Not Really Strangers
Discover just how connected the refugee experience is to our everyday lives, and to the social issues that matter to us most. Join host Suzanne Ehlers, Executive Director and CEO of USA for UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, as she and her eclectic guests share personal stories and frontline insights. We’re more connected than we may think.
Not Really Strangers
Latest Episodes
Building Better Futures for Refugees: The Power of Education
In this episode of Not Really Strangers, Suzanne Ehlers sits down with two UNHCR DAFI scholarship recipients and leaders of the Tertiary Refugee Student Network (TRSN) — Monicah Malith, a law graduate from South Sudan now completing her Advocat...
Grit, Gathering and Going for It: Maryam Banikarim on Living Life Wherever You Find Yourself
In this episode of Not Really Strangers, host Suzanne Ehlers sits down with Maryam Banikarim, an Emmy Award-winning storyteller, community builder, and host of The Messy Parts podcast, for a conversation that moves from the streets of Chelsea t...
From Assumption to Curiosity: Susanna Pollack on Immersive Media and the Distance Between Us
Susanna Pollack, President of Games for Change and a cross-sector leader with over 25 years of experience in traditional and interactive media, joins host Suzanne Ehlers for a conversation that bridges virtual worlds and lived realities. From <...
Dance or Die: Ahmad Joudeh on Statelessness, Belonging, and the Body as Home
In this episode of Not Really Strangers, host Suzanne Ehlers sits down with internationally acclaimed ballet dancer, choreographer, author, and humanitarian Ahmad Joudeh. Born stateless in 1990 in Yarmouk, a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus...
Caring in Crisis and Responding to Hate: Dr. Suzanne Barakat’s Story
In this episode of Not Really Strangers, host Suzanne Ehlers welcomes her "name twin" — Dr. Suzanne Barakat, physician, humanitarian, and a leading voice on refugee health, asylum medicine, and countering Islamophobia. Dr. Barakat, ...