The first imigrant through the gates of ellis island, annie moore. She was an unaccompanied miner hoping to be reunited with her parents who had moved here to the states. There's a statue of her in cove, my home town, with her two little brothers. And then there's a corresponding statue of her onEllis Island because she was the first one there. Her story is told from both sides and i'm so lucky that i get to see it from both sides.
On a list of the least funny topics imaginable, the global refugee crisis, border disputes, and questions of citizenships are probably close to the top. And yet comedian Maeve Higgins has spent her career finding ways to make jokes about (and make sense of) the ways we draw lines across the globe. She’s a standup and a writer who speaks from the point of view of an Irish immigrant in the United States. In this episode, she talks about ways we can find funny and eye-opening vantage points to look at the realities and borders of the world, our place in it, and how imagination and laughter can help us through tough times.