The Kurdistan in America podcast is honored to have Ms. Xeyal Qertel as its guest in the eighth episode of Season Three. Ms. Qertel is the President and Founder of the New York Kurdish Cultural Center. She founded the organization in 2017 to provide a safe space for diaspora Kurds in New York to reclaim and celebrate their cinema, poetry, literature, and music—and to introduce non-Kurds to Kurdish culture and art. She directs the annual New York Kurdish Film and Cultural Festival and is also an educator and human rights activist with a special interest in women's rights.  The discussion is about her family's background, her experience migrating to the US, the upcoming Kurdish film festival in New York, which is scheduled for October, and the Kurdish language courses and the book club her organization offers.