Boston Calling

"Brain Drain" is what happens to a country when its best and brightest minds leave and don't return. The flip side of this is called "Brain Gain." But even when countries benefit from new arrivals, they don’t always make it easy for them. We meet Maria Merza, working hard to overcome bureaucratic and social obstacles standing in the way of her education. Also: We visit a school in California that provides classes for parents as they drop their children off in the morning; We look at new training programmes for skilled trade jobs, aimed at immigrants; Also, Francenette SaintLouis Défonce was a nurse in Haiti, but the US won’t recognise her qualifications or experience; Finally, Harvard University student Jin Park pushes the boundaries of who can become a Rhodes Scholar. (Ayat Alfares, left, is a “super senior” at Grace M. Davis High School in Modesto, California. Sarah Yousif, right, graduated from the school when she was 21 years old. Both students came to the US as teenagers and began high school later th

President Trump has been determined that the migrant caravan not be allowed to enter the US. Now his administration has extended the deployment of more than 5,000 troops on the US-Mexico border to the end of January, 2019. Many of the migrants are now waiting in the Mexican border town of Tijuana for a chance to seek asylum in the US. We find out what life is like for them. Also: A group of gay and transgender migrants find safety in numbers as they wait to seek asylum in the US; we find out how the US government is using biometric data to gather intelligence on members of the migrant caravan; we hear the story behind the now-iconic photo of a mother and her two daughters running away from tear gas on the US-Mexico border; also we learn about the tiny American town where tear gas is big business; Plus, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Sonia Nazario shares her thoughts about possible solutions to the Central American migrant crisis. (Central American migrants rest after being relocated to a new temporary

The history of the US auto industry goes back more than a century, and Americans take a lot of pride in it. It’s part of the American psyche. So when this past week, General Motors announced that it is shutting down 5 North American factories and ending much of its passenger car production, that was big news and auto workers aren’t happy. Also: A Spanish property developer has plans for the Packard auto Plant in Detroit, abandoned more than 60 years ago; then we check out Boston’s City hall, the archetype of brutalism; plus we visit a bagpipe factory, right here in New England. (A woman holds a sign during a press conference with union leaders at in Oshawa, Ontario. In a massive restructuring, US auto giant General Motors announced it will cut 15 percent of its workforce to save $6 billion and adapt to 'changing market conditions.' Credit: Lars Hagberg/Getty Images)

In November of 1969, a group of Native Americans occupied the notorious prison island of Alcatraz to protest about federal policies that discriminated against their people. The movement gained momentum on Thanksgiving when hundreds of Native American activists joined the occupation. To this day, every Thanksgiving, Native American groups hold an event on the island that they call Unthanksgiving Day. Also: We tell the real story of Squanto, the Native American at the centre of the Thanksgiving legend; We look into the history of Native Americans being forcefully separated from their families; We recount the ongoing case of the indigenous Sinixt, a tribe that the Canadian government says doesn’t exist; Finally, we dive deep into a story about the lost language of the Miami tribe. (The welcome sign at the entrance to Alcatraz Island, in San Francisco Bay Credit: Timothy A. Clary/Getty Images)

Most of the town of Paradise, California, in the Sierra Nevada foothills, has been obliterated by raging wildfires. Dozens of people are known to have lost their lives and hundreds are still missing. Ellen VandenBerg recounts how she managed to escape the blaze with her 5-month-old son and her dog in tow. Also: Professor Glen MacDonald from the University of California, Los Angeles explains the connection between climate change and wildfires; We learn about the effect that hurricane Maria had on Puerto Rico's tropical Rainforest; Fall foliage is big business in New England, with tourist visiting from around the globe, but climate change might change that; Fadi BouKaram is visiting all 47 cities and towns in the US named Lebanon, his mission: plant as many cedar trees as possible. (Sacramento Metropolitan firefighters battle the Camp Fire in Magalia, California. Credit: Karl Mondon/Getty Images)

President Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric ran high in the run up to the US midterm elections. He called the migrant caravan making its way north through Mexico an invasion. He even sent troops to the southern border between the US and Mexico to keep out the migrants. But now that the Democrats are in control of the House of Representatives, President Trump may not have as much power as he used to in executing his immigration policies. Also: Maria Mendoza and Eusebio Sanchez were deported from the US to Mexico, leaving their four children behind. Now their eldest daughter, Vianney, is looking after her siblings; Jose Antonio Vargas talks about his life in the US as an undocumented immigrant; Terrell Jermaine Starr on the difficulties of being a black reporter in Ukraine; Plus, why some passports are more valuable than others. (Members of a family reunited through the border wall between Mexico and United States, in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico. Credit: Herika Martinez/Getty Images)

At a point of strong political division in the US, where everything from “migrant caravans” to global trade is being politicised, Safiya Wazir is running for office in New Hampshire, a state that’s 94 percent white. 27 year-old Safiya says she is not interested in pursuing a career in politics, but in the short term she feels that she can make a difference on issues like education, senior care and paid family-leave. Also: HIAS is one of the oldest refugee assistance groups in the US, we hear about the group's reaction to being named in social media posts by the alleged perpetrator of the mass shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh; Australian political observer Bruce Hawker talks about political division in the US leading up to the midterm elections; In solidly Republican Tennessee we learn whether President Trump’s tariffs are swaying voters at the polls; Finally we look at foreign and domestic disinformation campaigns leading up the midterm elections in the US. (Safiya Wazir speaks with a resident of Co

One of the stated goals recent United Nations report on climate change is to prevent the planet from warming more than one and a half degrees Celsius. We ask what would happen if the world warmed by, say, two degrees. Also: Calculating the cost of climate change is doable but difficult -- too difficult says the US Department of Defense; we fact check President Donald Trump on one of his recent statements about climate change; plus we take a journey to the remote Alaskan village of Shishmaref, where climate change and rising sea levels are a present threat.

Should someone who has committed a serious crime, like murder or rape, be automatically banned from voting? What about lesser crimes? In the US, even non-violent offences, such as drunk driving or possession of a small amount of marijuana can follow someone long after they've completed their sentence. Should these past offenders be allowed to vote? Also: The notorious Rikers Island jail in New York became the scene of an art heist in which the chief suspects are prison guards; We hear about a prisoner’s experience navigating racial tensions behind bars; and finally, we meet a woman who just finished her prison sentence and is now adjusting to life on the outside. Image: A guard tower at San Quentin State Prison in California (Credit: Corbis via Getty Images)

On the night of Robert F. Kennedy's assassination in 1968, a photographer caught an image of the presidential candidate just after he was shot. In it, a young hotel worker named Juan Romero cradles Kennedy's head, looking up, stunned. At the time, Romero was just 17-years old. That night, that photo, and everything that followed changed his life forever. Also: In Los Angeles, gentrification is affecting immigrant communities as once gritty downtown neighbourhoods become trendy places to live Activist and lawyer Lizbeth Mateo becomes the first unauthorised immigrant named to a statewide post in California; In Mexico City we visit a neighbourhood called ‘Little LA’; Finally, we take a tour through a score of Los Angeles’ of global ice cream shops. (Senator Robert F. Kennedy stands among supporters in the main ballroom of the Ambassador Hotel, just after claiming victory in California's presidential primary. The Senator was shot moments later as he left the ballroom. Credit: Bettmann/Getty Images)

The nearly 25 year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is to be replaced by the US-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA). The name might be very different but US reporter Jason Margolis says the substance seems very familiar. Also: Roland Paris, Justin Trudeau’s former foreign policy advisor talks about the path to reaching the deal; we hear what the new trade deal could mean for the US auto industry; in cattle country NAFTA is still a point of contention; and we meet soya farmers on the front lines of Mr Trump’s trade war with China. (President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference to discuss a revised U.S. trade agreement with Mexico and Canada in the Rose Garden of the White House Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Every Day Is Extra is the title of a new memoir by former US senator and secretary of state John Kerry. He chronicles his time serving in Vietnam, five terms in the Senate, his presidential run, and his tenure as secretary of state. He records a decades long pursuit of multilateral diplomacy and civil political discourse. John Kerry talks to Marco about the state of US politics in 2018. Also: We visit a Persian bookstore in Los Angeles that sells banned Iranian books; Patrick Winn takes us on a ride through Southeast Asia’s drug-fuelled underworld; In her new memoir, Jean Guerrero takes readers on a cross border journey; and, a library in Canada offers a dial-in story reading service in 16 languages. (Former US secretary of state John Kerry in the Boston Calling studio at WGBH. Credit: Steven Davy/The World)

In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, scores of colleges and universities in Puerto Rico had to close because of all the damage. Schools on the US mainland, from New York to Florida, wanted to do something to help. So they opened their doors and offered free or discounted tuition to those students from Puerto Rico whose home institutions were closed. One of the first students to take them up on that offer was Rosamari Palerm. She enrolled at St. Thomas University in Miami in late September 2017. But even after a comfortable year in Miami, Rosamari felt homesick and was ready to go back to Puerto Rico. Also: A study from George Washington University reveals new death toll numbers from Hurricane Maria; A year after Hurricane Harvey, some families in Houston, Texas are still recovering; After Hurricane Maria swept through their hometown, a group of women started cooking meals together for people who didn’t have access to food. (A man bicycles in an area without grid power or running water about two weeks after

In the early 2000’s the US helped fund Afghanistan's first private university. It was part of an effort to help rebuild Afghanistan's education system. Over time, the American University of Afghanistan has become a symbol of hope for many young Afghan men and women who dream about higher education. But that very hope has also made those students, and their campus in Kabul, targets for extremists. Also: First Lieutenant, Erica MacSwan, prepares for her deployment to Afghanistan; Lt. MacSwan recalls her family’s personal experience with the 9/11 attacks; and we step inside a fashion boutique in the heart of Kabul. (Two years after the attack on the American University in Kabul, school officials have stepped up security. That means the campus has the look and feel of a military compound. Credit: Farzanah Wahidy/PRI)

Crazy Rich Asians is one of the top box office hits of the summer. The film’s plot may just sound like your typical romantic comedy, except it's set in Singapore and it's the first Hollywood film to feature a majority East Asian cast in 25 years. Cast member, Pierre Png, tells us what the film means to him. Also: Germany’s long history of dubbing movies; a linguist who specializes in creating fake movie languages; an American army strategist studies Star Wars to better understand modern military conflict; plus a profile of the Afghan Charlie Chaplin. (Actor Henry Golding arrives at Warner Bros. Pictures' 'Crazy Rich Asians' Premiere at TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California. Credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

As a result of President Trump's immigration crackdown, many migrants are seeking a warmer welcome in Canada. Since 2017, 33 thousand people have crossed -- outside of formal border crossings -- to make asylum claims in Canada. Now, the cost of feeding and housing those asylum seekers is pitting the city of Toronto against Canada's federal government. Also: Kenneth Jackson from the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network in Ottawa looks into the plight of first Nation children in the Canadian foster care system; we find out how climate change is spurring a debate over the the legal status of the Northwest passage; a big name in Canadian beer enters the cannabis drink business; and Canada’s minimum price for beer drops to 1 dollar, but what will this mean for microbrewers? (The Nav Centre in Cornwall, Ontario awaits the next wave of refugees. Thousands of refugees have been streaming across the Canada/US border over the past year. Credit: Geoff Robins/AFP/Getty Images)

This week, Microsoft announced that it detected and stopped attacks on US institutions by Russian hackers linked to the Kremlin. The attacks involved setting up fake websites that mimicked the sites of conservative think tanks that have been critical of President Trump. Zeynep Tufekci studies the intersection of technology and society and she says that foreign hacking and meddling exposes real weaknesses in America's digital security and politics. Also: New York Times technology reporter, Sheera Frenkel, explains what tech companies are doing to get rid of fake news, deception and hate speech; a master of movie special effects recounts working on a little film called Star Wars; a new internet health study has us asking if the internet make our lives better or worse; and one of the bigger Instagram trends of the summer can be summed up in two words: sunflower selfies. (The Microsoft Moscow headquarters at night. Credit: Mikhail Tereshchenko\Getty Images)

Karolina Chorvath grew up caught between different countries and languages. She’s a third culture kid, which can mean lots of things; some are the children of mixed marriages, some are refugees or the children of immigrants. One thing they have in common, is that they tend to feel like they don’t fully belong anywhere.

Dorelia Rivera and her daughter were onboard the Aeromexico jet when it crashed at the end of the runway and burst into flames. Dozens of people were injured but miraculously all 103 passengers survived. Also: A survivor from Hiroshima devotes his life to telling the stories of the American victims of the atom bomb dropped on the city; teams from Australia and New Zealand are coming to the US to help fight wildfires; a researcher uses a leaf-blower to learn how some lizards survived hurricanes Irma and Maria, while others didn’t. (Image: Smoke billowing from the wreckage of a plane that crashed with 97 passengers and four crew on board at the airport of Durango, in northern Mexico. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

One of America's biggest exports to china is its recycling. But in recent months, China has been refusing shipments because so much US recycling is contaminated with food and other waste. That's forcing communities across the US to clean up their acts. Also: Burberry sends its unsold fashion up in smoke; H&M attempts to market itself as a greener company; a climate scientist in California changes his lifestyle to reduce his carbon footprint; a travel writer grapples with the ethics of visiting Antarctica; plus music from the Small Island, Big Song project. (Image: Cody Marshall, with The Recycling Partnership, looks through a recycling bin in Lynn, Massachusetts. His organization is working with cities across the US, helping them educate residents on how to recycle better. Credit: Jason Margolis/PRI’s The World)