Originally posted on Global Voices.

In the first Rising Voices podcast we visited Bangladesh, where the Nari Jibon Center is teaching young women in Dhaka to express themselves by participating in online conversation. This week we are changing the format and releasing this podcast in two separate parts.

First, we become acquainted with Medellín, Colombia; its violent past, its current tenuous peace, and the mathematician mayor who is commissioning gigantic modernist libraries in the city’s most impoverished neighborhoods.

In the second part of this podcast, which will be published later in the week, we’ll focus on the HiperBarrio project and learn how a few motivated Medellin bloggers are headed to the hills of their city to teach the tools of citizen media to working-class youth.

In today’s podcast we speak with:

• Hector Aristizabal, Director of the ImaginAction theater group.
• Adam Isacson, senior associate of the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC.
• Aldo Civico, Director of the Center for International Conflict Resolution at Columbia University in New York City.
• Juliana Rincón, blogger, Global Voices author, and co-founder of Medallo Bloguero.

The introductory background music is “Madrugada a la Gil Evans” by the Paloseco Brazz Orchestra and was found on ccMixter. The closing song, “Del Cielo Que Nos Robaron” is by Colombian trova musician and blogger, Lizardo Carvajal. It was released under a Creative Commons 2.5 license as part of the iSummit 2006 DVD.

It is also worth reading Andres Duque’s thoughts on the MetroCable and how it has helped transform Medellin.

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