It's the last edition of Five on Friday for the year! Migrant Clinicians Network offices will be closed for a winter break from December 22nd to January 2nd, and our blog, including Five on Friday, will take a much-needed rest. For this final Five on Friday for 2023, MCN staff took a step back to think through the many books, podcasts, and movies we watched this year that related to our work. Here we present you with the top five, curated just for our Five on Friday readers.

Amy recommends The Border Chronicle, a blog and podcast featuring original reporting and analysis from the US-Mexico border.

Kim offered up The Other Side: From a Shack to Silicon Valley, by Martha Niño, which is available in English and Spanish. The author's parents crossed the border seeking a better life in the US. All profits of the sale from the book will go to Digital Nest to help kids from underserved farming communities to find entry into the tech world. (Bonus: Niño also hosts a podcast, "Moments with Martha” where she interviews immigrants on their stories.) 

Karen enjoyed The Covenant of Water, a multigenerational tale that is written by Abraham Verghese, a physician who is also on faculty at Stanford Medical School.

Claire recommends The Great Escape, the true story of human trafficking along the Gulf Coast and the efforts of the author Saket Soni, to bring justice for the 500 Indian pipefitters and welders stuck in a labor camp. Soni is also the founder and Executive Director of Resilience Force, an MCN partner, focused on the needs of the workers brought in after climate-fueled disasters.

Marysel liked El Antillano, a 2014 documentary about Ramon Emeterio Betances, a Puerto Rican doctor who tended to the poor and to slaves, and assisted to contain a cholera epidemic on the Island.

Have a safe and healthy weekend!