Best WMPG Podcasts (2024)

Anne Hallward came to the US as a 17 year old from Canada. She is now a psychiatrist and Gracie Award-Winning host of Safe Space Radio, which got its start at WMPG. Anne kindly agreed to interview me as a way of saying goodbye to this beautiful community of listeners. This show completes the 250 episode series of New Mainers Speak. Thank you for be…

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Elise Malongi, DR Congo, 34:18

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3y ago34:18

34:18

Elise Malongi arrived in Maine with her three young children from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo during the summer of 2012. A year and a half later she courageously agreed to be my very first guest on New Mainers Speak. Seven years later she is my last formal interview in this series. A lot has happened in Elise's life in her first seven ye…

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Phuntsho Choden, Bhutan 31:58

3y ago31:58

31:58

Phuntsho came to the US in 2018 from Bhutan to study Global Media and Communications at the University of Bridgeport. Now with master's degree in hand, she lives in Newcastle, Maine where she volunteers her expertise with Lincoln County TV. As a digital media consultant, Phuntsho loves learning new media skills while helping to support Maine Challe…

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Meirgani Alaari, Sudan 30:48

3y ago30:48

30:48

Meirgani is from the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. In 1986 the Sudanese family that employed him with daily labor, brought him to Hollywood, CA, USA where he was kept isolated for a decade before he learned some English and was able to leave, file for asylum, and work for Fox News in CA. In 2007 Meirgani and his growing family moved to Maine. He is ma…

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Kerem Durdag, Turkey and Pakistan 30:47

3y ago30:47

30:47

Kerem Durdag was born to Turkish parents and raised in Pakistan. He came to the US for college. For more of his background story listen to New Mainers Speak 079 from Nov 1, 2015. Presently, Kerem is the Chief Operating Officer of (Great Works Internet) GWI.net. He speaks with passion about digital inclusion and digital equity and explains why that …

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Nancy Kamaliza, Rwanda 30:52

3y ago30:52

30:52

Nancy was born and raised in Kigali, Rwanda. She came to the US and Maine in 2018. With her background in finance and her excellent people skills, Nancy's become the new Community and Diversity Specialist for Bangor Savings Bank. Nancy's insights about the secondary traumas the 1994 genocide inflicted on her life are illuminating. Talking about the…

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Odette Zouri, Burkina Faso 31:47

3+ y ago31:47

31:47

Odette was raised in a rural village in Burkina Faso, West Africa with her extended family of 30 people. When she moved to the capitol city of Ouagadougou she adapted to a very different way of life with money and food bought in markets. In 2016 Odette and her children moved to the United States, arriving in Maine on Christmas Day, knowing no one. …

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Deborah Ibonwa, DRC and Rwanda 30:46

3+ y ago30:46

30:46

Deborah was born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. Her childhood was disrupted by war and time spent in a prison camp and refugee camp before moving to Michigan-- then Maine in 2000. She was almost nine years old when she found herself learning English in Portland Public elementary schools. Deborah has spent her life since figuring out how…

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Suzan Ali, Sudan 28:58

3+ y ago28:58

28:58

Suzan's family is originally from the Darfur region of Sudan. She was born in Khartoum and moved to Egypt at the age of 8 and to Maine at 14. She deeply understands how overwhelming huge moves are on the lives of refugee families. Suzan is studying social work at USM while working in the field. Her career goal is to become a psychologist so that sh…

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Adora and Amede Olise, Nigeria 31:48

3+ y ago31:48

31:48

When they were nearly five the Olise sisters came to Maine from Lagos, Nigeria. Now Adora (left) and Amede (right) are sophomores at Kennebunk High School. They are members of the debate team, civil rights team and mock trial. They love their extra curricular activities and wonder what it might be like if the worldly kinds of lessons they learn in …

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Gerald Kiladjian, Syria 30:47

3+ y ago30:47

30:47

Gerard was born and raised in Damascus, Syria to Armenian parents. He came to study at Boston University in 1983 and has lived with his family in Maine since 2000. He is the General Manager and Innkeeper of the Year at Portland Harbor Hotel, The Inn at Diamond Coveand Diamond's Edge Restaurant and Marina. Gerard and his wife Annie lead the Armenian…

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Ekhlas Ahmed, Sudan 30:37

3+ y ago30:37

30:37

Ekhlas came to Maine at age 12, with her family from Darfur, Sudan. As my guest in 2017 she told her personal immigration story and read her own poetry. You can hear that whole interview by clicking here. Ekhlas is now the Citizenship and Civic Engagement Coordinator for the Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center. She is currently registering im…

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Brian Evans-Jones, England 30:45

3+ y ago30:45

30:45

Brian was the Poet Laureate of Hampshire, England in 2012-2013. In 2014 he and his young family moved to South Berwick, Maine. Brian earned an MFA in poetry from UNH in 2017. His poetry has appeared in magazines, competitions, and art shows in America and in Britain. Before Covid, Brian could be found visiting schools all over the state through the…

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Antonio Rocha, Brazil 30:03

3+ y ago30:03

30:03

Antonio was raised in Brazil and came to the US in 1988 to study the performance of mime through Partners of the Americas. He's not only lived an immigrant's experience here in Maine but has also performed on this subject (and many others) through mime and storytelling, all around the world. Antonio's warmth and expressiveness appeal to a wide vari…

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El-Fadel Arbab, Sudan 30:48

3+ y ago30:48

30:48

El-Fadel came to the US in 2004 and became a citizen in 2009. He was originally from Darfur, Sudan. On July 30th, 2020 he hosted a candlelight vigil in Portland to remember the people who have been killed in violence and genocide in his home area, and for those who still suffer in refugee camps. The exciting part is, people in those camps can watch…

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Noor Alnaseri, Iraq 30:51

4y ago30:51

30:51

Noor, her husband, and their young son went directly to Augusta, Maine when they left their home in Southern Iraq in 2016. It was a rough start but in the past three and a half years she has completed her high school degree at Adult Education, volunteered at four locations and is now working for the Capitol Area New Mainers Project while she gets r…

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Leyla Hashi, Somalia, 34:01

4y ago34:01

34:01

Leyla was born in Somalia. Her family became refugees and moved to Boston when she was four years old. Later they moved to Maine when she was twelve. This past spring she graduated from USM with a Bachelor's Degree in communication. Her dream is to be a journalist. You can hear her former work on her podcast called Refugees of Portland and this sum…

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Joel Tsui, Hong Kong 31:12

4y ago31:12

31:12

Joel grew up in the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong and came to Portland, ME in 2012 to attend Maine College of Art (MECA). He later attended The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies before completing his MFA at MECA. Presently, Joel is a graduate school admissions counselor at MECA. This is a link to his virtual reality project called The Penguin…

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Roberta March, Brazil 31:18

4y ago31:18

31:18

Roberta grew up in big family in Cianorte, Brazil, the great grandchild of Italian immigrants. She lived in the UK for ten years before moving to Texas. Maine became her home in June of 2019, right as she became a US citizen. Currently, Roberta is working toward her Master of Fine Arts degree at MECA, focusing in abstract painting combined with mos…

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Nargiz Alizada, Azerbaijan 32:58

4y ago32:58

32:58

Nargiz Alizada is studying at the University of Maine for her MBA after years of working as a finance manager, auditor and consultant for international companies. During these Days of Covid she has found her way back to her family traditions from Azerbaijan: singing, cooking, creating, and enjoying being in nature with her daughters in Falmouth, ME…

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Abdi Iftin, Somalia - part 2 1:15:07

4y ago1:15:07

1:15:07

This is an hour-long (two part) interview with Abdi Iftin, author of Call Me American. He came to the US in 2014 and became a US citizen in January 2020. In this interview he talks about his memoir which details his epic journey from Mogadishu, Somalia to Maine. Abdi speaks about things that are sometimes considered taboo like being black in Maine,…

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Safiya Khalid 34:02

4y ago34:02

34:02

Safiya Khalid came to the US in 2005 from the Hagadara refugee camp in Kenya. She, her mother and two younger brothers fled Kismaya, Somalia due to war and civil unrest. Sixteen years later, Safiya is a Lewiston City Councilor (Ward 1) and Community Resource Coordinator at Gateway Community Services. She holds a BA from USM in Psychology and is als…

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Caroline Hadilaksono 30:44

4y ago30:44

30:44

Caroline is a storyteller who works in illustration, written word and audio. Born in Indonesia, she moved to Los Angeles, CA to live on her own when she was 12. She survived hustling in New York City for seven years before moving to Maine in 2018 to study Audio Storytelling at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. See her work at www.hadilaks…

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Emi Ito 31:20

4y ago31:20

31:20

Emi Ito was born in the Aichi Prefecture, Japan. After college she became a make-up artist and wanted to try living and working abroad. She arrived in New York City to work in her field and found Saori freestyle weaving there, which was the beginning of her work in fiber arts. In 2008 Emi and her husband moved to Bath, Maine. Once in Maine she was …

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Abdi Nor Iftin - part 1 32:04

4y ago32:04

32:04

Abdi was born into a war zone in Mogadishu, Somalia, thirty years ago. He learned English from movies and told everyone he was going to be an American someday. In 2011 he left Somalia and became a refugee when he was being forced to choose between being a soldier or being killed. Once in neighboring Kenya, there was just more fear and no peace for …

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Golaleh Yazdani 31:29

4y ago31:29

31:29

Golaleh was born and raised in Iran where she earned a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts (metal and jewelry) from the University of Art in Tehran. Three and a half years ago she came to Maine to attend Maine College of Art (MECA) for a Master's Degree in Fine Arts which she completed in May of 2018. Golaleh's portfolio and upcoming events are posted o…

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Humza Khan 33:07

4y ago33:07

33:07

Humza left his home in Multan, Pakistan and arrived in Standish, Maine in 2005, as an 8 year old boy. He attended Gorham High School and then went on to study at the University of Southern Maine. While there, Humza was an active member of the Muslim Student Association. The club successfully advocated for more awareness of, and support for, the gro…

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Sergio Cahueque 31:14

4y ago31:14

31:14

As a boy, Sergio grew up playing soccer on neighborhood streets in Guatemala City and also got to release baby turtles on the Pacific coast with his Boy Scout group. His love of nature only grew stronger when he attended College of the Atlantic ('17) where he focused on International Environmental Policy and the humanities. Since 2018 Sergio has be…

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Matthew and Manzi Rugema 30:47

4y ago30:47

30:47

Matthew (10) and Manzi (8) are brothers who came to Maine in August of 2019. Prior to that they lived in Denmark. The lively and delightful brothers are in 5th and 3rd grade, finishing out the school year from their homeschool via computer. I wanted to know what that was like for them. Matthew loves everything basketball and enjoys drawing, almost …

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Chanbopha Himm 34:09

4y ago34:09

34:09

Chan was born to a Cambodian mother and Chinese father in a refugee camp in Thailand. Her family settled in MA when she was three. Chan moved to Maine in 2000, after completing high school. She is a wife and mother of two school-age children, works for Wex and loves crunching the numbers, which eventually tell her their story. Currently, Chan serve…

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Episode 3 - Finale-The Trees Have Bones 15:43

4+ y ago15:43

15:43

By WMPG

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Episode 2 - Partners in Time 12:56

4+ y ago12:56

12:56

By WMPG

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Episode 1 - Strange Encounters 17:36

4+ y ago17:36

17:36

By WMPG

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Corrupted Files Trailer 7:45

4+ y ago7:45

7:45

By WMPG

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MaineQuality Pete Vigue 35:01

5+ y ago35:01

35:01

Pete Vigue, former CEO of Cianbro (Maine's largest 100% employee owned company) talks leadership, education, the Maine economy and what we can learn about branding from the Libra Foundation's Pineland Farms when he sat down with MaineQuality host Orion Breen.By WMPG Podcasts

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MaineQuality Lucas St. Clair 28:06

5+ y ago28:06

28:06

Lucas St. Clair of the Quimby Family Foundation talks about how he oversaw the final push to win community and government support for the creation of the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine when he sat down with MaineQuality host Orion Breen.By WMPG Podcasts

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POM 57 Michael Freitag. “Softly Comes Nightfall” 13:30

5+ y ago13:30

13:30

Michael Freitag is a musician based out of Southern Maine. After studying music theory at the University of Southern Maine and playing many Zeldas, he's been combining his two loves as a hobbyist composer, creating soundtracks in his spare time for games that don't exist. He aspires to one day write music for real, actual video games, and maybe eve…

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Film Time - "Creed II" "Green Book" 11:39

5+ y ago11:39

11:39

This episode is The End Of Season 1. See you for season 2 beginning in January 2019By WMPG Podcasts

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Breaking Down w/DJ Mirage "Gossip" "The Less I know.." 17:17

5+ y ago17:17

17:17

On this episode of Breaking Down, we analyze both the songs Gossip and The Less I Know The Better. The gentle tone of Gossip launches us into The Less I Know The Better, giving us a sense of the narrator's mental state and ability to handle gossip about his ex. More importantly, we see his intense reaction when he realizes this gossip is true.…