Max is a 4-year-old with double vision. Her parents are navigating treatment through the complications of Covid.

This piece was produced and edited by H Conley with help from Veralyn Williams and Amanda Aronczyk. Music is from Sugartree by Blue Dot Sessions.

Seeing Double

At her home in Queens, NY, in April of 2023, Maria Del Rosario Duran described her first son, Alex Ramon Jimenez Duran, as the leader of the family. Alex was a Staff Sergeant for the U.S. Army who pursued a career in public service. On May 12th, 2007, Alex’s unit, the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) was captured by enemy forces in Jurf Sakhar, Iraq, after his unit was attacked. His body was recovered in Iraq on July 8, 2008, confirming his passing 14 months after the capture. 

In this audio fragment, Maria recalls her firstborn son's memory describing why a military career attracted him. “For Alex the most important thing is family,” his mother explained.

Alex Ramon Jimenez Duran

The race to protect New York’s most vulnerable residents from flash floods is under a cloud of uncertainty, thanks to President Trump’s reversal of climate change policies. Coastal cities face growing risks thanks to climate change. Rising sea levels and extreme rain events contribute to dangerous conditions in many neighborhoods. Storm surge flooding from superstorm Sandy in 2012, and more recent flash floods in 2021 and 2023, were a preview of things to come. Extreme weather events are projected to get worse over time. The city has an ambitious list of infrastructure projects designed to protect its most vulnerable residents. The Trump administration put federal funding for those projects in doubt. Reporter Steve Kastenbaum has the story.

Credits:
Produced, hosted and reported by Steve Kastenbaum

Music: The One You Loved Is Gone, by Soularfair, courtesy Free Music Archive

Flash Floods: Protecting the Vulnerable Amid Uncertainty

This account showcases work produced by students in the Audio Journalism Program at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York (CUNY).

Flash Floods: Protecting the Vulnerable Amid Uncertainty

Newmark J-School Audio Journalism

Related tracks