In parts of china they referred to the united states as the gold mountain. There was a fetishization of america as this place where one could make a new life in a fortune. The snakehead story really raises questions about who we let in to to certain borders and what should be the criteria which we judge people to become citizens. Do you think the American dream will ever die is it more alive than ever i don't think it will ever die.
Investigative journalist Patrick Radden Keefe joins us on the podcast to tell the story of an unlikely criminal mastermind, Sister Ping - a middle-aged, hardworking woman who is highly respected among her community. Originally from Fujian province, China, for years she runs an incredibly lucrative people smuggling business from New York's Chinatown until she comes into trouble with violent gangsters and then later the FBI. In conversation with our host Poppy Damon, they discuss immigration, the dark underbelly of the American Dream, and the questions of who gets to stay. They also speak about Patrick's involvement in the Oscar-nominated documentary starring Nan Goldin and directed by Laura Poitras, All The Beauty And The Bloodshed.
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