maria hinojosa: today, small-town georgia has changed in some unexpected ways. we're sisters, you know, we were separated at birth. hinojosa: now whites are in the minority in clarkston, and it's home to refugees from over 40 different countries. graham thomas: you wonder if i've got any buddies anymore that think the way i do. should white america be afraid of becoming a minority? this is the new america-- black, brown, asian, lgbt, immigrants. the country is going through a major demographic shift and the numbers show it. the face of the u.s. has changed. christina ibanez: we're american. we care about the same things. but yet we also want to preserve our culture. i just see it destroying what we had planned to happen here. hinojosa: by 2043, we will be a majority non-white nation.

maria hinojosa: northern idaho: a haven for white conservatives.orm gissel: they come up here because they're exhausted with multicultural issues. john alden: we've had problems for 50 years now with any prayer in schools. hinojosa: still haunted by a history of extreme racism. joshua hoston: we'll see swastikas. we'll see various verses that are offensive. he went like this. don't come change idaho. come and fit into idaho, and we'd love to have you. this is the new america-- black, brown, asian, lgbt, immigrants. the country is going through a major demographic shift, and the numbers show it. the face of the u.s. has changed. christina ibanez: we're american. we care about the same things. but yet we also want to preserve our culture. i just see it destroying what we had planned to happen here. hinojosa: by 2043, we will be a majority non-white nation.

i'm maría hinojosa. this is one-on-one. dr. icholas christakis, it's so nice to have you here on the show. >> it's nice to see you. >> hinojosa: so you wrote... you co-wrote this book. it's called connected: the surprising power ofour social networks and how they shape our lives. and it's a fascinating book because basically what you're saying is something that is really controversial, which is why the book has gotten a lot of attention, and therefore, you... you're basically saying that our small little social networks, the personal networks, can determine so much about the rest of our lives. and when so many of us, at least in this country, are kind of made to believe that we can do this on our own, it's... you know, "pull yourself up by your bootstraps and you can do this," you're basically saying it really is true-- who you know and how they influence you has everything to do with what's going to happen with your life. >> okay, that's right, but the first thing i would emphasize is that people... okay, so most people, when t

maria hinojosa: northern idaho: a haven for white conservatives. norm gissel: they come up here because they're exhausted with multicultural issues. john alden: we've had problems for 50 years now with any prayer in schools. hinojosa: still haunted by a history of extreme racism. joshua hoston: we'll see swastikas. we'll see various verses that are offensive. he went like this. don't come change idaho. come and fit into idaho, and we'd love to have you. this is the new america-- black, brown, asian, lgbt, immigrants. the country is going through a major demographic shift, and the numbers show it. the face of the u.s. has changed. christina ibanez: we're american. we care about the same things. but yet we also want to preserve our culture. i just see it destroying what we had planned to happen here. hinojosa: by 2043, we will be a majority non-white nation.

i'm maria hinojosa. this is one on one. >> hinojosa: mark hugo lopez from the pew hispanic center, welcome to our program. >> thank you for having me. >> hinojosa: now, some people might be saying, "the pew hispanic center?" for those of us who work in and around latino media and latino issues, pew hispanic center carries a lot of weight. so, for those who don't know, what exactly is the pew hispanic center? what is it that you do? >> we're a non-partisan, non-advocacy research organization based through washington, d.c. we're funded by the pew charitable trust out of philadelphia. and the pew hispanic center is actually part of a broader larger center called the pew research center. we do public opinion surveys, but we also do a lot of look at the demographics of the hispanic community. and one of our signature products actually is, how many unauthorized immigrants are there in the country. but our point is to provide facts. what do we know about the latino population in the us and how are they changing

i'm maria hinojosa. this is one-on-one. >> hinojosa: anand giridharadas, it's great to have you here. >> great to be here. >> hinojosa: so how'd i do with the name, all right? >> yeah, very well. >> hinojosa: because it's an... >> that was like top two percent. >> hinojosa: now, when you were growing up in ohio... okay, so this is a couple of years ago, you're growing up in ohio. you're born there, from indian parents, and they looked at your name and what did they do? >> they often asked if there was anything else they could call us, and my... one of the ways that my family, my parents, thought of coming back against this was when these telemarketers called and asked us, you know, to spell our name. someone gave us the idea of spelling each letter using a disease, so we'd say, "g for gastroenteritis," "i for intestinal disorder," and people stopped calling. so that's one of the advantages of a very... of a very difficult name. >> hinojosa: well, it's interesting, because your name is one way to enter int

exactly as you've just said, "it's all in your head." >> hinojosa: oh, my god. >> "it's all in your head, nothing to be done." until february 1998. maria, i don't want to frighten you or your viewers, but this is how i sounded: (voice straining): i could barely get a word out. >> hinojosa: oh, my god. >> and on that last day in february 1998, i did the show and then i had to go downtown to moderate a program at the four seasons. i raced back to the office and to my boss, my manager, and i said, "i'm out of here." and he said, "what do you mean you're out of here?" and i said, "i've got to find out what is the matter with my voice." and he said, "when will you be back? fundraiser is next week." >> hinojosa: (laughs) "this is public radio, we need you around for the fundraiser." >> exactly. so i said, "i have no idea." i sat at home for four months, not speaking to a soul except my husband, not answering a phone, not going to a drugstore for a prescription because i'd have to say my own name. it was terrifying. until one day, my internist called my husband and said, "well, you have to take her to johns hopkins. we need to find out if she

. >> hinojosa: i wonder how your perspective as an astronaut kind of informs that perspective. >> well, the other thing, maria, is that, like i said, the world has changed. and now we look at ourselves as citizens of a planet, not citizens of a country. and so i don't see myself as much as a citizen of the united states, or a citizen of costa rica. i just see myself as a citizen of the planet earth. and the more you go out and fly in space, the more you realize that, you know, this little ball is really our home, and that we are all really in it. and all these borders that have been drawn, you know, are really sort of irrelevant at this point. there is a saying that one of my heroes, john young, often says, that when you are on your way to mars, you're going to spend most of your time looking out the window at this one little point of light that is the place where you came from, and this other little point of light which is the place that you're going to. and he says this is going to redefine loneliness. and i think he's right. >> hinojosa: oh, my god, that's extraordinary. i remember, you know, just... we we