Heavyweight on Minnesota raids
One of the best podcasts on earth is Heavyweight, where a guy named Jonathan helps people solve incredibly personal, difficult lifelong problems. He does it with a staff of researchers, a tenacious need to help others, and ample time to truly get to the bottom of an answer. There are so many great episodes it's hard to pick one, so if you've never heard it before, I'd say start from the beginning and enjoy one a day until you're all caught up. They're poignant but also funny and light-hearted, and ultimately satisfying when the team solves a thorny issue.
The most recent episode is completely different and made me think for the first time that a podcast episode should be considered for a Pulitzer award in journalism someday.
The first part paints a picture of how Minneapolis sounds and feels from the perspective of Jonathan's wife. I'm guessing she started recording audio on her phone whenever a bunch of black SUVs crossed her path over several weeks, but hearing the sheer terror of people screaming, flash bangs, teargas being deployed on civilians, and the warning whistles to alert neighbors of ICE hit me like no newspaper story ever could.
It's harrowing and horrible and was extremely difficult to listen to.
The back half of the episode covers a family with asylum status in the US, and how a father was shot in his own home by ICE. It includes actual audio of the raid where thugs break a door down and everyone scrambles for their lives before a couple family members are taken away.
The most shocking part of that story is the family fled horrible conditions in Venezuela to live a better life for them and their children in America, and this is what America in Minneapolis has become for those fleeing violence from other countries.
Again, the full episode is hard to listen to, but completely worth your time.
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