You might have seen the news last week on twitter, or read about it online. The way I found out was a phone call from my boss’s boss. NPR could no longer support my podcast Rough Translation. I was laid off. I was told I had 85 working days left to finish our last season with NPR.
I scrolled through the feed, all the way back to episode 1, and counted up the number of episodes.
Also 85.
The coincidence inspired a plan. In the time I had left at NPR, I would delve through the archives and share short clips of my favorite moments from stories that shed light on the world. Or taught me something about storytelling. Or just because I’d like to bring some wonder into your inbox.
Today I’m thinking about Ronald.
And I’m thinking about Kamel, the main character in this Rough Translation episode. Kamel was a 16-year-old high school dropout from an immigrant neighborhood in Marseille, France, when Ronald visited and transformed his life. Kamel’s first job at McDonald’s (known as “McDo” in France) gave him a sense of belonging that his own country had never bestowed. And McDonald’s saw Kamel as a young man who would be ever loyal. Oh man were they wrong.
Or maybe right, on some spiritual level? Maybe Kamel was more loyal to McDonald’s corporate values than McDonald’s was?
Kamel spent years rising up through the ranks to senior manager, and then the McDo was sold and Kamel faced termination. What happened next is not just a story about the extreme lengths someone goes to keep their job, but also what it means to find your identity in a job and what happens when someone takes that away. It’s about immigration, assimilation, capitalism, and how an American company might (by design) feel more like home than your own country.
Which brings me to the clip I’d like to share with you, from the original episode. On the podcast we think a lot about the first 15 seconds of a story, and the first 2 minutes… windows of opportunity to persuade you to stick around and listen. I must have tried 20 different versions of the opener before we finally landed on this one, about another employee working at the same McDo’s. It’s about her relationship to her name, her country, and her job.
I’m guessing if you’re reading this, you liked Rough Translation and you’re sorry about NPR’s decision. But rather than just sit around and be sad, we should take a tip from Kamel and take action. In this case…
Subscribe so we can stay in touch. Not just you and I, but also you and so many other Rough Translation fans. Because if a McDonald’s in Marseille can have an afterlife, why not this podcast?
Thank you for all you have done to help us see the world through someone else's eyes. You have literally brought us the world.
I am sorry to see this show go. It is one of the few that feels relatable no matter the age or station of the listener.
I hope you go on to do beautiful things elsewhere.
Thanks for this fantastic podcast that opens the world up in new and often such compassionate ways. I hope you find a new podcast platform & continue this work.