02/22/2026: Left Behind, South Africa's Refugees, Is That Art?

About this episode

The episode covers the plight of South African refugees, the opioid crisis in McDowell County, and the impact of artificial intelligence on the art world.

Correspondent Cecilia Vega reports from McDowell County, W.Va. – once the nation’s largest coal producer, and now one of the poorest places in the country, where the food stamp program started and the opioid crisis took hold. When President Trump said he would “permanently pause migration from all third world countries” to the U.S., there was one exception: the resettlement of white South African refugees, mostly Afrikaners. The president has said white farmers in the country are victims of genocide, a claim the government of South Africa disputes. Artificial intelligence is being used to make art that is being embraced by many of the world’s most prestigious museums and auction houses, raising an age-old question: what counts as art? To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Topics covered

• refugees
• art
• opioid crisis
• migration
• South Africa

Keywords

• coal production
• food stamps
• genocide
• Afrikaners
• museums

Mentioned in this episode

Places: South Africa's, McDowell County, W.Va., U.S., South Africa

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