International adoption helped many Americans build families, but a dark side victimized poor people in developing countries.
The practice began in the 1950s to help Korean War orphans, and more than 70 years later hundreds of thousands of children born in other countries are part of a complex cultural legacy. By the early 2000s, corruption scandals scaled back or shut down programs in some of the most popular countries for adoption — South Korea, Romania, Russia, and Guatemala.
On this Us & Them episode, host Trey Kay talks with Laurie Stern and her 24-year-old son about their adoption journey. Their podcast called “Defining Diego” chronicles Diego’s growing understanding of his Guatemalan legacy and family.
Changing social and geopolitical attitudes have made for a dramatic drop in the number of international adoptions — from more than 20,000 in 2004 to just about 3,000 in 2019. We’ll hear about that shift and how one young man finds his new name and his future, by looking back.
To listen to the complete podcast series, click on the hyperlinked title Defining Diego.
This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council and the CRC Foundation.
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Folk music is not the easiest way to make a living, but artists still find a way to balance making music with putting food on the table. Mason Adams traveled to MidMountain arts collective in Virginia, where he spoke with both veteran folksingers and emerging talents.
This week's encore broadcast of Mountain Stage was recorded on the campus of West Virginia University (WVU) at the Canady Creative Arts Center. On this episode, we hear live performances from Duke Robillard Band, Cedric Burnside, Sam Weber, Las Cafeteras, and The Black Feathers.