Many Roads to Here

In the early 1900s, Rani Bagai’s grandparents arrived in California ready to start a new life. But citizenship requirements and prejudice against   Indian-Americans made settling in more difficult. In this conversation, historian Johanna Ogden speaks with Rani about her grandparents’ fraught immigration history, anti-colonial movements on the American West Coast, and how the goalposts for American citizenship in the 20th century kept getting moved. Jo is an independent historian who focuses on South Asian history in Oregon, especially the formation of the Ghadar party. These two women talked in June 2021 at the Japanese American Museum of Oregon.

For sensitive listeners, please be warned that this episode contains mentions of suicide.

Many Roads to Here is a production of The Immigrant Story. Many thanks to Rani Bagai and Johanna Ogden for their time and wisdom, and to the Japanese American Museum of Oregon for allowing us to record there. This episode is part of the I Am an American series, generously funded by Anne Naito-Campbell. We also thank South Asian American Digital Archive (SADA) for connecting us with Rani and providing images for this episode.

This episode was produced by Caitlin Dwyer. Our audio editing was done by Caitlin Dwyer, assisted by Gregg Palmer. Music was composed by Corey Larkin. Our executive producer is Sankar Raman.

For more stories, visit theimmigrantstory.org/manyroads, listen live at prp.fm, or stream us wherever you get your podcasts.

Growing up in the bohemian beach town of Encinitas, near San Diego, California, Priti Gandhi showed early interest in music and performance.  But she was a first born child in an Indian immigrant family that placed high value on job security, so a career in the arts was not even a consideration. In college, Priti signed up for voice lessons to counter the demands of her journalism courses. The moment her voice instructor introduced her to opera, her path in life changed.

Many Roads to Here is a production of The Immigrant Story. This episode was produced and edited by Elayna Yussen with sound design by Rick March and post production by Greg Palmer. The original interview was conducted by our Executive producer, Sankar Raman.

Thank you to Priti Gandhi for providing the live opera music you hear in this episode and to St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Beaverton for the use of their space to record the interview.

This episode is a part of a series exploring the stories and experiences of Asian Americans in a climate of Anti-Asian rhetoric and increasing violence. It is produced as part of the Oregon Rises Above Hate coalition and made possible by a generous contribution by Anne Naito-Campbell. 

To learn more about the Oregon Rises Above Hate Coalition, please visit https://oregonrisesabovehate.com.

For more stories, visit theimmigrantstory.org/manyroads, listen live at prp.fm, or stream us wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to Many Roads In Conversation, where we look deeply at issues affecting communities within the United States. This inaugural series focuses on the roots  of anti-Asian violence. Joining us for the third episode are Dmae Lo Roberts and Patti Duncan, who talk about growing up mixed race in America, as well as the politics, terminology, and gender issues surrounding mixed race families. Dmae is a writer, media and theater artist and is the executive producer of MediaRites, a nonprofit based in Portland. Patti is an associate professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Oregon State University.

Our audio editing was done by Dmae Lo Roberts assisted by Rick March and Gregg Palmer. Our executive producer is Sankar Raman.

This episode is produced as a part of Oregon Rises Against Hate coalition, and made possible by a generous contribution by Anne Naito-Campbell.

Rama Youssef was 12 years old when she left Syria, escaping violence caused by the beginning of the Syrian Civil War. But life didn’t get easier for Rama when  she arrived in the United States. Conflict followed her from a young age and she had to learn how to overcome fear and trauma to create a new life.

A content warning: this episode contains descriptions of war and violence that may be sensitive to some listeners.

Many Roads to Here is a production of The Immigrant Story. This episode was produced by Emily Denny. Audio editing was done by Richard March, assisted by Gregg Palmer. Our executive producer is Sankar Raman.

For more episodes, https://theimmigrantstory.org/category/episode/ or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Many Roads to Here are expanding. We’re looking for radio producers, especially those from immigrant communities and communities of color, to join our team. We’re all-volunteer for now, but we’ve got dreams. Please email [email protected] for more information. For more stories, visit theimmigrantstory.org/manyroads, listen live at prp.fm, or stream us wherever you get your podcasts.

Many thanks to St. Andrew Lutheran Church, Beaverton, Oregon for providing a space to record this interview.

This episode is made possible by a generous contribution by Oregon Cultural Trust.

Belise Nishimwe was 5 years old when she arrived in the U.S. She was born in a Tanzanian refugee camp, the daughter of genocide survivors.

In 2007, her family moved to the United States as refugees. Their new home would be Portland, Oregon.

In her first moments in the United States, Belise noticed a man writing. She was captivated by the movement of the pen. This pen would become a metaphor for Belise’s life. She would go from struggling to learn English to becoming an award winning poet.

Many Roads to Here is a production of The Immigrant Story. This episode was produced by Jodelle Marx. Audio editing was done by Richard March, assisted by Jodelle Marx and Gregg Palmer. Our executive producer is Sankar Raman.

For more episodes, https://theimmigrantstory.org/category/episode/ or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Many Roads to Here are expanding. We’re looking for radio producers, especially those from immigrant communities and communities of color, to join our team. We’re all-volunteer for now, but we’ve got dreams. Please email [email protected] for more information.

For more stories, visit theimmigrantstory.org/manyroads, listen live at prp.fm, or stream us wherever you get your podcasts.

This episode is made possible by a generous contribution by Oregon Cultural Trust.

Leslie and Eva Aigner’s childhood were marked by horror. Born in different parts of Czechoslovakia as Nazi soldiers took hold, the two took very different paths to  survival; both were saved by their families’ strength, shocking kindness by strangers at key moments, and their own inner audacity to survive.

Leslie Aigner died in August of 2021. We are grateful to be able to share his story with you. To learn more about the Aigner’s experiences, read Elizabeth Mehren’s story “Miracles, Memories and a Message” on our website.

Many thanks to Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education for collaborating with us on upcoming exhibit To Bear Witness, which opens on December 12th and features the stories of genocide survivors, and for providing us with the original 1994 audio interviews with Leslie and Eva.

Many Roads to Here is a production of The Immigrant Story. This episode was produced by Degen Larkin and Fran Silverman. Rick March did the audio editing, assisted by Gregg Palmer. Music was composed by Corey Larkin. The original interviews were conducted by Sylvia Franekl, Eric Harper and Lanie Reich. Our executive producer is Sankar Raman.  

For more stories, visit theimmigrantstory.org/manyroads, listen live at prp.fm, or stream us wherever you get your podcasts.

This episode is made possible by a generous contribution by Oregon Cultural Trust.

Ricki was born in 1993 in Quzhou, China, but was adopted when she was four years old by a White American family living in Seatac, Washington.  For the rest of her childhood, Ricki would be raised in SeaTac, Washington, with eight siblings. Her roots would eventually lead her back to China and her birth family in a series of life changing events. In this remarkable journey of self-discovery, Ricki learns to navigate her identity as a daughter of two different families in two different countries. Olivia Wolf, who is an adoptee herself, has her story.

Many Roads to Here is a production of The Immigrant Story, in collaboration with Portland Radio Project. This episode was produced using equipment funded in part by the Regional Arts & Culture Council. It was produced by Olivia Wolf with audio editing by Rick March, assisted by Gregg Palmer. 

Many Roads to Here is expanding. We’re looking for radio producers, especially those from immigrant communities and communities of color, to join our team. We’re all-volunteer for now, but we’ve got dreams. Please email [email protected] for more information.

For more stories, visit theimmigrantstory.org/manyroads, listen live at prp.fm, or stream us wherever you get your podcasts. Many Roads to Here is funded in part by the Regional Arts & Culture Council.

Liani Reeves spent the first months of her life in an orphanage in Seoul, South Korea, before an American family adopted her.

She describes her early years as those of a typical American childhood – she loved cats, building snow forts and playing outside with friends. But Liani was also very angry. She battled deep-seated fears of abandonment. And over the years, buried a mix of emotions while trying to make sense of so many identities –– as an orphan, an adoptee, an Asian-American, an Asian-American woman, and as an immigrant.

This episode is a part of a series exploring the stories and experiences of Asian Americans in a climate of Anti-Asian rhetoric and increasing violence, like the mass shooting in Atlanta, Georgia, earlier this year. It is produced as part of the Oregon Rises Above Hate coalition and is made possible by a generous contribution by Anne Naito-Campbell. For more information on our multimedia exploration of this topic, please visit, “I Am an American: Stories of Exclusion and Belonging.”

Welcome to Many Roads In Conversation, where we look deeply at issues affecting communities within the United States. This inaugural series focuses on the roots  of anti-Asian violence. Joining us for the second episode are Peggy Nagae and Chris Ling, who talk about major civil rights cases and legislation in American history.

In this episode, we will hear two voices in dialogue, talking through major cases in the Supreme Court and how legislation has affected Asian-American civil rights, including Executive Order 9066, which incarcerated Japanese Americans during World War II.

In Conversation today are Peggy Nagae and Chris Ling. Both worked as attorneys and have been active in diversity, equity and inclusion work in the Oregon legal community. Peggy is the owner and principal of Peggy Nagae consulting. Chris is now a software engineer. They spoke at the Japanese American Museum of Oregon in May 2021, in front of the actual jail cell that once held lawyer and civil rights advocate Min Yasui — you’ll hear a lot more about Min during their conversation.

This episode was produced by Caitlin Dwyer. Our audio editing was done by Rick March, assisted by Gordon Graham. Music was composed by Corey Larkin. Our executive producer is Sankar Raman.

This is our last episode of season 1, so if you’ve been keeping up with us all season, thank you. We’re so excited to have you along for our first year of storytelling. We’ll be back in October 2021 with Season 2, which starts off with a big story, a two-parter co-told by married Holocaust survivors. It’s an epic story of survival and endurance. If you’re in the Portland area you can listen to the series on prp.fm on two consecutive Sunday afternoons, October 3 and 10th at 4pm, or stream us asynchronously wherever you get your podcasts.

This episode is produced as part of the Oregon Rises Above Hate coalition based in Portland, Oregon and made possible by a generous contribution by Anne Naito-Campbell.

Farzad Larki was born in Iran prior to the Revolution. He grew up in a comfortable middle class family, but when the Shah was overthrown, everything changed.  Between 1979 and 1996, Farzad, his parents, and his siblings all emigrated to the U.S., though each family member traveled a very different path. Farzad’s journey was the longest. From Southern Iran to Portland, Oregon, Farzad’s voyage spanned eleven years and six countries. He traveled by foot, donkey, car, and plane. There were many opportunities to stop along the way, but he had his sights set on the U.S. and the freedom that it represented.

Many Roads to Here is a production of The Immigrant Story, in collaboration with Portland Radio Project. This episode was produced by Stephanie Vallance. Our audio editing was superbly done by Rick March, assisted by Gordon Graham. Roger Porter conducted the original interview.  Our executive producer is Sankar Raman.

Many Roads to Here is expanding. We’re looking for radio producers, especially those from immigrant communities and communities of color, to join our team. We’re all-volunteer for now, but we’ve got dreams. Please email [email protected] for more information.

For more stories, visit theimmigrantstory.org/manyroads, listen live at prp.fm, or stream us wherever you get your podcasts.