Latino USA

How is ICE handling complaints of sexual abuse from detainees? Maria Hinojosa teams up with Zeba Warsi, two immigrant women and journalists from different generations, to look at sexual abuse in ICE detention more than a decade after Maria’s documentary film on this topic. This time, they investigate how women in ICE detention are sexually abused when they were at their most vulnerable —in a medical setting— and how ICE has done very little to stop it. A special by Futuro Investigates in collaboration with Latino USA.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the early 1990s, Willie Perdomo was a teenager growing up in East Harlem. He saw and experienced firsthand a tumultuous moment in New York City, including the crack epidemic and the consequences of the war on drugs. In his latest book of poetry, "The Crazy Bunch," Perdomo wrangles with that history and the ghosts of that time. Latino USA's Antonia Cereijido takes a walk with Perdomo through his old neighborhood of Harlem to discuss his teenage years and how memories of that time inspired his newest work. This story originally aired in July 2019.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we're bringing you an episode from our vault — a love story of student activism. We're taking you back to 1968, when thousands of students participated in a series of protests that helped spark the Chicano Movement, historically known as the East L.A. Walkouts. It's also when high school sweethearts and student organizers Bobby Verdugo and Yoli Ríos danced to a Thee Midniters song and fell in love. This story originally aired in February of 2019.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Steven Melendez thinks a lot about accessibility in the world of classical dance. Steven got his start in ballet at just seven years old, as part of an outreach program run by New York Theater Ballet. Although Steven went on to become a successful professional dancer, he always felt he had to straddle two vastly disconnected worlds: that of classical ballet and his home life in the Bronx. Now, as Steven comes full circle, becoming the artistic director of New York Theater Ballet, he reflects on the strategies that can open the doors of classical ballet to new audiences.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Latino USA continues to celebrate its 30th anniversary, bringing you conversations with some of the most influential Latinos and Latinas of the last three decades. In this episode, Maria Hinojosa catches up with pioneering filmmaker Hector Galán, who for over 40 years has been documenting our Latino communities. In this conversation, Hector shares how he got his start as a cameraman at a local TV station in West Texas in the 1970s and how the Chicano Movement gave him a sense of identity and purpose that has stayed with him throughout all these years. After a long career making documentaries, Hector looks back at his legacy and the projects he still wants to pursue.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

According to Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat, stories are a way of finding inspiration and comfort during the times we’re living through. Her award-winning writing portrays the immigrant experience, Haitian-American identity and loss. In conversation with Maria Hinojosa, Danticat dives into the history of resistance to the police violence that was all around her as a young adult in New York City, the loss of her own uncle who died at the hands of immigration authorities, and how she's making sense of the current moment. The episode originally aired in 2020.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1919, an intrepid Texas state representative, José Tomás Canales, decided to lead an investigation into the abuse of power by the Texas Rangers. For several years, residents of South Texas had been reporting that members of the law enforcement agency were going rogue: beating, torturing, and even killing people, in the name of protecting Anglo settlers. The subsequent investigation into these abuses would illustrate the difficulties of reforming and creating oversight over policing on the border—and would leave behind a narrative about justified violence against the Mexican-American community, that lingers to this day. The episode originally aired in 2020.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Latino USA has cycled through quite a few theme songs in its 30 years. There was the original theme, with acoustic guitar and soft woodwinds, followed by a brassier, more Latin Jazz influenced sound. There were even a few years when Latino USA didn’t have a theme song at all, instead featuring unique scoring for each of its stories. In 2017, Latino USA teamed up with musical artist Xenia Rubinos to create a new song—and five years later, it’s the same one you hear on our show today. In this episode, Xenia opens up about her creative process and how her own growth inspired a special 30th anniversary remix.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For years, Anita Flores carried shame: She was a second-generation half-Peruvian who barely spoke Spanish. She pretended she didn’t care; she subtly avoided her paternal family in Lima. Then, her father was diagnosed with dementia. As her dad’s memory started to falter, Anita would see him light up when she made the effort to speak in his first language. She tells the story of reassessing her relationship with her father, with her extended family, and with the language that kept them apart—and had the potential to bring them together.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We tackle the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos controversy and dive into why this story is so much more than just about a processed snack food but a story about race, culture, identity, and the stories that we choose to believe. This story originally aired in June of 2021. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when people living in poverty get a stable income from the government? More than 100 guaranteed income pilot programs have launched across the U.S. and most are found in California. How is a regular income — with no restrictions on how to spend the money — making a difference for participants? In this episode, we spend a month with Martha and Micaela, two participants of a pilot program launched by the city of Los Angeles — one of the biggest guaranteed income programs in the country where half of the beneficiaries are Latinx — and we learn about the history of Universal Basic Income.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For over 25 years, Uruguayan band No Te Va Gustar has been filling concert venues across Latin America. With their mix of pop, rock, reggae, ska, and other styles, the band has evolved over the years from its original three-member composition to its current nine members. Their album, "Otras Canciones," commemorates their 25th anniversary by featuring some of their most popular songs, performed in front of a live audience and featuring collaborations with legendary guests like Julieta Venegas, Draco Rosa, Jorge Drexler, and Flor De Toloache. For this edition of our segment, "How I Made It," we hear from three members of No Te Va Gustar: Diego Bartaburu, Martín Gil, and Francisco Nasser. The episode originally aired in 2019.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Latino USA goes inside the biggest free health clinic in the country, which serves only people without insurance. There are nearly 28 million uninsured people in the United States, and for some of them, free clinics are their safety net. For undocumented people, healthcare options are very limited. For this story, we spend three days behind the scenes at CommunityHealth in Chicago, where more than half of the patients speak Spanish. We shadowed doctors and patients to observe the daily dramas that unfold there and listen in on intimate conversations—all to try to capture a snapshot of how life as an undocumented person can affect an individual's physical and mental health. NOTE: This is a bilingual episode, where some of the audio is untranslated. A transcript of the story with full English translation is available online at www.latinousa.org. The episode originally aired in 2019.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Latino USA shares an episode of the In The Thick podcast. Maria Hinojosa and Julio Ricardo Varela reflect on the one-year anniversary of the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, and the lasting impacts on the community. We go deeper in our roundtable to look at how families of victims—especially mothers, both past and present, bring about change. Maria leads the discussion with Keith Beauchamp, award-winning filmmaker and producer on the film “Till,” and Monica Muñoz Martinez, historian and associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin. You can subscribe to the In The Thick podcast here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One year after the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Latino USA and Futuro Investigates explore how families in the community are dealing with grief, how they’re navigating their journey to healing, and calling for accountability. “Uvalde Rising,” tells the story of how victims’ parents and survivors are fighting for gun reform and calling for more mental health resources. Some of the reporting for this episode is based on the PBS Frontline documentary film “After Uvalde: Guns, Grief & Texas Politics."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Mexican singer-songwriter, Julieta Venegas, took a seven-year break before releasing her latest album, a journey of self-discovery in 10 songs that she named “Tu historia.” Now, she shares what happened during that long pause, which included making some major life decisions.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For mother and son chefs Zarela Martinez and Aarón Sanchez, educating others about the cuisines that make up Mexico is a family tradition. Zarela and Aarón have each opened restaurants, written cookbooks, appeared on TV shows, and won awards. In 2020, this duo decided to combine their talents for a podcast, where they discuss the recipes and ingredients that make up their favorite Mexican dishes. In this episode of Latino USA, Aarón and Zarela discuss their careers, how they made it in New York City, and how they’ve navigated Zarela’s Parkinson's diagnosis as a family.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

José Ralat is the Taco Editor at Texas Monthly Magazine and consequently the only taco editor in the United States. In his book, “American Tacos: A History and Guide,” Ralat dives into the evolution of tacos in the United States and its history in the borderlands. According to Ralat, tacos were introduced into the U.S. in the late 1800s. Since then, tacos have evolved into fusions —like Korean and Cajun tacos— as cultures blended with one another and chefs across the country experimented with different flavors. In this episode, Ralat gives us a brief history of the American taco and why eventually, all foods will make its way into a tortilla. This episode originally aired in 2020.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over 300,000 students in the U.S. migrate every year to work in agriculture, from spring to fall. At a high school in South Texas, when these students return, they gather at the Migrant Student Club to discuss their experiences and get support from a migrant student counselor. At a special gathering of the club we met Reyes, who started picking asparagus in Michigan to help support his family when he was 9 years old. And over the course of his last semester of school, we follow him as he works to graduate, financially support his family, and deal with an unexpected twist: the pandemic. This episode originally aired in 2020.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mariana Enríquez is one of the best-known writers of a growing literary trend in Latin America that uses the horror genre to denounce the violent realities of the region—past and present. Mariana was born in Buenos Aires in 1973, just a few years before a military junta took over the democratic government in Argentina, and grew up in a country under a brutal dictatorship. She retreated to books and writing to process that historical trauma. In this episode, Mariana shares how her connection with horror started, how she uses the genre to speak of her reality, and she reads from her latest novel Our Share of Night.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We continue to celebrate our 30th anniversary, bringing you the voices of some of the most influential Latinos and Latinas in the last three decades. In this episode, we catch up with music legend Linda Ronstadt, known as the “First Lady of Rock.” We talk to her about her memories growing up in Tucson, Arizona, and her decision to return to the traditional Mexican music of her childhood. Linda brings us into her life after retiring from music, and her memoir “Feels Like Home: A Song for the Sonoran Borderlands,” which reckons with her family history.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We start today’s episode at El Edén—the center in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, where child migrants are processed after being deported from Mexico and elsewhere. Then, before diving into the reasons why Hondurans leave for Mexico and the United States, Maria Hinojosa and Latino USA producer Marlon Bishop talk about some of the history of Honduras. This story was produced in association with Round Earth Media. German Andino, in Honduras, co-reported this story with Marlon. This Peabody award-winning episode originally aired in 2014.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On May 5th, 1993, the first episode of Latino USA aired on more than 50 public radio stations across the U.S. Thirty years later, we look back at the creation of Latino USA, the struggle to showcase Latino voices in public media, and the show’s transformations throughout a changing political landscape in the country. In this oral history of our show, three former Latino USA staff join Maria Hinojosa and go behind the scenes to reflect on what it took to keep Latino USA going over three decades. Press play, and join us as we celebrate 30 Years of Latino USA! #LatinoUSA30 #LUSA30See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The rock en español group, Maná, is one of the most successful Spanish-language rock bands of this generation. They've sold over 40 million records worldwide, and this year their "Rayando El Sol" tour broke records previously held by the Eagles and Kanye West, when they played seven sold-out shows at the Forum in Los Angeles. But the band didn’t start out playing stadiums—it all began when one member started an English-speaking band three decades ago in Guadalajara, Mexico. Latino USA sits down with drummer Alex Gonzalez, who tells us how they got their start and became Maná. This episode originally aired in December 2019.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Years ago, Gloria Martinez’s son went out to look for a job and never came back. Gloria would spend months searching for him, and she wasn’t alone—many others, mostly young men from rural and poor urban areas, also mysteriously disappeared. In 2008, the “false-positives” scandal broke—and revealed that the Colombian military had been systematically killing innocent civilians as part of a body-count policy they adopted in the conflict against the FARC, a leftist guerilla group. But over a decade after the scandal was exposed, relatives of the victims continue to seek justice. This episode originally aired in December 2019.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Latino USA brings you an episode of the Motive podcast, from WBEZ Chicago. Chicago gangs: Real people. Real stories. A way forward. The new season of Motive explores violence on the streets of Chicago and the former gang members working to stop it. You can subscribe to the Motive podcast here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles last year, President Joe Biden outlined his plan to reduce the number of migrants seeking asylum at the Southern border. His administration, Biden said, would help “American farmers bring in seasonal agricultural workers from Northern Central American countries under the H-2A visa program.” What does that mean for a program that’s already plagued with wage theft and abuse? In the last installment of our two-part investigative series “Head Down,” we shift the focus to look at the systems put in place by the U.S. government and why they’re constantly failing foreign agricultural workers in the H-2A visa program. As a result, we uncover millions of dollars in stolen wages that, instead of being returned to the workers, end up in the coffers of a U.S. government agency.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Latino USA brings you an episode of The Pulso Podcast. Texas 1951. Farmworker Pete Hernandez walks into a bar with a rifle and shoots another man. He is taken to court for murder, but when the state refuses to allow any Latinos on the jury, a rebellious team of Hispanic lawyers signs up for a wild ride that will take them all the way to the Supreme Court, and change the definition of what it means to be Hispanic in the U.S. This episode was Produced & Written by Charlie Garcia, it was edited by Liz Alarcon. Original music by Julian Blackmore. Audio Engineering & Mixing by Julian Blackmore and Charlie Garcia. Special thanks to LULAC historian David Contreras. You can subscribe to The Pulso Podcast here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2018, Diego and Mario joined the U.S. government-sponsored H-2A visa program, leaving their families in their home country of Mexico to harvest blueberries at a farm in North Carolina for six months. They had no idea they were about to become victims of human trafficking and that their lives would be derailed forever. In the first episode of two-part special “Head Down,” we go deep into how a visa program that brings more than 300,000 foreign agricultural workers to the U.S. every year is plagued with abuse and wage theft. All of this while the U.S. government plans to expand it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The summer of 2020 was filled with uncertainty as more than 20 million people in the U.S. were left unemployed — including Kate Bustamante’s parents. Bustamante is a 20-year-old student at Santa Ana College in Santa Ana, California. She’s always worked part-time and attended school as long as she can remember. But this summer was different. Overnight, Bustamante dropped out of classes and became her family’s breadwinner. In this personal piece Bustamante, through diary recordings and personal reflections, takes us into her world and what she went through over the summer. The episode originally aired in November 2020.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gloria Maria Milagrosa Fajardo Garcia was a shy, quiet young woman who joined a band named the Miami Latin Boys. Although she had no plans of international fame, and intended to continue her studies, life had different plans for her. The Miami Latin Boys became The Miami Sound Machine, Emilio and Gloria married, and the newlywed, Gloria Estefan began to take over the spotlight. The rest, is music history. In this portrait of: Gloria Estefan, Latino USA sits down with the icon to discuss her life, her relationships, how she overcame trauma, and how she manages to be excited about everything she does, after so many years. This episode originally aired in November 2020.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Latino USA we’re bringing you an episode from the newly released podcast series Party Crews: The Untold Story. For many Latinx kids in the ‘00s, the party crew scene was a safe space to express themselves as they came of age in the grit and glitter of Los Angeles. A space to make friends, forget about your problems, and dance the night away. But the scene wasn’t always physically safe. There were shootings and police raids. Many adults saw the scene as gang-adjacent and the media-fueled negative stereotypes of kids who were out of control. One of the teens who got caught in that easy narrative was Emmery Muñoz, after she was murdered in 2006. Host Janice Llamoca goes on a Y2K-filled journey back in time to her own party crew days to find out what this scene meant for teens like her and Emmery, and why – to this day – Emmery’s case remains unsolved. From IHeart, VICE, and LAist Studios as part of the My Cultura Podcast Network. You can subscribe to Party Crews: The Untold Story here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When pioneering trans activist Lorena Borjas first arrived in the U.S. in late May of 1981, she found both community and an epidemic. Through her experiences on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens, NY, Lorena developed a personal approach to connect trans Latinas and trans sex workers to critical medical and legal resources. Decades later, it would be another massive health crisis—COVID-19—that would take the life of this beloved community leader, putting into stark relief her vast legacy. Now, her closest friends paint an intergenerational portrait of Lorena, as a trailblazer, a mentor, and a mother. This award-winning episode originally aired in May 2021.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2018, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegria Hudes decided to take a break from the theater world. Tired of a white, male-dominated landscape, Quiara turned inward, leaning on her memories and stories of the women in her family. The result was Quiara’s first memoir: “My Broken Language.” In 2022, Quiara returned to the stage with the play adaptation of her memoir. On this episode of Latino USA, we talk to Quiara about her memoir, her play, and how grief and joy intertwine in the stories she is bringing to the stage.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Antonia Cereijido interviews former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno Ocampo about his real life experience, which inspired the Oscar- nominated film Argentina, 1985. They discuss the relevance of the film today given that democracy is under attack in many parts of the world and the role of movies in helping to process painful and unspoken histories, which for both Moreno Ocampo and Cereijido are deeply personal.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christopher Soto is a Salvadoran-American poet, activist and prison abolitionist. He is based in Los Angeles, but has remained tied to his parent’s home country. Throughout his life, Christopher has taken many trips to El Salvador, but during his most recent visit to the Central American country in the summer of 2022, things were very different: the country’s president Nayib Bukele had declared a state of exception to address rising homicide rates attributed to criminal gangs. More than 65,000 people have been arrested since then, many of them arbitrarily. On this episode of Latino USA, Christopher Soto takes us to El Salvador during a state of exception and we hear about the deep connections between the United States and El Salvador’s carceral culture, as well as the importance of poetry within the prison abolitionist movement.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Villano Antillano and Ana Macho are two Puerto Rican trans and non-binary musicians making waves in the music industry. In their latest projects, Villano Antillano’s debut album “Sustancia X” and Ana Macho’s “Realismo Magico,” both artists use elements of magical realism and science fiction to dream of queer and trans empowerment. In this intimate conversation, we hear the two artists bring some humor into the difficult realities of navigating a transphobic industry, and we dive deep into the sonic worlds of their latest albums.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Latino USA shares an episode of the USA v. García Luna podcast, from Futuro Investigates and Lemonada Media. Genaro García Luna’s trial is over, but Maria and Peniley’s investigative work is not. In this episode, they learn that a U.S. senator has requested the DEA and the FBI information on García Luna, including the names of the U.S. officials who vetted him. We listen to some of our series’ protagonists react to the guilty verdict, and Peniley digs into what’s next for García Luna. Finally, our hosts reflect on why the war on drugs was always unwinnable, and they get into some chisme, going behind the scenes of this series. To hear more of USA v. García Luna, head to futuroinvestigates.org.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For this week’s Latino USA, we’re bringing you an episode from the newly released podcast series from WNYC Studios and Futuro Studios, La Brega, The Puerto Rican Experience in Eight Songs. By the end of the 1990s, merengue ruled supreme on the radio and TV in Puerto Rico, but the road to get there was long and complicated, coinciding with the growing Dominican population to the island and culminating in perhaps what was the pinnacle of its popularity and takeover in Puerto Rican music, at home and abroad: Elvis Crespo’s “Suavemente.” Journalist Ezequiel Rodríguez Andino shares the story of merengue’s ubiquity and how the shift from salsa to merengue brought to the surface serious class and racial tension that still remains today. You can subscribe to La Brega here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For Ayodele Casel tap dancing is magic. As a young high school student, she dreamed of one day dancing like Ginger Rogers as she recreated Ginger’s moves in her bedroom But it wasn’t until Ayodele Casel was a sophomore at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts that she took her first tap dancing class. That was her entry point into the art form which would eventually lead to a more than 20-year career as a professional tap dancer. As a Black and Puerto Rican woman, Ayodele Casel didn’t see herself reflected in the mainstream image of tap dancers because the form has been largely whitewashed through systematic racism. For that reason, she works tirelessly to remind her audiences that tap is deeply rooted in Black art and culture. In this episode of “How I Made It,” Ayodele takes us through her tap journey and reclaims tap dancing as a Black art form. This episode originally aired in November of 2021. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the late 1800s, Teresa Urrea was a superstar. She was a ‘curandera,’ or healer, a revolutionary, and a feminist. At only 19 years old she was exiled from Mexico by dictator Porfirio Diaz, who called her the most dangerous girl in the country, and moved to El Paso, Texas. She also had a miraculous power: she could heal people through touch. Her vision of love and equality for all people regardless of gender, race, and class inspired rebellions against the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz, earning her the title the Mexican Joan of Arc. In this episode, we follow Teresa Urrea’s life, and honor the legacy of a revolutionary woman decades ahead of her time. This episode originally aired in November 2021.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel Suárez made history in 2022 when he became the first Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race, but the road to this feat has been anything but smooth. On this episode of Latino USA, Daniel Suárez talks about breaking barriers, the role his family played along the way, and how he’s trying to bring more Latinos to NASCAR.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For this week’s Latino USA, we’re bringing you an episode from the newly released podcast series from WNYC Studios and Futuro Studios, La Brega, The Puerto Rican Experience in Eight Songs. Created by Nuyorican street kids in the mid-80s, freestyle music became the sound and story of second-generation Boricuas. Hip-hop and pop, Latin Caribbean rhythms and instruments, all came together in freestyle. The sound was ubiquitous in New York and later in Orlando, FL. Young Puerto Rican women became the face of the genre. They sang about love, heartbreak, and their sexual desires. In Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam’s “I Wonder If I Take You Home” —a huge hit in the genre— a young woman sings about that on her own terms and without shame, opening up mother-daughter conversations that weren’t happening. You can subscribe to La Brega here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The food of Mexico is diverse, complex, and beloved across the world. Don’t just take it from us—in 2010, traditional Mexican cuisine was added to UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Mexican chef and cookbook author Margarita Carrillo Arronte was a big advocate of this move. Throughout her career, she’s been committed to exploring Mexican cuisine and showcasing it on the world stage. Her latest release, “The Mexican Vegetarian Cookbook,” dives into Mexico’s legacy of plant-based cooking. On this episode of Latino USA, Margarita joins the show to talk about the rich history of Mexican food.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Uruguayan singer-songwriter Jorge Drexler knows what it's like to live different lives within one. An ENT doctor until his early 30s, he then decided to leave medicine behind, as well as his life in Uruguay, to pursue a music career in Spain. He became the first Uruguayan to win an Oscar with his song “Al otro lado del río.” In this episode of Latino USA, the multiple award-winning musician walks us through key moments in his career, including the creative process behind his latest album “Tinta y tiempo”—and drops a few gems about his personal life on the way.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Latino USA shares the first episode from the Valle de Sueños podcast. We launch Valle de Sueños on Our Lady of Guadalupe feast day to honor those who have journeyed and kept their resiliency, faith, and love despite the treacherous path to citizenship. Our Lady represents strength, hope, and access to a kind, loving world, which represents the dreams of those who sacrifice their lives as migrants. In episode 1, our host Laura Peña introduces the binational community of Matamoros, Mexico, and Brownsville, Texas from her perspective as a borderland native. After providing contextual background of the complex humanitarian situation at the beginning of the new Biden Administration, she begins telling the story starting on Day 1 of the humanitarian operation to close the Matamoros refugee encampment. Would the first group of migrants be allowed into the U.S.? The listener is left in suspense. You can subscribe to Valle de Sueños here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More than 25 years ago, two teachers in New Mexico were fired for refusing to stop teaching Chicano History in their classrooms; today, that history repeats itself in Denver, Colorado. What are students missing out on when they don’t learn about their history in school? In this episode of Latino USA, we present a conversation between teachers Tim Hernández and Nadine Córdova. They talk about their shared struggles, the relevance of Chicano History in the classroom, and the lessons they’ve learned from this experience. Plus, we hear from two of Nadine's and Tim's former students.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Esta semana en Latino USA, te compartimos un episodio del nuevo podcast “La Brega: La experiencia boricua en 8 canciones”, producida por WNYC Studios y Futuro Studios. Inicialmente, "El gran varón" fue prohibida por algunas estaciones de radio, pero a pesar de esto, se convirtió en un éxito; muchos la consideran una de las salsas más conocidas de todos los tiempos. Omar Alfanno explica que la canción fue realmente inspirada por un rumor sobre un amigo de la vida real. Sólo años más tarde se dio cuenta de que sus letras contenían una profecía escalofriante. En este episodio, la presentadora Alana Casanova-Burgess analiza la letra de “El gran varón” y cómo esta canción que critica a un padre por rechazar a su hijo cuir ha lastimado y a la vez ayudado a la comunidad LGBTQ+ y sus familias. Te puedes suscríbir a La Brega aquí.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For this week’s Latino USA, we’re bringing you an episode from the newly released podcast series from WNYC Studios and Futuro Studios, La Brega, The Puerto Rican Experience in Eight Songs. Gabby Rivera was 7 when Willie Colón released “El Gran Varón” in 1989. She remembers her father playing in the Bronx. The cinematic arc of the song would stick with her: Simón, depicted as a trans queer person, is shunned by their father and dies alone of what’s assumed to be AIDS. “El Gran Varón” was first banned by some radio stations but became an international hit anyway. Many call it one of the most well-known Latin songs of all time. Its songwriter explains that it was inspired by a rumor about a real-life friend. Only years later did he realize his lyrics contained an eerie prophecy. You can subscribe to La Brega here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2018, Latino USA teamed up with the Unterberg Poetry Center at the 92nd Street Y to put on an event honoring the 25th anniversary of Esmeralda Santiago's coming-of-age classic "When I Was Puerto Rican." In conversation with producer Antonia Cereijido, Santiago talks about what it's like to live through a hurricane, the #metoo movement, and learning to not care about what other people think of you.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.