What happens when you grow up poor in America—and stay in touch with the same filmmaker for more than a decade?

In this episode of The FRONTLINE Dispatch podcast, host Raney Aronson-Rath speaks with filmmaker Jezza Neumann and Kaylie Hegwood, one of three young adults Neumann has been following across 14 years.

They discuss what the resulting documentary, Born Poor, reveals about hunger, loss, and the daily fight for stability in a country where opportunity can depend on the financial status of the family you were born into.

Neumann discusses what it takes to document three lives across more than a decade: “I have sat in a corner of a room and not moved for hours on end before, just to sort of disappear into their world,” he says. And Kaylie shares what it’s like to grow up on camera, to see her own story, now as a soon-to-be mother herself, and why she’s continued to share her life with the American public.

“I’ve been very committed to speaking about the poverty cycle and how hard it is, so kids who are going through it realize that they’re not being dramatic; it’s hard,” she says. “It’s not an easy task because your brain is wired a certain way. And you’re basically rewiring everything.”

You can watch Born Poor on FRONTLINE’s website, FRONTLINE’s YouTube channel, and the PBS App. Want to be notified every time a new podcast episode drops? Sign up for The FRONTLINE Dispatch newsletter.