- Playing
- The Chernobyl Disaster
- From
- Radio Rookies
Rookie Reporter Irina was born in Belarus 6 years after the Chernobyl disaster. Belarus bore the brunt of the radiation fallout and her family moved to the Bronx to escape the contamination. Now, Irina and her family attribute many of their health problems to the radiation. Their fears are common amongst people from the affected region, but according to experts are often unfounded. Irina always saw herself as a Chernobyl victim, but the more she learns about the effects of the nuclear radiation, the less she sees herself as one of those victims.
More from Radio Rookies
Breast-Fed Language
(00:08:02)
From: Radio Rookies
About two thirds of New Yorkers are from immigrant families. And when parents - who came here from other countries - raise American children, they face all kinds of choices ...
Back to the Middle East
(00:07:51)
From: Radio Rookies
Radio Rookie Alexis Gordon's dad has been in the Army Reserves since before she was born. He served a tour in Iraq when she was in the 5th grade and was recently deployed ...
Interview With a Teenage Vampire
(00:07:27)
From: Radio Rookies
Just when you think the vampire craze might have run its course, a new book hits the stores or another TV show launches. Next week the latest Twilight movie opens nationwide, ...
Who's Going to Protect Me?
(00:07:04)
From: Radio Rookies
Civil rights groups are pushing the NYPD to change its stop and frisk policy and 17-year-old Radio Rookie Edwin Llanos thinks a change might help police gain more people's ...
The ABCs of Chinese Americans
(00:07:35)
From: Radio Rookies
Most New Yorkers know that over the past half century, Flushing Queens has transformed from a mostly white suburb to one of the largest Asian populated areas in the United ...
Level Up
(00:07:25)
From: Radio Rookies
Video Games! Millions of people play some form of them - from Farmville on Facebook to more complex games on consoles like the Xbox, PlayStation, and the most popular, Wii. ...
The Potential Diplomat
(00:06:32)
From: Radio Rookies
18–year–old Melissa Best has very high expectations for herself and so do her parents, but her friends wouldn’t describe her as a hard worker. She’s always dreamed of ...
Gamun-Pyul
(00:08:27)
From: Radio Rookies
18 year old Caribbean American, Rayon Wright, sets out to be a K-Pop producer.
Hip Hop Dedication
(00:06:07)
From: Radio Rookies
A lot of teenagers want to make it big as artists--whether acting in movies, singing ballads on American Idol, or making it in the hip hop world. That's what Radio Rookie ...
Nothing's Ever Permanent in Foster Care
(00:08:34)
From: Radio Rookies
When I first went into foster care, I just felt lost. My friends kept saying, “Yo, you’re changing. You’re acting like you’re depressed.” I used to bug out and say, ...
Related Pieces
Piece Description
Rookie Reporter Irina was born in Belarus 6 years after the Chernobyl disaster. Belarus bore the brunt of the radiation fallout and her family moved to the Bronx to escape the contamination. Now, Irina and her family attribute many of their health problems to the radiation. Their fears are common amongst people from the affected region, but according to experts are often unfounded. Irina always saw herself as a Chernobyl victim, but the more she learns about the effects of the nuclear radiation, the less she sees herself as one of those victims.
2 Comments
|
Review of "The Chernobyl Disaster"Irina is a true storyteller. A native of Belarus born six years after the Chernobyl disaster, the best part about her piece is her frankness about her health problems. She doesn’t shy away from her feelings about the illness and her unique ability to add humor into potentially humorless conversations, made me feel like I was having a conversation with her also. Although there were a few spots where the voicing was a little hard to understand, overall it flowed very well. Through the audio of her interviews I was able to see more of Irina’s personality which was a great touch. Irina’s ability to tell her story about her illness and the journey she went on to find out more about it, is captivating because she takes the listener on the journey with her. She starts out with one scene and builds the rest of the story around other scenes which pull the listener in and make them feel a part of the search for the true cause of her health problems. This might be a great story to air on the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident, April 26, 2011. |
Broadcast History
WNYC Morning Edition - October 7, 2009
Transcript
HOST INTRO: It's been almost 25 years since the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster. But some people from that part of the world still fear the radiation is poisoning them. Rookie Reporter Irina Sverzhanovskaya lives in the Bronx now, but she comes from Belarus, where more than 60 percent of the radiation landed. And even though she wasn't born until 6 years after the disaster, her family suspects Chernobyl made her ill.
(walking to the medicine cabinet)
NARRATION: It's my morning commute -- 5:45 AM from my room to the medicine cabinet.
(opening medicine cabinet)
NARRATION: I don't feel like walking!
IRINA: This is my first medicine.
NARRATION: I take a lot of pills.
IRINA: This is Entonise.
NARRATION: So many that I don't know all the names.
IRINA: This is Retex.
NARRATION: They're supposed to make my thyroid work so my hormones stay in balance.
IRINA: This is Supremondoph...
Read the full transcript
Additional Credits
Kaari Pitkin, Senior Producer
Sanda Htyte, Associate Producer
Marianne McCune, Editor
Related Website
Of 2 purchasers of this piece...
- 2 also bought:
Route 66 (00:57:54) - 2 also bought:
Navajo Pentacostal (00:09:25) - 2 also bought:
Dia's Diary: My Mother (00:06:08) - 2 also bought:
The WASPs: Women Pilots of WWII (00:21:43) - 2 also bought:
Selma Koch, Bra Saleswoman (00:07:39)
jocelyn rivera
Posted on January 27, 2012 at 04:46 PM | Permalink
+)
i chose this piece because i was really interested in what chernobyl was because i feel like people really should be informed on certain topics like this instead of just judging people baised on what there outside apperance is i really liked how Irina who was born in Belarus stays close to her roots expecially at home i also like how she is trying to make a differance by creating an organization based on the chernobyl disaster. i cant exactly relate to Irina in the sense of me being affected by a disaster but i could relate to her based upon her trying to make a difference an raise awareness. overall i think that the piece was well put together and i liked how she added the phone calls with the doctors i think that she did a really good job