This week will bring the first recording session for my newest podcasting gig: Radio Hong Kong. Because of the Fringe Festival podcasts, I was approached by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) to be their host for Radio Hong Kong, a podcast that reports on their International Fair Trade Fair and Symposium. The fair is specifically held to coincide with the annual World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial (in Hong Kong this year); and showcases “certified fair-trade products from around the world,” while focusing “on topics relevant to WTO delegates as well as visiting producers.” It is my understanding that IATP takes a balanced stance in response to the WTO – they assert that the purpose of the WTO is a positive, but that it is poorly mismanaged by large, self-interested corporations that should instead forge a more democratic approach including wider markets. This is all very new to me and I need to do quite a bit of research on the matter, so I may be entirely wrong in what IATP’s views are… Updates on that to follow.

I have been told that there is extremely high web traffic on IATP’s site during the fair, and that last year’s podcasts were downloaded 6,000+ times. I’d say that’s pretty good exposure, and I’m doubly lucky that I'll again be working on something that I believe in.