Boston Calling

Two teenage reporters, Teddy Fischer and Jane Gormley, interview the US Secretary of Defence. Also: an unauthorized immigrant dreams of white picket fences; a Mexican street cart vendor in Los Angeles becomes an overnight celebrity; oil brings wealth and trouble to a small town in North Dakota; Laleh Khadivi’s latest novel is about a surfer-dude turned jihadi; plus we meet a man who listens to trees. (Image: U.S. Secretary of Defence James Mattis listens to a reporter’s questions at the Pentagon on July 7, 2017 in Arlington, Virginia. Credit: Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)