the same as creating prosperity,” and that the international community needs to think differently about how it approaches development Reading “The Prosperity Paradox,” one gets the sense that if poor countries would only start innovating but would also build their countries the same way that South Korea transformed itself from the recipient of international aid to a donor nation in mere decades It gives countless examples of classic top-down international aid failures — NGOs that build wells in impoverished villages in Africa or food aid that ends up putting local farmers out of business There are also plenty of examples of “market-creating innovations,” especially in Africa the book reads like manual for multinational corporations on how to “tap” into new and emerging markets Considering the ever-ballooning income inequality around the world and the resulting social and political upheavals perhaps we should be a bit more cautious of placing so much faith in corporations as the saviors of the global south BRIGHT Magazine recently spoke with the authors of “The Prosperity Paradox” by email about some of the core concepts of the book and their role in building genuine and lasting development “Alleviating poverty is not the same as creating prosperity We need to start thinking differently.” What does it mean to create prosperity There are some obvious and commonly used proxies for prosperity but we believe that an even more important proxy is access to gainful employment and upward social mobility So the process by which more and more people in a region improve their economic and political well-being is what we are talking about Our research demonstrates those things are the result of market-creating innovations that can ignite a local BRIGHT: The international community has spent over 4 trillion dollars on development over the decades with much of that aid money going to “alleviating poverty.” What does the international community not understand about development Why do we continue trying to alleviate poverty rather than create prosperity It’s totally understandable why the international community focuses on alleviating poverty The signs of poverty are clear for us all to see — poverty almost always reveals itself in the lack of resources: water to provide the resources that we see lacking But we have been doing that for decades and decades — with incredibly good intentions — and there is often frustratingly little to show for it What’s missing in that thinking is an understanding not of how we alleviate poverty Prosperity can be enduring and self-sustaining BRIGHT: The word “innovation” comes up a lot in your book is innovation always linked with technology We define innovation as a change in the processes by which an organization transforms labor and information into products and services of greater value Note that innovation is not the same as invention which describes the process of creating something entirely new Our definition also does not specifically link innovation with technology nor with the private sector There have been some spectacularly successful innovations in simplifying a product or service — or even in the business model The point is transforming resources into products or services with greater value BRIGHT: How would you respond to people — especially those in the business of alleviating human suffering in war torn places like South Sudan and Yemen — who say theories about how to create prosperity are all well and good but when people are dying of preventable diseases talking about economic innovation is a luxury they just can’t afford Our book is not saying innovation will solve immediate humanitarian crises and this book does not suggest that we stop helping people who are suffering is that for long-term solutions to a country’s situation we have to look beyond immediate relief efforts that the path to prosperity is paved with market-creating innovations It’s hard to imagine a more dramatic transformation than South Korea’s “economic miracle” that took it from war-torn poverty to its current platform as economic world leader but our research suggests that enduring prosperity for many countries will not come from fixing poverty It will come from investing in innovations that create new markets within these countries.” This sounds great but many people have hard time imagining what investing in innovations looks like Can you give us any examples in the developing world of innovation investing that have actually created prosperity Since its entry into Nigeria in 1988 — when Nigeria was still under military rule — Tolaram has invested more than $350 million to create tens of thousands of jobs and built infrastructure including electricity and sewage and water treatment facilities Tolaram has built educational institutions and provided millions of dollars in tax revenue Perhaps the most visible evidence of this strategy is that the company has taken a lead role in developing a $1.5 billion public-private partnership to build and operate the new Lekki deep-water port in the state of Lagos a market can be created — and with the birth of a market come the attendant benefits that can lead to development Indomie noodles are so woven into Nigerian society that it might even surprise Nigerians to recall that noodles are not among their traditional foods Tolaram (which originated in Indonesia) has only been selling the product in the country for about thirty years The company’s growth track turns the conventional wisdom about development on its head in that there was little attractive about investing in Nigeria when Tolaram decided to enter the country what are some of the greatest barriers to building market-creating innovations in the developing world We devote several chapters in our book to the barriers — and we know they are real history tells us that market-creating innovations jumpstart the process to overcoming those barriers When infrastructure becomes essential to the survival and growth of a successful market-creating innovation Look at what Tolaram has pulled into the Nigerian economy not out of a worthy sense of civic responsibility but because it’s essential to Tolaram’s growth BRIGHT: In the book you tell the story of Richard Leftley who founded MicroEnsure a medical insurance company that has registered more than 56 million people for insurance in emerging economies Can you talk a bit about the significance of Leftley’s innovation and its impact Are there any elements of his story that could serve as a cautionary tale to others When Richard Leftley started telling his insurance colleagues his idea for a new type of business [they] laughed at him because he was talking about going to Zambia and selling insurance to people who had HIV He told us people thought he had lost his marbles But that is what sets market-creating innovators apart — the ability to see opportunity where others see nothing MicroEnsure has been awarded the Financial Times/IFC Transformational Business Award four times in recent years and is already profitable in 80 percent of the markets it has entered More than 85 percent of MicroEnsure’s customers had never purchased an insurance product until MicroEnsure came to the scene Leftley and his colleagues have shown us what’s possible Market-creating innovations require us to see the world differently if you could suggest one idea for people working on poverty alleviation to consider We are hoping people read this book and start to think about problem-solving a bit differently but also why innovation is so powerful and important If you begin to understand the catalytic potential of market-creating innovation on an economy you might just begin to see new ways to support that innovation and the entrepreneurs who are brave enough to put up a flag in very difficult circumstances Randomized Control Trials Won't Fix It.Treating human societies like laboratories may yield satisfying short-term results but it won't address systemic root…brightthemag.com See all responsesHelp Sign up Sign in Photograph by Stefan Boness/VISUM/Redux.If you spend any time with international non-governmental organizations — if you observe their social media presences or talk to their spokespeople — you may get the sense that the industry is universally successful that every NGO worker has tremendously improved the lives of needy people around the world But for all of the sector’s eagerness to share their success stories admitting to it can have serious ramifications for NGOs because much of their funding depends on success BRAC, a global NGO headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh that assists marginalized people through education, healthcare, microfinance, and humanitarian aid projects, is joining this movement. It recently published its second annual Failure Report and Matt Kertman about why they started publishing the report and what the organization has learned from its failed projects BRIGHT: This is the second failure report that your organization has published Why do a failure report in the first place BRAC: We are a learning organization first and foremost so experimenting has been part of our operations for over 40 years Our organization has a learning-oriented culture not just analyzing success but talking about failures as well But that usually stays within the different departments and people who are running projects we started thinking of how we can give this process a more external look We wanted to get from the point of talking about failures [internally] to being open about it and we also wanted the rest of the organization to reflect about things that didn’t work and how they can be made better BRIGHT: Can you give me an example of a project that failed and what you learned from that experience diarrheal diseases were one of the major killers of children under 5 in Bangladesh Scientists in the 1960s had discovered an oral rehydration solution that would help children BRAC identified a community-centered method for mixing the solution that used local measurements (a fistful of raw sugar plus a three-finger pinch of salt with half a liter of boiled water) and could be taught to families without formal education So we sent our healthcare workers door to door to talk to mothers and teach them how to mix the solution What we found out after a few months was that only 10 percent of the mothers were actually giving it to their children who were suffering from diarrhea We found out that the fathers in those households were blocking the mothers from using this mysterious solution brought to them by NGO workers — and that resulted in the solution not reaching the children in need whenever we went into any village we gathered all the male members of the household and gave them the same message I think that without having a strong sense of humility we believe it’s important to co-create solutions with communities and not just export things from somewhere else BRIGHT: Let’s talk a little bit about humility because it does take humility to admit failure and to say it publicly BRAC: I think what defines our approach is humility in the sense that we’ve always listened and been responsive It’s one of the biggest defining factors in our leadership style Our leaders have always been very open to talk about their failures Even our chairperson has openly admitted that he has failed many times if you meet the field staff who are at the heart of our operations it’s in-built in their work ethics to constantly engage with people that we serve and to be quick to address emerging needs We’ve always believed that people who experience the problem are actually the ones that are best capable of solving it our Social Innovation Lab does an internal forum every month within the head office that creates space for conversation for our colleagues We either feature an external or internal innovation but what happens after that is what matters BRIGHT: You spoke about things like being a good listener These are not qualities we often associate with large international NGOs Why does the development industry often seem to resist responsiveness and self-analysis BRAC: We can only speak for ourselves and not the overall development sector but what we can say is that self-analysis is something BRAC has definitely benefited from Sometimes we see organizations not being able to articulate well enough their vision towards solving a problem If the process is not anchored towards the community if it’s not anchored towards actual real insights from the people themselves then you are opening yourself up to a bigger risk of failing in a way that post-correction would be so much more expensive to focus on innovations in our sector with the best developmental minds in the global south We gather to talk about the best and most frugal ways of doing development work That is something that we would want to help others through our report BRAC: We look at failure as a part of continuous improvement How we approach each of these cases is to get what might have gone wrong and what might be the lessons going forward That’s what we are trying to capture in our report The other side of that is leading by example and having the courage to share our failures publicly as a large international NGO We think part of the reason why we are comfortable doing that is because we are a global south organization We were born and raised in the communities we work with which gives us humility We think it’s about practicing what we preach See all responsesHelp