
WAMU 88.5's Andrea Wenzel takes us to Elkader, Iowa — a town named after a 19th century Algerian jihadist — and home to an Algerian-American restaurant run by a gay couple.
Elkader, Iowa (population 1,500) is a town with an unusual namesake — American settlers named it after the Algerian jihadist and anti-colonialism fighter Abd al-Qader in 1846. This story charts the efforts of an openly gay Algerian man and his partner as they create an Algerian-American restaurant on Main Street—and wrestle with cultural adaptation, American identity, and small town politics.
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