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593
August 5, 2016

Don’t Have to Live Like a Refugee

We return to Greece with stories of people trying to move on with their lives in whatever way they can. We meet a couple who fell in love even though they weren't expecting anything like that to happen, and even though her family didn't approve. We also meet a shopkeeper in a camp who's running what amounts to a cigarette charity. (Part One)

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Interactive Tour

Boar Traps, Beaches, and a Baseball Stadium

A team from This American Life visited five refugee camps in Greece, and sent a group of architects and engineers to capture each camp.

More in this Series

592
July 29, 2016

Are We There Yet?

Prologue

A couple guys show off a pretty creative invention. (2 minutes)




By

Ira Glass
Act One

You Just Keep on Pushing My Love Over the Borderline

There are young single men and women at the camps, and there’s some flirting for sure. But usually it doesn’t seem to go very far. One of our producers Sean Cole met a couple camped out at a gas station. (14 1/2 minutes)

By

Sean Cole
Act Two

Thank You for Smoking

People don’t have a lot of money in the refugee camps, and our producer Miki Meek went to see what that’s like at a camp that’s been built on the grounds of an abandoned psychiatric hospital. About 1,300 people are living there. They’re Yazidi, a religious minority from Iraq. (9 minutes)

By

Miki Meek
Act Three

Last Resort

There’s a camp trying to set the gold standard for what refugee camps are to be. It’s in an actual beach vacation resort. Joanna Kakissis went there. (18 minutes)

By

Joanna Kakissis
Act Four

Take Another Little Piece of My Heart

One night at L-M Village, a panic-struck man walked up to Robyn Semien from our staff. He said his wife had a medical problem. (16 minutes)

By

Robyn Semien
Act Five

Smile, You’re on Handmade Camera

Sean hit up this one piece of coverage that wasn’t like any of the others. He got a little obsessed with it. (13 minutes) Follow refugees.tv on Facebook.

By

Sean Cole

Song:

“Refugee” by Tom Petty
Act Extra

Refugee Camps in Greece: How to Help

Related

If you enjoyed this episode, you may like these
609: It’s Working Out Very Nicely
Feb. 3, 2017

Act One: Basket of Deportables

The news of the executive order broke while immigrants and refugees were mid-flight.
718: Same Bed, Different Dreams (2020)
Sept. 25, 2020

Act One: Dream Weevil

Kim Jong-Il loved movies, but hated all the movies made in North Korea. So he kidnapped a famous South Korean director and his ex-wife—a South Korean film star—locked them up in a villa in North Korea, and forced them to make movies for him. Nancy Updike tells the story.
308: Star-Crossed Love
Feb. 10, 2006

Act One: Prisoner Of Love

Shant Kenderian reads from his memoir 1001 Nights In the Iraqi Army: The True Story of a Chicago Student Held as a POW By the Americans During Desert Storm.

Staff Recommendations

View all
492
Apr. 12, 2013

Dr. Gilmer and Mr. Hyde

Did a beloved family doctor with no criminal history suddenly up and strangle his own father?

192
Aug. 31, 2001

Meet the Pros

The story of one man's journey from obscurity to international professional celebrity.

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This American Life is produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago and delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange.

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