How do we turn pain into empathy? Meklit talks with Liberian-American singer Mon Rovîa about his long journey to doing just that. 

Bashar Al Assad, Syria’s brutal dictator, has fled the country -- opening a new and uncertain chapter after more than a decade of Civil War. Meklit speaks with the Syrian electronic composer Samer Saem Eldahr (otherwise known as Hello Psychaleppo) about how that conflict changed his life and music. 

Diana Gameros was living in the US in 2010 when her home city of Juarez, Mexico became known as one of the most dangerous places on Earth. She was undocumented at the time; she couldn't travel back and forth even to see family. In this episode Diana tells the story of what it meant to finally go back and perform in Juarez after many years away. 

Chhom Nimol of the band Dengue Fever tells the harrowing story of the 22 night she spent in an immigration detention facility.

Meklit talks with Tunisian singer Emel Mathlouthi about the moment that turned her into a viral sensation and the voice of a revolution -- but also about what it means to move beyond the shadow of that one moment. 

Adi Oasis released an album and had a baby in the same year -- she thought it would be the end of her music career, but it's been the opposite. Adi and Meklit talk about the challenges of being a mama musician, and how motherhood changed how they see their own sense of place. 

Cheakaity is a DC-based soul singer who was brought into the world with a weighty name: the one who breaks unbreakable things. He talks with Meklit about lineage, prophecies and the fear of living a life unfulfilled. 

Victoria Ruiz fronts the leftist punk band Downtown Boys, and has spent her career walking the line between pragmatism and idealism -- often in extremely visible settings, and often with painful consequences.

Fanny was the first all-women band to release a record on a major label, in 1970. Meklit talks with lead guitarist June Millington about the incredible pressures of navigating the industry at that time and how parts of their story were never fully told. 

Helado Negro has released 13 records in 15 years. He joins Meklit to talk about how the immigrant work ethic plays out in the arts, and Meklit wonders: is it good that we work this much?