Canadian Studies director Irene Bloemraad recently appeared as a guest expert on an episode of the podcast How to Talk to [Mami & Papi] About Anything. The podcast is hosted by Juleyka Lantigua-Williams, a former producer of NPR's Code Switch, and is aimed at adult children of immigrants, describing its goal as "help{ing} them with difficult, but necessary conversations."
Professor Bloemraad appears in Ep. 21, "The Mixed Privilege of Being A White Immigrant". She provides context to one woman's experience as the daughter of an immigrant in the United States and later an immigrant herself in Canada, exploring the complex meanings of citizenship and what it means to belong in a country. The official description of the episode is below; listen online at talktomamipapi.com.
Vanessa’s mother moved from Germany to the U.S. as an adult. Vanessa, who was born in the U.S., immigrated to Canada and finds herself comparing their experiences in their adopted countries as she watches her home country from The North. Then, Juleyka speaks with a sociologist who puts citizenship and belonging into a larger context.