Houses on the Moon

For this special episode of the Houses on the Moon Podcast, Amy Gottlieb (U.S. Migration Director for the American Friends Service Committee, and HOTM board member) interviews New Yorker staff writer Jonathan Blitzer about his book "Everyone Who is Gone is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis." Amy and Jonathan discuss the complex history of US-Central American relations and the themes that inspired our original documentary play and podcast series, “De Novo.” Special thanks to Cory Choy and Tom Fama at Silver Sound Studio for recording this interview and to Will Coley for producing and editing this episode.  Music by Greg Kirkelie via Free Music Archive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now for your listening pleasure, Houses on the Moon would like to share this episode from one of our podcast friends and partners Play on Podcasts: Julius Caesar, Episode 1: Beware the Ides of March. Marcus Gardley’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s roiling political drama takes us into the heart of the Civil Rights movement. This is the first of seven episodes. Listen to full play by searching for Play on Podcasts wherever you get your podcasts.  Also be sure to listen to previous episodes of our show, Houses on the Moon, including the new three-part De Novo series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The arts serve as both an escape from and a reflection of our reality. And since its inception in 2001, the Houses on The Moon Theater company has focused on creating productions that shed light on and elevate the stories of these harsh realities of marginalized communities. In this powerful episode of The Ask, Jasmine Burton sits down with Jeffrey Solomon and Kim Baker Medina to discuss their most recent production De Novo, which tells the true story of a 14-year-old boy fleeing gang violence in Guatemala, and his fight to stay in the U.S. Tune in to hear us delve into the importance of telling stories that challenge the status quo, and how plays and podcasts can amplify voices of those whose experiences might otherwise go unheard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now for your listening pleasure, Houses on the Moon would like to share this episode from one of our podcast friends and partners If You Were In Charge. The show is a new series tackling the big issues of our times but with extraordinary people sharing their solutions and ideas.  If You Were In Charge is brought to by the Robert Bosch Academy and ICAN (International Civil Society Action Network) This is an Africa Digital Audio (ADA) Production.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the streets of Guatemala City, gang members became Edgar’s family.  But he dreamed of a different future.  To leave the gang was a death sentence.  Coming to the USA was his last hope. De Novo is a limited series adapted from Houses on the Moon Theater Company’s acclaimed documentary play of the same name and tells the true story of Edgar Chocoy, a Guatemalan teenager who faces deportation after fleeing to the U.S. In 2002, fourteen-year-old Edgar Chocoy Guzman fled his barrio in Guatemala City, when MS-13, the largest gang in Central America, put a hit on his life. He traveled over 3,000 miles to be reunited with his mother, who had left him when he was a baby to go work in the United States. Detained by Homeland Security, Edgar, whose nickname was Lil’ Silent because of his timid demeanor, spoke clearly and loudly about his fear of being deported: “I’m afraid to go back. They’ll kill me.” A pro bono immigration lawyer helped Edgar argue his asylum case in front of a federal judge and the facts of Edgar’s case are reconstructed by actors working with verbatim text from immigration court transcripts, interviews, letters, and other documents from this real-life asylum case.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the streets of Guatemala City, gang members became Edgar’s family.  But he dreamed of a different future.  To leave the gang was a death sentence.  Coming to the USA was his last hope. De Novo is a limited series adapted from Houses on the Moon Theater Company’s acclaimed documentary play of the same name and tells the true story of Edgar Chocoy, a Guatemalan teenager who faces deportation after fleeing to the U.S. In 2002, fourteen-year-old Edgar Chocoy Guzman fled his barrio in Guatemala City, when MS-13, the largest gang in Central America, put a hit on his life. He traveled over 3,000 miles to be reunited with his mother, who had left him when he was a baby to go work in the United States. Detained by Homeland Security, Edgar, whose nickname was Lil’ Silent because of his timid demeanor, spoke clearly and loudly about his fear of being deported: “I’m afraid to go back. They’ll kill me.” A pro bono immigration lawyer helped Edgar argue his asylum case in front of a federal judge and the facts of Edgar’s case are reconstructed by actors working with verbatim text from immigration court transcripts, interviews, letters, and other documents from this real-life asylum case.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the streets of Guatemala City, gang members became Edgar’s family.  But he dreamed of a different future.  To leave the gang was a death sentence.  Coming to the USA was his last hope. De Novo is a limited series adapted from Houses on the Moon Theater Company’s acclaimed documentary play of the same name and tells the true story of Edgar Chocoy, a Guatemalan teenager who faces deportation after fleeing to the U.S. In 2002, fourteen-year-old Edgar Chocoy Guzman fled his barrio in Guatemala City, when MS-13, the largest gang in Central America, put a hit on his life. He traveled over 3,000 miles to be reunited with his mother, who had left him when he was a baby to go work in the United States. Detained by Homeland Security, Edgar, whose nickname was Lil’ Silent because of his timid demeanor, spoke clearly and loudly about his fear of being deported: “I’m afraid to go back. They’ll kill me.” A pro bono immigration lawyer helped Edgar argue his asylum case in front of a federal judge and the facts of Edgar’s case are reconstructed by actors working with verbatim text from immigration court transcripts, interviews, letters, and other documents from this real-life asylum case.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 8 of the Houses on the Moon Podcast spotlights another true tale from gUN COUNTRY, our storytelling workshops with people whose lives have been touched by guns. In “Luck of the Draw” Antonius Wiriadjaja recounts how art and storytelling helped him survive a shooting and how he was forever changed by the love and violence he encountered that day. We'll also speak with Carolyn Dixon of Where Do We Go From Here, Inc., an organization dedicated to helping families navigate grief and trauma in the wake of gun violence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode, we share true tales from Houses on the Moon’s international LGBTQ+ story-sharing project The “Q Story Stream.” We have 2 stories about teachers learning very different lessons.  When our own Jeffrey Solomon tries to help a bullied student in the drama class he teaches on Staten Island, the adult discovers you never really leave junior high school behind.  And across the globe in Mumbai, India, Sachin Jain tries to teach his Spanish class while nervously awaiting the verdict from the Indian Supreme Court on whether, as a gay man, he will remain a criminal in his country.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Episode 6 of the Houses on the Moon Podcast, we share Zudaydah Rivera's true tale from Houses on the Moon’s SHARED SENTENCES, a storytelling project with people who have incarcerated loved ones. Zudaydah was just 4 years old when she first visited her father in a maximum security prison. In her story, “Zudaydah with a Backwards Z”, she struggles to help her young son deal with the imprisonment of his father, and face her own complicated relationship with mass incarceration. We also speak with Zudaydah and Prison Families Anonymous co-founder Barbara Allan about their lives, work, and involvement in SHARED SENTENCES. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of the Houses on the Moon Podcast, we spotlight another true tale from our cross-cultural LGBTQ story-sharing project, “Q Story Stream.” In "Certificate of Fluency," Cori Bratby-Rudd describes the realization of her lifelong dream to study in a foreign exchange program, and the fear of judgement from her host family over her two moms. Her story explores the tension between the desire to belong and the need to be true to family and oneself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode 4 of the Houses on the Moon Podcast, we share a true tale from our cross-cultural LGBTQ+ story-sharing project “Q Story Stream:" Jesús Daniel Cruz discovers first love in a country where he is doubly closeted, as a young gay man to his immigrant Mexican family, and as an undocumented young person in Trump's America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Highlighting America’s fraught relationship with guns, this episode features true stories from Houses on the Moon’s gUN COUNTRY, based on the accounts of those whose lives have been impacted by guns. In “I Did Not Kill Brian,” Brenda Currin shares how a late night home intrusion and her decision whether or not to pick up the loaded shotgun in the dresser drawer ties into her own dark family history. Ajia Gibson’s story “The Hollow” (told by Emily Joy Weiner), recalls how the hunger for answers and accountability in the wake of her mother’s accidental gun-related death divided Ajia and her family. Jeff joins Aija and Brenda in conversation about crafting their stories and considers how art might play an invaluable role in America’s struggle with gun violence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When their son wants to dress up as Princess Elsa, of course, these two gay dads from New York City are cool with it, right? In “Luca’s Journey,” Carlos Encinias tells the true story of parenting a gender-expansive child with his husband, and the resistance they encounter from surprising places. Jeffrey Solomon chats with Carlos about his family’s journey and the process of developing this story with Houses as part of “TRANSformation,” a series of storytelling workshops and performances exploring gender identity and family. We then speak with Judy Sennesh of PFLAG’S NYC TransFamilies project, a key community partner in the development of “TRANSformation.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our pilot episode highlights Houses on the Moon Theater Company’s 2014 storytelling piece gUN COUNTRY. HOTM artist Ian Eaton performs “STEVE”​: ​​​Having lost his teenage brother to the violence of the street, Ian reckons with the proper remedy to deal with his own fifth grade tormentor in 1980's Harlem.​ ​Host Jeffrey Solomon facilitates a discussion with Ian and Elaine Lane, the founder of David’s Shoes, a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing teen violence through youth empowerment, education, and community engagement Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Houses on the Moon Podcast is an original eight episode storytelling series dedicated to amplifying the unheard voice. Each episode features a remarkable true story (or two) curated from over twenty years of Houses on the Moon Theater Company’s unique development process of storytelling workshops and interviews with real people. The first season spotlights tales from individuals whose lives have been touched by guns; parents of gender-expansive children; families with incarcerated loved ones; a global conversation between LGBTQ+ storytellers in the U.S. and India; and undocumented youth. These stories, adapted for audio, will be followed by in-depth conversations with host Jeffrey Solomon, the storytellers, and featured community partners. The podcast also features original music by multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, producer, and educator Raliegh Neal II. A proud member of the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices