This episode of The People We Meet takes a calm, story-driven walk through America’s past — from Ellis Island and the words etched at the base of the Statue of Liberty to the people who arrived carrying hope, fear, and very little else.

Along the way, we revisit moments many of us half-remember from school — the Irish, Chinese, Italians, Jews, Mexicans, Japanese Americans — not as villains or footnotes, but as neighbors who helped build the country we live in now.

Told with humor, empathy, and a firefighter’s eye for proportion, this is a reflection on who we’ve been, how we’ve grown, and why understanding our history matters when things get loud and complicated again.

It’s not a lecture. It’s not a rant.

It’s a reminder that America’s story has always been bigger — and better — than its fears.