- This episode first aired in October of 2019. -

Lowriders are big in Japan.

These days, the customized, slow and low to the ground cars and bikes can be found almost anywhere. Lowriding is a culture created by Chicanos and exported all over the world.

But at the border, the lowrider scene is a lifeline. For lots of people here, lowriders are much more than just a hobby.

The culture that’s coalesced around lowriders on both sides of the border has offered some people here salvation. It’s given new meaning and purpose to peoples’ lives — from deportees in Tijuana to military veterans struggling with PTSD in San Diego.

In this episode of "Only Here," a KPBS podcast about art, culture and life at the Western Hemisphere’s busiest border crossing, we bring you a story about lowriders as life rafts.