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Radio Shangri-La

Book Cover - Radio Shangri-La

Journalist Lisa Napoli was burnt out. She was tired of living in Los Angeles, tired of working the overnight shift for Marketplace Radio and tired of feeling like she didn't have enough of what she wanted in life. Then she met a handsome stranger at a party who pointed her in the direction of Bhutan, the tiny Himalayan hamlet famous for being remote and blissful. There, success is measured, not in Gross National Product, but in Gross National Happiness. Napoli arrived in Bhutan to help set up the first non-government owned radio station when the king peacefully abdicated the throne and the country transitioned into a constitutional monarchy. Her new book, "Radio Shangri-La" (Crown/2011) documents her journey to Bhutan and happiness, Bhutan's journey to democracy and the journey of a friend who left Bhutan for America only to find out that happiness was back at home. Napoli joins host Frank Stasio to talk about her travels and being a reporter in a place with no bad news.

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.