136 Exposure Therapy—Sulawesi, Where Rachel Was a Fellow

Rachel was a Fellow with the U.S. State Department’s English Language Program in Sulawesi. She embraced challenges like finding ants in her food to unravel her fears and came away reflecting on how race shapes our experience. I asked how she became such a good storyteller … and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician Dana Boulé.

“‘Lost’ really has two disparate meanings. Losing things is about the familiar falling away. Getting lost is about the unfamiliar appearing. There are objects and people that disappear from your sight or knowledge or possession. You lose a bracelet a friend the key, you still know where you are. Everything is familiar except that there is one item less, one missing element. Or you get lost in which the world has become larger than your knowledge of it. Either way there’s a loss of control.”

— Rebecca Solnit

135 So Much More Than One Thing—Mauritius, Where Armen Was a Fellow

Armen was a Fellow with the U.S. State Department’s English Language Program in Mauritius. I asked how the experience changed him … and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician Dana Boulé.

“Peace is every step.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

134 Moral Injury—Afghanistan, Where Joan Got a Text

Joan took part in this past August’s “Digital Dunkirk,” the frantic effort to help Afghans escape the Taliban when the U.S. withdrew after two decades in Afghanistan. During those sleepless nights, she began advocating, writing articles calling on the U.S. government to honor its commitment to the people who served alongside its military. I asked how Afghans came to mean so much to her ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician Dana Boulé.

“Digital Dunkirk” - Mother Jones

“Op-Ed: Afghan Interpreters” - The Miami Herald

“How Congress failed AFG” - The Orlando Sentinel

“Breaking hearts and minds” - Military Times

“From Quant Tin to Kabul”

“The Class Is Yours, Hamid”

“From PC to AFG” - The Providence College Podcast

Click to donate to Afghan emergency aid:

Aseel Emergency Response

Click to get involved with Afghan refugee resettlement:

International Rescue Committee (IRC)

Catholic Charities Migration and Refugee Services

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service

“People go but how they left always stays.”

— Rupi Kaur

133 All Very Hush Hush—Yemen, Where Aziza Wants to Help People Die

Aziza told me the religious police arrested her and her fiancé in Saudi Arabia. The interrogator asked, “Did you hit the religious police?” She was like, “Damn yes I did!” I asked if that changed her ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician Dana Boulé.

“Peculiar traveling suggestions are dancing lessons from God”

— Kurt Vonnegut

132 Love Is Stronger Than Death—Benin, Where Jean Reconnected

Jean was readier to answer my questions—as if he had somehow prepared—than anyone I have interviewed in the course of this project when we met randomly at a fountain in an alcove of Casablanca’s wondrous mosque by the sea. I asked him why ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician Dana Boulé.

“Family is never lost.”

— Creole Proverb

131 La Direction de la Vie—Paris, Where Étienne Considered Suicide

Étienne has decorated his entire Paris apartment with paraphernalia from The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s classic children’s book. I asked what happened when he came home from nearly a year traveling the world ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician Dana Boulé.

“On n’est jamais content là où on est.”

— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

130 Black Doesn't Speak—Paris, Where Caracola Clowns

Caracola left Buenos Aires at 19 to study anthropology in Paris but soon realized her calling is to be a clown. She has been studying intensely and touring the world performing in streets and studios ever since. I asked whether she has traveled to be able to perform or performed to be able to travel ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician Dana Boulé.

“Y ya que a ti no llega mi voz ruda, óyeme sordo.”

— Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

129 Al-Amin—The Bronx, Where Mohibul Trusted

Mohibul runs the restaurant his father established when he moved from Bangladesh to London. They named it Al-Amin, which means “trust.” I asked how he learned to connect so well with his customers ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician Dana Boulé.

“I think that we may safely trust a good deal more than we do.”

— Henry David Thoreau

128 Belonging—Mostar, Where Anja Is Writing a Bible

Anja left Bosnia as a toddler and lives there now to reconnect with her roots. I asked if she has found herself in her journeys ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician Dana Boulé.

“The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat of their difference.”

— Audre Lorde

127 The Beauty of Sorrow—Zipolite, Where Indra Drowned

Indra broke up with his girlfriend in Turkey just months into traveling the world together and set off the series of events that brought him to South Korea. He almost died in Mexico. I asked whether he’s going to write all these experiences ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician Dana Boulé.

“The longest absence is less perilous to love than the terrible trials of incessant proximity.”

— Edna St. Vincent Millay

126 Vipassana—Tel Aviv, Where Meytal Wants to See

Meytal felt uncomfortable just following the typical path of a young Israeli, school, the army, job, and so she found another path that took her to India—and eventually, back to Israel. I asked whether people here comment on her Yemeni roots ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician Dana Boulé.

“If you want to study yourself—look into the hearts of other people.”

— Friedrich von Schiller

125 The Fourth Cup—Nazareth, Where Odna Is Being Investigated

Odna was summoned by the police in Nazareth and questioned about her Facebook activity. They said they were secretly listening to her conversations as well. I asked what her name means ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician Dana Boulé.

“I have a been a stranger here in my own land.”

— Sophocles

124 Beyond the Beyonds—Limerick, Where Frank Grew Up

Frank McCourt wrote his beloved memoir, Angela’s Ashes, about a childhood spent in Ireland. Una Heaten turned the schoolhouse he attended into a museum honoring his book and his legacy. I traveled to Limerick to ask what it’s like to build a museum ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician Dana Boulé.

“Telling stories is sure medicine.”

— Primo Levi

123 Around the World in 72 Days—Mexico, Where Nellie Ran Away

Nellie Bly set out in 1889 to beat Jules Verne’s fictional circumnavigation of the globe by ten days and report along the way, but that’s only one among her many adventures. I asked Nathan Mannion of EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum what made Nellie so special ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician Dana Boulé.

“Standing there alone among strange people, I thought how sweet life is!”

— Nellie Bly

122 The Spirit of Dialogue—Egypt, Where Francis Tried to Stop the Crusades

St. Francis of Assisi attached himself to a band of crusaders in the hopes that when he met the sultan in Egypt, his words could dissuade everyone from fighting. I asked a monk named Stephen who lives in Assisi whether he was successful ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician Dana Boulé.

“Grant that I may not so much seek to be understood as to understand.”

— St. Francis of Assisi

121 A Listening Blue—Arles, Where Vincent Dreamed of Japan

Vincent Van Gogh left the Netherlands to paint the South of France near the end of his life and created some of the most famous and lasting works in his short career there. I asked Marion Ley of the Fondation Vincent Van Gogh Arles why ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician Dana Boulé.

“There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.”

— Vincent Van Gogh

120 Dublin Live Show—Sweny's, Where PJ Welcomes Joyceans

PJ Murphy dresses like a chemist to greet the visitors to Sweny’s Pharmacy who come to Dublin to experience James Joyce’s novel, Ulysses. At Kennedy’s Pub and Station across the street—that Joyce surely visited as well—before a lovely warm live audience, I asked how PJ ended up at the center of such a moving literary pilgrimage ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician Dana Boulé.

Westin’s Fund is a foundation started by my brother and his wife to help cover the medical costs of families who lose children to miscarriage and stillbirth. There’s no better week to donate than now as we celebrate James Joyce’s Ulysses, which deals with exactly that tragedy and its lingering effects. Click on the link above. Even a small amount helps. Tell them I sent you!

“I saw the danger, yet I passed along the enchanted way.”

— Patrick Kavanagh

119 Seven Words—Maine, Where Rocinante Glowed

John Steinbeck packed up his dog and a few belongings into a camper he christened Rocinante and set out on the road late in life to discover America. I asked the head archivist at the National Steinbeck Center why ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician Dana Boulé.

Click to learn more …

“The way is open.”

— John Steinbeck

118 The Last Grain of Rice—Mosul, Where Mikey Saw a Face

Mikey spent years as a helicopter pilot before becoming a storyteller. You can see his filmmaking at MikeyKay.com. I asked how he approaches interviewing—in other words how he deals with “the observer effect” ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician Dana Boulé.

“Your thought kindled a fire beside you that showed a path.”

— Abu l-'Ala al-Ma'arri

117 The Other Side—L'Abri, Where Ryan Demilitarized

Ryan needed a place to decompress after serving in the military, so he went to L’Abri, a communal living center in the English countryside. I asked what exactly it was that reversed his political stance ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Special thanks to the musician Dana Boulé.

“So hadde I spoken with hem everichon that I was of hir felawshipe anon.”

— Chaucer