Because of the factories, barges and the busy road along the river, fishing here is not a quiet experience. But despite the noise and pollution, the water gives the place a peaceful ambience.

I used separate field recordings to create a soundscape.

The title comes from a conversation I had with Eymund Diegel, who took me out on the canal by canoe. Eymund is an Urban Planner with an encyclopedic knowledge of the Gowanus Canal. He talked about the natural streams that have been flowing into the canal for centuries and that will still be around long after we’re gone. The piece is best appreciated with headphones.

South Africa has a most advanced constitution, it promulgates equal rights for all. Despite this progress, when it comes to adoption – lesbian couples are at the bottom of the priority list. WAITED FOR weaves three personal stories of adoption. Inter-racial couple Kelly and Leigh-Ann embark on the journey to adopt a baby. For a year they let old-fashioned socialcrats vet their house, relationship and cultural sensitivities, and wait for the phone to ring. New Zealander Pip and South African Lee have two adopted daughters that have introduced more pink in to their lives than they were anticipating. Pip views New Zealand as an escape route, but Lee is not convinced and wants the girls to grow up in South Africa. Single mother, builder and recovering addict Paula trusts that the multiracial environment she has raised her 2-year old in won’t turn him into a “coconut”. Gentle and thoughtful, personal, yet quietly political, the film plots the various stages of the process, and the five mothers discuss their fears, joys, frustrations and expectations of adoptive motherhood in “post-race” South Africa.

This summer, thousands of former Marines all across the country learned something alarming. The base where they had been stationed, Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C., was the site of one of the worst water contaminations in U.S. history.
A new documentary called “Semper Fi” follows one man’s journey from devoted Marine to activist searching for answers about what happened at Camp Lejeune, who knew and when.

In a country where bigger is almost always better, cities like Youngstown, Ohio, are trying to come back to life by shrinking themselves. This Blueprint America story reports on Youngstown’s plan to restore its former greatness, but on a smaller scale.

I was the main editor on this piece for Blueprint America, PBS.

Watch The Incredible Shrinking City on PBS. See more from Need To Know.