immigration

Feudal Future Podcast — Why Iranian American Immigrants Excel

Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 20:14:50 -0500

What explains the outsized success of Iranian Americans—and can that same resolve help tilt the future of Iran? We bring together two sharp voices to unpack a story that spans kitchen-table sacrifice, elite migration, and a culture where A’s are expected and grit is non-negotiable.

Listen on Apple Podcast
More podcast episodes & show notes at JoelKotkin.com

Watch this Episode

Support Our Work

The Center for Demographics and Policy focuses on research and analysis of global, national, and regional demographic trends and explores policies that might produce favorable demographic results over time. It involves Chapman students in demographic research under the supervision of the Center’s senior staff.

Students work with the Center’s director and engage in research that will serve them well as they look to develop their careers in business, the social sciences, and the arts. Students also have access to our advisory board, which includes distinguished Chapman faculty and major demographic scholars from across the country and the world.

For additional information, please contact Mahnaz Asghari, Associate Director of the Center for Demographics and Policy, at (714) 744-7635 or asghari@chapman.edu

Tweet thoughts: @joelkotkin, @mtoplansky, #FeudalFuture #BeyondFeudalism

Buy Joel’s latest book, ‘The Coming of Neo-Feudalism‘

This show is presented by the Chapman Center for Demographics and Policy, which focuses on research and analysis of global, national and regional demographic trends and explores policies that might produce favorable demographic results over time.

Feudal Future Podcast — Immigration Crossroads

Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 11:56:24 -0400

Is there a middle ground between open borders and immigration restriction? This thought-provoking discussion with GOP strategist Mike Madrid and Venezuelan immigrant Dr. Daniel DiMartino explores the complex realities of America's immigration debate beyond the partisan talking points.

Listen on Apple Podcast
More podcast episodes & show notes at JoelKotkin.com

Watch this Episode

Support Our Work

For additional information, please contact Mahnaz Asghari, Associate Director of the Center for Demographics and Policy, at (714) 744-7635 or asghari@chapman.edu

Tweet thoughts: @joelkotkin, @mtoplansky, #FeudalFuture #BeyondFeudalism

Buy Joel’s latest book, ‘The Coming of Neo-Feudalism‘

Feudal Future Podcast: The Rise of Populism in Europe - Immigration, Nationalism, and the Quest for Sovereignty

Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 17:51:40 -0500

How has the mosaic of European politics been recast by the relentless waves of immigration? This pressing question takes center stage as Ambassador Ron Spogli and deputy editor Fraser Myers join me to unravel the complex tapestry of populism's ascent in the West. With the spotlight on Georgia Maloney's prime ministerial triumph in Italy, we peel back the layers of public sentiment that propelled her to power. The narrative reveals a populace not driven by xenophobia but by a fervent desire for reform and sovereignty over their borders, a sentiment echoing across the continent from France to Sweden.

Listen on Apple Podcast
More podcast episodes & show notes at JoelKotkin.com

Watch this Episode

Support Our Work

The Center for Demographics and Policy focuses on research and analysis of global, national, and regional demographic trends and explores policies that might produce favorable demographic results over time. It involves Chapman students in demographic research under the supervision of the Center’s senior staff.

For additional information, please contact Mahnaz Asghari, sponsored project analyst for the Office of Research, at (714) 744-7635 or asghari@chapman.edu.

Tweet thoughts: @joelkotkin, @mtoplansky, #FeudalFuture #BeyondFeudalism

Learn more about Joel’s book ‘The Coming of Neo-Feudalism‘

Short Film: Emigrate

Fri, 27 Mar 2015 09:50:47 -0400

Emigrate tells the story of Jacob, a South-Asian teenager who has just graduated high school in the United States. His parents are immigrants and thus far he has kept his family life and his personal life clearly delineated. However, when his worlds collide he is forced to confront his own dishonesty or lose the relationships that matter most to him.

The film was independently produced in the fall of 2014 by a collaboration of filmmakers from Chapman University.

EMIGRATE from Ijaaz Noohu on Vimeo.

Born in Sri Lanka and raised in Los Angeles, Ijaaz Noohu has spent the last four years studying Economics, English, and Television at Chapman University in Orange County. As an aspiring filmmaker, he hopes to use his unique perspective to tell stories of humanity, identity and hope. More of his work can be found at: ijaaznoohu.com.

Mexicanizing oneself in Los Angeles

Andy Sywak — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:28:31 -0500

Working on a construction crew back in college with a few workers each from Mexico and Guatemala, I was amazed at the animosity between the two groups. They would joke, not good-naturedly, about how much cheaper the prostitutes were in the neighboring country or how stupid the other's politicians were. I traveled in Central America a few years later and found the same thing.

This great article from earlier in this week's LA Times shows the economic and cultural effects of these nationalist tensions in the U.S. It chronicles how immigrants from El Salvador have to assimilate to the existing Mexican power structure in Los Angeles for jobs. Since the dominant Latin culture in LA is Mexican, and there is a strong nationalistic bias in some communities, El Salvadorians are changing their accents and even adopting their cuisine and mores to fit in.

The reverse is true in other cities. When one of the Mexican construction workers I knew flew out to D.C., he entered a taqueria in the Adams-Morgan area. Upon hearing his accent, the cashier from another Central American country promptly said, "The Mexicans eat over there." Looks like you better choose your adopted city carefully if you're a Central American immigrant.