Genocide haunts our home: my mom copes life in the U.S. in the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge.

How does one build a new home after losing all of one’s family? A son interviews his mother, a Cambodian refugee and genocide survivor, about her experience resettling in the U.S. He learns how her past has shaped his life.

Producer: Bunnard Phan

Featuring: Nickie Phan, Bunnard Phan

Music:
Khnom Min Sok Chet Te by Pan Ron
Chnam oun Dop-Pram Muy by Ros Sereysothea
Orchestral version of “Unchained Melody” by the Righteous Brothers performed at The (Military) Music Show of Nations 2002 Bremen, Germany (www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejm3Q5ZKr28)


A Perfect Storm: Broadcasting Rhythms from the South Bronx to the East of Havana

From the rhyming styles of breakbeat poets and Bronx backyard jams of the 1980s, hip-hop sprang forth from the heart of urban black culture to give voice to the silenced narratives of black communities. The rhythm of resistance. Uncontainable, the sound waves traveled much farther than the national border. In the 1990s, young Cubans living in the barrio of Alamar resonated with the rhythms and attitude in the music and adopted the art form as their own. Moving through this rich oral history and into the present, we will hear the way hip-hop brought these two cultures together in a perfect storm.

Thank you to Luna Gallegos, Laura Cantana, Rolando Almirante, Dr. Cecil Brown, Jeff Chang, “The Wizard”/ “El Brujo,” Yulier, La Rafa El Individuo, and Alejandra Zamora for your honesty and warmth throughout the interview process.

Producer: Nya Hughes

Music:
The Message – Grandmaster Flash
Get By – Talib Kweli
Latino & Proud – DJ Raff
Tengo – Hermanos De Causa
Mi Raza – El Individuo
1981 SPECIAL REPORT: “SOUTH BRONX”
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLSDY8jPRds)
The Bronx in The 1980’s PART 1 (Original)
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgUsEVwXch0)
CHUPI CHUPI – Osmani Garcia

Photo by Nya Hughes


Heaven and Hell: Inside the the Maternity Ward of Mnazi Mmoja Hospital, Zanzibar

After delivering one child, the Head Nurse Nassara turns around, changes her gloves, and delivers another. In Mnazi Mmoja Hospital, Zanzibar, 30-50 babies are born a day. Often, in the maternity ward, there are only 3-4 nurses working at a time. As the largest public hospital in Zanzibar, Mnazi Mmoja faces the island’s high rate of maternal mortality head on, yet, the root of the problem is hard to uncover–it’s tangled up in a much larger system.

This piece would not be possible without the Program in Global Health Technologies at Boston University led by Dr. Zaman, the Stanford Storytelling Project, and the kindness of everyone at Mnazi Mmoja Hospital.

Producer: Megan Calfas

Music:
Rui — “Caress me to Sleep”, “Selbstheilend”, “No sudden movements”
Johnny Ripper — ”Nicolas”
Orbique — “Simple”
Cuban Cowboys — “Outro”


We are still here – stories of the Tinggian

In Abra, a province of the northern Philippines, members of several indigenous communities – collectively called the Tinggian – are fighting to protect their histories. Listen to the stories of an elder charged with upholding a centuries-old peace pact; a pastor whose ancestors fought as revolutionaries; a mayor who evaded assassination to build a school in his hometown; and a weaver who’s made it her mission to revive a tradition of ritual and weaving.

Producer: Ethan Chua

Featuring:
Elder Bansilan Sawadan
Elder Johnny Guinaban
Pastor Ruben
Elder Norma Mina

With thanks to:
Ate Minda Guinaban
Raffy Tejero
The Center for Community Transformation (CCT)
My parents, Ronald and Anabelle Chua

Music
Podington Bear


Una Isu: a Ñuu Savi warrior resisting through hip hop

As indigenous people from Mexico migrate to California, their languages and cultures are threatened. One indigenous trilingual rapper based in Fresno is fighting back.

“We are taught that we’re not valuable, we are taught that we have no history, we are ignorant, we don’t have richness of culture…. I’m trying to turn everything around.”

Miguel Villegas Ventura came to the US at age 7 speaking only Mixteco, an indigenous language spoken by the Ñuu Savi nation in the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Guerrero and Puebla. He came of age in Fresno, California, amidst poverty, bullying and the constant pressure to hide his roots.

But when Miguel learned the history of Una Isu, a 12th century Mixteco warrior, everything changed.

Today Miguel demands respect and dignity through trilingual hip hop. Like Una Isu, he seeks to unite indigenous Mexicans who have found a new home in the United States.

Producer: Jackie Botts

Featuring voices of Miguel Villegas, Leoncio Vasquez and Irma Luna

Music:
“Mixteco es un Lenguaje” by Una Isu
“Intro [Prod. Esteban]” by Una Isu
“Quisieron [Prod. Esteban]” by Una Isu
“Se que avanzare (Con Mixteko) [Prod. Starbeats]” by Una Isu
“Soñadores [Prod. Fenix]” by Una Isu
“Cinco años (Con Mixteko) [Prod. Guerrero]” by Una Isu
“Asi quiero sanar [Prod. N3w Lment]” by Una Isu
“Pop Song” by Johnny Ripper
“Lamentos en Aula Remix” by Toiletrolltube
“If You Should Lose Me” by Lil Rob
“Summer Nights” by Lil Rob

Una Isu complete music at https://soundcloud.com/miguel-villegas-29


No hay pelo malo

This podcast explores the burgeoning natural hair movement in the Dominican Republic, where the vast majority of women prefer to straighten their hair. In doing so, it explores the intersections of race, gender, and history in the country’s capital.

Producer: Alyssa Vann

Music: All music recorded in the plaza in the Colonial District of Santo Domingo, or in salons.


Sandbranch: A Deep-rooted Community Fights for Water

Sandbranch is a community outside of Dallas that hasn’t had running water or well water for decades, but the residents refuse to leave.

Founded by former slaves, it used to be a thriving town of over 500 people. In the 1980s, its wells were contaminated. The residents have been fighting for running water ever since. Now, led by a pastor, an environmental lawyer, and past and present residents of the community, Sandbranch is on the brink of change.

Producer: Claudia Heymach

Featuring: Eugene Keahey, Mary Nash, John Wiley Price, Mark McPherson, Ivory Hall, Chess Jones, and the choir of Mt Zion baptist church

Special Thanks: Carol Francois, Clay Jenkins, Edward Shore, the residents of Sandbranch, Catherine Girardeau, Jackson Roach, and Jake Warga

Sounds: Slow Sad Tones by TJ Mothy and Wind Howl 2 by swiftoid


Ghost Temples: The Spirit of Taiwan

Some people pray to gods, but other people pray to ghosts. In this story, Katie Lan explores the temples and folk religion in Taiwan, where her parents and the rest of her family is from. Here, she explores ghost temples and even learns to pray to a dog?

Producer: Katie Lan

Music: 晶晶 1969 鄧麗君