Boston Calling

Seattle, Washington, is widely seen as a pro-immigrant city. So many residents were shocked to learn that a nearby airport has been used to deport some 34,000 people in the last eight years. Now King County, where the airport is located, is signalling its opposition to those deportations. We also learn about a subversive hand sign adopted from Hollywood and used in Thailand; we visit a radio program whose signals connect families split between central California and southern Mexico; we meet a teacher who’s helping kids feel proud to communicate in their native tongues; we hear from a man who learned how to deal with a misreading of his name; and we hear the music of a man who won’t yield to pressure to spell it all out. (Detainees are loaded onto a Swift Air charter flight at King County International Airport (Boeing Field) in Seattle, WA, for a February 26 ICE Air flight. Credit: Still image from video by Alex Montalvo and Wadii Boughdir for the University of Washington Center for Human Rights)

The US Department of Homeland Security is turning to facial recognition technology to keep track of people leaving and entering the US, but privacy advocates have serious concerns. Now, the Electronic Privacy Information Center has obtained documents from US Customs and Border Protection that backup their fears. Also, we visit a hair salon in Boston strictly for women who wear hijab; Thando Hopa makes history by being the first model with albinism on the cover of Vogue magazine; the phenomenon of blackface persists around the globe; and Orthodox Jewish women in New York observe an old tradition in a very modern way. (Image: A facial recognition program is demonstrated during the 2004 Biometrics exhibition and conference in London. (Photo by Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

Migrant families are being released to communities around the US. They often have no money and no support. Volunteers are stepping in to help. Also: the White House is considering a plan that would send immigrants to so-called sanctuary cities; climate refugees arrive in a small city in the state of Georgia; a peek inside a KGB Spy Museum in New York City, and the Turkish embassy in Washington DC was once a place to hear jazz legends. (Image: A sign welcomes arrivals at the Refugee Coffee Shop in Clarkston, Georgia. Credit:Jason Margolis)

These days the majority of migrants crossing the US border with Mexico are from Central America. But that wasn’t always the case. For decades, the majority of people crossing the border were Mexicans, seeking jobs and opportunity in the US. Many would stay, without official permission, have families and build new lives. Author Ana Raquel Minian tells us how tighter border regulations had the unintended consequence of encouraging Mexicans to stay. Also, the city of New Orleans is apologizing for the lynching of eleven Italians in the city in 1891. We hear from Michael Santo, a lawyer who pushed for the city to set the record straight;plus, how records of ritual scarring could help some Americans of African descent learn a little more about their family histories; also the story of Barney, a former slave who was granted freedom by joining the British army in the American revolution; and researchers learn that Casimir Pulaski, the man known as the 'Father of the American Cavalry,' was intersex. It’s a story of

In 1976, 13 year-old Benny Davidson was on a flight bound for Paris when two Palestinians and two Germans hijacked his plane and forced it to fly to Entebbe in Uganda. There, he and other Israeli passengers were held hostage for a week before an Israeli commando raid brought the stand-off to end. Benny still stays in touch with many of his fellow hostages. Recently the captain of that flight, Michel Bacos, died at the age of 95. For Benny and many of the other hostages, Michel represented the meaning of true courage and outstanding leadership. Also, a traveller says she was sexually assaulted by a tour guide in East Africa. We hear what happened when she tried to warn others; travelling solo can be liberating, but it's not as easy for women. We hear from female solo travelers about their experiences; also women motorcyclists are staging a global relay to unite female bikers ; and what does it sound like to travel? Musicians Cosmo Pyke and Frank Ulwenya are all about capturing that vibe. (An Israeli host

The legacy of racial segregation and institutionalized racism still persists in the US. Wesleyan College in Georgia was once a whites-only school, now most of its new students are non-white and they have been raising big questions about some school traditions. Also, in the wake of the documentary, ‘Leaving Neverland’,, a popular museum in Germany is not cancelling its Michael Jackson exhibit, the museum director tells us why; we look back at the career of Ichiro Suzuki the greatest Japanese baseball player of all time; we compare some of the biggest politicians in the US to Roman emperors; and we try out a new millennial version of the popular Latin American board game,‘Loteria’. (A crowd of over 250 fill a CSULB ballroom to voice concerns over what many groups feel is racism on campus in Long Beach, CA on March 23, 2016. Credit: Scott Varley/Getty Images)

Patricia Okoumou does not shy away from action. Last year, on 4 July, Ms Okoumou climbed up the Statue of Liberty to protest against the detention of children arriving at the US-Mexico border. Now she is facing the legal consequences, yet she remains undeterred from her risky style of activism. Also, immigrant activists draw attention to the stories of immigrants facing deportation by turning themselves in to be detained themselves. We also hear from Claudio Rojas, an unauthorised immigrant whose deportation date is just days away. Plus school children here in Boston have joined a global movement - they are skipping classes on Fridays to demand that adults take action on climate change. And the harrowing story of how former US Marine Ken Kraus saved more than 20 lives 40 years ago, as Iran was on the brink of revolution. (Photo: Patricia Okoumou, climbed the Statue of Liberty in protest of the Trump administration's immigration policy. This week, she appeared in court after her arrest in Austin, Texas w

At 30, Suraj Yengde has earned multiple degrees. He has done graduate and post-graduate research at the prestigious Harvard University. But when he travels to India, his socio-economic background doesn’t matter. He remains a so called “untouchable.” Yengde is not alone, many lower caste members struggle to break out of the system, even when they create new lives for themselves in the US. (Suraj Yengde in his neighborhood, encouraging Dalit women to try to continue their education, in spite of institutional barriers. Credit: Phillip Martin/WGBH News)

We join a group of American tourists on an organised trip across the border to find out what life there is really like. Also, a trilingual interpreter tells us about the challenges of interpreting for asylum seekers who only speak indigenous languages; A group of American exchange students in Italy meet African migrants who risked their lives to make it to Europe; Why Chinese Sci-Fi is gaining in popularity around the world; And Kenyan musician JS Ondara on how Bob Dylan changed his life and inspired his journey to America. (Andres Vega pours beer for American visitors on a gastronomic tour of Nogales with the Arizona nonprofit, Border Community Alliance. Credit: Katherine Davis-Young/The World)

Martina Navratilova made some controversial statements about transgender athletes. She said that it’s cheating when transgender women compete in women’s sports. But many activists disagree with her and are pushing back. Also, find out why NBA basketball Enes Kanter fears going back home to Turkey; we have the harrowing story of Eritrean runner Teklit Michael’s near death experience; next the directors of the Oscar winning film ‘Free Solo’ describe how they captured Alex Honnald’s solo climb up El Capitan summit; and the French Fencing Federation has officially recognized lightsaber dueling as a competitive sport. (Martina Navratilova participates in the 28th Annual Chris Evert/Raymond James Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic at Delray Beach Tennis Center. Credit: Johnny Louis/Getty Images)

Vladi was just 15 years old when he joined a migrant caravan, travelling all the way from El Salvador, to Tijuana on the US-Mexico border. He arrived there last autumn with his grandmother. But by November, Vladi, was on his own. His grandmother needed to return to El Salvador, and Vladi remained at a youth shelter for other unaccompanied migrants like him. Many were hoping to seek asylum in the United States. So was Vladi. But ahead of them is the hostility of the Trump administration. The story of one family in America’s migrant crisis. (Vladi, center, is from El Salvador. He says the gangs try to recruit you when you turn 14 or 15. He's 15. He says instead of joining a gang, he joined the migrant "caravan" headed toward the United States. Credit: Erin Siegal McIntyre/Frontline)

It’s been 40 years since the Islamic revolution in Iran. In 1979, many Iranians felt a strong sense of hope as change was sweeping through their country. Ayatollah Khomeini’s return to Iran from exile was one of the most significant moments of the revolution. Now, 40 years later, we’re hearing more of what was going on behind the scenes. Also, we hear from two Iranians born after the revolution, who are so frustrated with conditions inside Iran, that they want to leave; we’ll look at how US sanctions on Iran are impacting American businesses; plus, the story of an Iranian-American navy veteran who grew up in revolutionary Iran; and Iranian women’s rights advocate, Masih Alinejad, explains how political hair can be in Iran. (Revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini leaving the Air France Boeing 747 jumbo that flew him back from exile in France to Tehran. Credit: Gabriel Duval/Getty Images)

For Dora Crespin, the United States is a lonely place. She’s happy living in El Salvador where she has her friends, familiar food, and most importantly her family. But Dora is moving to the US anyway, leaving her son behind in the hope that someday they will have a better life together. Also, Ana Chavarin was only 13 years old when her mother made her drop out of school to work at a factory, now she’s in college, together with her son; an American priest raises funds for Cuba’s first new Catholic church in 60 years; plus, Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese monk who's credited with bringing Buddhism to the west; and with his power washer in hand, Corey Fleisher is on a mission to eliminate hate-filled graffiti. (A couple hold hands as they ride a merry-go-round at the Theresienwiese fair ground of the Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich, Germany. Credit: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/Getty Images)

Your social media timelines are filled with influencers; people with huge numbers of fans and followers who are sometimes paid to promote products. Influencers haven’t always been transparent about paid content but new guidelines could change that. Also, plogging, the fitness trend that’s making streets cleaner all over the world; Durian, the fruit that’s all the rage in South-East Asia but to Westerners smells like old socks; Plus, Lucas Hixson the man who saves dogs from danger zones; and from the beaches of Southern California the story of a Senegalese Olympic hopeful and her trainer. (Logos of the Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, Messenger, Instagram and LinkedIn applications are displayed on the screen of an Apple iPhone. Credit: Chesnot/Getty Images)

Four hundred years ago pirates brought enslaved Africans to Virginia’s shores.

Ada Hegerberg is a professional football player from Norway. In December Hergerberg won the first Ballon d'Or for women, one of football's most prestigious awards. Hergerberg sees this moment as an opportunity to encourage young girls all over the world. Also we’ll hear from Japanese student Kazuna Yamamoto about her petition that forced a tabloid magazine to apologize for a sexist article; In Afghanistan we visit filmmaker and activist Sahar Fetrat; we meet a ballet dancer bringing a much needed change to ballet slippers; plus we take a trip down memory lane to ‘Soul Alley’, a hangout spot for African-American GI's during the Vietnam war. (Olympique Lyonnais' Norwegian forward Ada Hegerberg brandishes her trophy after receiving the 2018 Women's Ballon d'Or award for best player of the year. Credit: Franck Fife/Getty Images)

The next couple of years will be crucial for governments to take action on climate change. In this edition we hear why and what’s being done about it. We meet Hilda Heine, a global leader on climate change and President of the Marshall Islands; we’ll look at how Americans recycle and find out why it’s not good enough for China; Economist Michael Greenstone explains how air pollution shaves two years off of the average life expectancy; A team of Israeli students create a new variation of falafel with spirulina, a kind of microalgae, that could be a sustainable food solution of the future; and we check out the environmentally friendly sounds of the Colombian band, Bomba Estereo. (Photo: The leaves of a Russian River Valley pinot noir vineyard begin to turn colour near Sebastopol, California. A cool spring and mild summer have contributed to a later-than-usual harvest and a bumper crop of premium wine grapes throughout the state of California. Credit: George Rose/Getty Images)

El Salvador is one of just a handful of countries where abortion is banned in all circumstances. The ban is so comprehensive, that every miscarriage is considered suspicious and at least a dozen Salvadoran women who say they suffered a miscarriage are serving lengthy jail terms. Professor Michelle Oberman, a leading scholar on legal issues around pregnancy, tells the story of two such women who had recently been freed from prison. Also: The story of two Somali girls in Boston who formed a friendship through writing poetry together; the tale of an unlikely bond between a guard and a prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp; We hear from a Syrian superfan of the 90s hit TV programme ‘Friends’; and Marco Werman visits a local school in Boston to hear from some very young news consumers. (Teodora Vasquez hugs her parents shortly after being released from the women's Readaptation Centre, in Ilopango, El Salvador where she was serving a sentence since 2008. Credit: Marvin Recinos/Getty Images)

The fate of the Amazon is in jeopardy. Logging, cattle ranching, and soya bean farming are threatening its very existence. But the threat doesn’t end there; carbon dioxide coming from cities thousands of miles away is altering tropical forests and the climate on a much larger scale. In this special edition we travel to Brazil to find out why the fate Amazon is more consequential than ever and meet some of the people fighting to preserve it. (Claudio da Silva and the Guajajara Guardians of the Forest ride up the Caru River to investigate a report of illegal cutting on Guajajara land. Credit: Sam Eaton/The World)

The US opioid epidemic is a major public health crisis that has affected many communities across the United States. We’ll hear from an expert in addiction psychiatry who thinks that doctors bear much of the blame. Also: What do you do if opioid drugs don't stop the pain? Acupuncture may be the answer; We look at how supervised injection is already saving the lives of heroin users; the Toronto police department launched a social media campaign, reminding people that marijuana is legal in Canada and not a cause for emergency calls; the US and Mexico join forces to crack down on the illicit drug trade; and the story of Steve Hupp's transformation from bank robber to shaman. (Boston Calling producer Daniel Ofman stands next to a bus stop advertisement of Naloxone, a nasal spray that can counteract and potentially save someone from an opioid overdose. Credit: Diego Lopez/The World)