海角大神

Episode transcript

Clay Collins: 鈥娾�淵ou can鈥檛 go home again.鈥� That adage, about the folly of trying to chase nostalgia for the way things were, dates back at least eight and a half decades. And it might be true on some level, but actually you can go back, and if you鈥檙e open-hearted and open-minded, you can get a fresh view of home.

What has persisted. What has changed. What ... really matters?

Monitor writer Scott Baldauf recently returned to the US, and to the Monitor, after 13 years in Saudi Arabia, working in a different capacity. In earlier reporting stints at the Monitor, Scott covered education, the American Southwest, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and then sub-Saharan Africa as our bureau chief in Johannesburg.

Scott鈥檚 based now in the Washington, D.C., area. But as our America correspondent, he has an ear-to-the-ground portfolio that means getting far beyond the Beltway and out into the United States, in order to tell America鈥檚 stories. To tell Americans鈥� stories.

He started this new stint writing about his new hometown.

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Collins: This is 鈥淲hy We Wrote This.鈥� I鈥檓 Clay Collins. Scott joins me today. Hey Scott!

Scott Baldauf: Hey, Clay.

Collins: So there鈥檚 a school of thought in journalism these days that says an effective strategy for covering the United States as an American reporter is to function as though you鈥檙e a foreign correspondent, here on assignment. And you鈥檙e actually pretty well positioned to try a little of that. You鈥檝e worked from all over, and you鈥檝e been away and immersed in other cultures. So are you adopting some of that ... intentional-outsider view?

Baldauf: Well, Clay, I鈥檒l be honest with you. My wife and I moved overseas in 2001, we pretty much haven鈥檛 come back except for one year, 2012. So effectively we have no other choice. We鈥檝e lived overseas for so long, we have changed. And the country we left behind has changed. It鈥檚 a very different place than what we left, 24, 25 years ago.

So looking at things as a foreign correspondent is effectively, I think, what it is to return after such a long time. If you think of the movie 鈥淚nterstellar,鈥� where Matthew McConaughey went up into space doing whatever he was supposed to be doing, and he comes back, the world he returned to had changed. I kind of feel like that.

Collins: Wow. And so many points of view have hardened.

Finding and presenting perspectives in a way that doesn鈥檛 elevate some narratives over others is a central aim of journalism, really. It鈥檚 about listening carefully and maintaining something close to intellectual neutrality. And ... I want to get to your Saudi years in a minute. But first, what did you learn in your earlier journalism postings abroad, the ones that I mentioned up top, about doing that kind of listening? About being fair?

Baldauf: Well, it鈥檚 something that you practice over time, right? There鈥檚 no way to remove oneself entirely. I鈥檓 coming with my own perspectives, my own life experiences, and I鈥檓 talking to people about their world. Over the course of an interview, you will try to bridge that gap. And you get closer and you get a little closer. So whether that is talking to someone who is, say, in the Taliban. I was interviewing people in the Taliban back in 2001. And for the first time, it was a little unnerving to do. Because you have someone who has a completely, completely different worldview.

But at the end of the day, you are going to be asking the 鈥渨hy鈥� questions: Why do you believe what you believe? And that inevitably gets to a point where they鈥檒l tell you: 鈥淚鈥檓 doing this because this was what makes sense for me. It makes sense for my family.鈥� And they bring you towards some common ground, where we kind of all have shared wants and needs. We think about how to keep peace in our community. We all have common needs 鈥� of food, and safety, and so on.

Coming back to the states where, as you described, things have gotten a lot more polarized. And again, that鈥檚 not what I鈥檓 used to. It鈥檚 a useful skill to ask people what they believe and why, and [then] get at that why. And you often will find that at least you understand the language in which they鈥檙e talking of their immediate needs.

Collins: You talked a little there about being yourself and knowing where you stand. I did want to just go briefly into your corporate communications era, Scott. I spent four years in custom contract publishing in the 鈥�90s between two Monitor career stretches. And it鈥檚 different, right? I mean a client can be honorable and well intentioned, but ultimately they鈥檙e, you know, they鈥檙e in a competitive stance and they鈥檙e predisposed to messaging, and spin.

So I鈥檓 wondering how were you able to shift back out of that gear and get into this heady realm that you just described? And how do you now again see 海角大神鈥檚 mission as a driver of your approach?

Baldauf: Well, I鈥檒l tell you, I learned a lot in corporate communications. The corporate world is very different from the world of journalism. It鈥檚 like a steamship, you know, on a long journey. And it takes a long time for them to make decisions, a long time for them to turn the ship in a certain new direction. And by contrast, you know, with daily journalism, we鈥檙e like a speedboat. We鈥檙e moving around all the time.

But what guides you with the Monitor is that approach to journalism. We鈥檙e absolutely rigorous in our reporting. We want to talk as much as we can to as many voices as possible, make sure that all voices are given a fair hearing. From the person who鈥檚 coming from this perspective, they would see it that way 鈥� even if that is a bit of a stretch from us, uh, as individuals to think things through in their approach. That is something that is absolutely a necessary part of Monitor journalism. So, it鈥檚 coming back. The muscles are getting rebuilt, Clay. And I鈥檓 enjoying it.

Collins: Hmm. So you鈥檙e basically now 鈥渇ree to roam around the country,鈥� as the airline ad says....

Baldauf: [Laughs.]

Collins: And one of the first places you wrote from was Greenbelt, Maryland, your new home. Uh, it鈥檚 a place you had taken the measure of four years ago, and found to have the sense of community that you and your family value. There was even a good Lebanese restaurant! But you found there鈥檇 been changes. There鈥檇 been job losses. And some of that community glue that you found attractive was loosening. Take us through the process of reporting on that.

Baldauf: The idea of this story came from a conversation with an editor. And she basically said: 鈥淪o how鈥檚 your hometown?鈥� And I started playing out: 鈥淥h, here [are] the wonderful things about the town. And you know, it has a great music scene, great food. You know, it鈥檚 a very walkable city. It was designed during the Great Depression for people who needed affordable housing. So it鈥檚 a very diverse community.鈥� All the wonderful things.

But then I started to list some of the concerns, which was that almost from the moment we got off the plane, we could feel a changed atmosphere. There鈥檚 a lot more worry in the air because there had been the start of layoffs for federal employees. Greenbelt is surrounded by all sorts of federal agencies and government installations. We have NASA鈥檚 Goddard Center in Greenbelt itself. Neighboring to us is the USDA鈥檚 agricultural research center. Um, even the NSA, the National Security Agency, is close by. And so you have federal employees living in Greenbelt. And when there are layoffs of potentially thousands or tens of thousands of people just in the state of Maryland alone. That鈥檚 gonna have an impact. You started seeing 鈥渇or sale鈥� signs popping up in front of people鈥檚 houses, because they already had been laid off, or that they were preparing for what they expected. So, [a] very different mood. And reporting it, it鈥檚 odd because I wasn鈥檛 really intentionally reporting. I was just noticing. And all of these things that I was noticing suddenly became items in the story. Uh, then it was just a matter of connecting the dots.

Collins: Hmm. And you started to see more to the story than just the loosening of glue. You started to see signs of resilience.

Baldauf: Well, exactly. And this is a typical Monitor perspective. You pause a minute, you breathe in, and you say: 鈥淥K, this is not just about the problems. Let鈥檚 look for where there are potential solutions.鈥� And I didn鈥檛 have to look far. The community itself had responded. It had started to hold sessions to give support to employees who had been laid off. Here are some programs that you can draw on, uh, to help you look for jobs, to get new job training, to shift to something else if you wanna stay within the community, or if you need help in moving out, here鈥檚 ... resources for that, too.

It was also clear that the community had itself paused, taken a breath and said: 鈥淎ll right, we can do this.鈥� All the typical fairs and festivals and all the milestones of the year were still going on. The Labor Day parade which 鈥� I didn鈥檛 know this when we moved in 鈥� is a big thing here. There鈥檚 a big fairground, midway in the middle of town. And there is a big parade with all, you know, all the politicians come, all the clubs. Um, we didn鈥檛 have a Shriners club with all the little miniature cars, which was a little disappointing for me鈥�.

Collins: [Laughs.]

Baldauf: But almost everything else that you typically see in a small town was there. You could really just tell that people were loving it, and connecting with each other. And those connections are really where the community shows its health, uh, the way in which people are reaching out, supporting each other 鈥� celebrating each other. That started to show through as well.

Collins: That鈥檚 storytelling on a really human level. You鈥檝e also written, since you鈥檝e been back, about the controversial use of troops as an aid to civil policing in the US. And, you know, as with so many issues 鈥� 鈥妏olicy toward the Middle East immigration, these recurring government-shutdown debates 鈥� it sometimes seems like there鈥檚 just this absence of apparent goodwill, right? From all or some parties, it鈥檚: Take a side, dig in, try to win. You know, there鈥檚 that old proverb, uh, Kenyan, I think: 鈥淓lephants fight and the grass suffers.鈥�

Talk about the process of getting to these authentic, bottom-up beliefs that inform stories, and how you probe for regular people鈥檚 real motivations and convictions, especially when the first thing you hear are maybe parroted talking points.

Baldauf: Yeah this is a really, really good question. And again, I am still learning this process. But I think what you do is you have to build up a sense of trust with the people you鈥檙e talking to. If you come out charging, and asking the really tough, contentious questions, um, then people will lock in and they will just spit out the angriest thing that they heard most recently on their favorite news channel.

So what you have to do is just start with that sense of empathy and understanding, hearing where they鈥檙e coming from, what their concerns are, what鈥檚 their lived experience. Build there, and then find that common ground where you can see each other鈥檚 point of view and so that they know they鈥檙e being heard.

And then, then, you can get to these tougher things, these tougher questions. I think that often leads to more constructive conversations where people are more willing to hear another point of view. I鈥檓 hoping that I see more of that happening in my reporting outside of Washington D.C. Um, obviously D.C. appears to be very much locked into this polarized environment. But I have a feeling that people in what we will call the real world have to live with each other, have to meet the same challenges together. And I think that鈥檚 getting back to the United States that I remember from a little ways back.

Collins: It is early days for you on this new beat, obviously, but how does your early reporting this time around have you feeling about your new/old homeland, and about where it goes from here?

Baldauf: When I told my friends back home in Saudi Arabia, uh, what I would be doing. They, they really were worried about my state of mind, my mental health. 鈥淲hy are you going back to the United States? You know, it鈥檚 so lovely here.鈥� And it, I told them, look, I would rather be back in the United States, and seeing up-front what鈥檚 happening here, and possibly doing some good, uh, something constructive by reporting on it, the thing that I know how to do. I鈥檇 rather do that than to feel hopeless and helpless at home somewhere.

And so this new beat, if nothing else, it鈥檚 giving me a chance to see things up close. Those troops that are walking around in the city of Washington, D.C., which is such a shock to the system. But I鈥檇 rather see it. And I鈥檇 rather talk to people about: What is the next step forward?

I鈥檒l be doing that when I go out. I will have a chance to sit with people and hear how they鈥檙e solving their own problems. And to me, when people are sitting down and solving problems, that gives me that sense of hope.

Collins: That鈥檚 great. Well, thank you Scott. Really looking forward to your continued constructive work. And again, welcome back to the Monitor. We鈥檒l want to check in again with you for sure.

Baldauf: Thank you.

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Collins: And thanks to our listeners. You can find show notes with links to the stories we just discussed at CSMonitor.com/WhyWeWroteThis. This episode was hosted by me, Clay Collins, and produced by Jingnan Peng. Mackenzie Farkus is also a producer on the show. Our sound engineer was Alyssa Britton. Original music is by Noel Flatt. Produced by 海角大神. Copyright 2025.