In an account of his background, Joe Turner references that he was born in Beirut, Lebanon where his father became the President of the American University of Beirut, and was shot and killed, while Joe was living in the States. This is based on the real-life tragedy of former Chicago Bulls team-member, present coach of the Golden State Warriors, former coach of the San Antonio Spurs, and former team president of basketball operations and general manager at the Phoenix Suns, Steve Kerr, who was also born in Beirut, Lebanon and whose father Malcolm H. Kerr, was shot and killed while in his position as the President of the American University of Beirut, when Kerr was a college freshman.
The episode title comes from James Baldwin's 1951 'Stranger In The Village': "People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them."