Nahida Ahmed Khatib
A full cup of coffee on the counter, her purse on the table, her niece playing in her playpen…when Nahida Khatib went missing, it looked to everyone like she could have just stepped out of her house for a moment. But soon, investigators start finding clues that were more ominous: her brother-in-law had been unable to get her on the phone that day when he tried calling to check up on his daughter. Then, a neighbor reported seeing an unfamiliar car in her driveway that morning. And, woman after woman comes forward to share how they had to keep their friendship with Nahida secret from Nahida’s husband.
Nahida had been born in Lebanon but moved to Wisconsin following her marriage. Despite having family in the area, she was otherwise socially isolated as her husband limited her friendships and connections. Facing financial, physical, and emotional abuse, she left him at least once before proceeding with a divorce. By 1976, he was ordered by the court to allow her custody of their son and possession of their house until their divorce proceedings could continue. It’s in the midst of this that Nahida vanished from her home.
While police suspected her husband at the time and continued to suspect him as the years passed, they were largely unable to prove what happened conclusively. We got access to Nahida’s file from the first month of her disappearance and were startled to see mention of the possibility of trained kidnappers.
This episode touches on both Israeli and Palestinian history, topics that we’re not experts on, so we want to let our listeners know about these topics and discussions given the current crisis. We weren’t able to verify some of the claims from one anonymous source in the police records, but also try to leave space for his statement as a possibility of what happened to Nahida. Each story we share is more complex than what’s on the surface, and that’s true for Nahida’s story as well.
People and Cases Mentioned in this Episode:
Nahida Khatib (unsolved missing person case)
Guest reader for "In the midst of a divorce"
Kathy Najimy
Kathy Najimy is known for her memorable performances in over 25 films including Sister Act and Hocus Pocus… and several TV projects. She is very proud to have been named Ms. Magazine WOMAN OF THE YEAR!
Najimy debuted in the entire last season of The Big C as Laura Linney’s character’s therapist and recurred on HBO’s VEEP. For TV she voiced “Peggy Hill” (14 seasons) on the Emmy Award-winning Fox hit King of the Hill, for which she received an Annie and 2 WIN Awards. Najimy starred in Tyler Perry's Madea Christmas.
Najimy also starred in the Netflix movie Single All The Way.
Kathy is internationally known for the Kathy and Mo Show- a feminist 2 person play she wrote and performed with Mo Gaffney for two Off-Broadway runs and two HBO specials. Kathy is also known for her portrayal of “Sister Mary Patrick” in the blockbuster hits Sister Act 1 and 2, which won her an American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actress and the Hollywood Women's Press Club - Female Discovery of the Year.
Her work includes over 40 films including starring roles in Hocus Pocus 1 and 2 with Bette Midler, Rat Race, and Say Uncle (Philadelphia Film Festival Best Actress), Hope Floats, Nevada, Step Up 3D, Zack and Reba, This Is My Life, The Fisher King, Soapdish, The Hard Way, Bam Bam and Celeste, Two Sisters, It’s Pat, The Wedding Planner with Jennifer Lopez, Jeffrey, The Big K, and HBO’s If These Walls Could Talk 2 with Ellen DeGeneres. Najimy also filmed two indie films, Blowtorch and Clutter, and was seen in The Guilt Trip with Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen.
Additional TV projects include: Five, directed by Jennifer Aniston; Desperate Housewives; Drop Dead Diva; Franklin and Bash; Ugly Betty; Socio; Men At Work; Mr. Sunshine; and a recurring role on ABC’s hit show Make It or Break It. Additionally, she has appeared on CBS’s Numb3rs, portraying the brilliant head of the university, “Millie Finch.” She also starred as “Olive Massery” for three seasons on Veronica’s Closet, for which she received an American Comedy Award. Najimy sang and danced as “Elmo’s” stepmother on Fox’s special Cinderelmo, and sang and danced her way through the opening number of the 1995 Academy Awards with Tim Curry. In 1993, she starred in the Emmy Award-winning TNT musical special In Search of Dr. Seuss.
Najimy was featured in a three-part arc on Chicago Hope and in Disney’s The Scream Team with Eric Idle and appeared in the television series She TV, Fool for Love, That’s So Raven, and Early Edition, she was also featured in three episodes of the hit sitcom Ellen.
In the theater, she starred as legendary “Mae West” on Broadway in the hit play “Dirty Blonde” to critical acclaim and later reprised the role in the West coast premiere at The Old Globe Theater (Outer Critics Circle Best Actress). With Mo Gaffney, Najimy starred in and wrote “The Kathy and Mo Show,” her long-running off Broadway play that won an Obie Award and became two Hit HBO specials: Parallel Lives and Kathy and Mo: The Darkside (for which she won Cable Ace and ACA awards for Actor and Executive Producer). Najimy has performed on Broadway and at Madison Square Garden to benefit V Day in “The Vagina Monologues.” Najimy wrote her solo show for the New York City stage, “Lift Up Your Skirt.”
Kathy Najimy directed the east and west coast premieres of the acclaimed off-Broadway hit “Back to Bacharach and David,” as well as several other stage projects.
She starred in Pixar’s animated feature WALL-E and has voiced characters for the animated features Tinkerbell, Brother Bear 2, Cats Don’t Dance, and The Jungle Book. For TV: The Sissy Duckling, Oswald, Hey Arnold!, Pepper Ann, Smart Animals, Hercules, American Dad, Little Bill, and many more.
For her over 40 years of AIDS activism, Najimy has been honored with the L.A. Shanti’s Founder award as well as the LA Gay and Lesbian Center's Distinguished Achievement award. She is an enthusiastic supporter of women’s and girls’ rights, AIDS awareness, animal rights, and a woman’s right to choose, and frequently travels around the country to keynote speak on these issues. She is currently helping helm the movement to abolish the New York City carriage horses. Najimy has lent her support to a variety of worthy organizations that include: NYClass, Project Angel Food, APLA, GLAAD, Human Rights Campaign Fund, Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS, The Ms. Foundation, AMFAR, Planned Parenthood, Voters for Choice, and NARAL. As a proud Lebanese American, she has received awards from the ACC and The ADC and been honored with the Arabic Comedy Lifetime Achievement Award. She has posed twice for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal (PETA)’s popular campaign “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur,” and, in 2000, she received PETA’s Humanitarian of the Year Award from Sir Paul McCartney.
Najimy has been published in The New York Times, as well as several national magazines. She contributed a chapter to the book The Choices We Made, which was released on the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. She contributed a monologue to “Standing on Ceremony – The Gay Marriage Plays.” On tape, she voiced Wally Lamb's best-selling novel She’s Come Undone.
She is tournament champion of Bravo Celebrity Poker Showdown, winning $100,000 for V-DAY (dedicating to stopping violence against women) and also won another $100,000 for at-risk teen girls as the first champion of the CBS Game Show Marathon.
Kathy lives in NYC with her husband of 28 years Dan Finnerty and their 26-year-old daughter singer/songwriter Samia.