Podcasts

Conversations and storytelling about immigration, democracy, and community life in America.

The Front Porch Movement Podcast explores the stories shaping everyday life in America through community-centered journalism and immersive storytelling. Hosted by journalist Ted Canova, the podcast features conversations with community leaders, artists, activists, and neighbors whose experiences reveal how national issues like immigration, democracy, and civic engagement unfold in real communities. From Boston to communities across the country, each episode amplifies voices often overlooked by traditional media and brings the human stories behind today’s headlines into focus.

  • Ep 14- Shut Up and Sing? Minnesota Musician Confronts Immigration Crackdown

    Tony Ortiz is a Minnesota musician known for a one-hit wonder, and with a new song “Americans.” Despite being a U.S. citizen, he carries his passport in case he’s stopped by ICE.

  • Ep 13- Minneapolis Company Defies Fear to Help Immigrants

    An immigrant-owned towing company in Minneapolis is providing a quiet lifeline for immigrant families, offering free tows for cars left abandoned on snowy Minnesota roads, after ICE agents pull drivers from their vehicles. 

  • Ep 12- Immigration Raids Disrupt Youth Sports

    Kids in Minnesota are disappearing, first from school and now youth sports. Bob Cruz leads the West Side Boosters and as he’s taken on more responsibilities to keep immigrants safe, he’s determined to keep youth sports running.

  • Ep 11- Inside Minnesota’s Underground Aid Network

    Inside a St. Paul non-profit, rooms are transformed into discreet logistics hubs to coordinate food deliveries using codes, laundry service, and even doulas to help immigrant women delivery their babies at home.

  • Ep 10- Minnesota Priest Confronts Tragedy and Silence

    Does faith die and retreat when the government kills two innocent people and separates children from their families? Father Jim Cassidy of Minneapolis challenges us to show moral courage, questions anyone’s indifference, and provides a road map from turning rage into hope.

  • Ep 9- Minnesota Somali Father Confronts Racism and Silence

    In a city on edge, from where a five-year old in a blue bunny hat was sent to an ICE detention center, a Somali father talks of his nationality being politicized, stereotyped, and dehumanized, and offers a perspective on indifference I had yet to consider.

  • Ep 8- Ice Fishing, Divided Views on ICE

     Not everyone in Minnesota is protesting and donating to help immigrants during the government crackdown. Is it that some are indifferent? To find out, we trekked a half mile on a frozen lake to see if the isolation of ice fishermen provided us with a new perspective.

  • Ep 7- After 32 Years in Minnesota, This Immigrant Is Done

    After 32 years of attaining his American Dream and building a successful business in Minnesota, Luis is self-deporting. His biggest worry is the impact the immigration crackdown is having on his 9 year old son, growing up with hate in his head and fear in his heart.

  • Ep 6- He Paid His Taxes. Now He’s Hiding From ICE

    We're invited into another Minnesota home to meet a Mexican immigrant terrorized to step outside. He's had grocery, hotel, and construction jobs and has paid his taxes. Determined to stay for his teenage daughter, he prays the country he once saw as promise will return.

  • Ep 5- From Civil Rights to ICE: Black Activist Keeps Marching

    Lifelong activist Peggy Carlson is one of 1,200 singing activists marching through the snowy streets of Minneapolis, calling on ICE to leave Minnesota. At 74, Peggy reflects on decades of marching for justice and is frustrated and tired that her work is not done.

  • Ep 4- Minnesota Mom Leads Anti-ICE Movement

    A Minnesota stay-at-home mom turned activist leader describes being stalked, trapped, and intimidated by ICE agent on the street which she lives. Scared, yet determined, she believes the leadership role of organizing protesters fell on her lap.

  • Ep 3- Living in Fear: A Minnesota Teen on ICE, Isolation, and Mental Health

    A 15-year-old Honduran-American teenager describes living in constant fear of the immigration crackdown in Minnesota. He describes how his mental health suffers from being isolated and not attending school.

  • Ep 2- Inside a Minnesota Home Hiding From ICE

    With the curtains drawn and a family in hiding for two months from ICE, we’re invited into a Minnesota home to meet a father who lost his job, drained his savings, whose 18 year old daughter risks working and 15 year old son isolates from his friends and school.

  • Ep 1- Minneapolis, ICE, and a Conversation at 36,000 Feet

    On a flight to Minneapolis, journalist Ted Canova begins reporting before takeoff. A chance encounter with a mutual aid organizer turns into a candid conversation at 36,000 feet about ICE operations, immigration fears, and how Minneapolis is responding.

  • Thanksgiving Red & Blue

    What advice does a psychotherapist have before you gather with family on Thanksgiving 2020 who voted for the other party?

  • Jafet's Message To Our Leaders

    A first-time teenage voter is taking his first step into deciding on his future. What issues are on his mind and how will he decide who to vote for?

  • It's My Country Too

    Renowned journalist Ray Suarez opens up and shares the five most disturbing words her keeps on hearing.

  • Thanksgiving Red & Blue

    A young man feeling anxious on the eve of visiting his parents for Thanksgiving dinner and who voted for Donald Trump in 2020.

  • I Was Watching America Bleed

    Grief overcomes this Mexican-American woman as she relives the feeling of watching the electoral map turn red during election night in 2016.

  • Vo and Eliki

    Two talented musicians fill a NYC subway car with joy as they develop their professional careers underground with sites above.

  • A Runner Defeats Death, Twice

    A woman who survived two traumatic brain injuries shares the silver lining of memory loss the impact its had on her life.

  • An Immigrant's Path to Pastor

    A Russian emigrant shares growing up in a bi-cultural family, landing a job with the CIA, and turning cynicism to hope as he leads a church.

  • A Father, Son & John Lennon

    Meet the father and son talk about lost connections at Central Park’s Strawberry Fields on the anniversary of John Lennon’s murder.

Listen to interviews, community storytelling, and independent journalism from Minneapolis and across the United States.