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Movement with Meklit Hadero

Meklit Hadero

Movement is a podcast, radio series and live show that tells stories of global migration through music. Hosted by Ethiopian-American singer Meklit Hadero, the show is a meditation on the large-scale forces at play in individual lives. Issues of citizenship, identity, belonging, and borders are explored through the experiences of artists themselves: two brothers sharing one guitar, a daughter trying on her father’s shoes, the lineage of a drum, and the sounds of a grandmother’s backyard.

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20 episodes
Avg 23 min
English

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Dec 9, 2025 · 10 min
"A Song You Can't Sing Alone, ft. Meklit Hadero
On this final episode of season three, Meklit shares the story of Geefata, a traditional song of celebration rooted in her father’s childhood village and in his journey from the village to the United States.
Nov 25, 2025 · 10 min
"Keep That Tradition Alive" ft. Kiki Valera
GRAMMY nominated multi-instrumentalist Kiki Valera was born into family of musicians in Cuba. At 16, he was gifted a book gifted that changed his life. - How To Build A Shortwave Receiver and Transmitter. Through scavenging parts, he made the machine that allowed him to listen to the world, and build a life dedicated to music.
Nov 10, 2025 · 14 min
"A Rainstorm of Voices" ft. Sahba Aminikia
Today on Movement, we revisit a story we first recorded in 2021, following Sahba Aminikia - a classically trained Iranian composer, forced to flee the country he called home, while making music that transforms pain into beauty.
Oct 21, 2025 · 39 min
"The shaming of the tongue" ft. Laura Elkeslassy
Arabic music filled the air of Laura Elkeslassy’s Moroccan Jewish childhood home in Paris, especially on Fridays before Shabbat. But she didn’t grow up speaking Arabic so she didn’t understand the words. In New York as an adult, Laura’s search for a wedding song takes her on a surprising journey where she connects with new musical, spiritual and political lineages and steps into her power as a musician and community leader. Learn more & sign up for Laura’s newsletter where she will announce the forthcoming studio release of Ya Ghorbati. Read more about the stories behind the songs via Ayin Press.
Oct 7, 2025 · 28 min
"We came from the same groove" ft. Cimafunk
After years of singing backup in Havana, Cuban musician Cimafunk found his own sound by refusing to choose between tradition and innovation. The breakthrough came when he realized Afro-Cuban rhythms and American funk are not just compatible, they're in the same lineage.
Sep 9, 2025 · 30 min
"Who we are when no one is watching" ft. Ali Sethi
Ali Sethi released a song that got so popular, some claim it had the power to unite two countries at war – but his artistic journey all began with a suggestion from a college professor.
Aug 19, 2025 · 30 min
"We make the boom bap" ft. Ana Tijoux
When you don't feel like you belong to the country you were born in, where do you call home? Born to Chilean exiles in France, rapper Ana Tijoux didn't find home in a place, she found it in Hip Hop.
Aug 7, 2025 · 28 min
“Questioning everything” ft. Lupita Infante
Lupita Infante is the granddaughter of Mexican cultural icon, Pedro Infante, but she is also an artist in her own right, carrying legacies from both sides of her family. Through songwriting, GRAMMY performances and stints on Mexican television, Lupita is charting a new path for herself, while honoring and questioning the culture she’s inherited.
S3 · E4
Jul 21, 2025 · 24 min
“I don't tell people I'm a musician” ft. Peter One
Peter One has had two big breaks, decades apart, on different continents. But both times, he has chosen to live a double-life: working as a touring musician and also holding down a “regular job” in order to lead a “simple life.”
S3 · E3
Jul 8, 2025 · 26 min
“Syrians must go back" ft. Omar Offendum
In the early 1900s, the ‘Little Syria’ neighborhood thrived in Lower Manhattan, but today few people know it even existed. Rapper and poet Omar Offendum aims to change that.
Jun 23, 2025 · 21 min
“I sound like an alien to them” ft. Satomi Matsuzaki
For Satomi Matsuzaki, the lead singer and bass player in Deerhoof, music has been a humanizing tool in the face of the sometimes dehumanizing experience of being an immigrant. Look no further than the band’s new single, Immigrant Songs.
S3 · E2
Jun 10, 2025 · 33 min
“I can speak to my ancestors through this” ft. Lalin St Juste
Lalin St Juste knew, even as a child, that singing was a path towards her own healing. As she grows up, she goes on a journey reclaiming her Haitian heritage – and uses music as a process of healing herself and her bloodline.
S3 · E1
Jun 3, 2025 · 24 min
"A Really Bad Deal" ft. Annahstasia
The LA-based folk musician Annahstasia was “discovered” by the music industry when she was just 17, but the backing of a label wasn’t the breakthrough she’d imagined. The breakthrough had to come from within.
S2 · E15
Jan 14, 2025 · 23 min
"Why I was spared" ft. Mon Rovîa
How do we turn pain into empathy? Meklit talks with Liberian-American singer Mon Rovîa about his long journey to doing just that.
S2 · E2
Jan 7, 2025 · 29 min
“I’m ready for that transformation” ft. Dayme Arocena
Daymé Arocena has one of the most stunning voices in music today. But when Meklit heard Daymé's latest album, Alkemi, she could tell something dramatic had changed. Her voice had changed, and Daymé had changed too. Learn more about Movement at: https://www.movementstories.com/
S2 · E14
Dec 24, 2024 · 11 min
"Syria is finally free" ft. Hello Psychaleppo
Bashar Al Assad, Syria’s brutal dictator, has fled the country -- opening a new and uncertain chapter after more than a decade of Civil War. Meklit speaks with the Syrian electronic composer Samer Saem Eldahr (otherwise known as Hello Psychaleppo) about how that conflict changed his life and music.
S2 · E13
Dec 10, 2024 · 19 min
"I'm sorry I wasn't here" ft. Diana Gameros
Diana Gameros was living in the US in 2010 when her home city of Juarez, Mexico became known as one of the most dangerous places on Earth. She was undocumented at the time; she couldn't travel back and forth even to see family. In this episode Diana tells the story of what it meant to finally go back and perform in Juarez after many years away.
S2 · E12
Nov 26, 2024 · 16 min
"22 Nights" ft Chhom Nimol -- Live on stage
Chhom Nimol of the band Dengue Fever tells the harrowing story of the 22 night she spent in an immigration detention facility.
S2 · E11
Nov 12, 2024 · 24 min
"A circle moment" ft. Emel Mathlouthi
Meklit talks with Tunisian singer Emel Mathlouthi about the moment that turned her into a viral sensation and the voice of a revolution -- but also about what it means to move beyond the shadow of that one moment.
S2 · E10
Oct 22, 2024 · 21 min
"I've just thrown out the word expectation" ft. Adi Oasis
Adi Oasis released an album and had a baby in the same year -- she thought it would be the end of her music career, but it's been the opposite. Adi and Meklit talk about the challenges of being a mama musician, and how motherhood changed how they see their own sense of place.

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