The Compass

Latest Episodes:

Making it Work: Rugged Tablets for African Schools Oct 04, 2017

Show notes

2/4 A Kenyan company is planning to bring reliable stable internet and rugged tablets to remote schools with the help of BRCK, a solution to internet problems in the shape of a brick. Part two of four. In the northern Indian state of Assam, people have the lowest access to good quality eye care in the whole of India – 18% of all cataracts happen in this one state. ERC Eyecare has a business solution aimed at changing all that. We also return to visit the stethoscope creators from last week’s episode. Things have moved on for the company Taal and it is now trying to drum up business – how are sales going?

(Photo: Boy looks up from a Kio Kit tablet used in a school in Kenya)

Making it Work: Affordable Medical Equipment in India Sep 27, 2017

Show notes

1/4 Exploring the reality of being an entrepreneur serving the “bottom billion” – a new mini-series from The Compass.

In India around a fifth of people still live below the poverty line, according to the most recent World Bank estimates. Businesses selling to this market need to keep prices low.

In the famous tech city of Bengaluru, south India, we visit a veterinary clinic for pets, the unlikely home of a surprising young start-up, which is set to revolutionise one of the most common medical devices on the planet - the stethoscope. In a village in Mathura, about three hours' drive from New Delhi we take a look at the installation of a new affordable solution to providing solar energy. We then head to Kenya to meet a young entrepreneur who is looking at the success of firms like Amazon and has developed his own similar internet based delivery system for Kenya’s low-income customers.

(Photo: Taal component board)

Stargazing: South Africa's New Generation Astronomers Sep 20, 2017

Show notes

The scientist running the Square Kilometre Array, the world's biggest telescope. Episode five of five.

The telescope's antennae spiral across the African continent. In the remote North Karoo town of Carnarvon in South Africa, the next generation of astronomers is training to run this major telescope facility.

(Photo: South Africa’s Karoo-based KAT-7 radio telescope array are pictured at sunset at The Square Kilometre Array. Credit: Alexander Joe/AFP)

Stargazing: Faith versus Science in Hawaii Sep 13, 2017

Show notes

Science writer and author Dava Sobell travels to Hawaii to ascend mount Mauna Kea. Among the observatories on the summit is the proposed Thirty Metre Telescope. Episode four of five. Dava discovers the plans are creating a rift between astronomers and local Hawaiians. TMT will be able to discern gases in the most remote atmospheres, which may indicate extra terrestrial life but the site is sacred for the native Hawaiian community. The story echoes the tension between science and faith that has played out for centuries.

(Photo: Astrophotography of The Great Orion Nebula, in the constellation Orion. Credit: Getty Images)

Stargazing: A New Vision of Our Cosmic Origins Sep 06, 2017

Show notes

Dava Sobel travels to Edinburgh, to catch sight of the most ambitious telescope being made. Episode three of five.

This time next year, the James Webb Space Telescope will begin its long journey to a stable orbit at a place called L-2, one million miles beyond the Moon. It will unfold the components of its huge, intricate body and look back in time, to probe events that occurred nearly 14 billion years ago.

The James Webb is a Nasa-led project, with the telescope named after the Nasa administrator who ran the space agency during the Apollo program of the 1960s. This is also a landmark collaboration between the European and Canadian Space Agencies, in all elements of its design and construction. Dava learns about the intricacies of the British component being made, the MIRI – the Mid Infrared Instrument – which will intercept invisible light waves in the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, to study the earliest stars and galaxies and ultimately discover how our universe came to be.

(Photo: A full scale model of the James Webb Space Telescope sits on the National Mall, 2007,Washington, DC. Credit: Getty Images)

Stargazing: Astronomy from the Edge of the World Aug 30, 2017

Show notes

Dava Sobel hears from telescope operators at ALMA, the remote observatory high in the Atacama Desert in Chile, talking to us with their oxygen tanks at the ready. Episode two of five. As we hear, the ‘radio sky’ presents an alternate universe, in which the Moon and planets are barely detectable. In their place are clouds of interstellar gas and other exotic celestial sources which reveal different aspects of our history and astronomy. At ALMA, the radio astronomers do not need to wait until dark to make their observations but can work at any hour, day or night.

(Photo: The ALMA Observatory is located in the Chajnantor Plateau over 5,000 metres above sea level. Credit: ALMA/ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)

Stargazing: Copernicus' Heavenly Spheres Aug 23, 2017

Show notes

Dava Sobel uncovers the brilliance of her hero, the 16th century Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, who revealed the true model of the universe by putting the Sun, rather than the Earth, at its hub. Episode one of five.

In the Cathedral town of Frombork on the Baltic Sea in Northern Poland, we hear how he served his entire career in the church and how he kept his astronomical findings a secret, fearful of being denounced by the Catholic Church. On his deathbed, he published his life’s work, "On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres".

(Photo: Monument of great astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, Torun, Poland. Credit: Getty Images)

On the Black Sea: Sailors of Sevastopol Aug 16, 2017

Show notes

The Crimean coast is so important that Russia seized it from Ukraine. But what have been the costs of gaining this valuable prize? The final leg of our five-episode journey across and around the Black Sea takes us to the port of Sevastopol.

And we also reveal details about the next mini-series from The Compass.

Producer Monica Whitlock.

Photo: The embankment of Sevastopol, Crimea, Ukraine Credit: Getty Images

On the Black Sea: a Land Forgotten Aug 09, 2017

Show notes

Ghost states like Abkhazia have the trappings of independence, but are unrecognised by most of the world. On the far north-east shore of the Black Sea, the region is determined to preserve its independence and ancient culture, including a pagan religion based around animal sacrifices, but the price of statehood is deep isolation. Presenter Tim Whewell discovers what life is like in Abkhazia. He begins his journey at the Abkhaz border and continues by horse-drawn wagon - the only available transport.

Produced by Monica Whitlock. This is the fourth part of five.

(Photo: Abkhaz veterans of the World War II, Credit: Monica Whitlock)

On the Black Sea: Truckers Aug 02, 2017

Show notes

Black Sea truckers are a tough bunch. Driving thousands of miles through Europe, the Caucasus and eastwards to China, they transport everything from biscuits to fridges to pigs. Tim Whewell joins them on board the huge Black Sea ferry that connects these places, sailing from Odessa to Batumi in Georgia.

The truckers are mainly from the former Soviet Union, many have known each other for years, and once all belonged to one country. The truckers are endlessly inventive as they navigate the fraught geopolitics that shape their lives. The war in Syria, the annexation of Crimea, European visa rules, are just some of the obstacles they overcome. As the they relax for the thousand-kilometre crossing, they make merry, and tell stories of the road.

Producer: Monica Whitlock

Truckers set off by ferry from Istanbul to Odessa. Credit: Monica Whitlock

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected