We use cookies and other tracking technologies to enhance your browsing experience. If you continue to use our site, you agree to the use of such cookies. For more info, see our privacy policy.
Skip to main content

Hi. We love you. Be our Life Partner.

Support the show to get ad-free listening, bonus content, and our new Greatest Hits Archive.

Learn more
This American Life Partners logo
00:00
00:00
  • Transcript
  • Share
This American Life
  • Life Partners
  • How to Listen
  • Episodes
  • Recommended
  • About
    • Overview
    • Staff
    • Announcements
    • Fellowships
    • Jobs
    • Music
    • Make Radio
    • On The Road
    • FAQ
    • Submissions
    • Merch
    • Contact Us
    • Our Other Shows
  • Merch
  • Follow Us
  • Life Partners
Full episode
411: First Contact
Act Two

Brothers from Another Planet

  • Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe in Apple Podcasts
  • Transcript
Sara Blaisdell tells the story of a group of Iraqi brothers whom her husband Sam befriended over the internet, and has been speaking with weekly for almost seven years. Their surprisingly intimate relationship has pulled Sam into a world that few Americans can access. (23 minutes)

By

Sara Blaisdell

More in Iraq

View all
607: Didn’t We Solve This One?
Jan. 6, 2017

Act Two: He’s Making a List

Nancy returns with a story that explains the origins of the special visa program for interpreters.
607: Didn’t We Solve This One?
Jan. 6, 2017

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.
593: Don’t Have to Live Like a Refugee
Aug. 5, 2016

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

View all
640
Mar. 2, 2018

Five Women

A different kind of #MeToo story, about several women who worked for the same man.

266
June 4, 2004

I'm From the Private Sector and I'm Here to Help

Nancy Updike goes to Iraq to try to figure out what it's like to be a private citizen working in the middle of a war zone.

This American Life

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

  • How to Listen
  • Episodes
  • Recommended
  • About
    • Overview
    • Staff
    • Announcements
    • Fellowships
    • Jobs
    • Music
    • Make Radio
    • On The Road
    • FAQ
    • Submissions
    • Merch
    • Contact Us
    • Our Other Shows
  • Merch
  • Contact
  • Life Partners
  • Serial
  • S-Town
© 1995 - 2025 This American Life Privacy Policy | Terms of Use

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

Subscribe

  • on Spotify
  • in Apple Podcasts

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email