Journeys Podcast

Our third episode of Journeys Season 2 features Simone Dichiara, an immigrant from Italy who studies stars, supernovas, and black holes. Listen to the episode to hear more about Simone’s journey to becoming an astronomer and the work he does now on observing the universe.

Gerardo Dominguez is a newly naturalized US citizen, but on some level, El Salvador will always be home. In this latest episode of KAMA Journeys, Gerardo shares the relief and contemplation that comes hand-in-hand with a new passport.

Music: Ketsa - Acid Road

And check out Gerardo’s company, District Spanish, an academy that offers online classes with native Spanish speakers. You can get in touch with them via email, or contact Gerardo directly.

Our first episode of Journeys Season 2 features Golara Haghtalab, an immigrant from Iran who authored Immigrant: Courage Required, a memoir that explores the impact of change and adaptation on a courageous life. Listen to the episode to hear more about Golara’s experimental artistic endeavors, her story of reinvention, and how she decided to publish her story.

Music: Ketsa - Acid Road

In the final episode of our min-series highlighting the voices of Afghan refugees, Abdul Noori shares his story of courage, the pain he experienced when separating from his family, and his commitment to helping others in his same situation. He shares his rawness and emotion of moving to a new country alone, while fearing for his families’ life everyday back in Afghanistan.

Music: Ketsa - Acid Road

In the third installment of our mini-season featuring Afghan refugees, Zarmina Hamidi tells the story of how she moved to the US as a refugee with her siblings and parents in 1988. Having spent most of her life in Virginia, she’s had to learn to balance the identity that she was born with: Afghan and the identity she adopted: American. As a refugee caseworker, mother, and actress, Zarmina wears a lot of hats. She says her father, and his lessons of compassion, are with her every step of the day.

Music: Ketsa - Acid Road

In the second installment of our mini-season featuring Afghan refugees, Javaid Rafat discusses the history of Afghanistan leading up to the government being overthrown and his experience moving to the U.S. with his family 2016. Javaid provides an insider's look into how it was working for an international organization in Afghanistan, and discusses his family's experience with the refugee crisis that took place at the end of 2021.

Music: Ketsa - Acid Road

In the first installment of our mini-season featuring Afghan refugees, Rahela Rezaie talks about how to build the courage it takes to start something new. After 10 years in the U.S., she’s just finished a manuscript for her autobiographical novel tentatively titled The Golden Cage, where she explores the courage through the eyes of Mahtab, a young woman who fights for life, love and human rights in Kabul, Afghanistan. Listen to the episode to hear Rahela’s thoughts on the connection between courage and culture.

Music: Ketsa - Acid Road

The U.S. is the land of opportunity — for people to explore their strengths, discover their talents, and pursue the American dream. But while talent is universal, opportunity is not, according to Helena Guerra in our final episode of season 1. Listen to the episode to find out how Helena connects the dots between her own journey to the U.S. with that of the undocumented, unaccompanied migrant children she works as a legal assistant for CAIR Coalition in D.C. Helena turns to her roots in Portugal to reflect on what freedom means to her, and what belonging might mean to all of us. Music: Acid Road - Ketsa

Born to Ukrainian immigrant parents and raised in Ellicott City, Maryland, Leeza Malachevsky talks about the challenges of navigating generational trauma and unlearning mental health stigma that children of immigrants often experience. Listen to the episode to hear what Leeza has learned about setting boundaries, re-parenting herself with compassion, and honoring her own needs.

Music: Ketsa - Acid Road

Join us on this week’s episode to hear how Fabiola Delgado, originally trained in human rights law, began working at the Smithsonian, and how she continues to support human rights through art. Music: Ketsa - Acid Road