BBC World Service Flat 'Gareth' Stanley Arrives In Brazil ??

The BBC reaches over 468 million people all over the world every week. The BBC World Service is a key component of this global reach and I always listen to their weekly technology show Digital Planet every Tuesday - if you struggle to listen to live radio then you can find the show on all the usual podcast platforms.

The Digital Planet listeners are a global bunch. They have their own Facebook page for discussion about each show and ideas often feed into stories. A tradition has developed where a 'Flat Stanley' of the presenter Gareth Mitchell is sent from listener to listener along with a copy of The Dark Net by Jamie Bartlett. Patricia Rykiel, a listener in the UK, originally sent the book to Gowri Abhiram, a listener in India in 2016. Gowri sent it on to another listener and it has now visited several places in the UK and US as well as Australia, Portugal, and South Africa.

The most recent listener with the book was Sian Lovegrove in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. I was next on the list after Sian and eagerly waited for the book this year, but the Covid-19 pandemic closed all international mail services leaving Tanzania. Sian and I bounced messages to each other trying to figure out how to get a book from Tanzania to Brazil.

Sian managed to find a Brazilian diplomat who was travelling from Dar es Salaam to S?o Paulo - it sounded perfect. Sian dropped the book at the embassy and we waited - only to hear that he had forgotten the book. It was still on his desk, even though he was in Brazil.

I tried all the major courier companies like DHL, UPS, and Fedex, but I couldn't find any that could collect in Tanzania and deliver to Brazil. It looked like we were stuck and that my turn would have to wait - Sian would have to just find someone leaving the country and a listener in that country would get the book.

Then I thought about a friend on Instagram. Blair Peterson is the Principal of the International School of Tanganyika in Dar es Salaam. A few years back when Blair was the High School Principal at the American International School in S?o Paulo he asked me to come and speak to his students. I asked him if he knew anyone planning to visit Europe or the US soon and he confirmed that a colleague of his, Camilla Kerr, would soon be flying to London.

Camilla arrived in London in April and entered into the standard hotel quarantine. A couple of weeks later I got a WhatsApp message from her - she was in a London post office and had the tracking receipt for me! I just received the book this week.

I'd like to thank Camilla, Blair, and Sian for getting the book to me - I hope they can all get a shout out on the podcast outro as this was a huge effort and involved many WhatsApp and Instagram messages. The book has had quite a journey this time - through an embassy and across the equator from Africa to Europe then South America.

I'm going to take a few photos of the book here in Brazil and then pass it on (I read it on Kindle while waiting for it to arrive) to another listener in Australia... Patricia will need to remind me who is next on the list!

Click here to see the book in Brazil...