Matt O’Brien has spent the last decade chronicling the lives of the homeless people who live in the tunnels beneath Las Vegas. That’s where he met Rick Cobble who used to sleep in a sewer drain. Matt eventually wrote a book about the people who live underground. Also in this episode, comedian Liz Grant and the story behind "The Florestine Collection."
Producer Dmae Roberts travels to Taiwan with her mother. Together they grapple with her mother's harrowing childhood during World War II. This story is highly personal and inventive, a journey of sound and story.
Laila El-Haddad is a Palestinian journalist who divides her time between Gaza and Durham, N.C. She was in Gaza City this December when violence broke out between the two factions. Dick talks with Laila about the prospect of civil war in Gaza.
Mike Anderson spent 17 years in prison for murder. It was his poetry, and his desire to evolve, that helped him get out of prison early and successfully re-enter society. Mike now has a job, and a family, and he's working with young people - as he says, "polishing souls."
Four years ago, Dawn and William were newly married, had bought their first house, had good jobs, and were thrilled to have a baby on the way. Then Dawn fell down the stairs in their home. The accident began a spiral of mounting medical problems which ultimately forced Dawn to stop working. Even with William's health insurance, the bills kept piling up. The couple was managing to scrape by until William's employer eliminated overtime. Also on this episode, Greg Morelli is the co-owner of a successful restaurant in Chicago.
On Monday, Dick Gordon talked to Shaun Goode, who is 9, and his grandmother, Deborah. Shaun is obese and is now trying to become healthier.
Today, Dick talks to Daphne Logue. Daphne's child, Sarah Peters-Logue, is 6 years old. Daphne knew her daughter was becoming obese, but her family doctor said that Sarah would "grow into it." In desperation, Daphne rejected her doctor's advice, and eventually had to face the fact that the problem was not her child, but herself.
Dick tracks down Dotan Negrin, who’s traveling and playing his upright piano in New York City, New Orleans, San Antonio, and all the way through Central America to Panama.
The fight against HIV-AIDS in Africa is a matter of two steps forward and one step back, as Catherine Piwang knows well. People were just beginning to talk about this mysterious new disease when she left Uganda in the late 80s. When she returned in 1996, seven of her siblings had died of HIV-AIDS and two more were gravely ill.
Zed Chang is trying to figure out how his American dream got derailed. He moved to the U.S. from China in hopes of securing a bright future. Zed says he eventually realized his dream when he was offered a good job as an engineer at a major high tech company. Zed was there 9 years, but was laid off this summer.
