Groundtruth

On a South Korean island just eight miles from the shores of North Korea, Jung Gwang-il is trying to save lives with rice and USBs. He’s a North Korean defector who survived torture and concentration camps, and is now smuggling food and information, to try to help his starving people and weaken the dictatorship — even if it puts his own life in danger.

*Refugees Lost in Translation * Three refugees — from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq — are working as interpreters for other refugees coming into Europe. With a foot in both worlds, they see things that refugees and Western media don’t: what’s being lost in translation, the profound consequences, and how the biggest barrier for refugees often isn’t a physical border, but language itself.

In beautiful, mountainous Eastern Kentucky, local economies are struggling, coal jobs continue to disappear, and people are frustrated by decades of failed government programs that have done little to help with problems connected to poverty, hazardous work conditions and poor nutrition. On a reporting road trip across America, we hear from those who feel unheard.

From Puerto Rico to Pennsylvania, a new generation of journalists is reporting on the ground, documenting the most important stories of their time. Hosted by Charles Sennott, founder of The GroundTruth Project, in partnership with WGBH News.

For Omar Naré, mariachi is in his blood. His grandfather, a Mexican farm laborer, brought the music with him to California’s Central Valley, where he settled his family. Omar grew up hearing mariachi at family get-togethers and had a childhood career as a mariachi singer. After a hiatus and period of disillusionment with the music of his childhood, Omar returned to mariachi. He realized, to make mariachi that felt honest to his experience, he had to break the rules. But if you break the rules of mariachi, is it still “mariachi”? Explore photos and more

At age 20, percussionist George Lernis sought to travel halfway around the world from Cyprus, to follow in the footsteps of the American jazz masters. He navigated a series of obstacles, and once his student visa expired, he faced an even more difficult challenge: qualifying for an O-1 visa — a special designation for “extraordinary artists.” It’s no easy feat to prove that you can make an extraordinary contribution to music in America. Explore photos and more

HMI stands for Haitian Music Industry, but its artists and fans are spread around the globe. Vladimir Mead immigrated to Boston 10 years ago at age 16. Since then, he’s built up a music career under the name Masterbrain — largely through YouTube and Facebook. His Creole freestyles and music videos have accumulated tens of thousands of hits, but he’s never returned to Haiti. We follow him as he prepares for his first trip back to Haiti, where he dreams of being a star. Explore photos and more

Somalia is the “land of poets,” a place where love, law, war and peace have been carried out in verse for centuries. This is a story of what happens when that tradition is driven far from the dry soil and open skies that inspire the poets’ metaphors. Two young Somali-American women in Boston are drawn together by poetry, and use it to connect with their grandmothers or ‘ayeeyo’ in Somalia. Explore photos and more

During the Cambodian genocide in the 1970s, nearly all of the country’s musicians were killed. But in a strange twist of fate, music saved the life of a Cambodian boy named Sovann. Now a U.S. citizen in Lowell, Mass., he’s trying to make sure Cambodia’s music traditions live on. Across town, a 9-year-old boy seems uniquely gifted to do just that. Explore photos and more

Ahmad Naffory fell in love with the guitar in a Syrian grocery store, but he didn't know that his music would cause him to flee his home for another continent. Strangers in a strange land, Ahmad and his bandmates — the bandit poets of Assa'aleek — use their music to remember the homes they left behind as they make their lives in a new world. Explore the reporting

On Long Island, the rate of death from opioid overdose is rising the fastest in all of New York. Here, providers are being trained in basic communication and learning to treat substance abuse like any other chronic disease. It starts with a conversation that many doctors still don't know how to have. Explore the reporting

In the South Bronx, healthcare providers here are pioneering an approach that is way ahead of the rest of the country. This system, where all of the patients' needs are met in once place, allows them to live high-quality lives, despite a world of stigma outside of the clinic walls. Explore the reporting

To deal with the crisis on Staten Island, health officials and law enforcement are pioneering new kinds of treatment options. But residents are largely in denial about the problem, and those wanting to get clean are more likely to go far away for rehab – making them more vulnerable to relapse when they return. Explore the reporting

Rampant prescriptions for painkillers laid the foundation for a deadly heroin epidemic in the mostly white, blue-collar community of Staten Island. Now, the old and new epidemics exist just a few miles apart. But the stigma of addiction has stopped these suburban neighborhoods from confronting the crisis. Explore the reporting

The South Bronx, New York's poorest neighborhood, has been dealing with a deadly heroin epidemic for generations. We look at the origins of the epidemic, residents' efforts to handle the crisis and the birth of a stigma that continues to kill, as opioid abuse spreads to the suburbs and beyond. Explore the reporting

Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election sent shockwaves around the world, but particularly at U.N. climate conference in Marrakech. GroundTruth's Justine Calma and Chris Bentley share voices from the global gathering.

A mental health crisis is taking root in Arctic Scandinavia among the indigenous Sami, as a changing climate threatens wildlife and ways of life. GroundTruth's Melody Schreiber reports from Sweden and Norway. Explore the reporting

After covering the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, GroundTruth's Aurora Almendral investigates how typhoons are driving waves of human trafficking in the Philippines. This is a coproduction with KCRW's UnFictional. Explore the reporting

Zika virus is now in dozens of countries, including the United States. GroundTruth's Beth Murphy documents the epidemic in Puerto Rico, exploring how climate change is affecting mosquito-borne diseases, here and around the world. Explore the reporting

The rising seas and increased storms that come with climate change pose a threat to many coastal cities. GroundTruth's Chris Bentley goes to Indonesia’s capital to investigate how even projects done in the name of defending the city’s most vulnerable residents could actually leave them worse off. Explore the reporting