Program 350: Disappearing Places; Ed Viestur's Everest; Vanishing Voices

Release Date: 01-04-2014

Description

Hear about some of the heritage sites around the world that are in danger of being destroyed by war, weather, and neglect. Learn what is lost when an endangered minority language disappears from earth. Also, mountain climbing legend Ed Viesturs explains how he tackles Mount Everest and the rest of the world's highest peaks — without an oxygen mask.

Guests

  • Erica Avrami, director of World Monuments Fund Watch List program
  • Climbing legend Ed Viesturs, co-author of "The Mountain:  My Time on Everest" (Touchstone)
  • Russ Rymer, author of the "Vanishing Voices" article for National Geographic

Related Links

  • The World Monuments Fund has issued its updated "Watch List" of endangered places for 2014, and has an interactive map with details and photos for the sites on the list. 
  • Rick notes that he recently saw how the historic Battir Irrigated Terrances in the West Bank in  Israel are threatened by construction of a controversial wall. 
  • Ed Viesturs' website.  
  • Publisher's website for Ed Viesturs book "The Mountain."
  • Ed Viesturs guides for Rainier Mountaineering
  • Ed serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Big City Mountaineers (BCM), an organization that "instills critical life skills in under-resourced youth through wilderness mentoring experiences that help keep kids in school, reduce violence and drug use."
  • The IMAX film "Everest" was released in 1998.
  • Russ Rymer’s website.
  • Russ Rymer's website includes photos and links to his articles and to his latest novel, a mystery called "Paris Twilight."
  • Russ Rymer’s National Geographic article on vanishing languages.
  • The photo gallery to the National Geographic's "Vanishing Voices" project includes a number of Native Americans who are among the last speakers of their languages.