{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/bb90e2e3-2995-416d-840e-44ec3ab41f6a/04ca855f-a3d5-4c77-8815-aa534ffd91b8?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"#25: A Journey to the Edge of Europe - with Kapka Kassabova","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/611a4c6106c05e6467f4046d/611a4c7779bb2e0015a8ecf4.jpg?height=200","description":"<p>A childhood in the shadow of a Cold War border - this is how Kapka Kassabova grew up in Sofia, Bulgaria.</p><p>After studying in Sofia and emigrating with her family to New Zealand, Kapka Kassabova, now a writer, poet and journalist, lives in the Scottish Highlands. From 2013 until 2015 she returned to the Balkans and embarked on a special journey into the (and her) past to finally explore the \"forbidden borderland\" of her childhood. Along the way, she met soldiers, (former) spies, fugitives, and the people living there – \"ordinary people\" on the ground, many of whom have an extraordinary story to tell due to the complex history of the area.</p><p>Her book “<a href=\"https://bookshop.org/a/243/9781555977863\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Border:&nbsp;A Journey to the Edge of Europe</em></a><em>”</em>&nbsp;reveals a fascinating look at the boundaries that exist between countries, between cultures, between people, and within each of us.</p><p>In this episode of Unfolding Maps, Kapka tells us what she learned from this journey – and what we can learn from it.</p>","author_name":"Erik Lorenz"}