S1.E2 ∙ The Heart of Bear Country

An electronic parts salesman in Toronto with no medical training conceives an idea that could revolutionize medicine. A young woman living in the American South faced with an incurable disease takes him up on it, and the two set out on an international odyssey to realize the possibility of a cure.

Between 1947 and 1949, the writer Maria Lamas traveled the country to publicize the reality in which Portuguese women lived. The result of this tour was the book "As Mulheres do Meu País". More than 70 years later, director Marta Pessoa and writer Susana Moreira Marques seek to understand what this book is and what it can tell us today.

An African American gospel choir is the Greek chorus for a Palestinian play on Martin Luther King, Jr. which tours the West Bank, preaching nonviolence. The devoutly Christian choir grew up in churches strongly allied with Israel. On their first trip to the Holy Land they witness the harsh realities of life under occupation, a nonviolent movement for justice, and an assassination. Our story is a unique view of a crucial human rights conflict. Mixing the excitement of foot-stomping gospel music and creative theater it reveals the power of art to communicate, heal, and give voice to communities living in fear. It is a cultural exchange of immense depth and far-reaching implications, where, during the course of the journey, people's preconceptions are radically changed.