Every episode of State of the Re:Union, we ask listeners to write a letter to their city. For our Vermont episode, we featured writer and musician Robin MacArthur’s love letter to her home state. The piece is scored by Red Heart the Ticker, the band Robin plays in with her husband Tyler Gibbons.

Photography and multimedia production by Sara Brooke Curtis, with help from Laura Starecheski.

Visit our Vermont page for more stories from this episode. And be sure to check out State of the Re:Union’s other videos on our YouTube Channel.

The Making of “Sacramento”

Laura and Al with Carmichael Dave at KHTK Radio

Get a behind the scenes look at the making of a State of the Re:Union episode.

This video takes us to Sacramento, California. There’s no over-estimating the love fans here feel for their Sacramento Kings, one of the city’s few big attractions.  But last winter, the King’s owners put in motion a plan to move the team down to Anaheim, and fans here reacted more powerfully than anyone could have imagined.  We follow the ups and downs as the dramatic—and possibly final—Kings season unfolds.  You’ll get a firsthand look at just what goes into quilting together pieces of an episode to create an hour of radio storytelling, and what makes Al tick (sweet potatoes from Boston Market, for one.).

The City of New Orleans has been long referred to as “The Big Easy,” but since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city and its inhabitants, that “Easy” has been hard to come by. Fighting to regain normalcy, the city and its residents were forced to reconfigure some of the longstanding New Orleans traditions since the devastation left after Katrina. As part of our episode this storied city, we looked at one church’s unorthodox response to the city’s continual violence.

New Orleans and its residents continue to fall victim to unnecessary deaths, adding to the toll of a city’s depredation. Sadly, murder victims have been framed as statistics, especially in high crime cities. Father Bill Terry grew tired of the apathetic way in which these victims were regarded, so he decided to do something about it. He found a way to bring caring back into the equation by humanizing these victims through his New Orleans Murder Board.

For links to Father Terry’s church and additional stories of New Orleans from Al, visit our episode page.

El Rey – You Can Never Leave the Music

For our Los Angeles documentary, we teamed up with California Is a Place in an intimate piece that focuses on the day-to-day life of working mariachis. From the daily uncertainty of employment and living conditions to the unquestionable passion and love for the music, State of the Re:Union explores how these practitioners of beloved culture are making their living and making home in LA.

To listen to our radio episode, Los Angeles – Home Sweet Home, or see other related collateral, visit our Los Angeles page. And please start the conversation about this documentary by commenting below.

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Listen to Our Radio Episode, Los Angeles – Home, Sweet Home:

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Los Angeles - Home, Sweet Home