Latino USA

Roberto Deniz is a Venezuelan investigative journalist whose work has uncovered widespread corruption in Nicolás Maduro’s government. With the elections in Venezuela approaching on July 28th, Roberto sat down with co-executive producer Peniley Ramírez to discuss his work uncovering a big corruption scandal, the role the United States played in it, and the political landscape in Venezuela leading up to this crucial vote. Read more about the episode here.

Many of us grew up flipping to the horoscope section in magazines or waited for that weekly hit with celebrity astrologer Walter Mercado—or maybe you have a full-blown astrology practice and plan your days according to the way the stars and planets are aligned. Whatever your feelings on astrology are, it is by no means new, and it’s experiencing a renaissance—especially among Latinos and Latinas. Today on Latino USA, we sit down with Isa Nakazawa, the host of Futuro Studios new show, Stars and Stars with Isa. Isa shows us how we are in charge of our own lives and destinies and how we can use astrology to enhance and understand ourselves more than ever in this changing world. She also prepared a surprise for our host Maria Hinojosa—a short reading of her birth chart. Read more about the episode here.

Anthropologist Ruth Behar is a groundbreaking scholar who also delights in salsa dancing. Born in Cuba to a Jewish family, Ruth draws from her heritage as an anthropologist and writer. Her latest middle grade novel, “Across So Many Seas,” was released in early 2024. In this episode, we spend the afternoon with Ruth and producer Elisa Baena before salsa class. They discuss Ruth’s writing process, how Ruth’s personal history inspired “Across So Many Seas,” and why the creative experiences of writing and dancing are connected. You can read more about the episode here.

Today, Latino USA shares episode 2 of the "My Divo" podcast. Get in, we’re going clubbing in Juárez! It’s going to be glitzy, it’s going to be gritty. This is the nighttime scene that birthed Juan Gabriel. But like many cities, Juárez holds secrets. Maria uncovers a haunting secret about Juan Gabriel and, along the way, confronts a dark piece of the past in her own family. "My Divo" is an Apple Original podcast produced by Futuro Studios. Follow and listen on Apple Podcasts.

This week, Latino USA shares an episode of the "My Divo" podcast. For host Maria Garcia, Mexican megastar Juan Gabriel has always held a singular allure. He was a prolific composer and one of the world’s greatest showmen. There was a lightness and a bigness to him—a big queer exuberance. And now, as the first openly gay woman in her family line, Maria looks to Juan Gabriel as a key to reconcile her queerness with her Mexican heritage. "My Divo" is an Apple Original podcast produced by Futuro Studios. Follow and listen on Apple Podcasts.

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 Jesús turned himself into Border Patrol saying somebody was after him. Three days later, he died by suicide after stuffing a sock down his throat. In part two of this story, surveillance video reveals clues about what happened inside his cell, and an internal investigation from Immigration and Customs Enforcement answers many of our questions about what happened to José in the days leading up to his death. This story originally aired in 2016.

Colombian-Canadian singer-songwriter Lido Pimienta tells us how her experience of migration led to her love of Afro-Colombian music, how a beauty pageant and its underlying anti-blackness inspired her new album, and how she came to collaborate with the legendary Afro-Colombian ensemble, Sexteto Tabalá, in her track "Pelo Cucú.” This episode originally aired in 2020.

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 throat. His death is ruled a suicide, but little information is put out about what happened, and the family wants answers. In this first part of a special two-part series, Latino USA investigates why José de Jesús died in the custody of the U.S. government, and what his death tells us about conditions—especially mental health services—inside the immigration detention system. This story originally aired in July of 2016.

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. Guzman co-designed the first set of Apple Emojis and our keyboards haven't been the same since. This episode originally aired in 2019.

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 who live and work there is no. To understand what is really going on at the border, we travel to Sasabe, a tiny community in a remote area of the Arizona border with Mexico, to find out how human-smuggling battles within the Sinaloa cartel turned it into a ghost town. We also visit a pop-up camp set up on the U.S. side of the border fence. There, volunteers help thousands of asylum seekers from all over the world who turn themselves into the Border Patrol every day.

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 writing and performing catchy tunes that dive into themes of Latina empowerment, self-love and they’re not afraid to get political. On this episode of Latino USA, these hermanas tell us more about the role sisterhood plays in their creative process and why they hope their art and journey inspires future generations of Latinos and Latinas. This episode originally aired in 2022.

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 around her. iLe began her musical career singing with her brothers in their renowned rap group Calle 13. But in 2016, iLe decided to go solo. She would go on to release three studio albums, using those platforms to explore many musical genres with deep roots in Latin America and the Caribbean: from boleros and salsa, to pop and reggaeton. As a songwriter, iLe puts her lyricism at the forefront, delving into themes of patriarchy and colonialism in her music. In this episode iLe walks us through the evolution of her music as a form of protest, and how she is daring herself to show a more personal side in her most recent album, “Nacarile.” This episode originally aired in 2023

Will watching all of Pedro Almodovar's movies in one month make you more or less neurotic? Hard-hitting journalists Antonia Cereijido and Fernanda Echávarri decided to find out. Along the way they glean life lessons about moms, absurdity, and friendship. They even get guidance from the iconic Spanish director himself. This episode originally aired in 2017.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. You can subscribe to the podcast here.

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.

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.