Latino USA

The Strange Death of José de Jesús, Part 2

07 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In part two of our two-part special, we continue our investigation into the death of a man in a U.S. immigration detention center in 2015. José de Je...

How I Made It: Lido Pimienta on ‘Miss Colombia’

05 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Colombian-Canadian singer-songwriter Lido Pimienta tells us how her experience of migration led to her love of Afro-Colombian music, how a beauty page...

The Strange Death of José de Jesús, Part 1

30 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A man dies in a U.S. immigration detention center, under unusual circumstances. He is found unresponsive in his cell, with a sock stuffed down his thr...

How I Made It: Apple Emojis

28 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When Angela Guzman started her internship at Apple back in 2008 she had no idea her first project would have such an impact on how we communicate. Guz...

In the Shadow of the Wall

23 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This election year, a question roams in many voters' minds: Is there an “invasion” on our southern border? The answer from plenty of the people wh...

Growing Up With The Tiarras

21 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Tiarras have been playing together since they were just little girls, but they’ve been sisters forever.The band is arguably best known for writi...

iLe on Song and Protest

16 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Ileana Cabra — known by her stage name, iLe — music has always been a way to reflect and comment on the world a...

Will Watching All of Almodóvar’s Movies Make You More Neurotic?

14 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Will watching all of Pedro Almodovar's movies in one month make you more or less neurotic? Hard-hitting journalists Antonia Cereijido and Fernanda Ech...

The Constant Evolution of Shea Serrano

09 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Shea Serrano’s prolific writing career started unexpectedly when his wife, pregnant with twins, had to stop working. With not many options that coul...

What Inspires Latino Solidarity With Gaza?

07 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 Ga...

Dreaming With Luna Luna

04 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 elem...

Robert Santos Counts the Future

31 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

So Far From Care

28 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

A Presidenta Will Lead Femicide-Plagued Mexico

24 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 t...

How I Made It: From Foster Kid to Judge

21 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

What Happened to Edward?

17 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 fr...

A Mother's Endless Search for Her Missing Son

14 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Lucía Díaz Genao’s son, Luis Guillermo, disappeared in 2013 in Veracruz, Mexico, as drug-related violence increased across the country. Amid the i...

Andrea Elliott: Documenting Life on the Margins of Power

10 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist Andrea Elliott won her first Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for Feature Writing. 15 years later, she won her second Pulitzer for her book “Invisi...

Cecilia Gentili’s Revolutionary Ask

07 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Trans activist, actress and author, Cecilia Gentili, knows the power of stories. Whether she is working at her company Trans Equity Consulting, writin...

Into Natalia Lafourcade’s Inner Garden

03 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mexican singer-songwriter Natalia Lafourcade embraces contrasts in her music. Look no further than her latest album, “De Todas las Flores,” where ...

'Desinformación': Fighting Disinformation in Spanish

30 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As part of “The Latino Factor: How We Vote,” our 2024 election year series, we bring you a look at how disinformation affects Latino communities. ...

Melissa Barrera, From Mexican Telenovelas to Hollywood Hits

26 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Melissa Barrera has been consistently making a name for herself in recent years. The Mexican actress is probably most recognizable in the U.S. for her...

The Burden

23 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Latino USA brings you an episode of The Burden podcast.In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by viole...

Toxic Labor

19 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is a special episode by Futuro Investigates, in collaboration with The Center For Public Integrity and Columbia Journalism Investigations. In th...

How I Made It: Flor De Toloache

16 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When Mireya Ramos found herself subject to scrutiny and machismo as the only woman mariachi singer in the male-dominated mariachi circles, she decided...

Nikole Hannah-Jones: Beyond the 1619 Project

12 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones rose to instant recognition when she published the 1619 Project in 2019. Since then she’s rece...

Into the Fire

09 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For the past decade, Armando Perez has worked as a wildland firefighter with the Eldorado, California, Hotshot crew — an elite group that works in t...

Shaping a National Latino Museum

05 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What and who do you include in a national Latino museum?That’s a question that many have been asking since late 2020, when Congress green-lit the cr...

Mimy and Tony Succar: Music Is Better With Family

02 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mimy Succar arrived with her family in Miami over three decades ago, she had three kids and a dream. A talented singer and performer from a young age,...

Will Abortion Rights Energize the Latino Vote?

29 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Two years ago, the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion, creating a cascade of harmful abortion bans and restrictions. But...

Sandy's Pandemic Diaries

26 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sandy Fleurimond, a first generation Haitian-American student at Temple University in Philadelphia, was looking forward to her senior year of college....

She Migrates

22 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In a new migration reality, women and children are requesting asylum in Mexico at higher rates than men. But even as more women are crossing borders i...

Latinos Persevering

19 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On today’s episode of Latino USA, we meet some of the Latinos and Latinas involved with the recent and historic mission to Mars. The Perseverance ro...

Alex Padilla, From California to Capitol Hill

15 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 Lati...

Samanta Schweblin’s Unsettling Normality

12 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In her work, Argentine author Samanta Schweblin explores the feeling of eeriness that accompanied her childhood. Samanta was born in Buenos Aires in 1...

Toñita's Club Fights Erasure

08 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When you enter the Caribbean Social Club, or Toñita’s, it feels like you could be in your grandmother’s living room. And that’s exactly what it...

The Unmarked Graveyard: Stories from Hart Island

05 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Latino USA shares an episode of The Unmarked Graveyard: Stories from Hart Island podcast. When Annette Vega was in elementary school, sh...

Latino Hustle: Oscars 2024

01 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The 96th Oscars ceremony is a new opportunity for Latinos and Latin Americans in the moviemaking business to be recognized for excellence in cinema. A...

Myriam Gurba Unmasks the Creeps

27 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Myriam Gurba is a writer and artist from California. Her most recent work is a collection of essays named “Creep: Accusations and Confessions.” In...

Javier Zamora on the Role of a Writer in Today’s World.

23 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Javier Zamora is a writer who believes he has a particular responsibility: to understand and also change the world through words. He comes from a trad...

How I Made It: Buscabulla

20 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Buscabulla is a Puerto Rican indie duo formed by wife and husband Raquel Berrios and Luis Alfredo del Valle. Around 2018, Buscabulla was one of the mo...

The Matter of Castro Tum

16 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 2018, a young Guatemalan man named Reynaldo Castro Tum was ordered deported even though no one in the U.S. government knew where he was, or how to ...

How I Made It: Las Cafeteras

13 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Las Cafeteras is a band out of East LA that met while doing community organizing. They began playing at the Eastside Cafe, where they discovered Son J...

Reclaiming Our Homes

09 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On March 14th, 2020, Martha Escudero and her two daughters became the first family to occupy one of over a hundred vacant homes in El Sereno, Los Ange...

Finding Legitimacy With Aida Rodriguez

06 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If you’ve ever been to an Aida Rodriguez comedy show you’ve probably heard Aida crack jokes about her family, her upbringing, race, politics, ever...

Sec. Xavier Becerra on Health, Immigration and Latino Representation

02 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Department of Health and Human Services oversees several agencies: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administratio...

Portrait Of: Sandra Cisneros LIVE in Chicago

30 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sandra Cisneros doesn't need an introduction. Her coming-of-age novel, "The House on Mango Street," has sold over six million copies and has turned th...

A Conversation With Jeh Johnson

26 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Since the beginning of the Trump administration, the U.S.-Mexico border and immigration policy have been front and center in public conversation. Howe...

Pepón Osorio’s Accumulation of Memory

23 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Growing up in Puerto Rico, Pepón Osorio never thought that decorating the wedding cakes his mother made would spark his passion for art and his signa...

Eugenio Derbez Gets Serious

19 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Eugenio Derbez is a Mexican actor, writer, director and producer who got his start at the forefront of many comedy series in his home country. After d...

Monumental

16 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week Latino USA shares an episode of the Monumental podcast, from PRX. For generations, Christopher Columbus has been glorified in monument after...

Maria Martin, With Love and Light

12 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A special episode remembering Latino USA founder and pioneer public radio journalist Maria Emilia Martin, who passed away on December 2nd, 2023. After...

Portrait Of: Danny Trejo

09 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Latino USA host Maria Hinojosa sits down with actor and entrepreneur Danny Trejo. Trejo has starred in over 300 films, often playing villains and toug...

The Rehab Empire Built On Cakes

05 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It's a common sight in Puerto Rico—men in bright yellow T-shirts going door-to-door- selling cakes. They're residents at Hogar CREA, Puerto Rico's b...

How I Made It: El Peso Hero

02 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 bor...

Unsafe In Foster Care, Part 2

29 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We continue our investigation into the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). While looking into what happened the night Josep...

How I Made It: Francisca Valenzuela

26 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Chilean-American singer-songwriter Francisca Valenzuela has always forged her own path in music. Born and raised in California, Francisca began her ca...

Unsafe In Foster Care, Part 1

22 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After a domestic violence incident, Leah Garcia called the police looking for safety for her and her two children. But her calls triggered the involve...

Imperfect Paradise: Nury & The Secret Tapes

19 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week Latino USA shares an episode of the podcast, Imperfect Paradise: Nury & The Secret Tapes, from LAist Studios. Imperfect Paradise: Nury ...

Still Hopeful: Immigration Over 30 Years

15 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Latino USA continues to mark its 30th anniversary and look back at its reporting throughout the last three decades. On today’s show we look at immig...

The Gun Machine

12 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Gun Machine is a new podcast from WBUR in partnership with The Trace, exploring the 250-year history of one of the most tragic and confou...

30 Años: An Oral History of Latino USA

08 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today on Latino USA, we want to pay tribute to María Emilia Martin, public radio pioneer, and our founder, by replaying the first special episode mar...

A Night With Monsieur Periné

05 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As part of our 30th anniversary celebrations, we bring you a taste of a very special evening with the Colombian band Monsieur Periné—hosted at the ...

The Archivists: The Unseen Fight to Preserve Our Stories

01 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After months of working closely with the archivists and librarians of the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection at the University of Texas in Au...

United Stateless Podcast

28 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week Latino USA brings you an episode of the United Stateless Podcast. United Stateless Podcast documents the stories of "returnees", people who ...

By Right of Discovery

24 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

On Thanksgiving Day, hundreds of people gather on Alcatraz Island, the famous former prison and one of the largest tourist attractions in San Francisc...

Bad Mexicans: Borderland History that Resonates Today

21 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

At the turn of the 20th century, revolution was starting to brew in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. A group of Mexican revolutionaries had fled to the Un...

Dolores Huerta: Don’t Let the Haters Divide Us

17 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Latino USA continues to celebrate 30 years of being on the air, as well as bringing you important conversations as part of our ongoing political cover...

How I Made It: Futuro Conjunto

14 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What will the music of Texas’ Rio Grande Valley sound like 100 years from now? That’s the premise at the heart of Futuro Conjunto, a multimedia sc...

Gustavo Dudamel’s Harmony in Times of Crisis

10 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Gustavo Dudamel is one of the most famous and acclaimed conductors in the world. He’s been the Music and Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Philha...

Classy with Jonathan Menjivar

07 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week Latino USA brings you an episode of the podcast, Classy with Jonathan Menjivar. In this episode, we can’t talk about class without talking...

Kamala and the Latino Youth Vote

03 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Maria Hinojosa and Latino USA producer Reynaldo Leaños Jr. join Vice President Kamala Harris aboard Air Force Two as the vice president makes her way...

Portrait Of: Gabby Rivera

31 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When Gabby Rivera wrote her coming-of-age novel “Juliet Takes a Breath” in 2016, she didn't know that it would get her attention from an unusual p...

City of Oil

27 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Los Angeles, you might be surprised to learn, sits on top of the largest urban oil field in the country and has been the site of oil extraction for al...

The Art of Growing Into Yourself With Y La Bamba

24 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Luz Elena Mendoza Ramos is a Chicanx artist and musician who has been playing under the name Y La Bamba for nearly 20 years. As the child of immigrant...

My Uncle Juan, the Bracero

20 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Latino USA, historian Mireya Loza and her uncle and former bracero Juan Loza meet at his home in Chicago to reflect on the legacy o...

How I Made It: Grupo Fantasma Takes On The Wall

17 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When Austin's cumbia-funk institution Grupo Fantasma went to record their seventh album at a studio in Tornillo, Texas, they had no idea that right ne...

Puerto Crypto

13 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 2018, just months after Hurricane Maria, an eccentric group of cryptocurrency enthusiasts arrived in Puerto Rico. They came with big plans for the ...

How I Made It: Omar Apollo

10 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Omar Apollo, a rising star in the indie R&B scene, began making music on his own by teaching himself chords from YouTube videos and honing his sou...

When Alaska's Snow Crab Went Missing

06 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 2022, the Bering Sea snow crab season was canceled for the first time in history. Essentially 10 billion snow crabs went missing. The cause? Warmin...

Caliber 60

03 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week Latino USA brings you an episode of the Caliber 60 podcast. Avocado consumption has exploded in the U.S. over the past decade. But what’s ...

Mary’s Journey

29 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

One in four women in the United States have a family member in prison—and those carrying the resulting financial and emotional burden are disproport...

Portrait Of: Miguel

26 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

“Too proper for the Black kids, too Black for the Mexicans," sings Grammy award-winning artist Miguel Pimentel. Miguel is the son of an African-Amer...

The Growing Call to Abolish Student Debt

22 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The call for the abolition of all student debt has never been louder– but how did we get to a place where this demand is possible? Latino USA dives ...

It’s My Podcast and I’ll Cry If I Want To

19 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Five years ago, Latino USA producer Antonia Cereijido was only an intern and still in college when she did what a lot of people do when they're not su...

Belonging, Recruitment, and Remembrance

15 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Latino USA continues to mark its 30th anniversary and look back on its reporting throughout the decades. One topic the show has heavily reported on is...

Ballet Brothers

12 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Brothers Isaac and Esteban Hernández have performed on some of the most prestigious stages in the world. But their journey to the top rank of their i...

The Revolutions of Gioconda Belli

08 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Gioconda Belli is an award-winning Nicaraguan author. She has published novels, essays, poetry collections, and a memoir called “The country under m...

9/11’s Immigration Legacy

05 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The September 11th attacks left nearly 3,000 dead, many more injured and an entire nation traumatized. The 24-hour news cycle that followed focused en...

At the Mercy of the Courts

01 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Latino USA we partner up with Documented, a nonprofit news site that covers immigrants in New York City, to get a behind-the-scenes...

How I Made It: Rodrigo y Gabriela

29 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the late 90's, Rodrigo Sánchez and Gabriela Quintero embarked on a one-way trip to Dublin, Ireland. While they were originally heavy metal musicia...

The Breakdown: Heavy Metal Edition

25 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The stereotype goes that Latinos only listen to salsa or reggaeton. But one of the biggest genres of music across Latin America is actually heavy meta...

How I Made It: Joe Kay of Soulection

22 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Soulection is a music startup, which has quickly grown to be a powerhouse with a record label, a popular radio show, and worldwide tours—bringing to...

‘I Want to Outlive AIDS’

18 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Producer Patricia Sulbarán embarks on a journey to learn how Latino USA covered the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic as part of the show’s 30th anni...

Judith Baca’s Great Wall

15 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Muralist Judith F. Baca is mostly known for creating one of the largest communal murals in the world: the Great Wall of Los Angeles. It extends for ha...

Meg Medina: Let Kids Read Freely

11 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier this year, award-winning author Meg Medina was named National Ambassador for Young People's Literature—she’s the first Latina to occupy th...

How I Made It: Yasser Tejeda & Palotré

08 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The musical genres most people associate with the Dominican Republic are merengue and bachata. Yet, there's another set of rhythms that are essential ...

Alzheimer’s In Color

04 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Latino USA and Black Public Media bring you Alzheimer’s In Color. It’s the story of Ramona Latty, a Dominican immigrant, told by her daughter Yvon...

Maxwell Alejandro Frost: Leading Through Politics—and Music

01 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Maxwell Alejandro Frost of Florida made history last year when he became the first Gen-Z elected to Congress. Latino USA producer Reynaldo Leaños Jr....

Bilingual Is My Superpower

28 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 2018, producer Jeanne Montalvo reported on the choices her parents made when raising her in a bilingual household. Five years later, Jeanne’s two...