The Exchange

We conclude our series on New Hampshire’s Immigration Story.  Over the past year, we’ve examined our immigrant past -- from that first encounter between Native Americans and Europeans to how newcomers shape our communities today… their contributions, their struggles, and the conflicts that come up.  We’ll look at what we’ve learned…and how our immigration story is still being written.

Guests:

Eva Castillo: Coordinator for The New Hampshire Alliance of Immigrants and Refugees, a part of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition. Eva first came to America from Venezuela in 1976 and moved to New Hampshire in 1983.

Every group that has arrived here has experienced some conflict – whether between newcomers and long-time residents…or, within new immigrant groups themselves.  As part of our series on New Hampshire’s Immigration Story, we’ll look at what difficulties tend to come up, again and again – also, how different people draw the lines between assimilation and maintaining their culture. 

Guests: 

Salaam Odeh works as a medical and legal interpreter and translator throughout New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts. She is a community activist and recently served as a State Commissioner on the Status of Women. She was born and raised in Jordan as a Palestinian refugee.

For centuries, that transition between teen-hood and adulthood has been accompanied with a newfound independence, where young men and women leave the roost, go to college, buy a house and raise a family.  But according to author Katherine Newman, high unemployment rates, the rise of short-term employment, longer life expectancies and the high cost of living have forced many a young adult back home to live with mom and dad.  They are called 'Accordion Families' and depending on the culture, they're met with a variety of acceptance.  Today we look closer into this new phenomenon called Accordion families.

Guests

We talk with Pulitzer Prize winning author Edward Humes about his new book, Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash. Americans are at the top of the heap for producing waste: over 100 tons per person in a lifetime.

Humes explores why we make so much garbage,  the environmental and economic impact of trash…and why he believes this is a problem ordinary people can fix.

As schools continue to mainstream children with disabilities, students with emotional and behavioral disabilities  may be the toughest to include.  They’re less likely to graduate and more likely to get arrested.  And there are questions about how to approach these kids – whether it’s a matter of more discipline or alternative methods.  We look at this issue and discuss a new documentary that takes a look at the topic through the life of a high school student coping with these disabilities.  

Guests:

We look at the challenges at balancing public safety with the rights of sex offenders.

We talk with experts on head trauma in youth sports.