In case you haven’t heard about this, two American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were recently sentenced to 12 years in ‘hard-labour prisons’ in North Korea for “the grave crime they committed against the Korean nation and their illegal border crossing.” (According to North Korean State Media). Please take a few moments and sign the petition for their release…. Read the rest of this entry »

Please do not forget what happened 20 years ago in China. China has changed in many ways, but drawing a quote from a film called the Leopard: “ “Everything must change in order to remain the same”. It remains a stain on our collective conscience - please a few moments to remember what happened 20 years ago. Some videos worth watchin: Read the rest of this entry »

The Campaign is heating up – most recently today with the former Director John Hemming (1975-1996) voices his support in a long article in The Observer. There’s already been a massive amount of media coverage…. Read the rest of this entry »

Aired on Channel 4, Friday 17 April, 7.35pm: the film I recently made on the remote Chinese - North Korean border… it’s a miserable story about the plight of thousands of North Koreans including women who have been forced into prostitution or sold as brides after fleeing persecution and starvation in one of the most secretive and repressive regimes in the world. If you would like to discuss the issues raised in this film, please leave a comment below and I will do my best to try to answer… click on for film via youtube Read the rest of this entry »

And a few from the Kombai and Mek… Well sorry it has taken a while to collate all your questions and answer them all - but for good and bad - here are some answers…cant begin to thank everyone who has taken the time to watch the show and write on this blog-thing… here goes… Read the rest of this entry »

Thought I’d post this ahead of the premiere - just some thoughts and reflections of life with the Machigenga (and doesn’t given away what happens at the end!) Hope you enjoy the grand finale… I did in parts…Thanks for watching…. Read the rest of this entry »

Sorry for the late posting of this blog - been up against it editing the China film and launching the Beagle Campaign. Thank you so much for all those who have been watching - just one episode to go! and for all those who have taken the time to write and share your thoughts…. I’ve tried to respond… I’ll post up all the answers to all the questions in one area soon, just in case anyone missed the replies… Read the rest of this entry »

A group of us have just launched the Beagle Campaign (www.thebeaglecampaign.com) to try to encourage the Royal Geographical Society to put expeditions back in the field. Simply put, the planet needs you! And we need your support…. There’s a good feature in the FT this weekend about it (read here) - and full details on our website… VIVA LA EVOLUTION! Read the rest of this entry »

Over the years, trade has been kept to a minimum within Machigenga society, as contact with the outside world has been associated with their destruction. In recent years whilst trade has increased, fear of the outside world and ongoing isolationism has remained. In this journal extract I look back at their history and examine the current threats faced by the Machigenga. Read the rest of this entry »

By popular demand, here is an extract from my journals whilst living with the Mek in West Papua. It refers to the events in episode 7: Beliefs, trade, past and future, change and choice… Sorry it’s quite long but love to hear anyone’s thoughts on it…  Read the rest of this entry »