Fresh Air

Mahmoud Khalil’s 104 days in ICE Detention

I was born and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, holding temporary cards or ID cards. It was written on a temporary ID card for Palestinian refugees. Then when I fled to Lebanon, the same happened when I had to renew my residency every year because it was a temporary residency. So to be in the United States and for the first time in my life having, you know, something written on it permanent, it meant to me stability. It meant to me that I finally would have a chance to actually plan for more than next year or next month.

Fresh Air

Mahmoud Khalil’s 104 days in ICE Detention

But where was home? Syria, where I was born but couldn't return to? Germany, where my family lived but I had no right to stay? Algeria, where I had a passport but whose soil I barely knew? America, which had given me a green card and then snatched me off the street? Or Palestine, the only answer that ever felt true, the only place that ever made sense, even though I had never set foot there.

Book of the Day

Chang-Rae Lee on whether his new novel 'A Tender Age' is autobiographical

Everybody sizing one another up as being fresher off the boat, more foreign and weird. These were critical determinations, often coming down to the strangeness of some kid's sneakers or shirt or haircut. I don't recall any of the sort of taunting and name-calling we had at the apartment complex, but there was patent discrimination.

Book of the Day

In 'The Foursome,' conjoined twins marry two sisters — and that's just the beginning

We existed in an uneasy in-between, on the fringes of polite society, yet bound by its rules.

Fresh Air

Best Of: 'Spider-Man' dir. Destin Daniel Cretton / Novelist Harriet Clark

And it also just feels so, to me, so relatable. At that stage in life, I remember being in those parties. I remember being surrounded by people who all seem like they have it together and seem like they are having the time of their lives. And I remember certain times feeling very alone in the middle of it.

TED

How I Turn Joy into Art | Yinka Ilori | TED

No one spoke about personal achievement. It was always about people, and places, and shared experiences.

Book of the Day

'Etna' author Paul Yoon on narrating war through a dog's eyes | NPR's Book of the Day

His original goal is he wants to go to a physical place. He wants to go home because that's where he feels he belongs. But along the way, I think he learns that what's more important is he needs a pack and that everyone needs a pack.

Fresh Air

‘Spider-Man’ director Destin Daniel Cretton

I remember being in those parties. I remember feeling- being surrounded by people who all seem like they have it together and seem like they are having the time of their lives. And I remember certain times feeling very alone in the middle of it.

Hidden Brain

Waking Up Your Spiritual Brain: Part 1

People who have a lot of awe in their lives tend to feel that they are part of something larger than themselves. And that sense of being part of something larger — whether it's a religion, a community, or the natural world — seems to be deeply connected to well-being.

Book of the Day

In 'Names Have Been Changed,' a criminal on the run confesses her story on a podcast

The more time passes, the more she really just wants someone to kind of acknowledge her real name. I think in one of the first few things she tells us in the book is, "I just wish someone would call me by my real name." It's been about 10 years that she's been on the run. And so, it's almost like she's lost sight of herself in that process of hurtling forward, you know, around the globe.

Hidden Brain

A Secret Source of Connection

Most of us think about connection in terms of talking — sharing our experiences, finding common ground, opening up to one another. But researchers have found that one of the most powerful sources of connection isn't talking at all. It's doing things together, side by side, in silence.

Book of the Day

Laverne Cox on her childhood, 'Walden' and her new memoir 'Transcendent'

I wanted to transcend how people see me because I was assigned male at birth and because I'm black and poor in the South. I want to transcend this body. I want to transcend like time and space. And I finally had a word for what I longed to do and what I felt like I was here to do.

Hidden Brain

A Secret Source of Connection

We often think of connection as something that requires vulnerability or deep conversation, but research suggests that even brief, seemingly trivial interactions with strangers — a nod from a passerby, a short exchange with a barista — can meaningfully boost our sense of belonging. The problem is that most of us opt out of these moments, assuming the other person would rather be left alone. But studies find we are systematically wrong about this: strangers are far more interested in connecting with us than we predict.

TED

Reimagining Traditional Architecture for Modern Needs | Riyad Joucka | TED

What disappears isn't just people and buildings, it's memory, belonging, culture. I'm not here with a simple fix. What I'm saying is we must rebuild, but we need to rebuild with identity in mind.

It's Been a Minute

Why Queer Third Spaces Matter | It's Been a Minute

During the AIDS crisis, uh restaurants were uh makeshift chapels and had memorial services for people who died. Um at the same time restaurants are places where you can be uh teenager and you're too young to get into a bar or a nightclub, but you can hang out at a gay diner with your friends. On the flip side, you can be an elder and the music at the clubs is too loud and it's too expensive and you feel invisible at a gay bar or a gay club, but at a gay restaurant you can feel seen.

It's Been a Minute

Generative AI's race problem

I don't think that we have a lot of opportunities or enough opportunities to feel meaningfully seen. I can't really blame anybody for saying, 'Oh, this song moves me. This song makes me feel seen.' when we're in a media climate where we don't really have as many opportunities as I would like for us to feel meaningfully seen.

Book of the Day

In 'The Foursome,' conjoined twins marry two sisters — and that’s just the beginning

We existed in an uneasy in-between on the fringes of polite society, yet not bound by its rules.

It's Been a Minute

The ugly truth of America's expensive homes | It's Been A Minute

The homes that most Americans live in are not designed to make people really have any kind of community or connection or broader place in the world. And so when we watch these homes on TV, I think we get to we get a taste of that.

Fresh Air

Arsenio Hall

I felt insatiably black and profoundly alone. To be 100% yourself and still that self be rejected.