Thanks For Asking

The stories we hear about our parents and grandparents are often an intergenerational game of telephone. Even the ones we think we know by heart, fact for fact, evolve as they're told and retold.

Ka came to us with her father's incredible story of heroics and bravery. And his version of events IS incredible and heroic and brave. It's just ... not the story that Ka remembers. And this makes her start to question everything.

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SONG - 1975

In the beginning, the year 1975

The heaven twisted, the earth flipped

The heaven turned, the earth unraveled

The little country of Laos fell

The foundation of our nation fell apart

There was anger, anger

From common soldiers to royalty

We thought about not fleeing the country, but we could not survive if we stayed

With regrets in our hearts, with our power, we lay our weapons lay down and put them away

Crying as though we were burying our love ones in death

The year 1975

The heaven flipped, the earth twisted

The heaven unraveled, the earth turned

There was nothing left of the little country of Laos

The foundation of our nation fell apart

There was anger, anger

From common soldiers to royalty

We thought of not letting go of our country Laos

But we were scared we would die if stayed

With regrets in our hearts, with our power, we lay our weapons lay down and put them away

And cried ourselves to sleep, we cried in our dreams, waking up from those dreams, we cried

The little country of Laos fell

There was anger, anger

From royals to the rest of the nation. Those who had the money to escape the country

They had money to pay their passage on boats

They royals ran away to the other side.

There was nothing left, leaving behind countrymen and women, who did not have money to pay the passage on boats

They fled for their survival but did not make to the other side, dying the way they came...drowning in rivers, lost in the jungle, starving to death in valleys

They had no clothes or cloth to cover their bodies, no coffin lid to close on them

They gave their flesh as food for the ants to feast

My heart is tormented, there is no end to the pain and sorrow

The time of losing our country and land has been 43, but even now I am still frightened.

Justin is living in a sort of limbo that’s hard for us to really try to imagine. He’s 27 years old. He’s a handsome dude. He’s married. And he’s got genetic stage IV lung cancer.

More than a year ago, we gave Justin a recording kit and asked him to document what it’s like to live with terminal cancer — the ups and downs, the clinical trials and the mini vacations. This is his story.

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Justin is living in a sort of limbo that’s hard for us to really try to imagine. He’s 27 years old. He’s a handsome dude. He’s married. And he’s got genetic stage IV lung cancer.

More than a year ago, we gave Justin a recording kit and asked him to document what it’s like to live with terminal cancer — the ups and downs, the clinical trials and the mini vacations. This is his story.

Can’t get enough TTFA? Sign up for TTFA Premium for $7.99 a month. You’ll get access to exclusive bonus content, ad-free episodes, extended guest interviews and more! Visit TTFA.org/Premium to get started.

Shop for your favorite TTFA gear at TTFAmerch.com.

Check out our sponsors:

The world is a hard place when you’re a Black woman. It’s even harder when you are a Black woman who has survived domestic violence. It’s even harder still when you’re a Black woman charged with the murder of your abusive ex-boyfriend while you’re eight weeks pregnant with his child.

And Natalie is. She’s eight weeks pregnant when she’s charged with second degree murder in her ex's death.

This is an episode about how the punishment is supposed to fit the crime but often doesn’t. It’s about how sometimes, even when a sentence is served, the punishment is far from over.

Can’t get enough TTFA? Sign up for TTFA Premium for $7.99 a month. You’ll get access to exclusive bonus content, ad-free episodes, extended guest interviews and more! Visit TTFA.org/Premium to get started.

Shop for your favorite TTFA gear at TTFAmerch.com.

Check out our sponsors this week:

The world is a hard place when you’re a Black woman. It’s even harder when you are a Black woman who has survived domestic violence. It’s even harder still when you’re a Black woman charged with the murder of your abusive ex-boyfriend while you’re eight weeks pregnant with his child.

And Natalie is. She’s eight weeks pregnant when she’s charged with second degree murder in her ex's death.

This is an episode about how the punishment is supposed to fit the crime but often doesn’t. It’s about how sometimes, even when a sentence is served, the punishment is far from over.

Can’t get enough TTFA? Sign up for TTFA Premium for $7.99 a month. You’ll get access to exclusive bonus content, ad-free episodes, extended guest interviews and more! Visit TTFA.org/Premium to get started.

Shop for your favorite TTFA gear at TTFAmerch.com.

Check out our sponsors this week: