Latino USA

Dreaming With Luna Luna

09 Aug 2022

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

05 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Last November, 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 a...

L.A.’s Backyard Party Scene

02 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Here is a podcast from our Latino USA archives. Latino USA sits down with Guadalupe Rosales of [Veteranas and Rucas](http:// https://www.instagram.co...

And They Will Inherit It

29 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Here is a podcast from our Latino USA archives. In 1950, a group of majority Mexican-American miners in New Mexico readied themselves for a showdown w...

The Baseball Fan

26 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Latino USA is proud to feature an episode from Colorado Public Radio’s new ¿Quién Are We? podcast, which explores what it means to be Latino, Hisp...

The Growing Call to Abolish Student Debt

22 Jul 2022

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 i...

LADAMA: The Body Is Our Best Instrument

19 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

When the members of LADAMA met for the first time, it felt as if they already knew each other. In 2014, Lara Klaus from Brazil, Daniela Serna from Col...

The Politics of COVID-19

15 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

As part of Latino USA’s ongoing 2022 midterms coverage, Maria Hinojosa is joined by her In The Thick co-host Julio Ricardo Varela, Carlos Odio of Eq...

Raising Antiracist Leaders

12 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the special presentation of the In The Thick political podcast produced by Futuro Media, Maria Hinojosa and Julio Ricardo Varela are joined by Ibr...

Undocumented and Unhoused

08 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Living in the Bay Area has become a luxury that many cannot afford anymore. It’s home to the biggest —and richest— tech companies in the world. ...

Colombia Makes History

05 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Latino USA presents a recent episode of Latino Rebels Radio, also produced by Futuro Media. For the first time in its history, Colombia has moved to t...

It’s a Small World, After All

01 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Latino USA takes a look back at Disney’s relationship with Latin America. We start in the 1940s when Walt Disney and a group of animators were deplo...

A Post-Roe Reality

29 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

For this bonus podcast drop, Latino USA shares the latest episode of the award-winning political podcast In The Thick, hosted by Maria Hinojosa and Ju...

Kali Fajardo-Anstine Reclaims Her Ancestors’ Stories

28 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Growing up in Denver, Colorado, Kali Fajardo-Anstine did not see herself, nor her family, represented in books or television. But, she knew she wanted...

Surfside Remembers

24 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

One year ago on June 24, a small beachside town in South Florida was asleep. It was the summer, past 1 a.m., when the section of the Champlain Towers ...

‘On the Divide’: Fighting for Choice in the Rio Grande Valley

21 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

For years, McAllen, Texas, has been at the front lines in the struggle for reproductive access in the country. The city has only one abortion provider...

A Future Without Roe v. Wade

17 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What will the future look like for low-income communities of color if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade? In this Latino USA roundtable epis...

Maria Hinojosa on Partying, Partnership and Her New Pulitzer

14 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Recently, our friends at Death, Sex & Money shared a conversation with Latino USA anchor and executive producer Maria Hinojosa. In this wide-rangi...

Uvalde Resiste

10 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On Tuesday May 24th, 2022, an 18-year-old man entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and shot and murdered 19 children, as well as two teach...

Helado Negro’s Expanding Universe

07 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

When Roberto Carlos Lange chose his stage name, he didn’t want to limit himself. Helado Negro represented something unknown and unexpected—and for...

An Immigration Midterms Check

03 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In collaboration with the award-winning In The Thick political podcast, Maria Hinojosa and Julio Ricardo Varela explore current immigration policy und...

Out of the Shadows: Children of 86

31 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

From My Cultura Network and IHeart Podcasts Hosts Patty Rodriguez and Erick Galindo reflect on their lives as children of immigrants. They realize tha...

The Battle of 187

27 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It’s 1993 in California. Dr. Dre is on the radio. The state is in a budget deficit. And a group of Orange County residents collects signatures to pu...

After Uvalde

26 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this special collaboration with In The Thick, Maria Hinojosa and Julio Ricardo reflect on the mass shooting that occurred in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesd...

Imperfect Paradise: The Forgotten Revolutionary

24 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

From LAist Studios Oscar Gomez was a star of the 1990s Chicano student movement and then, unexpectedly, he died. A rattling event in host Adolfo Guzma...

Limbo

20 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

There are two kinds of immigrants: the ones who don’t look back and the ones who spend their lives looking back. Miguel Macias has been both over th...

Bodies Without Limits: Tattooing With Tamara Santibañez

17 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If you’re looking for a sign to go get that tattoo you’ve been dreaming of — well, this is it. Tattoo and multimedia artist Tamara Santibañez b...

Genias in Music: Violeta Parra

13 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Violeta Parra changed music in her native Chile and beyond. She is known as the “Mother of La Nueva Canción,” a political folk music movement tha...

Growing Up With The Tiarras

10 May 2022

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 writ...

Disinformation and Misinformation

06 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

To kick off Latino USA's 2022 election cycle coverage, Maria Hinojosa and Julio Ricardo Varela are joined by Maria Teresa Kumar, founding president an...

Portrait Of: Elizabeth Acevedo

03 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Elizabeth Acevedo is a Dominican-American poet and award-winning author. Her debut young adult novel "The Poet X" made the New York Times bestseller l...

A Child Lost in Translation

29 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The following Latino USA story was originally broadcast on May 31, 2019. It was also the recipient of a 2020 Gracie Award from the the Alliance for Wo...

New Hope for Melissa Lucio

26 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Latino USA provides an update to a story we recently did about Melissa Lucio, the first Latina on death row in Texas.See omnystudio.com/listener for p...

Doris Anahi Muñoz Chooses Herself

26 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Doris Anahi Muñoz always sang. In fact, singing was her first career choice. But reality hit when she realized in her teenage years that she had to s...

Chisme: An Ancestral Language

22 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

When Elisa Baena and Monica Morales-García first met on their first day as Latino USA fellows, they realized they were speaking a shared language —...

The Story Not Told With Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa

19 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa grew up listening to the stories of her rural Afro Puerto Rican community of Puerto Rico, but when she moved to New York, she r...

Genias in Music: La Lupe

15 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

La Lupe was a legendary Afro-Cuban singer who was once known as the “Queen of Latin Soul.” She was one of the top performers in Havana cabarets am...

Silvana Estrada Finds Freedom in Music

12 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Silvana Estrada has spent her entire life surrounded by the sounds of music: the tuning of a violin, the strumming and plucking of guitar strings, the...

Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera, Through Each Other’s Eyes

08 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Independent filmmakers Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera have won many awards throughout their careers, but in 2021 they made history: they became the f...

Being Seen on Screen

05 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Latino USA presents a recent episode of Latino Rebels Radio that focuses on media representation in our community. Host Julio Ricardo Varela welcomes ...

Rodeo

01 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Rodeo —the Spanish word for “rounding up”— is a multi-million dollar sport in the United States, but it’s rooted in the riding, roping, and ...

We Are Here: Mapping Indigenous Migrant Languages

29 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

For years, the U.S. Census has undercounted Indigenous migrants, grouping them under the label of “Hispanic” or “Latinos.” This is a problem f...

The Race to Save Melissa Lucio

25 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On April 27, 2022, Melissa Lucio could become the first Latina sentenced to death to be executed in Texas. In 2008, Melissa was convicted for the deat...

Xochitl Gonzalez and the Art of Traversing Worlds

22 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On the night of the presidential elections in 2016, Xochitl Gonzalez was at the Javits Center in New York City attending an event in support of Hillar...

Genias in Music: Maria Grever

18 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In 1916, Maria Grever set foot in New York City with her two children in tow. She was a Mexican composer whose husband allegedly sent her to the city ...

Machinery of Corruption and Impunity

15 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Latino USA presents another episode from the In The Thick podcast. In this episode, Maria and Julio are joined by Anayansi Diaz-Cortes, senior reporte...

The Moving Border: Even Further South

11 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

After two years, Maria Hinojosa returns to Mexico’s southern border for the latest episode of the award-winning series The Moving Border. In 2020, t...

The Worlds within Angelica Garcia’s Voice

08 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Angelica Garcia’s music is as colorful and eclectic as her many influences, ranging from traditional rancheras, folk and blues to electronic and pop...

Lights, Camera… ¡Acción! A Latino Take on the Oscars

04 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

2021 was a big year for Latinos in Hollywood, and now they’re getting some awards season love. With this year’s nominations, the Academy Awards ar...

What’s Love Got to Do With Alexis Daria?

01 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Alexis Daria now writes love stories about Latina and Latino characters that reflect and celebrate her friends and family. In this episode of Latino U...

An Unexpected Home

25 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This year marks the 10th anniversary since the policy of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was put in place. It has been described as “e...

Through the Cracks

22 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

When 8-year-old Relisha Rudd disappeared from a homeless shelter in Washington, D.C. in 2014, nobody noticed. By the time police appeared at the homel...

A Border Drawn in Blood

18 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

From the Latino USA archives, producer Marlon Bishop travels to the Dominican-Haitian border to unpack the history of what happened during the Perejil...

Indigenous Science With Jessica Hernandez

15 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

As a Zapotec and Maya Ch’orti’ environmental scientist, Dr. Jessica Hernandez has always found academia to be a hostile place. She had looked forw...

Doctora Polo: 'This Is Who I Am'

11 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If some Latinos hear "la doctora," it doesn’t evoke the image of a medical doctor. Instead, it’s that of a Cuban American attorney-turned-show hos...

The Fiesta Theory — Ídolo: The Ballad of Chalino Sánchez

08 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

From Futuro Studios and Sonoro Chalino grew up surrounded by violence in a humble town in Sinaloa. But his life takes a turn for the worse when a grou...

Death Note — Introducing Ídolo: The Ballad of Chalino Sánchez

04 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

From Futuro Studios and Sonoro Narcocorrido superstar Chalino Sánchez sings to a sold-out crowd for the first time in Sinaloa. It's the best night of...

The Rise of Chile's Center-Left

01 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Latino USA is featuring a recent Latino Rebels Radio episode where host Julio Ricardo Varela welcomes Chilean historian and journalist Camila Vergara ...

After Ayotzinapa: The Missing 43

28 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It has been over seven years since 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College in Guerrero, Mexico, were taken by armed men in the middl...

Fighting for Tejano Music With Veronique Medrano

25 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Veronique Medrano is a Tejano and Spanish Country singer from Brownsville, Texas in the Rio Grande Valley. Veronique finds inspiration as an artist fr...

Benjamin Alire Sáenz Discovers the Secrets of His Universe

21 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Two boys, Mexican-American, 1987, El Paso, Texas… and they fall in love. That’s the pitch behind Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s bestselling young adult...

White Supremacy Is Evergreen

18 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

For this special Latino USA presentation of In The Thick, Maria and Julio are joined by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, historian, writer and professor at P...

The Elusive Freedom of Juan Castillo

14 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Juan Castillo escaped the Civil War in El Salvador and fled to the U.S. in search of freedom. He was barely a teenager when he arrived and soon fell i...

Selling the Fantasy With José Hernandez

11 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

José Hernandez began modeling a couple years ago after a photoshoot of his went viral in 2018. The main image showed him holding a rooster, glammed u...

Tango Resiste

07 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

While tango is usually pictured as a dance between a white man in an elegant black suit and a white woman in high heels, and a tight red dress, the re...

How I Made It: KAINA

04 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Chicago is a breeding ground for diverse sounds: it is the birthplace of house music and has a thriving indie hip-hop scene. One of the city's up-and-...

A Day in the Life of Pitbull

31 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Armando Christian Pérez —better known as Pitbull— is a rapper, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, brand ambassador and has a whole host of other...

How I Made It: Yasser Tejeda & Palotré

28 Dec 2021

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

24 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Latino USA and Black Public Media bring you Alzheimer’s in Color, a 2021 Gracie Awards winner. It’s the story of Ramona Latty, a Dominican immigra...

STEFA*’s Origin Stories

21 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When vocalist, composer and multi-media performance artist Stefa Marin Alarcon — also known as STEFA — takes the stage, it feels like walking thr...

Lydia Cacho, a Journalist in Exile

17 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Mexico is the most dangerous place for journalists in the world. And Lydia Cacho —a Mexican investigative journalist who worked in the country for o...

An Unresolved Past

14 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For this special Latino USA presentation of In The Thick, Maria and Julio are joined by Al Letson, host of Reveal and the new podcast series, “Miss...

Healing Chimayó

10 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Lupe Salazar is a grandmother in Chimayó, northern New Mexico on a mission to disrupt the cycle of opioid addiction and the trauma caused by it in he...

Breaking Down Bedroom Pop

07 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the late 2010s, dreamy, nostalgic music produced from the homes of young, independent artists became hugely popular, especially online. This style ...

The English Learner Who Became Secretary of Education

03 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For Dr. Miguel Cardona, growing up in a Puerto Rican household in Meriden, Connecticut —straddling two languages and two cultures— uniquely prepar...

How I Made It: Las Cafeteras

30 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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

Reclaiming Our Homes

26 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On March 14, 2020, Martha Escudero and her two daughters became the first of a dozen unhoused families to occupy one of over a hundred vacant houses i...

Flickering Fame

23 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Latino USA presents another episode from the new season of Port of Entry, which focuses on artists and musicians who’ve turned pain into superpowers...

Gig Workers vs. Big Tech

19 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

How does technology affect labor? How are tech corporations like Uber and Lyft redefining what it means to be a worker in the United States? Californi...

Sonia Manzano: The Power of Writing

16 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Before winning not one or two, but 15 Emmy’s for television writing, and before she became one of the first Latinas on television when she took on t...

A Spoken History Of The Nuyorican Poets Cafe

12 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the 1960s and 70s, a community of Latinx poets in New York City created a movement. They called themselves the Nuyorican poets. Together, they brok...

How I Made It: Ayodele Casel

09 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Teresa Urrea: The Mexican Joan Of Arc

05 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the late 1800s, Teresa Urrea was a superstar. She was a “curandera,” (a healer), a revolutionary, and a feminist. At only 19 years old. she was...

How I Made It: Rodrigo Reyes and ‘499’

02 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On August 13, 1521, a few hundred Spanish conquistadors, led by Hernan Cortés, declared the fall of the Aztec Empire. On the 500-year anniversary of ...

The Invisible Cost Of Care

29 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The social distancing measures put in place during the pandemic have exposed how vital – and hard – it is to take care of children, the elderly, s...

At Odds With Cuba’s 'Myth'

26 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In July, massive protests erupted in Cuba against the one-party government that has ruled for over 60 years. One protester died and thousands were det...

Latina Powerlifters On Owning Your Power

22 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Lifting weights and being physically strong has long been culturally associated with men. But within strength sports, there’s a category that’s be...

We Imagine… Us: The Long Way Around

19 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Latino USA is proud to present a preview of a new podcast by Futuro Unidad Hinojosa, the newest editorial division from Maria Hinojosa and Futuro Medi...

Mississippi Rising

15 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

August 7, 2019 forever changed the lives of many immigrants in Mississippi. Almost 700 people were taken by ICE that day in the largest single state i...

From Locatora Radio: Faketinas

12 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Throughout the year, Latino USA will begin to feature podcasts from independent Latino and Latina creators as a way to shine a light on the work they ...

After the Mississippi Raids

08 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

August 7th, 2019 was the day that tore apart an unlikely community of Guatemalan immigrants in central Mississippi. A year ago, hundreds of ICE agents...

How I Made It: Amy Collado, Skate Advocate

05 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Roller skating has experienced a resurgence during the pandemic with videos of people dancing on roller skates blowing up on tik tok, but many do not ...

Are ICE Detention Centers Necessary?

01 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we report on the origins of privately-run immigration detention centers and ask: “Are these places actually necessary?” The unprecedent...

Cross-Border Abortion Care

28 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of In The Thick, Maria and  Maria and guest co-host Jamilah King, deputy inequality editor at BuzzFeed News, are joined by Lina-M...

She Migrates

24 Sep 2021

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...

Sandy’s Pandemic Diaries

21 Sep 2021

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....

LOUD: The Nueva York Connection

17 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

LOUD is a new podcast from Futuro Studios that tells the story behind Reggaeton. In this episode, El General arrives in Brooklyn in the mid-80s to fi...

The Ray Suarez Story

14 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Going for Broke is about Americans on the edge. They’ve lost jobs, lost their homes and sometimes lost the narrative thread of their lives. It’s h...

9/11’s Immigration Legacy

10 Sep 2021

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...

America's Farmworkers

07 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Latino USA is proud to present another Futuro Media show that Maria Hinojosa co-hosts: In The Thick, a podcast about politics, race and culture from a...