蜜芽传媒

Personal stories from journalists and writers around the world, introduced by Pascale Harter. In this edition:

The hills are alive, again

With his book Driving Over Lemons, former rock musician Chris Stewart made countless Britons jealous by writing about abandoning his urban life in the UK to eke out a living in the Andalucian countryside. It wasn't all rosy: there was fierce weather, serious isolation and legal red tape to contend with. Chris's dream that Spaniards would also return to the farm the hillsides didn't come true, either. But in recent weeks he's been wondering whether the current economic crisis might bring a change of fortune to the area.

Terms and titles

In Nigeria, names are a very big deal - with most newborns receiving at least three - often at a special naming ceremony. The names themselves often reflect the deepest yearnings, values and associations held by the child's parents, extended family and community. But Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani's noticed that increasingly people are choosing their own names as adults - shaking off childhood titles too redolent with a destiny they didn't choose for themselves, and going for a 'rebrand'. It's a trend which might even go as far as the nation itself.