request for sparrow campaign interviewees

I’m a radio/podcast journalist working on a story about the sparrow war during the Four Pests Campaign in China. It’s for a new podcast I’m developing, called Just Animals, that tells stories about the places where human and nonhuman lives meet and influence each other, for better or worse.

I’m seeking first-person accounts from people who participated in or witnessed the attack on sparrows that occurred around 1958-59. These would be people who were children or teenagers at the time, and would be in their 70s and 80s today. I’d like to interview these people on tape and possibly use them as storytellers in my podcast. Ideally the interviews would be in English, though I could use a translator if necessary.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I’m pasting more information about the show and myself below. Thanks for your consideration. Please contact me directly at this email:  <michael.garofalo.is@gmail.com>

Best,
Michael Garofalo

BIO

Michael Garofalo produces both narrative and abstract works of audio documentary and musical composition. As editor-at-large and podcast host for the public media project StoryCorps, Michael crafts minimalist short stories from archival interview material that highlight the poetry of everyday speech and experience. His previous roles include producer, senior producer, and executive producer. Michael’s radio work has been honored twice by the George Foster Peabody Awards, most recently in 2011 for his work commemorating the 9/11 attacks, including audio content featured at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York City, for which he was also awarded a Columbia-Dupont Award. In 2011, Michael was a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists. Freelance radio/podcast production clients include This American Life, Gimlet, NPR, KPCC, Reverse Shot, and Film Comment.

JUST ANIMALS

Since the 1970s, the number of animals on the planet has been cut in half. The reason? It’s us. We’re on the cusp of a man-made, mass extinction so vast that scientists have even proposed a new geological era: the anthropocene. Just Animals is an audio podcast that will tell stories of animals we’ve lost and those we’re in danger of losing, with an emphasis on the points where human and nonhuman lives meet, influence, and depend on each other. It will challenge the notions that nonhuman lives aren’t valuable enough to care about (it’s just an animal), and that humans can continue to consider themselves above and apart from the rest of the animal kingdom (we are, after all, just animals). Through documentary-style, character-driven storytelling, Just Animals will seek to understand the often surprising ways in which our everyday lives are inextricably entwined with those of other animals. What happened in 1958 when the Chinese government ordered all sparrows to be killed for eating too much grain? How did squirrels bring down the stock market — twice?The podcast will also ask whether or not the characteristics and qualities we believe set humans apart — intelligence, tool use, and language, to name just a few — are truly exclusive to our species. Imagine stories about animal consciousness (do octopuses have something like multiple personalities?), animal musicians (what songs to mice sing to woo their mates?), and animal grief (what happens at a crow funeral?). Told with intelligence, humor, and curiosity, the stories in Just Animals will inspire wonder and respect for the other-than-human creatures we share our world with, creating a deeper appreciation of and emotional connection to the nonhuman world.

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