The excellent new Netflix series, Mo, is about a man who figures out how to get by, how

to find work as someone who can't work legally, how to navigate the asylum process as a Palestinian

refugee in Texas, and how to care for the people he loves, including his family and his girlfriend.

Both funny and fascinating, it's based on the life of the show's star and co-creator,

the stand-up Mo Amar, and touches on issues of immigration and identity and a family in a long

limbo as they work to map out a secure future. I'm Linda Holmes and today we're talking about Mo,

on Pop Culture Happy Hour from NPR.

Joining us today is Vulture TV critic Roxana Hadadi. Hello Roxana, welcome back. Hey Linda, how are you?

I am great and I am so excited that you are here to talk about Mo, a show I really liked. In Mo, Mo Amar plays

Mo Najar, a Palestinian refugee living in Houston whose family has been stuck in the asylum process

for years. Because he can't legally work, Mo gets jobs under the table, but when he loses the latest

one over the owner's fear of ice, he ends up selling counterfeit merchandise out of the back of his car.

His girlfriend Maria, played by Teresa Ruiz, isn't his Muslim mother's first choice, but she is

Mo's first choice. And she's part of the reason he's an adept speaker of Spanish, as well as English

and Arabic, all three of which languages are part of the show's dialogue. Farah Bsaizo plays his

devoted mother Yusra, who makes outstanding olive oil by hand, which presents both a business

opportunity and some challenges for the family. Mo's older brother Samir has autism spectrum

disorder. Mo is very protective of him as well. Samir is played by Omar Elba. Over the course of the

eight episodes, you see Mo struggle with the uncertainty of his immigration status and you watch

as he learns new things about his own family history and how they came to need asylum in the first

place. Amar co-created the show with Rami Yusuf, whose own show Rami earned Yusuf an Emmy nomination.

Mo is now streaming on Netflix. Roxana, you, I know not only have seen this, but you have spoken to

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