Latino USA

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 changed. In this intimate story, Yesica decides to confront her relatives with tough questions about their lack of progress, and how they try to stay afloat in this country.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 insulin daily, just to survive. But sometimes, when money is tight, she’s had to ration the life-saving drug. In this episode of “Port of Entry,” we follow Salcido and another San Diego woman who went on a journey to find more affordable insulin across the border in Tijuana.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 closest friends paint an intergenerational portrait of Lorena, as a trailblazer, a mentor, and a mother.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Black, brown, and immigrant population and was one of the hardest hit during the peak of COVID-19.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 medical facilities at the border are people from the U.S. and other parts of the world who cross south to take advantage of more affordable medical procedures and medications. They’re looking to save money on everything from discount dental work and weight-loss surgery to more affordable insulin. But, not every single medical tourist is crossing the border to save money. People like Maria Davis-Cherry are crossing the border in hopes of saving their own lives.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 review units are helping — or not — to free people from prison. And finally, the moment Joseph and his family have been dreaming of for nearly 15 years.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.