Today, an acclaimed journalist, radio producer, and researcher shares excerpts from a remarkable work documenting the labor history of one of Greece’s most distinctive islands. Alongside her readings, we listen to songs inspired by Serifos and its mining heritage, performed by Christos Thivaios and other artists.
Our destination for tonight’s journey: Alexandra Christakaki reading excerpts from her book In the Bowels of Serifos: Testimonies of the Last Surviving Mine Workers, published by Pyxida tis Polis.
Born in Thrace, where she spent her childhood and adolescence, Alexandra Christakaki moved to Athens at the age of seventeen to study Political Science. She later pursued studies in History and, more recently, Psychology. Yet it was journalism that won her over during her student years. What began as activism evolved into a lifelong profession, and more than forty years later she remains convinced she chose the right path.
As she herself notes, In the Bowels of Serifos emerged from the unique emotion that journalism can offer when it investigates, preserves memory, and stands up to power. Through the voices of the last surviving miners, the book sheds light on an important chapter of Greece’s labor history and keeps alive the memory of the people who lived and worked deep beneath the island’s surface.
Produced and presented by Hercules Economou