Wajahat Ali's 'Go Back To Where You Came From'; A Granddaughter's Tribute to Her 'Papi Tomas' - Publication Date |
- Feb 05, 2022
- Episode Duration |
- 00:29:50
Writer Wajahat Ali's Decision to 'Actively Invest in Joy'
“Go back to where you came from.” It’s an insult that unfortunately, many of us have heard. For writer Wajahat Ali, it’s also the title of his new book. It traces his childhood in Fremont, CA, his activism as a UC Berkeley student after 9/11, and the challenges he’s faced as a son, a father, and a writer. It chronicles him almost dying from a heart condition, his young daughter getting cancer, and other family tragedies. But the book is funny. Host Sasha Khokha talks to Ali about why he’s decided to actively invest in joy.
Taquero, Farmworker, and Beloved Grandfather Lost to COVID: A Family Remembers 'Papi Tomás'
If you’ve tuned in to our show over the last year, you might have heard our series of remembrances of people who’ve died from COVID. And now we’ve hit a grim milestone: more than 80,000 Californians lost to the virus. We hear from the family of a farmworker who lived in Madera, in the San Joaquin Valley. His granddaughter, Madi Bolanos, is a radio reporter with KVPR, the local NPR station in Fresno, and she brings us this tribute.