This hour stories that dive below the surface to help us understand issues of race, the environment and immigration.

How Race Was Made

by John Biewen (Scene on Radio , 2017) 

When producer John Biewen was in high school in the late 1970s, he learned from his textbooks that people could be divided into three distinct races — mongoloid, caucasoid and negroid. Decades later he wondered when and how this now debunked theory of race took hold. In this episode, John looks at those distinctions arose. 

This excerpt is the second episode of a multi-part series John produced on race called 'Seeing White'. You can listen to all of the episodes on the Scene on Radio website or subscribe to the podcast.

How the Environment Got Political

by Brooke Gladstone (On the Media from WNYC Studios, 2017) 

In the 1960's the issues pertaining to the environment were not nearly as divisive as they are today (e.g. Global Warming). Back then, the environment was a bipartisan issue, and a Republican president created the EPA in 1970 in response to public pressure. So how did we get here? How did the environment go from universal concern to political battleground — with the EPA caught in the crossfire? 

Listen to On the Media's entire episode about the EPA and the environment.

State 

by Delaney Hall with Roman Mars (99% Invisible , 2017) 

In the 1980s, the United States experienced a refugee crisis. Thousands of Central Americans were fleeing civil wars in their home countries.In response, a network of churches across the country declared themselves “sanctuaries,” offering shelter to thise who were threatened with deportation and in some cases helped smuggle people across the border. Leaders and members of these sanctuary churches believed they had a religious imperative to help people fleeing persecution. But the US government saw things differently, and took legal action. 

You can hear 'Church', the first episode from 99pi 's Sanctuary series, at 99percentinvisible.org.