The Rational Middle

Hosts Chris Lyon, Loren Steffy and Melissa Brannan join new host Carter Carroll to look back at the first 150 episodes of the podcast. The crew discusses favorite past episodes, recent immigration ne…

Marshall Fitz is the Managing Director of Immigration of the Emerson Collective. The Emerson Collective "develop(s) strategies to remove barriers to opportunity, and work with community partners to a…

Douglas Rivlin is the Director of Communication for America’s Voice and America’s Voice Education Fund. The mission of America’s Voice and America’s Voice Education Fund is to build the public suppor…

Mariko Hirose is the U.S. Litigation Director at International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP.) Mariko joins host Loren Steffy to discuss IRAP's work in aiding refugee's worldwide and here in Ameri…

Tran Dang is the founder and executive director fo the Rhizome Center for Migrants. Their mission is to support and defend forcibly displaced persons and uprooted people at risk around the world. Dan…

As we near the midterm elections, we are re-visiting our interview with Theresa Cardinal Brown of the Bipartisan Policy Center to discuss why we fear immigrants, particularly undocumented ones, and w…

As we near the midterm elections, we are re-visiting our interview with Chief Andy Harvey, Chief of Police in Pharr, Texas, as well as its newly-appointed City Manager, joins Melissa Brannan to discu…

Angelica Razo is the Texas State Director for Mi Familia Vota, an organization dedicated to building up the political power and representation of Latinos in the United States. Razo joins host Loren S…

Eunice Cho is a staff attorney for the ACLU National Prison Project, a project that is working for prison reform and the rights of prisoners around the country. Cho joins host Melissa Brannan to disc…

Stephen Yale-Loehr, Professor of Immigration Law at Cornell Law School, joins host Chris Lyon this week. They discuss Yale’Loehr’s work in immigration law and research on refugees in America. 

The Rational Middle host team gets together to round out the summer, discuss the upcoming midterm elections, how both sides are (or are not) using immigration to push political agendas, and future po…

Leah Boustan and Ran Abramitzky join host Loren Steffy to discuss their new book, "Streets of Gold: America's Untold Story of Immigrant Success." The writers discuss the success and economic impacts …

Ian Kysel is the Assistant Clinical Professor of Law at Cornell Law School where he has helped shape the Iternational Migrants’ Bill of Rights (IMBR)Initiative. Host Melissa Brannan and Mr. Kysel exp…

Betsy Cohen, Executive Director of the St. Louis Mosaic Project and author of "Welcome To the U.S.A. - You're Hired!" speaks with host Chris Lyon about the Gateway City's goal of becoming the fastest…

Shoba Wadhia, Director of the Center for Immigrants' Rights Clinic, Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Law Professor sits down with host Loren Steffy for a conversation about a …

Joara Jimenez, coordinator of the Dream Center at California State University Chico, talks with host Melissa Brannan about the struggle that Dreamer students experience and what Cal State Chico is do…

Denise Gilman, Director of the Immigration Clinic at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law shares an update on the U.S.-Mexico Border, Operation Lone Star, and the politicization of the bor…

German photographer Stefan Falke was born in Germany, but has been living in New York for 20 years. His long-running project, "La Frontera", documents artists working along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Linda Lorelle, 17-year news veteran of Houston's NBC affiliate KPRC, has started her own company, Lorelle Media, and begun an effort to share the opportunities that immigrants offer our country.