Leo Hornak

Leo Hornak is a former reporter and producer in London for PRI's The World

Leo Hornak is a former reporter and producer in London for PRI's The World. He previously worked at BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme and BBC 2’s Newsnight.

Leo also make radio documentaries; his report on the US green card lottery was made into an hour long story for This American Life. 

He occasionally venture into print — in the past  The Sunday Times, the Independent and Timeout Mumbai have been kind enough to accept my scribblings.

Leo's work has won prizes at the One World Media Awards and the New York Festivals.

And, Leo is also a founder of In The Dark- a non-profit devoted to screening strange and wonderful pieces of radio in strange and wonderful venues.

People enjoy the warm weather at Ruislip Lido in London, March 30, 2021. Temperatures in parts of the UK are expected to be significantly warmer this week as families and friends are reunited and outdoor sporting activities are allowed to resume in Englan

Swimmers relish their first dip in Britain’s outdoor 'lidos' as lockdown relaxes 

As vaccination rates have risen and death rates have fallen, a gradual unlocking has begun, starting with outdoor leisure facilities. That includes lidos — a very British institution.

Swimmers relish their first dip in Britain’s outdoor 'lidos' as lockdown relaxes 
Ana Silvera singing at the Manchester Jewish Museum

Becoming Portuguese: How Brexit and 500 years of Jewish history changed one British’s singer’s life

Becoming Portuguese: How Brexit and 500 years of Jewish history changed one British’s singer’s life
Wrong beach? Ceasar's forces first landed in Britain in 55BC.

Wrong beach? Two British towns may not actually be where Caesar landed in 55 B.C.

Wrong beach? Two British towns may not actually be where Caesar landed in 55 B.C.
Britain's addiction to mince pies goes back centuries

Britain's strange addiction to a medieval Christmas treat

Britain's strange addiction to a medieval Christmas treat
London's forgotten dead are commemorated once a month at the Crossbones Vigil.

London has a unique vigil for its forgotten dead

London has a unique vigil for its forgotten dead
This Nov. 5, 2012 photo shows a 45-bedroom mansion in the upscale Knightsbridge neighborhood of London

Welcome aboard London's dirty money bus tour

Anti-corruption campaigner Roman Borisovich does not run a traditional tour of London.

Welcome aboard London's dirty money bus tour
Alexis Turner, owner of London Taxidermy, says the motive for the heist remains a mystery.

The great British taxidermy heist: The animals are back, but the theft is still a mystery

Over the centuries London has had more than its fair share of bank robberies, diamond thefts and even train robberies. This month, police solved something a little more exotic: the great British taxidermy heist.

The great British taxidermy heist: The animals are back, but the theft is still a mystery
Lemmy's job is not to hunt pigeons, but to deter them

London's pigeon problem has a simple solution: a hawk

Fifteen years ago, the center of London was densely populated, not just with people, but with pigeons. But something has changed. One of the reasons can be found every morning in Trafalgar Square.

London's pigeon problem has a simple solution: a hawk
The Swan Theatre in London, one of the a generation of playhouses that appeared in the 16th century

Guess what? Shakespeare didn't start the theater scene in England.

Shakespeare's London theater was only one of many open at the turn of the 17th century. A new project is aiming to rediscover some of those forgotten masterpieces.

Guess what? Shakespeare didn't start the theater scene in England.
Pious Huguenots are shown leaving church in the squalor of London in William Hogarth's 'Noon'

The word 'refugee' has a surprising origin

It has its roots in 17th-century France, when a huge influx of French migrants known as Huguenots left their country.

The word 'refugee' has a surprising origin
Abdi and Hassan bid farewell to each other at Nairobi Airport in August 2014. A few minutes later, Abdi boarded a flight to Boston. The brothers have not seen each other since. Hassan is still attempting to apply for refugee status in the US.

The story of two brothers, one green card and Trump's ban

For the past three years, our reporter in London, Leo Hornak, has kept in close touch with two brothers from Somalia, both refugees. They fled the violence of the extremist group al-Shabab. But their fates have diverged. One got lucky, receiving a US green card. He's now living in Maine. The other is still waiting to get refugee status in the US. But with Trump's immigrant and refugee ban, it's not looking good.

The story of two brothers, one green card and Trump's ban
The World

Pie in the sky: Meat-and-potato pastry ventures into the stratosphere

A meat-and-potato pie in northern England has boldly gone where no pastry delicacy has gone before: into (near) space.

Pie in the sky: Meat-and-potato pastry ventures into the stratosphere
'Muslims Like Us' aims to show the diversity of Britain's Muslim communities

This BBC reality show has a very simple message: Not all Muslims are the same

The producer of "Muslims Like Us" explains why he thinks the UK needs this show.

This BBC reality show has a very simple message: Not all Muslims are the same
Dino brain

That's not a pebble. It's a fossilized dinosaur brain.

Back in 2004 Jamie Hiscocks was taking a walk on the beach in the south of England when he spotted a small brown pebble — just a few inches across. About 130 million years before, it had been a brain. A dinosaur brain.

That's not a pebble. It's a fossilized dinosaur brain.
A police officer stands guard in front of the main entrance of French television network. The network is now believed to have been hacked by a Russian group linked to the hackers who have leaked emails from the Hillary Clinton campaign.

The Russian hackers going after Clinton also tried to destroy a French TV network

News has emerged that a sophisticated cyber-attack that aimed to destroy a TV network in France was the work of the same Russian hacking group that has targeted the Hillary Clinton campaign.

The Russian hackers going after Clinton also tried to destroy a French TV network