Shows
Asymptote PodcastAsymptote Podcast: In Conversation with Jamal SaeedJoin us today for a heartfelt conversation with exiled Syrian author Jamal Saeed, author of the 2022 autobiography My Road from Damascus (ECW Press, Toronto). Podcast Editor Vincent Hostak recently sat down with Saeed, now based in Canada, to discuss his devastating short story, a highlight of our recent Summer 2024 edition. Written amidst the ongoing genocide in Gaza […]
2024-08-2926 minAsymptote PodcastAsymptote Podcast: In Conversation with Dan Beachy-QuickTo American poet and translator Dan Beachy-Quick, translations of Greek poets from the lyric and philosophical traditions are an opportunity to “use the eye to break apart the mind and remind us that we have a mouth to sing another’s song.” In this new Asymptote podcast episode, Beachy-Quick and Podcast Editor Vincent Hostak discuss the ongoing resonance of these songs in […]
2024-07-0539 minAsymptote PodcastAsymptote Podcast: In Conversation with Matthew Landrum on Faroese Writer Anna Malan JógvansdóttirIn today’s thrilling conversation with author and translator Matthew Landrum, Podcast Editor Vincent Hostak explores the compelling poetry of Anna Malan Jógvansdóttir and the renaissance of Faroese literature as spotlighted in Asymptote’s Spring issue. Nine Faroese authors from multiple generations are represented in our Special Feature organized in partnership with FarLit. The showcase, which readers can access here, affords a rare glimpse […]
2024-05-3025 minAsymptote PodcastAsymptote Podcast: In Conversation with Kristin VegoIn the second podcast episode centering on contributors to Asymptote’s landmark 50th issue, Danish-Norwegian author Kristin Vego joins Podcast Editor Vincent Hostak in conversation. Her story, “All Things Lovely,” as translated by Jennifer Russell, represents her debut in the English language. Vego’s story also arrives at a moment when Norwegian literature is receiving global attention with last […]
2024-03-0800 minAsymptote PodcastAsymptote Podcast: In Conversation with David UngerEsteemed translator David Unger joins our new Podcast Editor Vincent Hostak for a conversation with readings of the poetry of Jaime Barrios Carillo. Born in Guatemala City in 1954 and living in Stockholm since 1981, Carrillo is known principally as a writer and columnist. His Two Poems from the Spanish Language volume Ángeles sin dios (Angels Without […]
2024-02-0100 min
Crossings|the Refugee Experience in AmericaEpisode 14_Tiyya Foundation & Flavors From AfarTiyya was founded by refuges and women of color, creates communities of support and organizes access to economic opportunities and critical resources for immigrants, refugees, and displaced indigenous communities. We visit with the organization’s Director of Operations Shukry Cattan and explore the roots of the foundation and its social enterprise programs serving the immigrant, refugee and displaced indigenous communities in Orange County and Los Angeles. One of those programs featured in our conversation today is Flavors from Afar, a unique catering and brick and mortar restaurant in Los Angeles’ Little Ethiopia neighborhood. We’ll also hear from a chef a...
2022-12-0344 minCrossings|the Refugee Experience in AmericaWade in the Water_A Visit with Dr. Arthur C. JonesIn this episode, with guest interviewer Pauletta Jackson, we visit with Dr. Arthur C. Jones, founder of the Spirituals Project and author of Wade in the Water: the Wisdom of the Spirituals. Dr. Jones introduces us to the importance of these songs, part of the cultural heritage of enslaved Africans, how the practice of singing became significant in resistance, survival and the reinforcement of community in times of great struggle. Dr. Jones discusses how these songs carry forward to generations who find these and new meanings in the music while enriching both the listeners and the artists who sing th...
2022-10-0339 min
Crossings|the Refugee Experience in AmericaEpisode 12 Keep Going-Harriet Tubman on her 200th BirthdayIn this March 2022 episode we celebrate the life of Harriet Tubman during the month of her 200th birthday. Tubman was, of course, one of the most prominent “conductors” on the Underground Railroad and a woman who self-emancipated from the bondage of slavery. But she was also the first American woman to lead a major military operation in wartime (as a volunteer), a nurse/healer, and recruited black soldiers for the Union war effort. She led humanitarian efforts to bring freedom seekers health services at Fort Monroe. These African Americans were among the Civil War's refugees who found themselves at a site...
2022-03-3013 minCrossings|the Refugee Experience in AmericaEpisode 11_International Underground Railroad MonthIn 2019 the National Park Service created a recognition of the timeless significance of the Underground Railroad. It coincides with the month of September when notable abolitionists self-emancipation. We’re proud to be associated with a campaign to add Colorado to the now 12 US states with an official proclamation naming September International Underground Railroad. Guest Roger and Susan Billotte, describe the process of bring the commemoration to the Governor’s office with sponsorship from the oldest predominantly African American Church in the Rocky Mountain Region. Part of Crossings-Refugees’ group of episodes exploring the international abolitionist movement, the Underground Railroad and Civil W...
2021-09-0123 minCrossings|the Refugee Experience in AmericaEpisode 10_Exploring Juneteenth with Isaac PointsIn this episode we visit with Isaac Points who was intrinsic to the long running Five Points Juneteenth Celebration in Denver. One of the largest in the country, this celebration was previously centered in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood. The area is rich in African American cultural history but was also a community historically victimized by Redlining practices. Isaac shares his experience growing up in the community, helping to establish the celebration, and his reflections on Abolitionist movements framed as a refugee migration within our own country.
This episode also describes our coming series of episodes on Ab...
2021-06-1427 minCrossings|the Refugee Experience in AmericaEpisode 9_Songs of Migration in BelgiumIn late December 2020 we interviewed Marieke Slovin Lewis and Sarah Reader Harris who spoke about their project lifting the stories of refugees and asylees into songs. Leveraging Sarah’s experience as a poet/author, Marieke’s musical training and foundations in participative storytelling, they met weekly with residents at Belgium’s largest refugee arrival center, Le Petit-Château. Prior to the pandemic, on Monday afternoons, a courtyard of the castle-like structure along the Canal de Bruxelles was filled with music and singing in as many as ten languages. Marieke and Sarah recount a 3+ year project as poet-songwriters in residence, a journ...
2021-05-0741 minCrossings|the Refugee Experience in AmericaEpisode 8-Harvesting Hope in Aurora ColoradoProject Worthmore is a refugee service organization with a unique collective approach to feeding newcomers, providing educational services, community navigation, and employment on an urban farm and within a dental wellness operation. We visited with Co-Founder and Executive Director Frank Anello during the third week of a staged reopening. We tour the fields and meet some of the skilled farmers planting, harvesting and providing fresh food through a food share program.
2020-07-0138 minCrossings|the Refugee Experience in AmericaEpisode 7_RefuSHE: Lives and Fashion ReimaginedWe are excited add our seventh episode featuring Kenya/Chicago based organization RefuSHE. We look at their mission to provide a supportive community for extremely vulnerable girls and women in Africa through holistic programs to help these women learn, grow and become leaders. We recorded our interview with Executive Director Geoffrey Thige during the week of their event Fashion Challenge: Reimagined event. The 3-day fashion challenge celebrates young women who have been part of the Artisan Collective, a program fostering leadership and business skills through fabric production
2020-06-2628 minCrossings|the Refugee Experience in AmericaEpisode 6_Refugees and COVID-19This is an informational episode which looks at the impact the global pandemic is having on refugee populations. An overview of responses from organizations including the World Health Organization, the UN High Commission on Refugees, the International Rescue Committee, and OXFAM International. These organizations use their global reach to mount large scale efforts to identify cases of coronavirus & mitigate the spread among refugee populations. They are also assuring that information on the pandemic reaches vulnerable populations through a myriad of communication methods (from the high tech to town criers). Includes clips from the UN and World Health Organization’s publi...
2020-06-0417 min
Crossings|the Refugee Experience in AmericaEpisode Five_A Two Room Schoolhouse on the North ShoreMadonna Mission's Founder and CEO calls their small office and classroom space near Loyola Park, Chicago a "two room schoolhouse." Growing from a few clients to serving sixty refugee women and their families, Madonna Mission provides tutoring during the school year and Summer programming for school aged children. A core program in English as a Second Language helps refugee women in particular navigate life, work, health services, and other practical realities in their new homes. The organization serves a diverse population from Burma, Syria and other national origins. We interviewed the energetic Lynn Gordon about her organization's purpose, born of he...
2020-05-1422 min
Crossings|the Refugee Experience in AmericaRefugee Mental Health, Trauma and RecoveryThis is the story of how hard work, experience and loving hearts help refugee populations achieve greater mental wellness and stability as they find new homes in Chicago. Refugees carry pre and post migration stress and experience traumas both before and after their arrivals. Fortunately talented professional counselors, clinicians and clinical managers are uniquely trained to administer therapies and related services to these communities. We visit with two professionals working on the ground with these populations: Guylaine Herzig, Clinical Counselor, Refugee & Immigrant Community Services (RICS) at the Heartland Alliance; and Amy Dix, Clinical Manager at Heartland Alliance Refugee Health Prog...
2020-04-1845 min
Crossings|the Refugee Experience in AmericaEpisode 3 Finding My America at the American Writers MuseumWe continue our tour of the refugee experience in Sweet Home Chicago. We visit with museum president Carey Cranston, and listen in on museum recordings from personal interviews featuring contemporary writers Ngozi Ukazu, Viet Thanh Nguyen and Dina Nayeri. We also read from written vignettes contributed by visitors who join the experiment by sharing their immigrant or refugee stories. The stage is set as we hear from perhaps more familiar voices from America's literary history: Updike, Wright, Dickinson, Dos Passos and McCullers. Together with these new voices our cultural identity is influenced, continually develops and is transformed through American artis...
2020-02-0734 min
Crossings|the Refugee Experience in AmericaResettlement 101 from Chicago_Heartland AllianceOn a Friday evening rideshare in Chicago our host learns firsthand the cutural importance of refugees to our American community. By coincidence, this refugee's American story is tied to the Heartland Alliance, the subject of our episode and interview. Learn how refugees and asylees become a part of one of the most diverse communities in the country as they find their sweet home Chicago. An update on the Presidential determination of September 2019.
2020-01-2445 minCrossings|the Refugee Experience in AmericaWe Made ThisFor our pilot episode we take our listeners to the training workshop and boutique supporting We Made This. We Made This is a refugee women's sewing training program designed to support women who have limited access to community development and integration. It provides them the opportunity to participate in a holistic community assisting them with their journey to establish new lives in America. It operates within the African Community Center in Denver, Colorado, a Refugee Resettlement Agency, serving refugees from war and persecution in their home countries. Their parent company is the Ethiopian Community Development Corporation. The ACC serves some...
2019-10-2335 min
The Midnight Myth PodcastEpisode 25: What an Artist | Doctor Who, Vincent and the Doctor & 19th Century ArtDerek and Laurel have returned from traveling the great wide world and bring you another episode about a favorite character who travels the great wide universe. In our second Doctor Who case study, we focus not only on the Doctor himself, but an unexpected friend, the painter Vincent Van Gogh. In Season 5, Episode 10 of the beloved BBC series, we explore questions of madness, alienation, loneliness, and ecstatic joy. Most importantly, we ask, what does it take to be a truly great artist?
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2017-08-0300 min