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. During the first Persian Gulf war, Shant (reluctantly) fought for Saddam Hussein. After he was captured by the Americans, he and a female soldier fell for each other. His book is an eBook. (25 minutes)
More in Iraq
Act Two: He’s Making a List
Nancy returns with a story that explains the origins of the special visa program for interpreters.
Act One: Good Things Come to Those Who Wait. But Not Always.
An Iraqi translator named Sarah has been trying to get to the U.S. for eight years.
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.
Staff Recommendations
The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar
In 1912, a four-year-old boy went missing in Louisiana. Eight months later, he was found. But two grief-stricken mothers both claimed the same boy as their own.
The Giant Pool of Money
The surprisingly entertaining story of how the U.S. got itself into a housing crisis.