Vindaloo

And then there were Meshnets (again)

A story that took me from Barcelona to Bushwick. Quirky. BBC Radio 4. 

Download Meshnets Matt Wells BBC

Harry Rosen's table talk

He's 104 in a few weeks, but Harry Rosen's dedicated his final years to living well. Every night, he eats out in a Manhattan restaurant, and he's never alone for long. I joined him for dinner, on behalf of the BBC's Newshour show. Click on this link below. 

Download Harry Rosen Matt Wells BBC story

And he's still a chick magnet too. 

Camden Town

It's America's most dangerous and impoverished town and the cops weren't helping change that. So they all got fired, and now there's a mostly-new crew policing the run-down streets trying to help an optimistic mayor get Camden's mojo back. Can it work? I went to find out, for BBC Radio 4. This was taped in June, so stats may be iffy now it's (late) August. 

Download Camden story

Cricket in The Bronx

While I'm at it, the biggest new cricket pitch complex in America this summer, is in The Bronx. Bemused locals, and a lot of happy players from around the civilized world, using their prescious day off to play. BBC Radio 4 from sometime in the last few weeks: 

Download Bronx cricket BBC

Whistleblowers - in cassocks and habits

The Catholic Whistleblowers tell it how it is. Aired weeks ago, but I'm behind. 

Download Catholic Whistleblowers BBC

The insiders' guide to Stop and Frisk

Bloomberg and Kelly will take today's ruling all the way to the Supreme Court but here's why just one group of intelligent young men living in Bushwick believe Stop and Frisk is a racist policy. They live with it, and this is how it feels to them. I did this for the BBC World Service weeks ago. 

Download Frisk BBC NY

Cronut crazies cont.

Cronuts (the people, not the pastry) are ten-deep on Spring Street, New York, as the battiest baking craze yet refuses to abate. I went down to watch a bakery under-seige. For the record, they ARE absolutely delicious. DC Doissants etc? well it all started here....Hear my piece from BBC's flagship PM show tonight: 

Download Wells Cronut craze BBC.mp3

British boozer under fire in Bay Ridge

The Longbow is a cozy and relatively authentic British pub, with all the good and bad connatations that go along with that assessment. It's run foul of the New York City Human Rights commission for allegedly showing nationalist bias in a job ad. I needed no second invitation to investigate this alluring tale. The results are here, as broadcast this week on BBC Radio 4: 

Download Brit pub NY story

Starting Not To #Bee

It's a watershed year for the American honeybee. After seven years of Colony Collapse Disorder, the commercial keepers are dropping as fast as the bees they're trying to save. Everyone though, it seems, is a little bit to blame. The big question...Are pesticides driving it all? I did one of the first pieces on CCD back in 2007, and this reprise of mine from PA, ran on BBC World Service and WNYC this morning:

Download Bee collapse reprise

Newtown: politics and grief

Doing nothing isn't an option, is what underpins Sandy Hook Promise, and the group's taken a lead in the gun safety debate. But they're also sponsoring the crucial, and non-political element of recovery, which is helping Newtown heal together, and tending to spiritual needs. I went to a public meeting on Thursday night, which aired on Sunday. Mother's Day here in the US.

Download Newtown BBC Matt Wells