Latino USA

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The Constant Evolution of Shea Serrano Jun 09, 2024

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Shea Serrano’s prolific writing career started unexpectedly when his wife, pregnant with twins, had to stop working. With not many options that could fit his full-time job as middle school teacher, Shea started hunting for writing gigs that eventually lead to him becoming a New York Times bestselling author, a showrunner, and a movie writer.

In this episode, we talk to the San Antonio-born and raised author whose work spans from the movie “Miguel Wants to Fight,” to the Netflix series “Neon” and “Primo.” The latter got a stunning 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

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What Inspires Latino Solidarity With Gaza? Jun 07, 2024

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In this episode of Latino USA, we hear from three Latino voices around the country on what informs their solidarity with Palestinians as the war on Gaza continues. From Pro-Palestinian organizers to Jewish Latinos to Latino evangelicals, they help us understand how different Latino communities are responding to this moment, and how this political activism will impact the presidential election in November.

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Dreaming With Luna Luna Jun 04, 2024

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Luna Luna is a rising four-member band from different walks of life. They’re known for mixing nostalgic sounds of the past and fusing them with elements of funk and dream-like pop.

In this episode of Latino USA, we learn more about the people behind Luna Luna and hear how they say the universe and destiny has brought them together to live out their wildest dreams.

This episode originally aired in 2022.

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Robert Santos Counts the Future May 31, 2024

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In November 2021, Robert Santos became the first Latino to be confirmed as the Director of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Santos is no stranger to the federal agency. Before his nomination and confirmation, Santos had warned that former President Donald Trump’s interference of the census count would result in one of the most flawed census counts in U.S. history. Census counts are important because they help determine congressional representation and how billions of federal dollars are distributed.

In this conversation with Maria Hinojosa, Santos shares the census’ complicated history, his efforts to rebuild trust among communities, his love for his hometown of San Antonio and more.

This episode originally aired in 2022.

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So Far From Care May 28, 2024

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This week Latino USA shares an episode from the podcast "So Far From Care," produced by Marfa Public Radio.

Living in a small town in West Texas can feel magical. And part of that magic is how isolated we are: hours and hours down a desert highway from everything else. But when it comes to accessing reproductive healthcare, that remoteness can also be terrifying.

In the Big Bend, the idea of “choice” was complicated long before Roe v. Wade was overturned. Out here, you can’t legally get an abortion — but as recently as last year, depending on the day of the week, you also couldn’t have a baby in a delivery room.

So Far From Care is a podcast about those contradictions. It’s about how people decide when, how, or if to become parents — close to the border and far from the hospital, where you have a literal village to help you raise a child but daycare can be impossible to find.

These are stories about isolation that’s not just physical — all the challenges we deal with in silence. But also, about how a place without options can become the site of community and care.

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A Presidenta Will Lead Femicide-Plagued Mexico May 24, 2024

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On June 2nd 2024, Mexico will elect a woman as its president for the first time in the country’s history. But a paradox prevails: while women rise to the highest positions of government in Mexico, the nation is still marked by a violent culture against women with 10 femicides every day.
Latino USA travels to Mexico ahead of the historic election to document women protesting the pervasive violence in the country and interview both presidential frontrunners —Claudia Sheinbaum and Xóchitl Gálvez— something only few U.S. media outlets have achieved.

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How I Made It: From Foster Kid to Judge May 21, 2024

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When she was nine years old, Xiomara Torres fled the civil war in her home country of El Salvador and came to the U.S. As a child, she adjusted to her new life in East Los Angeles before she was removed from her family and put into foster care—where she spent six years of her life moving from home to home. Now, she's the subject of a local play in Oregon titled, "Judge Torres." In this edition of “How I Made It,” Judge Torres shares how she overcame the hurdles of the foster system and made her way to the Oregon Circuit Court.

This episode originally aired in 2019.

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What Happened to Edward? May 17, 2024

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Last year, a 65-year-old grandfather was attacked and fell onto the New York City subway tracks—which eventually led to his death. He was punched from behind by a young man with schizophrenia who shouted that he was the devil. This isn't the first time this has happened, a similar situation played out 19 years earlier. So why does the cycle continue? Latino USA examines how and why someone with serious mental illness falls through the cracks of the nation's mental health system.

This episode originally aired in 2019.

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A Mother's Endless Search for Her Missing Son May 14, 2024

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Lucía Díaz Genao’s son, Luis Guillermo, disappeared in 2013 in Veracruz, Mexico, as drug-related violence increased across the country. Amid the inaction of local authorities, Lucía started to look for Luis Guillermo herself, becoming one of today’s fiercest activists in Mexico searching for disappeared people.

In this episode, Lucía shares how she managed to get over her depression to form Colectivo Solecito, a group of hundreds of other mothers with missing children who have joined forces to bring justice to their cases.

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Andrea Elliott: Documenting Life on the Margins of Power May 10, 2024

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Journalist Andrea Elliott won her first Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for Feature Writing. 15 years later, she won her second Pulitzer for her book “Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival and Hope in an American City” under the General Nonfiction category.

“Invisible Child” follows the life of a young Black girl named Dasani Coates, whom Andrea followed and reported on for more than eight years, exploring the intergenerational impact of poverty and race in one of the richest cities in the world.

In this episode of Latino USA, Andrea Elliott speaks with Maria Hinojosa about her Pulitzer Prize-winning work, what it means to be a journalist of conscience and how Andrea’s bi-cultural upbringing as a Chilean-American helped her to better report on people living on the margins of power.

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