When President Carter promised to welcome the men and women arriving on the Mariel boatlift with “an open heart and open arms,” he had referred to them as refugees. But technically speaking, they weren’t refugees. They were classified as entrants, an immigration status with a peculiar legal standing in the United States. While entrants are physically allowed to enter the country, legally they’re still at the border, asking to come in. Their presence in the country is known as a legal fiction — specifically, the “entry fiction.” So even as Cubans were disembarking boats in droves through the summer of 1980, they were officially still floating off the coast of Key West. And this immigration status followed them to where they went next: an army base in rural Arkansas. In episode 4, the curious case of the militarized border in the middle of the Ozark Mountains. Want to hear the next episode of White Lies a week before everyone else?
When President Carter promised to welcome the men and women arriving on the Mariel boatlift with “an open heart and open arms,” he had referred to them as refugees. But technically speaking, they weren’t refugees. They were classified as entrants, an immigration status with a peculiar legal standing in the United States. While entrants are physically allowed to enter the country, legally they’re still at the border, asking to come in. Their presence in the country is known as a legal fiction — specifically, the “entry fiction.” So even as Cubans were disembarking boats in droves through the summer of 1980, they were officially still floating off the coast of Key West. And this immigration status followed them to where they went next: an army base in rural Arkansas. In episode 4, the curious case of the militarized border in the middle of the Ozark Mountains.
FEBRUARY 21, 2023
‘Call and Response’ is an ode to the women and girls of Botswana
Gothataone Moeng says she knows the characters in her collection of short stories, Call and Response. They bear similarities to her sisters, cousins, and aunties – but they’re their own reflections of life, love, shame, expectations and joy in Gaborone and Serowe, Botswana. In today’s episode, Moeng talks to NPR’s Scott Simon about some of the different lessons her protagonists are learning, and how spending time back home in her village after a long time away reopened doors to a rhythm of life she’d almost forgotten about.
FEBRUARY 20, 2023
Greta Thunberg hopes ‘The Climate Book’ is a launching pad for environmental activism
Greta Thunberg has become a household name – but she doesn’t want the attention on her to become a distraction from the severity of the climate crisis. In today’s episode, Thunberg speaks with NPR’s Ailsa Chang about how she hopes a new collection of essays written by her and more than 100 scientists and journalists – The Climate Book, can become a jumping off point to better understand environmental challenges. She explains why it’s crucial for countries like the U.S. to step up and take accountability for their reliance on the fossil fuel industry, and why politicians have a responsibility to underline the relationship between climate and social justice.LISTEN· 8:39PLAYLIS.
‘The House of Eve’ explores Black motherhood and associated stigma in the 1950s
In the 1950s, pregnancy and adoption were topics often clouded in shame, secrecy – or both. That’s certainly true for Eleanor and Ruby, the two protagonists of Sadeqa Johnson’s new novel, The House of Eve. As the two young Black women try to maneuver the misogynoir in the society around them, they’re also confronted with the complicated realities of becoming a mother. In today’s episode, Johnson tells NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe how those circumstances bring the characters together, and why she felt it was important to pay special attention to Black women’s experiences during that time in history.