For generations, immigrants who came to the US were forced to make a clean break with home. Today, with cell phones, the Internet, videoconferencing and cheap air fares, many immigrants remain in constant contact with their home countries. For them, the key to survival is not just learning how to live in America, but learning to live in two places at once.

Hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt (Angela’s Ashes, ‘Tis) and set in New York’s immigrant neighborhoods, Feet in Two Worlds is an award-winning documentary featuring stories by reporters from the city’s ethnic newspapers, as well as WNYC reporters who regularly cover immigrant communities.

Read the story of how Feet in 2 Worlds got started.

Most of these stories have only been available to readers of small ethnic newspapers. Now public radio listeners have a chance to get an insider’s perspective on immigrant experiences in one of the world’s most culturally diverse cities.

This emotionally charged and sound-rich hour of radio features a soundtrack produced by DJ Rekha, an innovator in the city’s music scene.

Listen to stories from the documentary.

Human Smugglers Turned Kidnappers by Cindy Rodriguez

A Polish pharmacy in Brooklyn is an oasis for Poles far from home by Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska

Videoconferencing keeps an Ecuadorian family together by Cindy Rodriguez

Remittances are an economic lifeline for Haiti by Macollvie Jean-Francois

Gay South Asians in New York City by Arun Venugopal

An African immigrant waiting for asylum by Marianne McCune

The program includes introductory and closing essays by Frank McCourt and pieces reported by:

Macollvie Jean-Francois, reporter, Haitian Times
Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska, reporter, Nowy Dziennik (Polish Daily News) 
Marianne McCune, reporter, WNYC, New York Public Radio
Cindy Rodriguez, reporter, WNYC, New York Public Radio
Arun Venugopal, reporter, India Abroad
Producer: John Rudolph
Editor: Karen Frillmann
Technical Director: Wayne Shulmister
Associate Producers: Jocelyn Gonzales and DJ Rekha
Engineers: Rob Christiansen, Curtis Fox, Ed Haber, Jennifer Munson and Rob Weisberg
Project Director: Andrew White, Center for New York City Affairs

Originally broadcast in May 2005, Feet in Two Worlds won two prestigious awards from the Society of Professional Journalists—the Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service in Radio Journalism and the New America Award, “for excellence in collaborative public service journalism during 2005 by ethnic and mainstream news media working together to explore and expose a subject of significance to ethnic or immigrant communities in the United States.”

In conjunction with the release of the Feet in Two Worlds documentary, the Center for New York City Affairs hosted a town hall on May 10, 2005 featuring panel discussions on transnational communities in New York City, excerpts from the documentary and music by DJ Rekha. The event was taped for broadcast on The Brian Lehrer Show and aired the following day, Wednesday, May 11, on WNYC 93.9 FM / AM 820 from 10 am to noon.

Fi2W is supported by the David and Katherine Moore Family Foundation, the Ralph E. Odgen Foundation, and the Nicholas B. Ottaway Foundation.

Reporter Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska produced this feature about Greek immigrants affected by the Eurozone crisis for our partner, PRI’s The World.

A Polish immigrant was the victim of the only homicide reported on September 11, 2001. Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska produced a radio story about Henryk Siwiak for our partner, WNYC Radio.

In this episode of the Feet in Two Worlds podcast three immigrant journalists from New York discuss the changes they have witnessed over the past decade since the 9/11 attacks, including the impact of new security laws and policies, the stalemate over immigration reform and the stagnant economy.

Ewa’s story on how immigrants are bringing back the New York tradition of pigeon tending reaches a national radio audience on PRI’s daily news show.

Homing pigeons were once a common sight in the skies over many New York neighborhoods. Fi2W’s Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska produced a radio story for WNYC about a handful of immigrants and native New Yorkers, who keep pigeon flocks today.

In New York, just as certain job sectors are dominated by immigrants, so are the unions representing workers in those fields. Many are new citizens who enthusiastically participate in the electoral process and are an important asset for local candidates.

Listen to Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska’s appearance on Connecticut public radio station WNPR.

2010 marks the 200th birthday of the composer Frederic Chopin. For Polish immigrants his music has special meaning. FI2W’s Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska produced a radio story for WNYC on the community’s response to the great composer.

Community organizers and census workers are trying to ease resistance to the census among Russian immigrants in the Brighton Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY.