Seven Wonders of the Shrinking Planet

Speaker's Corner: Jim Benning and Michael Yessis unveil World Hum's seven wonders: places, things and people that embody ways the planet is shrinking and cultures are colliding

Manu Chao

Manu ChaoPhiladelphia Inquirer music critic Dan DeLuca recently called Manu Chao “the world’s only born-in-Spain raised-in-France multilingual punk-rock-rai-reggae-dub-salsa aerobic instructor rock-star rapper.” That only begins to describe why we think Chao is the poster boy for the best in shrinking-planet music and a one-man wonder. He sings in multiple languages, including Spanish, French, Arabic, English, Portuguese and even, apparently, Wolof. He fills stadiums around the globe with wildly diverse crowds. He celebrates travel. Perhaps most importantly, he turns out consistently hypnotic and addictive pop music that can be enjoyed from Havana to Cairo.

Related on World Hum:
* Rolling Stone Picks Best 25 Road Trip Songs Ever
* Yo-Yo Ma on Travel and the ‘Silk Road Project’
* Listening to ‘Layla’ in Tehran? Not on Radio or TV.

Cover of Manu Chao’s Proxima Estacion Esperanza

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Jim Benning

Jim Benning is the editor and co-founder of World Hum.

Michael Yessis

Michael Yessis is the cofounder and coeditor-in-chief of World Hum.


7 Comments for Seven Wonders of the Shrinking Planet

travelina 07.06.07 | 1:37 PM ET

The Airworld photo reminds me of the futuristic train station in Zug, Switzerland, designed by visionary architect James Turrell:
http://intelligenttravel.typepad.com/it/2007/01/train_trance_zu.html

robmeyer 07.06.07 | 4:02 PM ET

A different kind of list, I really like it.  I especially like how you have the opening of the Northwest Passage on there, which is actually a huge deal for the international shipping industry, though I have not heard very much about it on the news.  Good catch!

Eva 07.09.07 | 10:24 AM ET

Great list! I love the picture of the Starbucks in Forbidden City - nice of them to try to blend in…

If we can add moments to the list then I’ve got one - seeing a huge contingent of Taiwanese baseball fans at the 2004 Olympics, cheering on their national team by doing the Atlanta Braves’ tomahawk chop.

ps: The Northwest Passage may not be getting much coverage in the US or globally (yet), but it is a hot topic in Canada these days - here’s today’s update, which also has links to previous news stories and background info on the topic: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/07/09/arctic-cda.html

Rachel 07.10.07 | 8:55 PM ET

Thanks for the list. The Northwest Passage pick is a little scary, though. I like the idea of the world becoming more of a global village, but it’s sad that it has to be because of global warming.

Eva 07.16.07 | 11:03 AM ET

Apparently Starbucks in the Forbidden City has just closed…

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/070714/business/china_us_history_tourism_starbucks_food_company_2

Jim Benning 07.16.07 | 11:18 AM ET

Thanks, Eva. I was adding an update to the list as you were commenting.

Stay tuned for our search for our seventh wonder!

Mala@traveling-stories-magazine 09.18.07 | 5:12 PM ET

The Channel Tunnel connecting UK and France will open up international rail routes from London from mid-November 2007.The high speed line will definitely shrink a lot of travel time.
Mala Mukunda
http://www.traveling-stories-magazine.com/

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