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Full episode
600: Will I Know Anyone at This Party?
Act One

Party in the U.S.A.

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One way to understand the split inside the Republican party is to look at immigration. It’s this urgent, emotional issue for so much of the party these days. But why? Over the past year, as producer Zoe Chace has covered the election, she has wondered, why immigration NOW? She had a hard time getting any answers — and then she stumbled upon a small city in Minnesota called St. Cloud.

Zoe connects the anti-immigrant sentiment in St. Cloud with a national network of organizations promoting anti-Muslim views and spreading fear about Sharia law. We hear how the Somali immigrants in town deal with their neighbors’ fears. And then a violent attack at a local mall inflames both sides. (44 minutes)

By

Zoe Chace

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859: Chaos Graph
Apr. 25, 2025

Act Two: Solving For Where

A woman watches her partner get taken in handcuffs with no explanation.
857: Museum of Now
Mar. 28, 2025

Exhibit Two

Producer Aviva DeKornfeld talks to Ranjani Srinivasan, who tells the story of how her life was transformed over five days via a series of events that started out confusing and escalated to frightening. (25 minutes)
857: Museum of Now
Mar. 28, 2025

Exhibit Three

Producer Laura Starecheski takes us inside one dramatic court hearing on the Trump administration’s executive order and new policy banning transgender people from serving in the military.

More by Zoe Chace

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774: The Pink House at the Center of the World
July 1, 2022

Act Two: Welcome to Illinois—Abortion Oasis

Our producer Zoe Chace goes to Fairview Heights, Illinois, where Planned Parenthood has opened a massive new abortion clinic just across the river from Missouri.
774: The Pink House at the Center of the World
July 1, 2022

Act Three: The Abortion Desert Across the River

Zoe Chace spends time with a lawmaker in Missouri on the day Roe fell who’d worked her whole life for this moment and can’t believe it’s really here.
767: Do Not Go Gentle
Apr. 8, 2022

Act One: The Brothers Harangazo

Producer Zoe Chace spends time with two brothers in Hungary, trying to win an election that’s basically impossible for them to win.
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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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