Feet In Two Worlds

This week, an interview and live performance with Queens-based father-son musicians Ramon Ponce Sr. and Jr., co-founders of Mariachi Academy of New York.

This week, FI2W contributor Aswini Anburajan speaks with Kenyan student Brian Nguah, creator of the social website Immilounge, an online community for the immigrant experience in America.

This week, John Rudolph speaks with Pilar Marrero of La Opinion and independent journalist Valeria Fernandez.

In 2008 Latino voters played a key role in sending Barack Obama to the White House.  Will they do it again this year? On this podcast, a midsummer snapshot of Latino voters.   Joining us on the phone from her office in Houston is Sylvia Manzano, a senior analyst with the polling firm Latino Decisions.

For Filipino immigrants in the U.S. one of the best ways to bring back the feeling of home is to dig into a meal of burgers, milkshakes and fried chicken. On this Food in 2 Worlds podcast, John Rudolph and Aurora Almendral take you to Jersey City for the grand opening of a Filipino fast food restaurant called Jollibee.

Whether you're looking for Jersey tomatoes, apples from upstate New York, or fresh fish caught off Long Island, you'll find it at the Union Square Greenmarket, the center of New York's regional food scene. And chances are the person selling you the food is an immigrant. We sent a group of journalists and writers in our fellowship program to Union Square, equipped with recorders and microphones. They produced a series of audio postcards for this episode of the FI2W podcast.

Journalist Valeria Fernandez joins FI2W's John Rudolph for a discussion on the impact that the Supreme Court ruling on SB1070 is having on immigrant communities in Arizona.

Since 1970 voters in Harlem have sent Congressman Charles Rangel to represent them in Congress. Now he’s in a tough battle for reelection in a newly redrawn congressional district with a Latino majority.  55 per cent of the voters in New York’s 13th congressional district are Hispanic.  This is one of main challenges facing Congressman Rangel in his reelection bid.  Rangel was one of the founders of the Congressional Black Caucus, and he’s been a leading voice for African Americans in Congress.  On Tuesday June 26 Rangel faces four challengers in New York’s Democratic Primary, and he joins us on this week's podcast.

For Latinos, what could possibly be funny about the 2012 election? For an answer, Jack Tomas joins us on this podcast. He's  a blogger and film maker who writes about politics and other subjects from a Latino perspective, often using satire to make his point.  Jack is a new contributor to the Feet in 2 Worlds blog, and will be writing commentaries and new analysis for us on a regular basis.

For Haitian men immigrating to the US can open doors, including the door to the kitchen. For this Food in 2 Worlds podcast, Nadege Fleurimond, author of Taste of Life: A Culinary Memoir, discusses how life in the US has dramatically changed the way some Haitian men think about their role in the kitchen.

FI2W's John Rudolph is joined this week by the new editor of Voices of NY, Indrani Sen.

Is it wrong to call someone who is in the country without papers an "illegal immigrant" or an "illegal alien"? These terms are considered offensive and inaccurate by many people.  A number of news organizations have stopped using these terms, opting instead to use the words, "undocumented immigrant". On this podcast, we're joined by Julia Preston, national immigration correspondent for the New York Times, and Monica Novoa, writer for Colorlines, and organizer of the "Drop the I-Word" Campaign.

This week's podcast features a story produced by Abdulai Bah for our radio partner WNYC. In it, Bah explains how West African immigrants in the U.S. who use free conference-call services — like those used in office meetings — are hosting free radio shows that can be dialed into from anywhere in the country.

In this FI2W podcast, John Rudolph is joined by reporter Theresa Loong, who introduces us to Kim Ima, whose Jewish and Japanese heritage inspired her to create NYC's Treats Truck.

This week, an update on the story of John Liu, as told by a Chinese reporter who is covering New York City’s embattled Comptroller. On this podcast, our guest is Rong Xiaoqing, a reporter with the Chinese-language newspaper Sing Tao Daily, and a contributor to Feet in 2 Worlds.

For certain immigrants and minorities in New York, obesity is on the rise, and it’s a major health risk.   Healthy cooking classes are one way people are being encouraged to lose weight and live healthier lives. On this Food in Two Worlds podcast, we take a look at how healthy eating messages are reaching immigrants in New York City, and whether or not they’re effective. We're joined by journalist Juhie Bhatia, who has been reporting on this subject for Feet in Two Worlds.  Juhie is the managing editor of Women’s e-news. Also in the studio is  Christina McGeough, a bilingual nutritionist at the Institute for Family Health in the Bronx, where 80 percent of her patients are minorities and include many immigrants.

Of all the people in the United States held behind bars, the fastest growing segment of the incarcerated population is immigrants.  Some 400-thousand immigrants are detained every year.  The immigrant detention system is a key element of the Obama administration’s policy that has resulted in the deportation of record numbers of immigrants—those who are undocumented as well as many who are in the country legally. Recently Feet in Two Worlds held a forum at the New School in New York focused on immigrant detentions.  In this podcast, you'll hear excerpts from remarks by the panelists: journalist Maria Hinojosa; journalist Valeria Fernandez; Jackie Vimo, director of advocacy for the New York Immigration Coalition; and Amy Gottlieb,  director of the American Friends Service Committee Immigrant Rights program in Newark, New Jersey. The moderator was FI2W's John Rudolph.

Radio Ambulante is described as "This American Life in Spanish". This week, novelist Daniel Alarcon and journalist Annie Correal talk about a new radio project that features stories from Latin America with a public radio twist.

Polish food and Chinese food don’t have much in common, but there’s one ingredient that unites these two cuisines.  It’s a flavor that reminds immigrants of home, no matter where they come from, whether it’s Africa, Asia, Latin America or Eastern Europe. And the funny thing is it doesn’t come from any of those places. On today’s Food in Two Worlds podcast,  FI2W reporter Aurora Almendral talks about Maggi Seasoning, a condiment that inspires devotion across the globe and in immigrant kitchens across the country.

With Greece’s economy reeling and its unemployment rate about 18 percent, some Greeks are trying their luck in the U.S. — especially true in the stronghold of Astoria, Queens, where Greek stores, restaurants and travel agencies dot Ditmars Boulevard and 31st Street. In this podcast, journalist Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska reports from Queens in a radio story originally broadcast on WNYC.