“Leave all your hope, family, and dreams behind.” That’s the banner Darryl Burton saw when he first walked into Missouri State Penitentiary—infamously known as the “bloodiest 47 acres in America.” He was 22. He was innocent. In this episode of Back in America , Darryl shares his extraordinary story: how a false accusation, coached jailhouse informants, and prosecutorial misconduct stole nearly 25 years of his life. With no DNA, no weapon, no motive—and no justice—Darryl was sentenced to life wit...
May 04, 2025•39 min•Ep. 114
In this episode, Stan speaks with Prof. Maurice Wallace of Rutgers University about the enduring impact of James Baldwin, the evolution of Black American vernacular, and the complex relationship America has with its history of slavery and race. Prof. Wallace explores Baldwin’s profound influence on his own academic journey, how language and sound shape Black cultural identity, and why America continues to struggle with the legacy of emancipation, mass incarceration, and systemic inequality. Thro...
Apr 13, 2025•43 min•Ep. 113
For over a century, a small group of dedicated cowboys has upheld a fading American tradition: the Highwood Mountains cattle roundup. In this episode of Back in America, we explore Only Roundup Remains, a documentary capturing the grit, camaraderie, and deep generational ties that keep this way of life alive. Filmmakers Brian Liu and Andrew Labens, alongside the cowboys themselves, share their journey of documenting this historic event, the challenges they faced, and the profound reflections on ...
Mar 09, 2025•30 min•Ep. 112
A green card interview is supposed to be the last step before legal residency—but what if it’s actually a setup? This episode of Back in America features filmmakers Sam and David Cutler Kreutz discussing their short film, " A Lien ," a story about a couple navigating the complexities of the US immigration system. The conversation delves into the film's themes of family, the "banal cruelty" of the immigration process, and the broader political context surrounding immigration in America. Key Topic...
Feb 11, 2025•26 min•Ep. 111
What does the First Amendment mean in a modern, diverse America? In this episode of Back in America, host Stan Berteloot speaks with Knox Thames, an international human rights lawyer, advocate, and author with over 20 years of experience across U.S. administrations. Thames, who served as the Special Advisor for Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia, unpacks the historical roots and contemporary challenges of religious freedom in the United States. From the First Amendment’...
Jan 22, 2025•43 min•Ep. 110
Host Stan Berteloot welcomes Coco Kee, entrepreneur, blockchain pioneer, and host of the Blockchain Asia Podcast. Coco shares her journey from studying literature and theater at Peking University to becoming a leading figure in cryptocurrency. Coco discusses on the 2024 U.S. elections and offers a unique perspectives on theChinese-American voters. Exploration of the surprising connections between politics and cryptocurrency. Coco opens up about her experiences as an immigrant and how her arts ba...
Jan 04, 2025•40 min•Ep. 109
In this episode of Back in America , Stan Berteloot sits down with David Reaboi , a national security expert, media analyst, and Claremont Institute Fellow, known for his incisive takes on political warfare and influence operations. Dubbed a “right-wing Twitter pugilist” by Politico , David shares his unique perspective on some of the most contentious issues shaping the United States today. We discuss his views on Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and the evolving dynamics of federalism. David offers ...
Dec 07, 2024•40 min•Ep. 107
Cia analyst interview with Host Stan Berteloot welcomes David McCloskey, a former CIA analyst and bestselling author. They discuss David's career in intelligence, focusing on geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. David shares insights on current conflicts involving Israel, Lebanon, and Iran. The role of intelligence services in global crises is explored. They delve into the challenges of understanding the world through both personal and professional experiences. David's transition from CIA o...
Nov 17, 2024•30 min•Ep. 106
In this episode of Back in America, Stan Berteloot explores the extraordinary life of Tom Peine, who left a corporate career in Germany to become a deputy sheriff in the deserts of Arizona. At 40, Tom stepped into an entirely new world, navigating America’s complex gun culture, immigration, and race dynamics from the front lines of law enforcement. His story challenges assumptions about identity, resilience, and belonging in America. Join us for a conversation on the twists and tensions of Tom’s...
Nov 03, 2024•49 min•Ep. 105
In this provocative episode of Back in America , we sit down with Dr. Patti Fletcher, author of “Disruptors: Success Strategies for Women Who Break the Mold.” Dr. Fletcher challenges traditional notions of empowerment and exposes the systemic barriers holding women back in 2024 America. Drawing from her personal journey—including her family’s legacy of overcoming adversity during the Armenian genocide—she reveals why true disruption requires efficiency, effectiveness, and equity . Listen as Dr. ...
Sep 23, 2024•40 min•Ep. 104
In this episode, we sit down with Alvaro de Cozar, an award-winning journalist and podcast producer, to explore the power of storytelling in a time of political upheaval and misinformation. I talk with Alvaro about his story and podcast episode on Aquilino Gonell, a Dominican immigrant, former U.S. Army soldier, and U.S. Capitol Police officer who defended the Capitol during the January 6th insurrection. Gonell’s journey from pursuing his American dream to confronting its harsh realities offers ...
Sep 03, 2024•29 min•Ep. 103
In this episode of Back in America, we confront one of life’s most challenging realities—caring for a dying loved one at home. Join us as we talk with Dr. Andrea Sankar , professor of medical anthropology at Wayne State University and author of Dying at Home: A Family Guide for Caregiving . Drawing from her experience and extensive research, Dr. Sankar offers profound insights into the emotional and logistical complexities of turning a home into a sanctuary for end-of-life care. Learn about the ...
Aug 13, 2024•27 min•Ep. 102
In this episode of “Back in America,” we sit down with Tamar Huggins , founder and CEO of TechSpark , a platform empowering Black, Indigenous, and people of color through technology education. Tamar shares her journey from building computers with her father to launching Sparkplug, an innovative AI tool that translates classical literature into African American Vernacular English (AAVE). We explore the critical issues of AI bias, the importance of diverse training data, and how education can brid...
Jul 23, 2024•31 min•Ep. 101
In this episode of Back in America, host Stan Berteloot interviews acclaimed journalist Brendan Koerner about his undercover investigation into the world of OnlyFans, a platform that connects adult performers with subscribers, through his Wired cover story - 'She has 80,000 subscribers but she always has time for you'. Koerner reveals the hidden workings of the platform and the surprising reality of its chat services. From his initial encounters to becoming an undercover chatter himself, Koerner...
Jul 11, 2024•38 min•Ep. 100
Hey everyone, Stan Berteloot here, your host of the Back in America podcast. After a long two-year break, we’re back with fresh, insightful episodes exploring American culture, values, and identity through the eyes of an expatriate. I’ve been busy working with amazing companies like NeuTigers, Pontosense, and Nytro Marketing, and staying active with Share My Meals, fighting food waste. The world has changed since COVID-19, and so have I. The Me Too movement, Black Lives Matter, and climate chang...
Jun 18, 2024•4 min•Ep. 99
This episode was originally published on December 17, 2020 In this episode, I interview three crew members of the EPIX / BBC docuseries Enslaved: The Lost History of the Transatlantic Slave Trade . While 2020 has been a year of intense examination of racism in response to the Black Lives Matter movement, Enslaved takes a deep dive at the historical realities of the Middle Passage. Starring Samuel L. Jackson, The Guardian ’s Afua Hirsh, and investigative journalist Simcha Jacobovici, the series t...
Oct 20, 2021•45 min•Ep. 98
Back in America is a podcast exploring America’s culture, values, and identity. This conversation was recorded live on September 17. You can watch the unedited version on our Youtube channel. Listen to this episode to learn more about the release of the Pentagon report on UFOs to Congress. The importance of cosmos exploration. The chances of finding extraterrestrial life in our lifetime. After taking a long summer break during which my intern Josh Wagner took over Back in America with his excell...
Sep 18, 2021•35 min•Ep. 97
I f the particular cannot be repeated, it remains forever lost; and this is why there can be no final closure to mourning. There can only be, alongside of mourning, learning to love new particulars ––Louise Fradenburg In this week’s installment of “Poetism,” we’d like to ask about how words, poems, songs, and other kinds of art objects help bring life to a world. And by world, we mean a perspective, something experienced and understood in the innermost part of our being. Whether faced by inner s...
Aug 13, 2021•49 min•Ep. 96
The sullen murmur of the bees shouldering their way through the long unmown grass, or circling with monotonous insistence round the dusty gilt horns of the straggling woodbine, seemed to make the stillness more oppressive. The dim roar of London was like the bourdon note of a distant organ. These lines, from the opening pages of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray , emphasize unseen background noises as constituting an environment. The bees, working through the grass, create the biological ...
Aug 06, 2021•53 min•Ep. 95
Across Northern Europe, so-called “bog people” have often been discovered shuffling around in the peat. While no one is quite certain where these quasi-mummified bodies come from––some date as recently as the 1940s––they have posed a strange mystery for countless poets and artists. This week, Back in America’s Poetism team takes a look at one of Seamus Heaney’s bog-inspired poems “ The Bog Queen ” from his 1975 collection North. Written in the spring of the May 1968 movement and the beginning of...
Jul 30, 2021•43 min•Ep. 94
Elegy Who would I show it to In this short one-line poem, W.S. Merwin condenses the anguish of loss, of being alive, and of the limitations of languages into a neat little package. Why write in the absence of finality? And what happens when mortality catches up with us? In this installment of Poetism, Podcast Editor Josh Wagner takes to the studio to ask about the honesty of writing––can writing ever reflect a true impression of reality? To field such questions about life, poetry, and everything...
Jul 23, 2021•50 min•Ep. 93
She listen to a little of that D’Angelo music, some love’s melody, sophisticated-type rap, which she say sounds more like real music, like intelligent music, than some of that other music, then she cuts the radio off ––Gayl Jones, The Healing Like the narrator in Gayl Jones’ The Healing , this week’s installment of Poetism focuses on and around “black music,” that is music which conveys a specific feeling of a sensation or time without explaining anything. For me, it’s like being a child at an a...
Jul 15, 2021•43 min•Ep. 92
Why are we so blind, why do we see so little, when there is much around us to see? So asks philosopher Alva Noë in Strange Tools , an exploration of how art objects contain, persuade, envelop, and direct our attention. What happens when we love a song, poem, or a moment in a day? How do these works of art direct and misdirect our attention? What––physically, emotionally, actually––happens to us in these moments of transport? And how can we talk about any of this without poorly paraphrasing that ...
Jul 08, 2021•42 min•Ep. 91
Happy July! While Stan and the usual Back in America podcast are on a hiatus this summer, Podcast Editor Josh Wagner will be hosting a new series entitled Poetism , tracing the foundations of and influences behind American poetry and music. Each week, Josh will invite a guest on the air to talk about an unusual pairing of a poem and song––seeing how they overlap and converse with one another. In the process, we hope to expose listeners to new poets and songs and make a case for the enduring rele...
Jul 01, 2021•43 min•Ep. 90
Before we dive into today’s episode, a personal note: This summer, I will be going back to France for the first time in two years, and I will take a break from podcasting until September. However, my interns Josh and Emma will be keeping the lights on by releasing podcast episodes and newsletter articles ( subscribe here ). Josh has been working on a series of episodes discussing American music and poetry, which will be released weekly in July and August. So, Back in America will be in summer mo...
Jun 25, 2021•39 min•Ep. 89
This episode was recorded live on May 26 and includes questions from the audience. It is part of a series on sustainable initiatives to save our planet. In his latest interviews, host Stan Berteloot spoke with Navi Radjou about the frugal economy and Bruno Sarda about how corporations are experimenting with sustainability. Stan’s guest, Stefan Gallard, is a French-American working for Grain de Sail, a company that has built the first modern wind-powered cargo ships. Grain de Sail transports wine...
Jun 04, 2021•46 min•Ep. 88
Subscribe to Back in America, the newsletter Back in America is a podcast exploring America's culture, values, and identity. This episode is part of a series on positive initiatives to save our planet. In his last interview, Stan Berteloot spoke with Navi Radjou about the frugal economy. Today, he is talking to Bruno Sarda, an internationally renowned expert in sustainability. For years, corporations have advertised their green initiatives to reassure both investors and customers about their sus...
May 27, 2021•36 min•Ep. 87
Careful listeners of Back in America may have noticed that we have expanded our team and welcomed two interns to research, record and write the podcast alongside me, Stan Berteloot. In the spirit of transparency, I’d like for you to formally meet my interns Josh Wagner and Emma Myers in true podcast fashion as they interview each other! They also discuss their own exciting projects coming soon: be on the lookout for Josh’s Poetry and Eugenics series both releasing this summer, and Emma’s deep di...
May 06, 2021•20 min•Ep. 86
In this episode, Back in America ’s host, Stan Berteloot speaks with Navi Radjou , internationally renowned Indian-French-American scholar, innovation and leadership advisor, and bestselling author based in New York. Navi’s most recent book, Frugal Innovation: How To Do More With Less , shows how companies can innovate faster, better, and more sustainably. The conversation focuses on Navi’s work on developing an alternative to capitalism and concrete actions individuals and businesses are taking...
Apr 30, 2021•45 min•Ep. 85
Bridging COVID-19 Isolation and the Digital Divide with Bridging Tech In 2021, it is nearly impossible to get anything done without a laptop: apply for a job, go to school, safely connect with friends, or schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment. Yet, there are fewer laptops in existence than humans on this planet, presenting a unique challenge for unhoused students. Not only are they disadvantaged in terms of their living situation, but also have to deal with this extra technological hurdle know...
Apr 16, 2021•34 min•Ep. 84
