This October marks 15 years since the Secure Fence Act of 2006 was passed. This act paved the way for hundreds of miles of border wall to be built along the U.S.-Mexico border. Latino USA looks back at one case from south Texas where a pioneering Latina took on the federal government to stop border wall construction on her university campus. This case is a reminder of the fights that some continue to wage against an opponent almost impossible to defeat.
Aug 13, 2021•39 min
While the United States and other wealthy countries have secured enough COVID-19 vaccines for their citizens, other nations haven't been so fortunate. Latin America specifically has seen a lackluster vaccine rollout. And while global initiatives aim to get doses to everyone who needs them, a vaccine inequity crisis still looms over the world. In this episode, we hear from Latin Americans who traveled to the U.S. to get vaccinated and from experts on how the country can contribute to fix this cri...
Aug 10, 2021•31 min
This is the true story of the young people from Jamaica, Panama, Puerto Rico and beyond who beat the odds, refused to be quiet and created an irresistible musical culture that has kept the world dancing. Join Ivy Queen, one of the founders of the genre, for an incredible musical story about sex, race, drugs, censorship, and of course, perreo. First: stop Panama. LOUD: The History Of Reggaeton is a new podcast from Spotify Studios and Futuro Studios.
Aug 09, 2021•39 min
When diplomats, ambassadors, and other international officials take a post in the United States, they often bring along personal staff and domestic workers from their home countries with a special visa. The problem is, once they arrive in the U.S., some of them learn that the promises made back home aren’t real and end up facing exploitation and abuse—with very little protection available for them in the U.S. In this episode of Latino USA, we speak with human rights journalist Noy Thrupkaew abou...
Aug 06, 2021•41 min
Ada Limón spent almost her whole life dreaming about poetry. Today, she has five successful poetry titles under her belt, including “Bright Dead Things,” a National Book Award finalist, and her most recent book, “The Carrying,” which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry. Ada’s debut poetry collection, “Lucky Wreck,” was published in 2006. In honor of its 15th anniversary, the collection was re-released in spring 2021. “Lucky Wreck” explores themes of life and death, along with b...
Aug 03, 2021•20 min
On this episode of Latino USA , we look at the attacks against voting rights taking place throughout the country and how New York City is trying to move in the other direction—extending municipal voting rights to up to one million non-citizen residents.
Jul 30, 2021•40 min
Carmen Maria Machado is a modern-day literary phenomenon. From horror to speculative fiction to comic books, her writing defies genre. She’s a bestselling author, a National Book Award finalist, and a Guggenhein Fellow. Her experimental memoir “In the Dream House,” about a past abusive queer relationship, was named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, the New Yorker and TIME Magazine, among others. In this “Portrait Of,” Maria Hinojosa talks to Carmen about navigating mental health dur...
Jul 27, 2021•31 min
President Joe Biden made a lot of promises on the campaign trail related to immigration. He even promised to reverse several Trump-era policies. Biden has now been in office more than six months, so what’s changed and what hasn’t in terms of immigration? Latino USA looks at two Trump-era policies —the Migrant Protection Protocols and Title 42 expulsions— and where they’re at under the Biden administration.
Jul 23, 2021•34 min
By day, Héctor Rodríguez III is a school teacher; by night, he’s creating the world of “El Peso Hero”, a comic book superhero based on the border that is celebrating its 10th anniversary. In this episode of our "How I Made It" series, Héctor talks about growing up loving superheroes, but not feeling represented by them. Something he’d eventually deal with by building his own comic world centered on the border.
Jul 20, 2021•23 min
We continue our investigation into the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). While looking into what happened the night Joseph Chacón died, reporter Deepa Fernandes finds out that another baby, Draco Ford, had passed away in the same foster home two months earlier. Why weren’t the foster children, including Joseph, immediately removed after Draco died? We also delve into the difficult decisions social workers have to make and the systemic problems of the foster care syst...
Jul 16, 2021•45 min
Chilean-American singer-songwriter Francisca Valenzuela has always forged her own path in music. Born and raised in California, Francisca began her career after moving to Chile with her family. Even when major labels and venues wouldn’t open their doors for her, Francisca recorded and performed on her own terms until she became one of Chile’s biggest stars. Francisca went on to release four studio albums, start her own music label, and create Ruidosa, a Latinx feminist collective for women and n...
Jul 13, 2021•20 min
After a domestic violence incident, Leah Garcia called the police looking for safety for her and her two children. But her calls triggered the involvement of LA’s Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), the largest child welfare agency in the country. Leah’s 5-month-old baby, Joseph, the son she had with her abusive partner, was placed with a foster care family. What happened after became a mother’s worst nightmare: the same system that was supposed to keep her child safe proved to be...
Jul 09, 2021•46 min
In this segment of our “How I Made It” series, Charlie Uruchima shares his journey with his ancestral language and tells us how he created "Kichwa Hatari," the first Kichwa-language radio station in the U.S. From a bedroom-turned-radio studio, to building an entire community of radio hosts and language activists, Charlie tells us how he discovered the power of radio to build solidarity that defies borders.
Jul 06, 2021•15 min
In 2018, just months after Hurricane Maria, an eccentric group of cryptocurrency enthusiasts arrived in Puerto Rico. They came with big plans for the island—to help rebuild after the hurricane, and in the process create a high-tech cryptocurrency paradise in the Caribbean. They also came to take advantage of Puerto Rico’s favorable tax laws. But not everyone in Puerto Rico was onboard with their vision to change everything on the island. Latino USA follows the often-bizarre story of these Bitcoi...
Jul 02, 2021•42 min
The Dominican Republic has one of the harshest anti-abortion laws in the Americas, but a legal reform might be closer than ever before. In recent months, women’s rights activists have taken the streets to protest in favor of the “three causales”—three circumstances under which abortion would be allowed: when the fetus is nonviable, when the woman’s life is at risk, or when the pregnancy is the result of a rape or incest. The approval of these three ‘causales’ has been a decades-long battle, beca...
Jun 29, 2021•39 min
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.
Jun 25, 2021•38 min
After a historic clash between Ecuadorians and their national government in 2019, one photo of an Andean woman mid-protest became an iconic symbol of resistance around the world. The image was taken by a member of Fluxus Foto, a collective of Ecuadorian photojournalists. Their mission is to document indigenous peoples’ long-lasting struggles to have their rights guaranteed, and the collective has only continued to grow over the past few years. The 12 photographers in Fluxus have risked their liv...
Jun 22, 2021•18 min
As “In the Heights” hits theaters one year after its original release date, we talk to director Jon M. Chu about why he thinks immigrant narratives deserve to be summer blockbusters. Chu tells us about his youth as a child of Chinese and Taiwanese immigrants, and the role that TV and film played in his family’s sense of belonging. After a successful career directing large budget franchise movies for over a decade, Chu talks about the reckoning that led him to fight for movies like “Crazy Rich As...
Jun 18, 2021•44 min
Two Afrolatinx cousins have an intimate conversation about race and Latinidad a year after George Floyd was murdered by Derek Chauvin, a white cop. Umar Williams, a musician and radio host living in the Twin Cities, discusses with his younger cousin, Alexander Newton, who lives in Washington, D.C. In this episode, they talk about growing up ‘Black is beautiful,’ their Panamanian heritage and how they rediscovered Latinidad.
Jun 15, 2021•36 min
In the United States, the word “cholo” invokes images of gang members, lowriders, and tattoos. But in South America, cholo or “cholito” can either be a term of endearment or a racial slur used against people of indigenous ancestry. How come one word is used to describe two very different groups of people on opposite sides of the world? We take a journey, from the streets of California to the Andes of Peru, to find the roots of an ancient and harmful term that some people are, nonetheless, reclai...
Jun 11, 2021•30 min
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. 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.
Jun 08, 2021•14 min
Writer Yesica Balderrama immigrated from Morelos, Mexico to New York City with her family over two decades ago. Since then, they’ve been living in Queens as undocumented immigrants. While Yesica eventually was able to become a DACA-recipient, her mother and uncle are still undocumented. She has since moved out, gone to college and become a writer. But as she’s drifted away and created her own independent life, Yesica has started to become increasingly worried about how little her family has chan...
Jun 04, 2021•46 min
From KPBS and PRX, “Port of Entry” tells personal stories, stories of love, hope, struggle and survival, from fronterizas and fronterizos and other people whose lives are shaped by the wall. Despite the pandemic and travel restrictions, people are still crossing into Tijuana for medical procedures and medications. They’re looking to save money on everything from discount dental work and weight-loss surgery to more affordable insulin. People like Liz Salcido, who has Type 2 diabetes. She needs in...
Jun 01, 2021•42 min
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 c...
May 28, 2021•57 min
Artist and singer Kali Uchis is known for genre-defying music inspired by the wide range of songs she loved as a child, from doo-wop and soul to latin pop and reggaetón. In this How I Made It segment, Kali Uchis talks about growing up between Colombia and Virginia, how she broke into the music industry, and why, after years of singing primarily in English, she decided to drop a Spanish-language Latin album in late 2020.
May 25, 2021•18 min
After a year with historic implications, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sits for an intimate, in-person interview with Maria Hinojosa. AOC opens up about the January 6th Capitol riot and the lasting impact of living through a global pandemic. She also talks about how she’s recognizing and processing trauma, her role as a young, influential Latina in U.S. politics, and what she’s doing to support her district — New York’s District 14 in the Bronx and Queens, which has a large Bla...
May 21, 2021•42 min
On today’s episode of Latino USA, we meet some of the Latinas and Latinos involved with the recent and historic mission to Mars. The Perseverance rover traveled almost 300 million miles to Mars and landed on the Red Planet on February 18, 2021 in hopes of finding traces of previous life on the planet.
May 18, 2021•44 min
It was an anti-immigrant initiative in his home state of California that pushed Alex Padilla into politics, now he is making history as the first Latino to represent California in the U.S. Senate. In an extended interview with Padilla, Maria Hinojosa asks the senator about Prop 187, the controversial 1994 ballot measure that politicized Padilla, and many other Latinos of his generation. They also discuss the Senator’s career-long focus on voting rights, and the threats they face today....
May 14, 2021•31 min
From KPBS and PRX, “Port of Entry” tells personal stories, stories of love, hope, struggle and survival, from border crossers and other people whose lives are shaped by the wall. Despite the pandemic and travel restrictions, people are still crossing into Tijuana for medical procedures and medications. And, in fact, over the past decade, the urban landscape south of the San Ysidro Port of Entry has transformed as investors build big, new medical centers and pharmacies. Filling up those new medic...
May 11, 2021•34 min
We continue the story of Joseph Webster, a Black man who was serving a life sentence for murder in Tennessee – a murder he says he didn’t commit. After a conviction review unit in Nashville created to address potential miscarriages of justice refused to re-investigate his case, despite uncovering new evidence, Joseph and his lawyer question whether these units can actually address the flaws in the justice system. We also explore the state of wrongful convictions across the U.S. and whether revie...
May 07, 2021•56 min
