A Venice gondolier’s life at the center of tradition, media, and discrimination
This preview is based only on the episode notes. Radiolab revisits a 2017 story set in Venice, where gondolier Alex Hai becomes the focal point for a clash between a centuries-old tradition, discrimination, and a media-shaped public narrative, with a 2026 update on where life led next.
This is a preview based on the published show notes, not a recap of the audio. Radiolab’s **“The Gondolier”** appears to blend historical tradition, personal struggle, and media scrutiny into one character-driven story. The episode begins in Venice, where reporters Kristen Clark and David Conrad meet **Alex Hai** and use the city’s canals to explore the nearly **1,000-year-old tradition of the Venetian gondolier**. From there, the notes suggest the story moves into harder territory: **how discrimination takes shape**, and how a **20-year battle** emerged between that tradition and what the notes call a **“supposed feminist icon”** created by global media coverage. If you’re drawn to stories about identity, institutions, and the gap between lived experience and public narrative, this sounds like a strong fit. What may make this episode especially compelling is that it doesn’t stop with the original reporting. The team says they **returned to Alex in 2026** and added both **heartbreaking and heartwarming updates** about Alex’s life. That suggests the episode offers not just a reported conflict, but a longer view of what happens after headlines fade. This may be a good listen if you want a story that connects one person’s life to broader questions about **tradition, gender, discrimination, and media framing**—all through the very specific setting of Venice’s hidden canals.
About this episode
<p>Back in 2017, reporters Kristen Clark and David Conrad came to us with a story that dug into the difficult and often dark places discrimination creates. We start in Venice, Italy, where they meet gondolier Alex Hai. On the winding canals in the hidden parts of Venice, we learn about the nearly 1000-year old tradition of the Venetian Gondolier, and how the global media created a 20-year battle between that tradition and a supposed feminist icon. </p> <p>We circled back to Alex in 2026, to find out where the canal of life ended up leading after our initial reporting, and we’ve included some heartbreaking and heartwarming updates on Alex’s life at the end of this episode. </p> <p><i>Special thanks to Alexis Ungerer, Summer, Alex Hai, Kevin Gotkin, Silvia Del Fabbro, Sandro Mariot, Aldo Rosso and Marta Vannucci, The Longest Shortest Time (Hillary Frank, Peter Clowney and Abigail Keel), Tim Howard, Nick Adams/GLAAD, Valentina Powers, Florence Ursino, Ann Marie Somma, Alex Overington, Jeremy Bloom and the people of Little Italy. </i></p> <p><strong>EPISODE CREDITS: </strong><br> Reported by - David Conrad and Kristen Clark.<br> Produced by - Annie McEwen and Molly Webster.<br> with help from - Anisa Vietze<br> Fact-checking for the update by - Angely Mercado</p> <p><strong>OTHER COOL THINGS:</strong></p> <p>Books -</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://pegasuspublishers.com/book/the-gondolier" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i>The Gondolier</i></a><i>, by Alex Hai</i></li> </ul> <p><i>Signup for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. </i><a href="https://radiolab.org/newsletter" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i>Sign up</i></a><i> (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!</i></p> <p><i>Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of </i><a href="http://members.radiolab.org" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i>The Lab</i></a><i> (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.</i></p> <p><i>Follow our show on </i><a href="http://instagram.com/radiolab" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i>Instagram</i></a><i>, </i><a href="http://twitter.com/radiolab" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i>Twitter</i></a><i> and </i><a href="http://facebook.com/radiolab" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i>Facebook</i></a><i> @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing </i><a href="mailto:radiolab@wnyc.org" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i>radiolab@wnyc.org</i></a><i>.</i></p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>