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688
November 15, 2019

The Out Crowd

Reports from the frontlines of the Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" asylum policy. We hear from asylum seekers waiting across the border in Mexico, in a makeshift refugee camp,  and from the officers who sent them there to wait in the first place. 

This episode won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for audio reporting, the first ever given for audio journalism.

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Photo Illustration: Lola Dupre; Photograph: Ira Glass

Note: The internet version of this episode contains un-beeped curse words. BEEPED VERSION.

Prologue

Prologue

Host Ira Glass and Aviva DeKornfeld visits refugee camps we don’t call refugee camps—right on our country’s doorstep. (14 minutes)  

By

Ira Glass
Aviva DeKornfeld
Act One

Goodbye, Stranger

Los Angeles Times reporter Molly O’Toole talks to U.S. asylum officers—the people who end up sending migrants back to Mexico. And they don’t feel good about it. This story is a collaboration with the Los Angeles Times. Read Molly's story here. (23 minutes)

By

Molly O’Toole
Act Two

Take the Long Way Home

Reporter Emily Green happens to meet a man being sent back to Mexico who tells her he’s afraid of being kidnapped—and then, he gets kidnapped. Read Emily's report on Vice.  (18 minutes)

By

Emily Green

Song:

“These Are My People” by Johnny Cash 

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Act Four: We Keep the Wall Between Us As We Go

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124: Welcome to America
Mar. 19, 1999

Act Two: Are Movies Stronger Than Communism?

This is a story of a father and son—told by the son, Juan Zaldivar, who was born in Cuba.
353: The Audacity of Government
Mar. 28, 2008

Act One: The Prez Vs. The Commish.

Ira Glass tells the story of a little-known treaty dispute with far-reaching ramifications for our understanding of executive power.

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The startling rise of the number of people on disability in America.

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