This American Life - Homelands Productions

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This American Life

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World Views

First-person documentaries reflecting the perspectives of ordinary people around the world.

Mexican-American writer Luis Alberto Urrea returns to the slums of Tijuana, where he worked as a young man, to see a woman he knew as a girl. His story, for This American Life, explores the sometimes uneasy relationship between “first world” writers and their “third world” subjects.

In the late 1970s, Luis Alberto Urrea was working in the slums of Tijuana and Ana María “Negra” Calderón was a barefoot young girl, the unschooled daughter of garbage pickers. Nearly 25 years later, Luis is now a celebrated writer, winner of the American Book Award, and a tenured professor in Chicago.

Back in Tijuana, Negra is struggling to raise her children and those of her sister, who was killed by her husband. In this piece Luis travels back to Tijuana to see Negra after an absence of seven years. He explores his sometimes uneasy relationship and the obligations that “first world” writers have toward their “third world” subjects.

Date

October 2003

Other Contributor(s)

Sandy Tolan, Alan Weisman

Outlets

This American Life

Tags

Themes: Lives, Culture

Regions: North America

Media: Audio

Other Contributors: Sandy Tolan, Alan Weisman

Other Tags: first world, third world, tijuana, Luis Alberto Urrea

Sandy Tolan

World Views

Runaway

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Sandy Tolan

World Views

Runaway

Debra Gwartney loved her two oldest daughters and they loved her in return. But then Debra divorced and moved the family, and relations with her daughters got worse and worse. Finally, at the ages of 13 and 14, they ran away. In this story for This American Life, mother and daughters try to retrace what went wrong.

The chronicle of a family that unraveled. Debra Gwartney loved her two oldest daughters like she loved herself. And they loved her in return. But Debra got a divorce, moved the family to Oregon, and relations with her daughters got worse and worse. Finally, at the ages of thirteen and fourteen, they ran away.

In this story, Debra and her daughters try and retrace what, exactly, went wrong.

Date

March 2002

Outlets

This American Life

Tags

Themes: Lives

Regions: North America

Media: Audio

Other Contributors: Sandy Tolan

Other Tags: teen, teenager, oregon, daughters, mother, runaway

Chris Brookes

World Views

Newfoundland Shipwreck Survivor

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Chris Brookes

World Views

Newfoundland Shipwreck Survivor

Lanier Philips, an African-American sailor, was on a US Navy ship wrecked during a storm off the coast of Newfoundland during World War II. More than 200 of his shipmates died, but he was rescued. The treatment he received forever altered his life, opening his eyes to the possibility of a world without racism.

This is a story about a young sailor from the Deep South, and an experience that changed his life. Lanier Philips was on a U.S. Navy ship wrecked during a vicious storm off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, during World War II.

More than 200 of Philips’ shipmates died, but he was rescued. The treatment Philips received as he recuperated forever altered his life, opening his eyes to the possibility of a world without racism.