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Full episode
316: The Cat Came Back
Act Four

Refugee Cat

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We end this show about people and animals who return against all odds with a story about some people who fear they may not be able to return: New Orleans public housing residents whose homes were damaged by Hurricane Katrina and now are slated for demolition by HUD. New Orleans resident Cheryl Wagner asks who should be more ashamed of themselves: The people who think that the public housing complexes in New Orleans should be torn down, or the ones who think they should stay. (7 minutes)

By

Cheryl Wagner

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729: Making the Cut
Jan. 8, 2021

Act Three: Reluctant Bureaucrats

Reporter Katie Mingle wonders why the 211 hotline in the San Francisco Bay Area for people experiencing homelessness so often turns out to be a dead end for them.
664: The Room of Requirement
Dec. 28, 2018

Act Three: Growing Shelf-Awareness

Lydia Sigwarth spent a lot of time in her public library growing up – all day, almost every day, for six months straight.
446: Living Without (2011)
Sept. 16, 2011

Act Three: The Call Of The Great Indoors

Every week, Chelsea Merz has lunch with a homeless man named Matthew, in the same restaurant.

More by Cheryl Wagner

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307: In the Shadow of the City (2006)
Feb. 3, 2006

Act Two: The Thin Gray Line

In New Orleans, visitors can take a bus tour called "HURRICANE KATRINA: AMERICA'S GREATEST CATASTROPHE," put on by the Gray Line bus company.
296: After the Flood
Sept. 9, 2005

Act Four: Diaspora

Hundreds of thousands of Gulf residents evacuated before the storm and followed the whole thing from afar.
184: Neighbors
May 11, 2001

Act Two: The Girl Next Door

What happens when the kid next door wants to be your new friend...and comes over, tries to talk to you, befriends your dog.
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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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