Global travel may be paused right now, but there are still many ways to share and listen to stories from around the world. One new podcast from TED, Pindrop, is sharing stories about ideas, and the places where those ideas develop and grow.

According to the host of Pindrop, Saleem Reshamwala, “We’re looking for an idea that’s tied to the place it’s from. I’m interested in how stories of people figuring things out in certain places can be a useful metaphor for people all over. What I want people to feel after each episode is that the world is stranger and more interesting than they thought it was. But I don’t mean ‘stranger’ in the othering sense. To me, in perfect travel, you yourself feel a little bit strange.” 

The first episode takes listeners to Bangkok, Thailand, with a story that’s about traffic—its effect on everyone in the city, how events like police assisting a woman giving birth on the highway are not uncommon, and the JS100 traffic radio station that connects the whole city by acting as a hotline for people in need of help and information.

The other episodes that have been released so far highlight the fun, fierce and frivolous AfroBubbleGum art movement in Nairobi, Kenya, and a paleontological dig in Mantua Township, New Jersey.

Find out more about the show, and where to listen, at the TED website. Listen and tell us what you think on the CultureReady Facebook and Twitter.