Little America: The Official Podcast

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About the show

Latest episodes

• Mannequins by Day, Musicals by Night (With Davy Rothbart)

  December 8, 2022 · 36 min

  At 68 years old, James put his mannequin business on hold to enroll at CalArts. What emerged was an autobiographical musical depicting James’ childhood during China’s Cultural Revolution and his journey to finding success selling…

• Remembering a Forgotten Life (With Lina Misitzis)

  December 1, 2022 · 24 min

  When Ingrid Rojas Contreras was in her twenties and living in Chicago, she crashed her bike. A generation earlier in Colombia, her mother had tumbled into a well. Both women lost their memories, all at once. When Ingrid’s mom emerged from…

• Jesus on a Tortilla (With Shereen Marisol Meraji)

  November 24, 2022 · 28 min

  A lot changed for Angelica Rubio’s family after her mom made a tortilla with what appeared to have Jesus’ face on it. Her mom thought it was a miracle but, growing up, Angelica was ashamed of it. It drew attention from tourists and media…

• Engineering the Perfect Strawberry (With Hannah Kingsley-Ma)

  November 17, 2022 · 31 min

  The first time Hiroki Koga tasted American produce, he was appalled by its lack of flavor. He set out to grow the fruit of his childhood in Japan—dedicating his career to replicating the exquisite strawberry of his youth on American…

• Weddings in One Minute or Less (With Avery Trufelman)

  November 10, 2022 · 29 min

  Heartbroken by a recent divorce, Serbian immigrant Goran Veljic learned to believe in love again by photographing weddings in New York. Today Goran is a professional marriage officiant and the owner of NY1 Minute Weddings—aptly named for…

• St. Patrick’s Day Parade for All (With Harry Spitzer)

  November 3, 2022 · 29 min

  After immigrating from Ireland in the late ’80s, Brendan Fay tried marching in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade to celebrate his full identity—Irish, Catholic, and gay. He got booed, fired, and even arrested. Brendan eventually realized that…

• The Dog Trainer (With Emma Gross)

  November 3, 2022 · 30 min

  When Dawit Haile came to the U.S. as an Ethiopian refugee, he was shocked to learn Americans treat their dogs almost like humans. A fateful return trip to Ethiopia spurred Dawit to create a dog rehabilitation center in Los Angeles and, in…

• The Mentalist (With Albert Samaha)

  November 3, 2022 · 31 min

  By the time Ava Do arrived in California as a refugee from Vietnam, she already knew a lot about deception. Then she studied psychology. The combination of the two set her on a path toward becoming one of the foremost mentalists and…