Thanks For Asking

Siblings Syeda and Syed are 16 and 17 years old when their father tells them that more than half of their little American family unit are undocumented immigrants; Mom and Dad fled Pakistan when Syed was just a baby to escape violence in their home country.

Syeda and her younger brother are U.S. citizens, but Syed and their parents are not. They must return to Pakistan — a place they haven’t considered “home” for almost two decades. A place Syed doesn’t even remember.

This is an episode about an American family … and how policies often don’t reflect humanity of any one individual.

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Kelsey and Louie’s life is blessedly boring in the best kind of way. They have good jobs. They live in the suburbs. They have a kid.

When Kelsey gets pregnant again, everything changes. Not just because they’re about to go from one kid to two, but because Kelsey isn’t feeling well. She’s diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome.

Some changes you anticipate. They are eagerly awaited — like a pregnancy. And some changes just jump out at you and turn everything upside down.

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Harris Wittels was the executive producer of "Parks and Recreation," the coiner of the word "humblebrag," a Phish enthusiast, and the funniest person in any room he walked into. He died of a heroin overdose in 2015, leaving behind his mother, his sister, and a lifetime of talent and potential.

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Maynard travels a lot for his job. His wife, Barbara, often goes with him so they can make a mini vacation out of it. If she can’t tag along, they keep in touch via phone calls and little love notes.

When Maynard heads to New York for work, it feels like just another business trip. Except it’s not. Not at all. Because when Barbara last talks to Maynard on the phone, he’s heading into the World Trade Center for his first meeting of the day on September 11th, 2001.

This is an episode about what happens when a national tragedy becomes a very personal one.

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In high school and college, Ryan was … kind of a jerk. He didn’t treat his girlfriends well and had warped ideas of what it meant to “be a man.” As he gets older, his definition of masculinity greatly expands. He and his wife, Tiffany, take each other’s last names and hyphenate them. He learns to embrace his love of art and poetry. He commits to fighting the patriarchy! But when Ryan and Tiffany learn that the reason they haven’t been able to get pregnant is because of Ryan, he finds himself once again questioning his manhood.

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You can catch up with TTFA on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook using @ttfapodcast. Nora's Instagram is @noraborealis.

TTFA is public media. Which means we are supported by you. You can join us with a contribution at ttfa.org/donate.

And check out our sponsors this week: