Radiolab - Lebanon, USA

This is a story of a road trip. After a particularly traumatic Valentine's Day, Fadi Boukaram was surfing google maps and noticed that there was a town called Lebanon... in Oregon. Being Lebanese himself, he wondered, how many Lebanons exist in the US? The answer: 47. Thus began his journey to visit them all and find an America he'd never expected, and the homeland he'd been searching for all along. This episode was made in collaboration with Kerning Cultures, a podcast that tells stories from the Middle East and North Africa. The original "Lebanon USA" story was reported by Alex Atack with editorial support from Bella Ibrahim, Dana Ballout, Zeina Dowidar, and Hebah Fisher. Original sound design by Alex Atack. Editor's Note: In an earlier version of this episode, we inaccurately described a grain elevator. We have updated the audio to reflect the correction. The new update of the story was produced and reported by Shima Oliaee. We had original music by Thomas Koner and Jad Atoui. Be sure to check out Kerning Cultures at their website kerningcultures.com, instagram @kerningculture, or twitter @kerningcultures. You can read more about Fadi’s trips and see his photographs at lebanonusa.com or on his Instagram at @lebanonusa. Support Radiolab today at Radiolab.org/donate. If you would like to donate to Beirut at this time, please visit our website for a list of organizations.

Duration: 46m
Broadcast on: 20 Aug 2020
Audio Format: other

This episode was made in collaboration with Kerning Cultures, a podcast that tells stories from the Middle East and North Africa. The original "Lebanon USA" story was reported by Alex Atack with editorial support from Bella Ibrahim, Dana Ballout, Zeina Dowidar, and Hebah Fisher. Original sound design by Alex Atack.

Editor's Note: In an earlier version of this episode, we inaccurately described a grain elevator. We have updated the audio to reflect the correction.

The new update of the story was produced and reported by Shima Oliaee.

We had original music by Thomas Koner and Jad Atoui.

Be sure to check out Kerning Cultures at their website kerningcultures.com, instagram @kerningculture, or twitter @kerningcultures. You can read more about Fadi’s trips and see his photographs at lebanonusa.com or on his Instagram at @lebanonusa.

Support Radiolab today at Radiolab.org/donate.

If you would like to donate to Beirut at this time, please visit our website for a list of organizations.

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RIDILEB is supported by AT&T. We all love to connect via video calls or texts. Right now, at AT&T, you can get the new iPhone 18 Pro for $0 with iPhone trade-in. Any condition. It has the ultimate pro camera system and big leap in battery life, so you can turn this deal into a long-lasting connection. Learn how you can trade in your iPhone for the new iPhone 18 Pro requires trade-in of iPhone 14 or higher, excluding iPhone 16E, an eligible plan. Terms and restrictions apply, subject to change, visit an AT&T store for details. Our reading for today is coming from Psalm 92 from verse 12, "The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God." I have a brother called Jad, by the way, and he's a stand-up comedian and actually pretty famous in Lebanon. What's his name? Jad Bukaram. Oh, wow. He has his, he's on a TV show. His handle on all these social media has always been, "Oh, my Jad," because it's "Oh, my God." Yeah, yeah. This is Radio Lab. I'm Jad Abu Marad. We start this episode just for kicks with two jads, but really it's about 47 Lebinons. Lebanon, of course, Lebanon, the country, has been in the news a lot recently, in the most heartbreaking way. On this Tuesday night, an enormous explosion blasts through Beirut, who they think disaster rubble everywhere, buildings blasted open, the Red Cross has put out an urgent appeal for blood donors. My family comes from Lebanon, and to be Lebanese is, I don't know, to be in a constant state of vertigo where you never know when the floor is going to drop out from under you. Lebanon has a history of conflict and abomings, but the scale of this is like nothing else. As we are watching this latest horror unfold, we happen to be simultaneously working on a story about Lebanon, a very different story that, in its own way, kind of explores that feeling of dislocation, and it actually wasn't our story to begin with. A year ago, I was listening to this wonderful podcast. I'm Hibba Fisher, and you're listening to Curning Cultures. It's called Curning Cultures. Radio documentaries from the Middle East. And I heard a story called Lebanon USA. In 2005, a Lebanese man- I immediately called Hibba Fisher, who runs the podcast, and asked her if we could air it too, and she very graciously said yes. And the main character of the story- My name is Fadi Bukaram. Is the guy with a brother named Jad? And I'm a photographer. And you also work in finance, right? Yeah, I do US tax law. Okay. It's a growth industry. Yeah, but I'm on the good side, not the bad side. So I help the IRS catch people who don't pay their taxes.

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