Call for Pitches for “A Better Life?” Podcast, Season 2

Feet in 2 Worlds is accepting story pitches for the second season of its award-winning podcast A Better Life? The series explores how the Covid-19 pandemic has reshaped immigrants’ lives and their relationship to the United States. The second season’s theme will be, “Who gets to return to normal?” With immigrants and communities of color disproportionately impacted by Covid-19, we want to explore disparities and a range of underreported experiences and issues in immigrant communities as the U.S. begins to emerge from the pandemic. Areas of particular interest are health, work, economics, families and culture (including food and the arts).

We’re looking for:

  • Character-driven audio stories with a strong narrative arc that will tie specific people and their communities to the larger trends and themes.
  • Compelling experts, community leaders, and data to help frame the stories with context and information that deepens our reporting.
  • Stories that center and focus on immigrant communities from different regions, backgrounds, and economic circumstances across the country.
  • Compelling audio to tell the stories – from ambiance-rich scenes to engaging interviews.

We’re looking at stories that touch on these themes:

Information, misinformation: How is information and misinformation shared in immigrant communities, especially those that use languages other than English? What role does social media and in-language media play in spreading this information, and who fact-checks and corrects that information? What are the consequences of misinformation on immigrant communities?

Vaccination: How are immigrants across the country getting access to the vaccine, and how do their specific needs and circumstances (cultural, geographic, economic, language, health) impact the ability to get vaccinated? How are immigrant communities and immigrant families dealing with resistance to vaccination?

Stimulus, aid: Are immigrant communities benefiting from public stimulus and aid programs, such as The American Rescue Plan of 2021? How do immigration status, language and community circumstances affect access?

Return to work and unemployment: Immigrants are heavily represented in jobs that can’t be done remotely. As the economic recovery continues, are immigrants able to find work? What about access to unemployment benefits? How has job safety and security for immigrant workers been affected by Covid?

Schools and education: How are immigrant communities handling going back to school (at all levels: primary, secondary, and higher education)? For students who may have moved back home to save money and for reasons of safety, how will they handle a call back to campus? For students who need language, transportation, or other accommodations, are those services returning at the same rate that students are being called back?

Death and grieving: Covid-19 has taken over 500k lives, and many more have passed from other causes during the pandemic. Who have immigrant communities lost during this time, what are some memorial and funeral traditions that couldn’t happen conventionally in the pandemic, and how did communities adapt or postpone those services? We want to hear stories of unconventional grieving processes during these times.

Families and parenting: How has the pandemic affected the dynamics of immigrant families? For people who have had to move in with family, or have gotten cut off from the support of having extended family, how are those relationships transitioning out of pandemic?

The arts and artistic expression: How has the pandemic influenced the work of immigrant artists? How have spaces that focus specifically on arts, performance, and culture in immigrant communities adapted to pandemic shutdowns? As these venues open up, what surviving spaces are ready to welcome artists and audiences back and which have changed their model entirely?

Food: How are the formal and informal foodways of immigrant communities, (including businesses, markets, food workers, and food aid programs) adjusting to ever-changing Covid policies and community needs? Restaurants have been especially hard hit by Covid. How are immigrant restaurant workers and owners surviving?

Politics and political representation: How did immigrant communities see their relationship to the political process change following the 2020 election, and in what ways do they stay politically engaged? Will they continue to be involved, whether through the electoral process or through community organizations?

Compensation

Compensation for accepted stories will depend on factors including the experience level of the producer, the length of the story, and the complexity of the story.

Deadline for pitches:

The deadline was Friday, April 30 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern. Thank you for your submissions.

Questions

You can email any questions to us at abetterlife@feetin2worlds.org.

AboutQuincy Surasmith
Quincy Surasmith is Fi2W's managing editor. He is an audio producer based in Los Angeles, California. He is also the host and executive producer of Asian Americana, a podcast featuring stories of Asian American culture and history. Previously, he was the producer-editor for the podcast #GoodMuslimBadMuslim and produced at Southern California Public Radio/LAist.