Scott Detrow

What were you, like, thinking about on, like, hour six or seven or eight sitting on top of this train? The sun.

That's a good segue, Ader, that you, I think probably more than anybody on staff right now at NPR, have a particular knack of finding yourself In tricky situations in the middle of a story and often maximizing that and using that situation to tell a better story and to understand the topic that you're covering even more and help listeners understand that. You've been detained in South Sudan.

That's a good segue, Ader, that you, I think probably more than anybody on staff right now at NPR, have a particular knack of finding yourself In tricky situations in the middle of a story and often maximizing that and using that situation to tell a better story and to understand the topic that you're covering even more and help listeners understand that. You've been detained in South Sudan.

That's a good segue, Ader, that you, I think probably more than anybody on staff right now at NPR, have a particular knack of finding yourself In tricky situations in the middle of a story and often maximizing that and using that situation to tell a better story and to understand the topic that you're covering even more and help listeners understand that. You've been detained in South Sudan.

I remember hearing live on the radio when you were reporting on something as people were throwing rocks at the tin roof of the building you were in. It was in Kenya. In Kenya as you did a live radio hit. How do you generally think about the pros and cons, and at what point it's not worth it to keep going for you personally?

I remember hearing live on the radio when you were reporting on something as people were throwing rocks at the tin roof of the building you were in. It was in Kenya. In Kenya as you did a live radio hit. How do you generally think about the pros and cons, and at what point it's not worth it to keep going for you personally?

I remember hearing live on the radio when you were reporting on something as people were throwing rocks at the tin roof of the building you were in. It was in Kenya. In Kenya as you did a live radio hit. How do you generally think about the pros and cons, and at what point it's not worth it to keep going for you personally?

I'm with you on that. I can do roller coasters, but Ferris wheels.

I'm with you on that. I can do roller coasters, but Ferris wheels.

I'm with you on that. I can do roller coasters, but Ferris wheels.

I clenched up hearing that part of the story as you described it.

I clenched up hearing that part of the story as you described it.

I clenched up hearing that part of the story as you described it.

I want to end this conversation the way you ended this story, because the fact is, for a lot of these people, maybe even a majority of these people, all of this long, long journey, which, like you said, the very end of is is riding across the desert, freezing cold on the top of a train. It's all for naught because you end the story by talking about a family who they make it across the border.

I want to end this conversation the way you ended this story, because the fact is, for a lot of these people, maybe even a majority of these people, all of this long, long journey, which, like you said, the very end of is is riding across the desert, freezing cold on the top of a train. It's all for naught because you end the story by talking about a family who they make it across the border.

I want to end this conversation the way you ended this story, because the fact is, for a lot of these people, maybe even a majority of these people, all of this long, long journey, which, like you said, the very end of is is riding across the desert, freezing cold on the top of a train. It's all for naught because you end the story by talking about a family who they make it across the border.

They turn themselves in and seek for asylum. And they're immediately kicked out of the United States. And yet, as you write in the story, they, the next day, start heading north again.

They turn themselves in and seek for asylum. And they're immediately kicked out of the United States. And yet, as you write in the story, they, the next day, start heading north again.

They turn themselves in and seek for asylum. And they're immediately kicked out of the United States. And yet, as you write in the story, they, the next day, start heading north again.

That's Eder Peralta, Mexico City correspondent for NPR. Eder, thanks for walking us through one of your stories and helping us understand how you think about all of this.