Between Everything and Nothing
The Journey of Seidu Mohammed and Razak Iyal and the Quest for Asylum
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Narrated by:
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Dion Graham
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By:
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Joe Meno
About this listen
Joe Meno brings a novelist's eye to the true story of two young men from Ghana and their journey from the unjust political system of their homeland through the chaos of the United States' failing immigration system.
Long before their chance meeting at a Minneapolis bus station, Ghanaian asylum seekers Seidu Mohammed and Razak Iyal had already crossed half the world in search of a new home. Seidu, who identifies as bisexual, lived under constant threat of exposure and violence in a country where same-sex acts are illegal. Razak's life was also threatened after corrupt officials contrived to steal his rightful inheritance. Forced to flee their homeland, both men embarked on separate odysseys through the dangerous jungles and bureaucracies of South, Central, and North America. Like generations of asylum seekers before, they presented themselves legally at the US border, hoping for sanctuary. Instead they were imprisoned in private detention facilities, released only after their asylum pleas were denied. Fearful of returning to Ghana, Seidu and Razak saw no choice but to attempt one final border crossing. Their journey north to Canada in the harsh, unforgiving winter proved more tragic than anything they had experienced before.
Based on extensive interviews, Joe Meno's intimate account builds upon the international media attention Seidu and Razak's story has already received, highlighting the harrowing journey of asylum seekers everywhere while adding dimension to one of the greatest humanitarian concerns facing the world.
©2020 Joe Meno (P)2020 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Phony accents
- By Gina on 05-17-22
By: Oscar Martinez, and others
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A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea
- One Refugee's Incredible Story of Love, Loss, and Survival
- By: Melissa Fleming
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Doaa Al Zamel was once an average Syrian girl growing up in a crowded house in a bustling city near the Jordanian border. But in 2011 her life was upended. Inspired by the events of the Arab Spring, Syrians began to stand up against their own oppressive regime. When the army was sent to take control of Doaa's hometown, strict curfews, power outages, water shortages, air raids, and violence disrupted everyday life.
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One woman's story
- By msrae on 07-06-17
By: Melissa Fleming
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A Thousand Miles to Freedom
- My Escape from North Korea
- By: Sebastien Falletti, Eunsun Kim
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Eunsun Kim was born in North Korea, one of the most secretive and oppressive countries in the modern world. As a child, Eunsun loved her country...despite her school field trips to public executions, daily self-criticism sessions, and the increasing gnaw of hunger as the countrywide famine escalated. By the time she was 11 years old, Eunsun's father and grandparents had died of starvation, and Eunsun too was in danger of starving. Finally her mother decided to escape North Korea with Eunsun and her sister.
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Not Much New Here, but Courage and Hope to Spare
- By Gillian on 03-25-16
By: Sebastien Falletti, and others
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Beneath the Tamarind Tree
- A Story of Courage, Family, and the Lost Schoolgirls of Boko Haram
- By: Isha Sesay
- Narrated by: Isha Sesay
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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The first definitive account of Boko Haram’s abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls, their years in captivity, and why this story still matters - by celebrated international journalist Isha Sesay.
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First Hand Information.
- By Adewuyi t. on 08-28-19
By: Isha Sesay
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Prisoner
- My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison—Solitary Confinement, a Sham Trial, High-Stakes Diplomacy, and the Extraordinary Efforts It Took to Get Me Out
- By: Jason Rezaian
- Narrated by: Jason Rezaian
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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The dramatic memoir of the journalist who was held hostage in a high-security prison in Tehran for 18 months and whose release - which almost didn’t happen - became a part of the Iran nuclear deal.
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Should have been much better given subject matter
- By Sample Sloth on 04-17-19
By: Jason Rezaian
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After the Last Border
- Two Families and the Story of Refuge in America
- By: Jessica Goudeau
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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The welcoming and acceptance of immigrants and refugees have been central to America's identity for centuries - yet America has periodically turned its back in times of the greatest humanitarian need. After the Last Border is an intimate look at the lives of two women as they struggle for the 21st-century American dream, having won the "golden ticket" to settle as refugees in Austin, Texas.
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Great Content. Odd Structure.
- By Susan Stillings on 02-10-21
By: Jessica Goudeau
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The Buried
- An Archaeology of the Egyptian Revolution
- By: Peter Hessler
- Narrated by: Peter Hessler
- Length: 16 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Drawn by a fascination with Egypt's rich history and culture, Peter Hessler moved with his wife and twin daughters to Cairo in 2011. He wanted to learn Arabic, explore Cairo's neighborhoods, and visit the legendary archaeological digs of Upper Egypt. After his years of covering China for The New Yorker, friends warned him Egypt would be a much quieter place. But not long before he arrived, the Egyptian Arab Spring had begun, and now the country was in chaos.
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A Fascinating, Funny, and Moving Account of Egypt
- By Jefferson on 07-23-19
By: Peter Hessler
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The Accountant's Story
- Inside the Violent World of the Medellín Cartel
- By: Roberto Escobar
- Narrated by: Ruben Diaz
- Length: 9 hrs
- Abridged
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In short, this is Pablo Escobar's story in the words of one of his closest confidants, his brother Roberto. It's all here - the brutal violence inside the world of the drug cartel, dealing with American drug forces and the CIA, the problems the Escobars faced when going up against the Colombian mafia, even Pablo's moments of kindness and compassion. As Roberto points out, although many people view Escobar as a monster, thousands still visit his grave every year to mourn him, and revere him as a savior.
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get the unabridged version
- By Erwin Tenorio on 08-13-09
By: Roberto Escobar
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They Said They Wanted Revolution
- A Memoir of My Parents
- By: Neda Toloui-Semnani
- Narrated by: Neda Toloui-Semnani
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1979, Neda Toloui-Semnani’s parents left the United States for Iran to join the revolution. But the promise of those early heady days in Tehran was warped by the rise of the Islamic Republic. With the new regime came international isolation, cultural devastation, and profound personal loss for Neda. Her father was arrested and her mother was forced to make a desperate escape, pregnant and with Neda in tow.
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I learned so much. Great pacing, felt like I time-traveled
- By Jess Fuchs on 02-07-22
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I Was Told to Come Alone
- My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad
- By: Souad Mekhennet
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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For her whole life, Souad Mekhennet, a reporter for the Washington Post who was born and educated in Germany, has had to balance the two sides of her upbringing - Muslim and Western. She has also sought to provide a mediating voice between these cultures, which too often misunderstand each other.
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A timely book with poor narration
- By F. AHMAD on 07-15-17
By: Souad Mekhennet
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The Good Assassin
- How a Mossad Agent and a Band of Survivors Hunted Down the Butcher of Latvia
- By: Stephan Talty
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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The untold story of an Israeli spy’s epic journey to bring the notorious Butcher of Latvia to justice - a case that altered the fates of all ex-Nazis.
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Wonderful: A complete history wrapped in a story
- By Aaron on 04-22-20
By: Stephan Talty
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Tunnel 29
- The True Story of an Extraordinary Escape Beneath the Berlin Wall
- By: Helena Merriman
- Narrated by: Helena Merriman
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In the summer of 1962, a young student named Joachim Rudolph dug a tunnel under the Berlin Wall. Waiting on the other side in East Berlin were dozens of men, women, and children - all willing to risk everything to escape.
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Gripping
- By Matthew on 09-09-21
By: Helena Merriman
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Preemptive Love
- Pursuing Peace One Heart at a Time
- By: Jeremy Courtney
- Narrated by: Jeremy Courtney
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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In the middle of the Iraq War, Jeremy and Jessica Courtney found themselves with their two children caught up in the turmoil, just hoping to make a difference. After an encounter with a father whose little girl was dying from a heart defect, they began to investigate options for helping and learned that untold thousands of children across Iraq were in similar need, waiting in line for heart surgery in a country without a qualified heart surgeon.
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Recommended Highly!
- By Zak on 06-13-18
By: Jeremy Courtney
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The Lightless Sky
- A Twelve-Year-Old Refugee's Harrowing Escape from Afghanistan and His Extraordinary Journey Across Half the World
- By: Gulwali Passarlay
- Narrated by: Assaf Cohen, Susan Duerden
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2006, after his father was killed, Gulwali Passarlay was caught between the Taliban, who wanted to recruit him, and the Americans, who wanted to use him. To protect her son, Gulwali's mother sent him away. The search for safety would lead the 12-year-old across eight countries, from the mountains of Eastern Afghanistan through Iran and Europe to Britain. Over the course of 12 harrowing months, Gulwali endured imprisonment, hunger, cruelty, brutality, loneliness, and terror - and nearly drowned crossing the Mediterranean Sea.
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A Face for Refugees
- By Daryl on 12-10-16
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In Order to Live
- A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom
- By: Yeonmi Park
- Narrated by: Eji Kim
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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In In Order to Live, Yeonmi Park shines a light not just into the darkest corners of life in North Korea, describing the deprivation and deception she endured and which millions of North Korean people continue to endure to this day, but also onto her own most painful and difficult memories. She tells with bravery and dignity for the first time the story of how she and her mother were betrayed and sold into sexual slavery in China and forced to suffer terrible psychological and physical hardship before they finally made their way to Seoul, South Korea - and to freedom.
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Wow. What a story!
- By Jfm on 02-01-16
By: Yeonmi Park
What listeners say about Between Everything and Nothing
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Lynn
- 07-06-20
some fluff and drivel
The story is excellent. However, the authors blame Obama for so many persons being returned. They blame Trump for his decisions. Perhaps the authors did not understand or simply recognize that the House and Senate write the laws of the land. Obama and Trump have to play the hands they have been dealt for good or ill. The book sings when telling the story. The authors just didn't take the time to lend nuance. Therefore, a large portion of the latter part of the book is simplistic fluff and and drivel. Write a shorter book, but tell the whole truth.
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- KathrynVB
- 04-13-21
You must read this book to understand our immigrat
This book strips away all of the rhetoric around U.S. immigration policies and tells you how it affects the asylum seeker. Brutally honest about the horror of our private detention system that has no motivation to give people work permits so they can support themselves and their families while they wait for decisions on their status. What a system of financial waste and profiteering!
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- Jonathan
- 04-04-24
Eye opening
A great place to start when wondering what the experience of seeking asylum is like. I say a start because I have so many more questions now.
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- Montzalee Wittmann
- 06-11-20
What a deeply moving story!
Between Everything and Nothing
The Journey of Seidu Mohammed and Razak Iyal and the Quest for Asylum
By: Joe Meno
Narrated by: Dion Graham
This story is so tragic from the very beginning. How the land of their birth betrayed them all the way through the process of trying to get asylum. From the the money hungry cops in Central America, the inhumane and rigged immigration system in America, to finally having to brave the elements to try to get to Canada and everything inbetween. They both would have been killed in their home country and almost died trying to make their way to freedom. It was an emotional trip with these men and an embarrassing one when it came to how they were treated in America. They were not criminals but treated like they were. The difference in how Canada and America treated these men were like day and night! How shameful our system is! So tragic! This really is a must read book! I
The narration was excellent! It really helped bring the men to life!
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