1 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:16,280 Speaker 1: Radio radio Radio Commies, a Myth and Bullshit, a radio 2 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:23,880 Speaker 1: phonic novella. Look Radio hosted by Mala Locamore is welcome 3 00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:30,440 Speaker 1: to season four of Local Radios Wanted for Crimes against 4 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:34,600 Speaker 1: the Patriarchy. We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring 5 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:39,600 Speaker 1: you Quarantine Confidential, a special pandemic broadcast about our experiences 6 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:44,480 Speaker 1: with quarantine and COVID nineteen. I'm Fiosa and I'm Mala. 7 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:48,159 Speaker 1: Our intention behind this mini series is to archive our 8 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: experiences during this global coronavirus pandemic. Thank you so much 9 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:57,240 Speaker 1: for joining us on this journey. Last time on Quarantine Confidential, 10 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 1: we interviewed Elizabeth Gomez, author filmmaker, about her work her 11 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:08,000 Speaker 1: published book Chaos Cosmos. So go ahead and check out 12 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: that episode that was Capit ninety uh and give it 13 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:15,640 Speaker 1: a listen and let us know what you think, give 14 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: us a comment. You can tune into that episode on Apple, Podcast, Spotify, SoundCloud, 15 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 1: and audio boom. Alright, y'all, and we're super excited for this. No, 16 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:30,440 Speaker 1: we have a very special guest, an award winning journalist, 17 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: for the second half of this episode. But before that, 18 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: we want to remind you all about a couple of 19 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: things here at Local. First off, if you haven't already, 20 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:41,720 Speaker 1: head over to our website look at radio dot com 21 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:44,560 Speaker 1: or the link in our bio on Instagram to subscribe 22 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: to our newsletter. Best, remember that you can become a 23 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 1: patron of Local Radio. Head to patreon dot com hit 24 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:56,520 Speaker 1: up the look page. You can get benefits like ad 25 00:01:56,600 --> 00:01:59,600 Speaker 1: free listening. 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It's a 51 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 1: really great option for remote therapy as we are still 52 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:46,840 Speaker 1: in a pandemic and now, honestly, without further ado, we're 53 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:53,520 Speaker 1: going to introduce our iconic, legendary interview guests Maria you 54 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:57,120 Speaker 1: know JSA, and we're just gonna let the interview do 55 00:03:57,240 --> 00:04:01,840 Speaker 1: all the talking. We interviewed Maria about her new book 56 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: Once I Was You. We talk about all kinds of things, 57 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 1: talk about motherhood, we talk about sex, we talk about relationships, 58 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 1: growing up, we talk about weed and cannabis, and yes, 59 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: we talk about WOP with Maria Josa. Do you want 60 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 1: to tell our listeners a little bit more about Maria's 61 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:23,239 Speaker 1: background for those who maybe are not as familiar. Absolutely so. 62 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: For twenty five years, Maria Yousa has helped tell America's 63 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: untold stories and brought to light unsung heroes in America 64 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:36,440 Speaker 1: and abroad. In April Media Group with the mission to 65 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:41,080 Speaker 1: produce multi platform, community based journalism that gives critical voice 66 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:44,480 Speaker 1: to the voiceless by harnessing the power of independent media 67 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: to tell stories that are overlooked or under reported by 68 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:51,680 Speaker 1: traditional media. You Know Hossa has one top honors in 69 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:55,679 Speaker 1: American journalism. Latino USA won a Peabody Award in April 70 00:04:56,520 --> 00:05:01,960 Speaker 1: for its episode Gangs, Murder and My Great In Her 71 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:06,839 Speaker 1: awards also include four Emmy's John Chancellor Award for Excellence 72 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: in Journalism and the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Reporting 73 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:16,000 Speaker 1: on the Disadvantaged, among many, many many other awards. Throughout 74 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:18,080 Speaker 1: her career, you Know Josa has helped to find the 75 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:21,040 Speaker 1: conversation about our times and our society with one of 76 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:24,680 Speaker 1: the most authentic voices in broadcast. You Know Josa is 77 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:29,560 Speaker 1: the author of two books, including A Motherhood memoir raising adventures, 78 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:33,159 Speaker 1: raising myself and my son. She was born in Mexico City, 79 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:36,600 Speaker 1: raised in Chicago, and received her b a. From Barnard 80 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:46,279 Speaker 1: College without further ado. So we're really excited to have 81 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:49,640 Speaker 1: you for so many reasons. You know, I think for 82 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:55,159 Speaker 1: younger Latina writers and podcasters like you're definitely inspiration for us, 83 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:58,720 Speaker 1: and having this memoir in our hands, you know, it's 84 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:01,560 Speaker 1: just another tool kit for us. You know, of your 85 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:05,159 Speaker 1: journey and how you've you know, just your entire journey 86 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 1: from when you arrived in the US, which I like 87 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:10,600 Speaker 1: related to not as an immigrant myself. I was born here, 88 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:12,839 Speaker 1: but my mother came out five years old from Sila 89 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: Plats through the BO program. My grandfather was in it, 90 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:18,640 Speaker 1: and so reading it, you know, the first couple of 91 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:21,080 Speaker 1: chapters was so relatable in that way, and it allowed 92 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 1: me to engage with my mom in a different conversations 93 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:26,400 Speaker 1: and maybe asking her questions I never had before. And 94 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:29,479 Speaker 1: so for that, I want to thank you. Thank you. 95 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:34,039 Speaker 1: That's you're the first person who has wow that. You know. 96 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:36,640 Speaker 1: The book is just starting to to make its way, 97 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:40,080 Speaker 1: so I'm just starting to get like comments, but that's 98 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: the first comment that I got which I just love, 99 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:44,560 Speaker 1: which was it's leading me to have a different kind 100 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:47,360 Speaker 1: of conversation with my mom. Oh, thank you. I'm so happy. 101 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:51,479 Speaker 1: It made me have a lot of different conversations with 102 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:54,120 Speaker 1: my own mom too. Yeah. I think our moms are 103 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:56,760 Speaker 1: actually super excited that we're talking to you today too. 104 00:06:57,279 --> 00:07:01,840 Speaker 1: I'm so excited it. My mom was like, you cannot 105 00:07:01,839 --> 00:07:06,719 Speaker 1: be late, like make sure that is so you know what. 106 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:10,000 Speaker 1: That's also something that's happening, which is a message to 107 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:15,000 Speaker 1: um to to Latina's um, which is, uh, don't stop 108 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 1: doing what you do because I just never stopped, right 109 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: and so now I've been doing this for many, many, 110 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:26,440 Speaker 1: many years, and so I have multi generational fans and 111 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:29,960 Speaker 1: that is just beautiful. I love that. Also, you know, 112 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: my mom, who is I think Adie gets and she's like, 113 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:39,840 Speaker 1: she's of course my biggest fan, but she's like, I 114 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:44,800 Speaker 1: love it when you swear. I see, I love it 115 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 1: when you swear. Malulis So yes, our mothers live vicariously 116 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: through us. Sometimes faith they're like, I know, why why 117 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:59,760 Speaker 1: would you, But secretly they're like living for it. Yeah, 118 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 1: And I think actually one of the things that that 119 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 1: came up in the writing of the book was actually 120 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:12,760 Speaker 1: I had to make some amends with me Papa because 121 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:16,400 Speaker 1: I realized that and this is what it is to 122 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:18,480 Speaker 1: be Latin as we all know this, right, which is 123 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: there's a lot of stuff that we are managing without 124 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:24,960 Speaker 1: even understanding why it's happening. Right. So I was oppositional 125 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: with my father. All teenagers are oppositional, but I was 126 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:33,400 Speaker 1: oppositional in a cultural way because I was oppositional against machismo. 127 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:37,880 Speaker 1: I was oppositional against patriarchy. I was oppositional against traditional 128 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: roles and say in me Papa, and and I feel 129 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:48,040 Speaker 1: like I don't feel I know, I put him through 130 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 1: a particular kind of hell um because I needed to 131 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:55,840 Speaker 1: distance myself from being the perfect Mexican girl, right, I 132 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:58,680 Speaker 1: was just like no, no, no, no, no no, no, 133 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 1: said so I feel like I would hope that there's 134 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:06,600 Speaker 1: another generation. For example, my daughter and I have a 135 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:11,559 Speaker 1: very different relationship than my mother and I did um. 136 00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:16,959 Speaker 1: I know claros somos n and so being the youngest 137 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:18,840 Speaker 1: of four, I can kind of understand that my mom 138 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:22,640 Speaker 1: was like, I don't really have time to hear about 139 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:25,600 Speaker 1: your nobio or your friend or so a lot of 140 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:28,800 Speaker 1: it was, you know, just figure it out with my daughter. 141 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:32,440 Speaker 1: I we talked about this stuff all the time. We 142 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:36,880 Speaker 1: figure it out. There's a lot of intimacy. UM. I 143 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:39,079 Speaker 1: think she's going through one of those stages. I understand 144 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:41,200 Speaker 1: it where she's like, oh my god, Mom stopped talking 145 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:45,360 Speaker 1: about sex, like please don't don't just stop it stop stop. 146 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:49,000 Speaker 1: And I completely understand that. But um, but other than that, 147 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:52,200 Speaker 1: it's a very open relationship. What I did take from 148 00:09:52,200 --> 00:10:00,199 Speaker 1: my mom is ca phisica mine e a m make 149 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:05,320 Speaker 1: my daughter demands of me time. She's like, you can't, 150 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:07,600 Speaker 1: you know, you can't just be on the phone giving 151 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:10,320 Speaker 1: time to this person or that person in you know, 152 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:15,959 Speaker 1: or that interview. I need it too. Yeah. Wow, this 153 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:19,560 Speaker 1: is really refreshing and interesting because I think we talk 154 00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:23,560 Speaker 1: about UM living with and many of our listeners also 155 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:29,199 Speaker 1: experiencing almost the opposite dynamic with with mothers UM and like, 156 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:33,360 Speaker 1: you know, not really having conversations so much about sex 157 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:37,520 Speaker 1: and sexuality and relationships. UM. Yeah, it's something we talked 158 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:39,560 Speaker 1: about a lot on the podcast. So it's interesting to 159 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:43,920 Speaker 1: hear how you've um, you know, intentionally sort of entered 160 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:46,680 Speaker 1: that space with your own daughter. Well, so that's another 161 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:48,480 Speaker 1: thing that kind of came up, and it's nice to 162 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:52,360 Speaker 1: be with the both of you and radio because I 163 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:55,840 Speaker 1: love the space that you've created. Well, because when I 164 00:10:55,920 --> 00:11:00,400 Speaker 1: was younger, we didn't have and we had already lived 165 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 1: through you know, the sixties and the seventies, so we 166 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:11,400 Speaker 1: were supposed to be a feminism was you know, I 167 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:13,880 Speaker 1: guess let me let me take it back, like you 168 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:16,320 Speaker 1: have to imagine that during the nineteen sixties, so not 169 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:18,920 Speaker 1: too far, not too long ago. The the issue of 170 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:22,720 Speaker 1: rape it was still was. There was a big question 171 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:27,320 Speaker 1: like is it a crime? Is it a crime? First 172 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:29,600 Speaker 1: of all, then you know, we got to the point 173 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:32,800 Speaker 1: of like yes, and then it was like, you know, 174 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:36,080 Speaker 1: marital rape, date rape, those things were not even being 175 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:39,840 Speaker 1: discussed at all. And the image that we had of 176 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:45,440 Speaker 1: rape was also very racialized, always very racialized, and it 177 00:11:45,559 --> 00:11:48,839 Speaker 1: was always a stranger with a knife at your nag. Right, 178 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:52,680 Speaker 1: So that's how we understood sexual assault rape, and it 179 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:56,400 Speaker 1: was a big um. It was a big logirl right 180 00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:58,160 Speaker 1: to be able to get to the point where again 181 00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:02,200 Speaker 1: rape was considered an act of violence, um, a criminal 182 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:07,560 Speaker 1: act of violence. So um. So what ends up happening 183 00:12:07,559 --> 00:12:09,880 Speaker 1: in the book is that there's this experience that I 184 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:13,679 Speaker 1: have in Mexico when I'm quite young and um, and 185 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:16,959 Speaker 1: really all of this kind of like explodes while I'm 186 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:20,320 Speaker 1: in the process of processing the writing of this book. 187 00:12:20,679 --> 00:12:24,760 Speaker 1: It's Kavanaugh, It was my own relationship with my husband. 188 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:29,920 Speaker 1: It was an amazing therapist who helped me argentinean therapist, 189 00:12:30,559 --> 00:12:33,559 Speaker 1: UM who helped me to begin to understand some of 190 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:38,800 Speaker 1: my own trauma around sex. And it is the ultimate like, 191 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:43,600 Speaker 1: oh ship, no 'escafe weight. I was raped, Like there's 192 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:47,400 Speaker 1: no if and or buts, that is what happened, and 193 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:51,120 Speaker 1: and just kind of the expression of that. So where 194 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:54,360 Speaker 1: does that connect to my daughter? Because I was like, 195 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:58,280 Speaker 1: in the process of understanding all of this, I was like, oh, 196 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:00,800 Speaker 1: because I will get that question from a lot of people, 197 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:04,240 Speaker 1: like why are you so open with your daughter about 198 00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:06,960 Speaker 1: sex and sexuality and why do you Why did you 199 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:09,080 Speaker 1: create that? How did you do it? And I was like, 200 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:13,120 Speaker 1: I understood that I created that on purpose because I 201 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:18,080 Speaker 1: never wanted her to be raped. I never wanted her 202 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:23,959 Speaker 1: to be put into the position of being unsafe and 203 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:30,160 Speaker 1: making decisions about, you know, my own life. Again in 204 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:33,360 Speaker 1: an opposition because basically, in that moment, I'm in Mexico, 205 00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 1: and I'm like to my mom and my dad who 206 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:40,120 Speaker 1: are proudly showing me off as an independent American woman teenager, 207 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:44,320 Speaker 1: I know me, I know Estuvia. You know she doesn't 208 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:46,720 Speaker 1: have well I did have boyfriends, but I was very 209 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:49,200 Speaker 1: diligent in my school and I was you know, and 210 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:51,520 Speaker 1: they really wanted to show like that. But then I 211 00:13:51,559 --> 00:13:54,520 Speaker 1: was like, I want to go with that that man 212 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:58,959 Speaker 1: because I was sixteen and he was twenty four, um 213 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:03,400 Speaker 1: and um. And I forced them basically to be like, 214 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:07,800 Speaker 1: you can't have me as the perfect independent Mexican daughter 215 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:09,760 Speaker 1: because I grew up in the United States, But then 216 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:12,960 Speaker 1: when I'm in Mexico, not give me my freedom and 217 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 1: respect me. It's an independent woman. Sadly, I think my mother, 218 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:20,800 Speaker 1: who was the one who was there at the time, 219 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:24,120 Speaker 1: I think she knew she she knew, she had a 220 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:28,800 Speaker 1: bad presentimento about what was about to happen, and I 221 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:31,200 Speaker 1: couldn't see it, which is the other thing that like, 222 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:35,880 Speaker 1: really moms like I know that there were so complicated, 223 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:42,200 Speaker 1: believe me. I mean, I we were we have and 224 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:46,880 Speaker 1: you know, but also there's you gotta respect your mom's 225 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:49,880 Speaker 1: because they do no ship. We do no ship moms, 226 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:53,280 Speaker 1: no things, and that's what and this this is part 227 00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:55,520 Speaker 1: of it too, is like mother, I know that you're right, 228 00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:59,320 Speaker 1: but part of growing up is allowing me to make 229 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:02,040 Speaker 1: the decision except the consequences when I knew it was 230 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:05,360 Speaker 1: the wrong decision, but I made it any exactly and 231 00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:07,080 Speaker 1: and you know what, what what I hope is that 232 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:10,160 Speaker 1: and we make those decisions and we fall and we learn. 233 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:12,720 Speaker 1: You know, the thing is is that you just don't 234 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:17,160 Speaker 1: want them to be like life traumatizing, like like a rape. 235 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:21,040 Speaker 1: You know that that is the kind of thing and 236 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:23,960 Speaker 1: and you do survive, at least. I hope with my 237 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:28,000 Speaker 1: book I'm able to have that conversation so that women 238 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: older and younger can realize, which is, by the way, 239 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:34,960 Speaker 1: I'm really happy to be talking to the both of you. 240 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:38,400 Speaker 1: Also because you know the book will likely be pigeonholed 241 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:42,440 Speaker 1: as another immigration story, and it is, and there's a 242 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:44,440 Speaker 1: lot of that, but it's like it's so much more 243 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:48,560 Speaker 1: than that. So we actually had a question about that 244 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:53,480 Speaker 1: about create are releasing this memoir, releasing this work, this 245 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:57,720 Speaker 1: body of work post American dirt, like in this landscape 246 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:02,960 Speaker 1: where Latin X writers, storytellers have been demanding more from 247 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:06,240 Speaker 1: the publishing industry. So what has that been like in 248 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:10,960 Speaker 1: preparation of releasing this book, this memoir. Well, it feels 249 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:13,920 Speaker 1: like you know, another world away because it was that 250 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:18,480 Speaker 1: was pre pandemic. Um. We were traveling around. I mean, 251 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:21,280 Speaker 1: I was getting ready for a book launch that would 252 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:25,400 Speaker 1: have had me traveling to probably you know, fifteen cities, um. 253 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:28,080 Speaker 1: In the read up to an election. I had just 254 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:33,120 Speaker 1: returned from some very very traumatic experiences of reporting in 255 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:37,320 Speaker 1: what Is and then Ina on the Mexican border with 256 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:40,640 Speaker 1: and so I come back from I come back from 257 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:45,880 Speaker 1: a very on the ground seeing refugees, people suffering, and 258 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:50,920 Speaker 1: we you know, come back to this like cultural um. Well, 259 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:53,080 Speaker 1: I don't know, I don't, I don't. It was a moment. 260 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 1: It was a cultural moment, a literary moment um, and 261 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:00,840 Speaker 1: we got you know, completely kind have swept up into 262 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:02,760 Speaker 1: it because I had access to all of these people 263 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:08,560 Speaker 1: and they said, yes, So it's it's definitely. I mean 264 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:11,639 Speaker 1: to tell you that it hasn't had an impact. It has. 265 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:15,960 Speaker 1: What happened with American dirt, no doubt has had an 266 00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:20,200 Speaker 1: impact with how with what things are happening in terms 267 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:24,000 Speaker 1: of my book. Now, I have to say that the 268 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:27,760 Speaker 1: publisher who is the editor in chief formally who is 269 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:32,200 Speaker 1: now the publisher of Simon and Schuster, Jonathan Carp, who 270 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:37,399 Speaker 1: is a very powerful person in the world of publishing. Um, 271 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:44,680 Speaker 1: he was behind this book way before American Dirt. M. 272 00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:48,360 Speaker 1: I guess I can say. I mean it's I've never 273 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:51,680 Speaker 1: really talked about this, but he was an editor in 274 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:54,040 Speaker 1: chief who got on the phone with me and my 275 00:17:54,119 --> 00:17:58,400 Speaker 1: agent when the original book proposal that we wrote got rejected. 276 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:01,359 Speaker 1: Because also people think like, I body, you know, who's that? Ah, 277 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:05,240 Speaker 1: it's always like, you know, a celebration. No, we got 278 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:12,040 Speaker 1: rejected everywhere everywhere, so we had to go back and 279 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:17,719 Speaker 1: rethink and there was there was smart reasons for the rejections. Um. 280 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:21,600 Speaker 1: But Jonathan Carp got on the phone with me and 281 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:26,479 Speaker 1: for about an hour we talked about different styles of 282 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:30,959 Speaker 1: writing books, how the how the book selling works, you know, 283 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:38,000 Speaker 1: the kind of story that potentially could be told. UM. 284 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:41,359 Speaker 1: And that's why then when we rewrite the proposal and 285 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:44,199 Speaker 1: the book goes to auction. So the opposite of getting 286 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:47,920 Speaker 1: rejected now we went to auction. UM. It was Michelle 287 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:51,919 Speaker 1: and a Mulligan uh Latina editor who had just been 288 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:54,800 Speaker 1: hired at Simon and Schuster in a pretty senior role. 289 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:59,960 Speaker 1: She she advocated to get this book because I think 290 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:02,919 Speaker 1: she understood that with the support of Jonathan carp the 291 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:06,320 Speaker 1: editor in chief who is now the publisher, the vision 292 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:08,879 Speaker 1: for the book, it was going to be a very 293 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:12,880 Speaker 1: supported book. UM. And it was understood I think from 294 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:15,399 Speaker 1: the very beginning that it was not. We did not 295 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:19,320 Speaker 1: want this to be a light book. It was not, Oh, 296 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:21,639 Speaker 1: Marian is going to tell us about her life, you know, 297 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:24,000 Speaker 1: which is cool. I mean, like, I think that's there's 298 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:26,320 Speaker 1: a lot there. But it was a book that was 299 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:31,720 Speaker 1: decided like, this has to be more, and that's what 300 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:33,879 Speaker 1: ended up happening. So that's the kind of behind the 301 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:38,040 Speaker 1: story and why you know this relationship with my publisher 302 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:41,359 Speaker 1: is quite I don't know. I mean, I don't know 303 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:49,200 Speaker 1: the relationship between the publisher and Janine Cummins. My whole 304 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:53,679 Speaker 1: takeaway from the American Dirt situation, UM, and I have 305 00:19:53,800 --> 00:20:01,000 Speaker 1: read the book thoroughly, UM, is that it us encapsulate 306 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:06,159 Speaker 1: how little we are given the voice to tell our stories, 307 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:12,479 Speaker 1: that our stories, UM. With some exceptions, because you know, 308 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:22,240 Speaker 1: there is Sario and Umbalo, is it Oscar's journey, Um, 309 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:25,879 Speaker 1: it's the book about the movement that the child, the 310 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:33,639 Speaker 1: movement of children children leaving Central America. So we've had opportunities. 311 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:36,400 Speaker 1: That book is a bestseller. It was extraordinary reporting from 312 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:39,840 Speaker 1: when she started at the l A Times. But I 313 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:43,320 Speaker 1: could see how this book was written as a thriller. 314 00:20:43,359 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 1: It should have been marketed as a thriller. It should 315 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:48,800 Speaker 1: have never been marketed as this is the Grapes of 316 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:53,520 Speaker 1: Wrath for Latinos. It should have never been um marketed 317 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:57,159 Speaker 1: in that way, and they did. I can also completely 318 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:00,800 Speaker 1: understand by the way my one of my dear friends 319 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:04,439 Speaker 1: who got swept up in all of this, Sands. I 320 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:07,480 Speaker 1: can completely understand how Sand that I would read this 321 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:11,640 Speaker 1: book and also feel like there was important storytelling. There 322 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:15,280 Speaker 1: was there were human moments in the book, because there were, 323 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:19,400 Speaker 1: and she did do hard work, she did do research. 324 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:24,800 Speaker 1: But then there's this whole other side that she she 325 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:29,520 Speaker 1: should have never written that afterwards. She just like a 326 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:33,800 Speaker 1: kind of swept up in this stuff, and it's like, um, 327 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:40,119 Speaker 1: so so for me, I think a lot about people 328 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:42,960 Speaker 1: out there think that the author has the last say 329 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:45,440 Speaker 1: on everything, and in some cases we do. So I'm 330 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:47,160 Speaker 1: not going to tell you but there have been Yes, 331 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:49,080 Speaker 1: there were moments where I was like, no, that is 332 00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:51,439 Speaker 1: not going to happen. No, that is not going to 333 00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:53,800 Speaker 1: be the cover. No that is not the person who's 334 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:55,639 Speaker 1: going to be the blurb that is going to be 335 00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:58,800 Speaker 1: the largest. No, that blurb has got to go below 336 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:00,919 Speaker 1: and this one's got to go. So yeah, I was 337 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:05,960 Speaker 1: involved in that, and I think I learned from American Dirt, right, um. 338 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:12,480 Speaker 1: And I think the differences is that because this is 339 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:19,640 Speaker 1: my story and there's factual history, I'm not so worried 340 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:26,400 Speaker 1: about that that kind of backlash. I'm not I'm expecting 341 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:28,560 Speaker 1: some kind of backlash, but it's not going to be like, oh, 342 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 1: she's an impostor, you know, because because what I talked 343 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:35,160 Speaker 1: about on every other page is what ladies, I talk about, 344 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:39,760 Speaker 1: the impostor syndrome, right, which follows us Latinos and Latinos everywhere. 345 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:44,560 Speaker 1: It's um. So I would just say that that in 346 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:47,560 Speaker 1: terms of Sombra as the American Dirt, Sombra has definitely 347 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:50,399 Speaker 1: for me, I hope in a positive way, so that 348 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:54,639 Speaker 1: I learned some really positive lessons. Wow, Maria, thank you 349 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:59,280 Speaker 1: so much for sharing all of those different layers with us. 350 00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:01,800 Speaker 1: There's so much to talk about. And as you know, 351 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:05,159 Speaker 1: we're in our twenties, we are born and raised in 352 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:08,280 Speaker 1: the US who identify as Latin as as Latin X, 353 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:11,960 Speaker 1: and we're in the creative space. We make podcasts and 354 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:15,439 Speaker 1: we write, and we have a lot of contemporaries and 355 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:18,120 Speaker 1: a megas and home girls who are you know, our 356 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:21,600 Speaker 1: age or younger even who are also writing, and our 357 00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:24,359 Speaker 1: journalists and are in the creative space. And you know, 358 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:28,359 Speaker 1: like you're on Twitter, and when these things come out 359 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:31,520 Speaker 1: and and these voices of you know, the women that 360 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:34,639 Speaker 1: we look up to, like you or Sandracos, and we 361 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:37,800 Speaker 1: really um, it's been interesting to kind of just see 362 00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:41,320 Speaker 1: kind of how the elders have been responding and engaging 363 00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:44,760 Speaker 1: and talking and then to kind of have that multi 364 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:49,919 Speaker 1: generational experience on a platform like Twitter or Instagram where 365 00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:54,000 Speaker 1: you know, so much can happen on Twitter. And I 366 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:57,000 Speaker 1: wanted to ask you about Twitter specifically because we do 367 00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:58,879 Speaker 1: follow you on Twitter. We love following you on Twitter. 368 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:02,480 Speaker 1: We think carey um, so we want to and we 369 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:06,440 Speaker 1: spend time on Twitter, and so much of the digital 370 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:10,520 Speaker 1: journalism that takes place on the platform can be a 371 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:14,440 Speaker 1: incredible and informative, but there's also this kind of discourse 372 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:18,840 Speaker 1: that takes place on the platform that can be very rocky. So, um, 373 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:21,679 Speaker 1: I just wanted to ask you about Twitter and just 374 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:27,440 Speaker 1: whatever you wanted to say about it. Yeah. So, I, Um, 375 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:30,760 Speaker 1: every time I use Twitter, I'm like, I feel new, 376 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:37,040 Speaker 1: i feel like a perchon. I swear, I'm just like uh, 377 00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:38,920 Speaker 1: And I use it as you know, very I mean, 378 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:42,160 Speaker 1: and some sometimes I'm very engaged. Other times I'm kind 379 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:45,280 Speaker 1: of a way. I try not to be that person 380 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:48,160 Speaker 1: that is responding to everything at all times, because then 381 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:50,440 Speaker 1: I would be married to Twitter and I would literally 382 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:53,399 Speaker 1: lose my family for sure. And I could be married 383 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:55,760 Speaker 1: to Twitter. Like it's easy to be married to Twitter 384 00:24:55,920 --> 00:25:00,520 Speaker 1: or to Instagram. It's very easy, it is. Um. So 385 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:05,800 Speaker 1: I tried to approach it. IC's like very authentically in 386 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:14,440 Speaker 1: many ways. But I have learned my lessons in formas now, Um, 387 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:20,480 Speaker 1: black woman Twitter came after me and that was who who? 388 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:25,879 Speaker 1: That was really sad for me. I I was just heartbroken. Um, 389 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:34,400 Speaker 1: But I listened and and I did not immediately jerk back, 390 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:36,840 Speaker 1: which is what happens on Twitter. Right. Somebody says something 391 00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:40,000 Speaker 1: you're used to it, You're just like, oh what motherfucker. 392 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:42,320 Speaker 1: Oh no boom or or you know, just like, oh, 393 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:44,560 Speaker 1: you're a troll. Boom, You're you know, you're what's it 394 00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:47,600 Speaker 1: called it? You're blocked, right, You're blocked. You know it's 395 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:51,280 Speaker 1: it's We're very very reactive in that sense. And so 396 00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:55,560 Speaker 1: what happened in that moment, um it was when um, 397 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:58,840 Speaker 1: it was when we heard the cries of the babies 398 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:07,480 Speaker 1: in cages, which has been happening since forever. Right, Um, 399 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:11,000 Speaker 1: they tried to take me from my mother in the 400 00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:15,399 Speaker 1: nineties sixties. So was it a cage. I don't know, 401 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:19,280 Speaker 1: but they've certainly been taking us for centuries. But we 402 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:22,119 Speaker 1: did get that audio and people were talking and Laura 403 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:28,480 Speaker 1: Bush tweeted something that was, you know, um emotive, and 404 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:31,600 Speaker 1: and Michelle Obama retweeted that and said something like, um, 405 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:34,600 Speaker 1: you know, it was very cold. It was like, you know, 406 00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:37,680 Speaker 1: cold heart facts. And I was very disappointed with Michelle 407 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:41,080 Speaker 1: because I'm very disappointed with Barack on this particular issue. 408 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:44,879 Speaker 1: I'm disappointed that he never gave me an interview, um, 409 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:47,200 Speaker 1: to to look at me eye to eye because I 410 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:52,439 Speaker 1: went to school with this guy, like I know him, UM, 411 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:56,520 Speaker 1: and they they said, look, you cannot you know, you 412 00:26:56,560 --> 00:27:00,240 Speaker 1: need to understand that that you cannot hold Michelle Obama 413 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:04,280 Speaker 1: responsible for everything at every moment. And I had to 414 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:08,280 Speaker 1: take a pause. At that point, I was doing therapy 415 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:12,560 Speaker 1: UM around a couple of issues. By the way, ego 416 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:17,359 Speaker 1: is a really complicated one because as Latinas we need huge, 417 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:23,520 Speaker 1: huge egos. We do, and we also need to be 418 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:29,280 Speaker 1: incredibly humble. So it is a it is a dance, um. 419 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:33,200 Speaker 1: It is a constant dance UM. And so I had 420 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:37,000 Speaker 1: to really pause and I listened. There were some people 421 00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:39,280 Speaker 1: who deemed me and they said, you don't know how 422 00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:41,920 Speaker 1: hurt so many of us feel. And then I was 423 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:44,680 Speaker 1: kind of like I didn't realize I had a following, 424 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:47,239 Speaker 1: and that was beautiful to realize, like, wow, there are 425 00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:50,240 Speaker 1: many black women who who care about what I think. 426 00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:55,440 Speaker 1: In that moment, I was like okay, no, and I apologized. 427 00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:57,199 Speaker 1: I went straight up and I was like, listen, I 428 00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:03,199 Speaker 1: am sorry, I'm learning. And that is where I feel like, again, 429 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:05,840 Speaker 1: there are places where you can maybe get us a 430 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:11,760 Speaker 1: little bit of a smoothness. Smooth smoothness on Twitter, I 431 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:17,240 Speaker 1: am hyper aware of cancel culture. I think American Dirt 432 00:28:17,359 --> 00:28:20,640 Speaker 1: was the experience was really hard. What happened to santrac 433 00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:25,800 Speaker 1: Nero's was it was horrible. Um. So I appreciate the 434 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:31,760 Speaker 1: conversation around elders and sabsky uh elders as you as 435 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:35,560 Speaker 1: it were. I hate thinking that I am one, but okay, 436 00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:40,360 Speaker 1: we make mistakes, were not perfect. I'm not going to 437 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:45,720 Speaker 1: speak for Sandra, um, but so I I wish and 438 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:48,640 Speaker 1: I've said this to Sandra that we had done the 439 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:55,840 Speaker 1: interview the next morning, A yes, taba infirma and um 440 00:28:55,960 --> 00:29:01,840 Speaker 1: and and the emotions were raw. Um. And like I said, 441 00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:05,680 Speaker 1: I can completely understand how someone can read American dirt 442 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:11,720 Speaker 1: and say like it humanized. It humanized moments. I can 443 00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:16,120 Speaker 1: also understand it went over to you know, trauma porn 444 00:29:17,080 --> 00:29:20,160 Speaker 1: too much. It was too simplistic. There were things that 445 00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:23,560 Speaker 1: were you know, didn't make logical sense, but they make 446 00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:26,560 Speaker 1: sense if you're writing a thriller, a thriller which was 447 00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:33,360 Speaker 1: a page turner. Um. So I've been the Twitter experience 448 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:37,240 Speaker 1: has been like I could not lose lose my friendship 449 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:42,960 Speaker 1: because of Twitter, Like that's some bullshit, you know. Um. 450 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:47,160 Speaker 1: And I'm I don't don't participate or want to be 451 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:55,960 Speaker 1: part of cancel culture. UM. I'm against fascism. I'm against racism, 452 00:29:56,000 --> 00:30:02,960 Speaker 1: I'm against anti Semitism, I'm again anti Mexican is M's, 453 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:09,640 Speaker 1: I'm against anti Latin X, anti lgbt Q, my trans family. 454 00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:12,760 Speaker 1: So if you do that on my Twitter, fuck you. 455 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:20,080 Speaker 1: You are canceled back. But it's another thing. And I know, 456 00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:22,160 Speaker 1: I don't know if you guys know this, but actually 457 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:26,040 Speaker 1: I don't get a lot of hate on Twitter. It's interesting. 458 00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:28,440 Speaker 1: I'm not one of those people that people are like. 459 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:32,000 Speaker 1: I know, I can see the trolls. I can see 460 00:30:32,080 --> 00:30:35,480 Speaker 1: where they're troll farming, and they're very good. They are 461 00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:38,720 Speaker 1: very well educated people. They know how to get under 462 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:42,040 Speaker 1: your skin, the trolls. But I'm just like boom blocked blocked, 463 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:46,800 Speaker 1: block block block. But other than that, um, I I 464 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:48,520 Speaker 1: don't know why it is that I don't get a 465 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:53,600 Speaker 1: whole whole amount of hatred on Twitter. Um But it 466 00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:56,120 Speaker 1: is a thing, and it is and I'm a baby 467 00:30:56,120 --> 00:30:58,640 Speaker 1: on Twitter. You know, I don't have that that many followers, 468 00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:03,640 Speaker 1: so I'm still a baby. Um And and there's parts 469 00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:05,000 Speaker 1: of it that I love, but parts of it that 470 00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:12,640 Speaker 1: I really hate too. Or Cara Belly ros and and 471 00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:20,000 Speaker 1: and and and and and and and and and and 472 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:28,520 Speaker 1: and and and and and and send bell rang back 473 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:35,480 Speaker 1: and and send that rang back and and and and 474 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:45,840 Speaker 1: and um um um um um um um um um 475 00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:56,880 Speaker 1: um um um of it and little ship um. It's fascinating. 476 00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:00,600 Speaker 1: I saw a tweet not too long and go where 477 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:04,760 Speaker 1: there was this comparison made between cancel culture and sort 478 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:09,520 Speaker 1: of decades in our like news media of of truly 479 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:13,360 Speaker 1: canceling people, right and saying so and so is just 480 00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:17,120 Speaker 1: done right, like Tiger Woods is done, and it's it's 481 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:19,280 Speaker 1: in the headlines and it's on TV, and it's in 482 00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:22,680 Speaker 1: printed newspapers and you know, there's and sort of bringing 483 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:26,760 Speaker 1: up there has been a cancel culture. There has been 484 00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:29,560 Speaker 1: a um and we can name other people. You know, 485 00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:34,560 Speaker 1: Britney Spears was horrifically canceled racist and Twitter. Twitter didn't 486 00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:37,080 Speaker 1: need to exist for that to happen to Britney Spears, right, 487 00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:40,360 Speaker 1: And we can list on and on celebrities mostly right. 488 00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:44,640 Speaker 1: So I I just wonder too about the magnitude of 489 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:47,080 Speaker 1: the cancel culture because we can look at you know, 490 00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:49,600 Speaker 1: if NBC says somebody is canceled, or if the l 491 00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:53,040 Speaker 1: A Time says someone's canceled, um or if a million 492 00:32:53,120 --> 00:32:57,760 Speaker 1: people on Twitter come after Jennine Cummings. But I also 493 00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:02,800 Speaker 1: don't know that Jenny lost us her like stuff. No no, no, no, no, no, 494 00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:06,200 Speaker 1: no no no, I'm sorry. There's a dog in the background. 495 00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:08,760 Speaker 1: So I just I just I found that it's a 496 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:12,160 Speaker 1: best seller. It remains it remains a best seller, right, 497 00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:15,080 Speaker 1: So I thought that was fascinating, right, And like, like, 498 00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:19,040 Speaker 1: do we do we recognize that this this tendency to 499 00:33:20,320 --> 00:33:26,440 Speaker 1: cut people because of mistakes big, humongous or or or small? Um? 500 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:29,959 Speaker 1: Do we recognize that it's something that we've been exposed 501 00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:34,520 Speaker 1: to for many, many many years? Right? Um? Yeah, you 502 00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:38,440 Speaker 1: know you know what you know who's been canceled? And 503 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:45,240 Speaker 1: exactly right right right right right, Like to me, that's 504 00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:48,080 Speaker 1: what once I was you is about, Like if there's 505 00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:52,320 Speaker 1: something it's it's it's the fact that, man, we've been invisible, 506 00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:56,440 Speaker 1: like we've actually been visible, but you make us invisible again. 507 00:33:56,600 --> 00:33:58,680 Speaker 1: It's like it stumblest you know. I think at one 508 00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:00,280 Speaker 1: point in the book, I'm like, you know how many 509 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:02,920 Speaker 1: times as Time Magazine put us, and it's like the 510 00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:05,760 Speaker 1: decade of the Hispanics or the decade of Latinos or 511 00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:09,680 Speaker 1: Mexico or Mexico or whatever, like we've been on the cover. 512 00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:13,280 Speaker 1: You know, Time used to be a hugely influential magazine. 513 00:34:15,160 --> 00:34:21,200 Speaker 1: But where are we? Um? And and you know, being invisible, 514 00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:25,520 Speaker 1: so cancel culture is about making something invisible. Being invisible 515 00:34:25,680 --> 00:34:30,239 Speaker 1: is actually really bad for your mental health. So that's 516 00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:31,880 Speaker 1: why I'm so proud of the work that you all 517 00:34:31,920 --> 00:34:34,520 Speaker 1: are doing that because you all were like, well, we 518 00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:37,080 Speaker 1: don't even care, like we're gonna do it no matter 519 00:34:37,160 --> 00:34:39,040 Speaker 1: what we're gonna we're gonna take up this space we're 520 00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:42,640 Speaker 1: gonna make or we're gonna make ourselves visible to your invisibility. 521 00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:44,840 Speaker 1: We're gonna help you a notch and that's what we 522 00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:50,520 Speaker 1: need there, I mean, yeah, ideally, you know, we own 523 00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:55,120 Speaker 1: you know, mega studios, and we're making movies for the 524 00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:57,880 Speaker 1: one out of every four Latinos that go used to 525 00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:00,080 Speaker 1: buy movie tickets. You know, one day we will go 526 00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:03,040 Speaker 1: back to the movies again, because one day we we must, 527 00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:07,200 Speaker 1: I hope one day, um, you know, one out of 528 00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:09,840 Speaker 1: four movie ticket sales is bought by a Latino or 529 00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:13,719 Speaker 1: Latino so come up where they say the gay you 530 00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:15,960 Speaker 1: know in all and my daughter is a filmmaker, we 531 00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:17,800 Speaker 1: would go to the movies all the time. That's what 532 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:20,759 Speaker 1: we did, and that films about latinos or latinos or 533 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:24,439 Speaker 1: that started you know nada, I mean yes here or there. 534 00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:30,320 Speaker 1: So ideally, yeah, you know we we we become mega producers. 535 00:35:30,400 --> 00:35:34,200 Speaker 1: Like my small company, Fudo Media is growing. I believe 536 00:35:34,640 --> 00:35:37,200 Speaker 1: somebody told me stop calling it a small company. I'm like, okay, 537 00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:39,759 Speaker 1: we've been around for a decade. You know, we're a 538 00:35:39,840 --> 00:35:43,200 Speaker 1: multimillion dollar company. We're a nonprofit. We are launching a 539 00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:47,279 Speaker 1: for profit side. We're growing. We need more of that, 540 00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:50,040 Speaker 1: more of what you're doing, because Alfina Liquin does. What 541 00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:54,160 Speaker 1: we are doing is we're using our voices and our power, 542 00:35:54,239 --> 00:35:56,640 Speaker 1: which is another message of once once I was you. 543 00:35:57,440 --> 00:36:00,840 Speaker 1: We are using that to answer back, answer back, answer 544 00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:05,160 Speaker 1: back at all the time, and historically that's all we 545 00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:09,879 Speaker 1: could do. Like if you read Stamped, the beautiful book 546 00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:12,640 Speaker 1: by Abram X. Kendy, who also wrote the book How 547 00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:16,360 Speaker 1: to Be an Anti Racist Stamped from the beginning, what 548 00:36:16,520 --> 00:36:19,000 Speaker 1: you understand, it was so beautiful when he just said 549 00:36:20,520 --> 00:36:24,560 Speaker 1: the only thing that we've had to respond to the 550 00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:27,279 Speaker 1: narrative that they have created about us is to create 551 00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:30,560 Speaker 1: our own narrative in response and many of us do 552 00:36:30,680 --> 00:36:33,359 Speaker 1: it through art, right, whether it's through art, whether it's 553 00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:36,560 Speaker 1: through dance, whether through music or drumming. And you know 554 00:36:36,719 --> 00:36:39,840 Speaker 1: Frederick Douglas, you know, my my, my Badino did it 555 00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:43,719 Speaker 1: by creating a newspaper. Um. Yes, I know he's criticized 556 00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:46,919 Speaker 1: for being something of an app assimilationist if you really 557 00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:49,320 Speaker 1: want to get to it. But still he is my 558 00:36:49,520 --> 00:36:53,400 Speaker 1: constant inspiration because this is what it looks like. It 559 00:36:53,800 --> 00:36:57,800 Speaker 1: is Jovita, you know, whom ran a newspaper out of 560 00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:01,120 Speaker 1: it Baso in the early nineteen hundreds and was tried 561 00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:03,719 Speaker 1: to be shut down by the Texas Rangers. And she 562 00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:08,520 Speaker 1: stood there and said Macrusoncruson, So we are having to 563 00:37:08,719 --> 00:37:12,920 Speaker 1: always take back the narrative. And that is apart from 564 00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:18,120 Speaker 1: the political power, the people power, the organizing the narrative, 565 00:37:18,239 --> 00:37:22,120 Speaker 1: the storytelling, how things are handed down, the manipulation of this, 566 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:25,680 Speaker 1: the image that is created of us. So everything that 567 00:37:25,840 --> 00:37:29,759 Speaker 1: we do that you do, that I do purposefully, it's 568 00:37:29,840 --> 00:37:34,759 Speaker 1: to create another image. Yes, I'm a fifty something year 569 00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:39,080 Speaker 1: old boxer, that's right, that's what I do. And I 570 00:37:39,239 --> 00:37:42,239 Speaker 1: talk about sex. I don't have a problem with that 571 00:37:42,440 --> 00:37:45,640 Speaker 1: because that's that's how I'm going to change the image 572 00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:49,279 Speaker 1: I talk about, you know, being an entrepreneur. I talked 573 00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:51,360 Speaker 1: about that because that's the image that you need to 574 00:37:51,440 --> 00:37:53,879 Speaker 1: have of what a Mexican woman from the South Side 575 00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:57,360 Speaker 1: of Chicago who's married to a Dominican man living in Harlem. 576 00:37:57,440 --> 00:37:59,160 Speaker 1: That's what we look like. That's how we do. That's 577 00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:01,480 Speaker 1: how we do. Are based in Los Angeles, and the 578 00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:04,080 Speaker 1: Latin x journalists at the l A times have been 579 00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:07,719 Speaker 1: very vocal I'm watching, Yeah, you're watching right, so that 580 00:38:07,880 --> 00:38:10,479 Speaker 1: that conversation is going on and we're watching and it's 581 00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:13,480 Speaker 1: it's huge. And one of the reasons why we love 582 00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:15,879 Speaker 1: you also so much is because of your foot Futal 583 00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:19,080 Speaker 1: Media group and the podcasting that you're doing and the 584 00:38:19,160 --> 00:38:21,480 Speaker 1: way you're taking up space in the podcast world, and 585 00:38:21,640 --> 00:38:24,680 Speaker 1: we are trying to do the same thing. Right. We're 586 00:38:24,719 --> 00:38:28,319 Speaker 1: a small podcast production company ourselves look at that our productions, 587 00:38:28,719 --> 00:38:33,680 Speaker 1: and we don't see a ton of the US Latin 588 00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:39,600 Speaker 1: x UM podcasting outside of like what you're doing and 589 00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:42,080 Speaker 1: what kind of the folks in our communities have been 590 00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:45,920 Speaker 1: working on. There's a podcaster that we know who is 591 00:38:46,160 --> 00:38:49,560 Speaker 1: Latina Um who's based in London and she has her 592 00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:52,799 Speaker 1: Centa Press, not in London, in Paris and she has 593 00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:56,200 Speaker 1: her O Centa Press studios and so they do trilingual programming. 594 00:38:56,320 --> 00:39:01,280 Speaker 1: And yeah, so like you know there's Latin there's Latina 595 00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:05,560 Speaker 1: specifically Mohetz who are like creating podcast networks, whether it's 596 00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:07,799 Speaker 1: like in l A, like US and you in New 597 00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:10,320 Speaker 1: York and you know Laurie in Paris, and I just 598 00:39:10,520 --> 00:39:12,279 Speaker 1: think it's really cool and I wanted to ask about 599 00:39:12,360 --> 00:39:16,520 Speaker 1: Latinas and podcasting specifically and and why you love the 600 00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:21,920 Speaker 1: space and why you like podcasting. So my career started 601 00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:27,840 Speaker 1: in radio, like um, I mean there were no Latinas 602 00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:31,360 Speaker 1: on television doing journalism, so and just even thinking I 603 00:39:31,400 --> 00:39:33,919 Speaker 1: could be a journalist wasn't really something that I thought 604 00:39:33,920 --> 00:39:37,040 Speaker 1: because I never saw it. So invisibility really has consequences, 605 00:39:37,719 --> 00:39:40,920 Speaker 1: you know, it has a ripple effect. But I started 606 00:39:40,960 --> 00:39:44,400 Speaker 1: doing radio at the college radio station here at at 607 00:39:44,440 --> 00:39:48,000 Speaker 1: Columbia University. I was at Barnard, the Women's College, and 608 00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:52,480 Speaker 1: it was actually Twitter before Twitter. It was like that Twitter. 609 00:39:52,600 --> 00:39:55,920 Speaker 1: And I think in many places still is that. Yes, 610 00:39:56,480 --> 00:39:58,840 Speaker 1: I don't know l A enough, but I know that 611 00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:04,160 Speaker 1: obviously our radio stations get It's just like media, right, 612 00:40:04,239 --> 00:40:08,360 Speaker 1: it's like really really tight, right. We love radio and 613 00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:11,520 Speaker 1: actually Latinos and Latinos are committed to radio. So I 614 00:40:11,640 --> 00:40:14,480 Speaker 1: wish that we I wish that we had more people 615 00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:20,080 Speaker 1: who understood like the business potential UM and that saw 616 00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:23,600 Speaker 1: us as partners as opposed to UM, I don't know 617 00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:32,319 Speaker 1: locals UM. So radio has always been like it's where 618 00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:37,880 Speaker 1: I learned how to do my journalism. It's I understood 619 00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:40,560 Speaker 1: my voice. I understood the power of voice and sound. 620 00:40:40,719 --> 00:40:43,239 Speaker 1: I mean, first I just was a disc jockey at DJ. 621 00:40:43,480 --> 00:40:48,040 Speaker 1: I played protest music, mus all the protest music from 622 00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:51,880 Speaker 1: the you know, sixties and seventies and eighties. It was 623 00:40:51,960 --> 00:40:55,799 Speaker 1: all protest music in Latin America in but then when 624 00:40:55,840 --> 00:41:01,320 Speaker 1: I started to create radio with Scott's Timon at at NPR, 625 00:41:02,560 --> 00:41:04,960 Speaker 1: we were doing long form radio. So it was all 626 00:41:05,160 --> 00:41:09,319 Speaker 1: about the sound, all about oh no, no, you're gonna 627 00:41:09,719 --> 00:41:11,479 Speaker 1: I mean, I would go into mixes and I would 628 00:41:11,520 --> 00:41:14,759 Speaker 1: have like, I mean, people are gonna be like ideas, 629 00:41:14,840 --> 00:41:16,719 Speaker 1: what you know? I would I would walk in with 630 00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:19,120 Speaker 1: like eight reels, eight or nine reels. We have eight 631 00:41:19,239 --> 00:41:21,000 Speaker 1: or nine reels going, and you guys are like, what 632 00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:23,320 Speaker 1: are reels? Well, okay, whatever, look it up on the Internet. 633 00:41:25,080 --> 00:41:30,120 Speaker 1: So it was all about creating sound using moments of 634 00:41:30,360 --> 00:41:34,360 Speaker 1: people's voices when you would hear them tremble or or 635 00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:37,520 Speaker 1: the pause right before they started to cry, or the 636 00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:42,560 Speaker 1: joy and so I always understood radio as a way 637 00:41:42,719 --> 00:41:47,640 Speaker 1: to get into people's hearts really through their ears and um. 638 00:41:47,680 --> 00:41:49,360 Speaker 1: And then I ended up doing a lot of television, 639 00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:51,920 Speaker 1: which also, if you're doing long form television, it's really cool. 640 00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:54,279 Speaker 1: If you're doing live television at CNN, it's really cool. 641 00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:57,160 Speaker 1: It's really fun. But this is something that stays. And 642 00:41:57,239 --> 00:42:00,680 Speaker 1: when I created Media, I'm trying to drop the group. 643 00:42:00,719 --> 00:42:03,239 Speaker 1: I think it's better just futuro media. But when I 644 00:42:03,320 --> 00:42:08,239 Speaker 1: created futuro Media, I was going to focus on podcasting 645 00:42:08,320 --> 00:42:10,520 Speaker 1: and public television. And people are like, are you crazy, 646 00:42:10,640 --> 00:42:13,440 Speaker 1: Like nobody's listening to the radio, nobody's looking at public television. 647 00:42:14,080 --> 00:42:17,200 Speaker 1: Public television sadly they lost us because they did not 648 00:42:17,400 --> 00:42:23,319 Speaker 1: renew their grants with us. So that's a thing. That's 649 00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:26,719 Speaker 1: that's the thing. I'm not happy about it. I should 650 00:42:26,760 --> 00:42:30,040 Speaker 1: be on public television. I should have a primetime show 651 00:42:30,120 --> 00:42:35,200 Speaker 1: on public television. Bill I should I should out I 652 00:42:35,239 --> 00:42:39,480 Speaker 1: don't know, you know, but or whatever. Um, But people 653 00:42:39,520 --> 00:42:45,120 Speaker 1: were like, NA, radio, it's gonna keep And I think 654 00:42:45,239 --> 00:42:50,799 Speaker 1: that for Latinos and Latinas and in general black indigenous 655 00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:55,120 Speaker 1: people of color, uh, in general, podcasting is still an 656 00:42:55,160 --> 00:42:58,200 Speaker 1: open market. So I know again, I keep on telling 657 00:42:58,239 --> 00:42:59,920 Speaker 1: you how proud I am of you because you're doing 658 00:43:00,040 --> 00:43:02,759 Speaker 1: in this younger. It took me many years to get 659 00:43:02,800 --> 00:43:05,440 Speaker 1: to that point, So keep going, don't give up. I mean, 660 00:43:05,560 --> 00:43:12,720 Speaker 1: I I learned um by talking to every single Latino 661 00:43:12,880 --> 00:43:15,799 Speaker 1: entrepreneur who I could meet, and I would ask them, 662 00:43:15,800 --> 00:43:17,680 Speaker 1: how do you do it? Because this is really terrifying, 663 00:43:18,360 --> 00:43:21,680 Speaker 1: like when you have staff and you have payroll, Holy 664 00:43:21,800 --> 00:43:25,040 Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, you know, and it's like whoa And they 665 00:43:25,160 --> 00:43:27,880 Speaker 1: would just say you. Just one of them is a 666 00:43:27,960 --> 00:43:30,360 Speaker 1: triathlonist and she said, you just keep on breathing, like 667 00:43:30,440 --> 00:43:33,920 Speaker 1: when you're swimming swimming her scuba diving. You just never 668 00:43:34,000 --> 00:43:36,440 Speaker 1: stopped breathing. And I was like, that is the stupidest 669 00:43:36,840 --> 00:43:44,080 Speaker 1: piece of advice. You gotta be kidding me, Yes, you know, 670 00:43:44,200 --> 00:43:46,960 Speaker 1: you just do. You have to be like, Okay, here 671 00:43:47,040 --> 00:43:50,120 Speaker 1: we go. Here, it's this whole other situation. We're gonna 672 00:43:50,160 --> 00:43:51,719 Speaker 1: have to figure out how to move through it. And 673 00:43:53,080 --> 00:43:56,080 Speaker 1: and I hope that you just don't give up. That's 674 00:43:56,120 --> 00:44:00,719 Speaker 1: my message to all of the Latinos and Latinas who 675 00:44:00,840 --> 00:44:03,560 Speaker 1: are thinking about moving into this space. It is hard, 676 00:44:03,680 --> 00:44:06,120 Speaker 1: it is scary. One of the things that I would 677 00:44:06,120 --> 00:44:09,879 Speaker 1: say to myself when it was really hard, as I'd say, 678 00:44:09,880 --> 00:44:12,120 Speaker 1: I would say, Okay, who else is having a really 679 00:44:12,360 --> 00:44:16,160 Speaker 1: fucked up day in the media space? Who else is 680 00:44:16,280 --> 00:44:19,720 Speaker 1: having real challenges? I would be like mm hmm, oprah 681 00:44:20,560 --> 00:44:24,040 Speaker 1: m hmmm. Because at that point Oprah had launched her channel, 682 00:44:24,160 --> 00:44:26,200 Speaker 1: she had borrowed you know whatever. I think it was 683 00:44:26,239 --> 00:44:29,360 Speaker 1: five hundred million or seven hundred million. It wasn't her money. 684 00:44:29,880 --> 00:44:32,640 Speaker 1: You know, the ratings were tanking. She hadn't found her groove. 685 00:44:33,239 --> 00:44:35,680 Speaker 1: And I'm like, okay, she's having a bad day and 686 00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:38,160 Speaker 1: look at so I can you know, so we can 687 00:44:38,200 --> 00:44:42,719 Speaker 1: do this perspective. Yeah, I feel like we just got 688 00:44:42,920 --> 00:44:57,040 Speaker 1: like our podcast, Like, yes, I feel glass well, I'm 689 00:44:57,080 --> 00:44:59,239 Speaker 1: trying no, no, actually it's very interesting. You know, we're 690 00:44:59,320 --> 00:45:03,440 Speaker 1: trying to sell of the book. So um, you know, 691 00:45:03,719 --> 00:45:07,680 Speaker 1: it's all well and good. But until once I was 692 00:45:07,800 --> 00:45:12,239 Speaker 1: you is a bestseller, I am not going to rest. Um. 693 00:45:12,440 --> 00:45:13,960 Speaker 1: You know, this morning I woke up and I was 694 00:45:14,000 --> 00:45:15,719 Speaker 1: like are you anxious? And I was like, no, you 695 00:45:15,800 --> 00:45:19,120 Speaker 1: were anxious many years ago when you had like real 696 00:45:19,480 --> 00:45:22,200 Speaker 1: you know, your friend was dying of cancer, your dad 697 00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:26,080 Speaker 1: was dying of Alzheimer's, your marriage was at a tipping point, 698 00:45:26,200 --> 00:45:32,520 Speaker 1: like anxiety. I'm much calmer now. But but then I 699 00:45:32,600 --> 00:45:35,200 Speaker 1: said to myself, but i'll be really calm when once 700 00:45:35,239 --> 00:45:37,160 Speaker 1: I was. You is on the best seller list, and 701 00:45:37,200 --> 00:45:40,239 Speaker 1: I'm like, how horrible? But I really do. We're we're 702 00:45:40,320 --> 00:45:42,840 Speaker 1: trying to find ways to sell the book, to promote 703 00:45:42,880 --> 00:45:46,080 Speaker 1: the book too, you know. So so like you know, 704 00:45:46,160 --> 00:45:48,920 Speaker 1: benicion is like, do is that the way I gotta get? Like, 705 00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:53,160 Speaker 1: if you buy the book, you know you'll get an 706 00:45:53,239 --> 00:45:58,480 Speaker 1: individual Ben, So I need you needs Latin a seidas 707 00:45:58,520 --> 00:46:00,200 Speaker 1: to help me figure out give me idea is for 708 00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:03,680 Speaker 1: what to do. I was just gonna say, I was 709 00:46:03,719 --> 00:46:07,480 Speaker 1: gonna say this, Um, I think there is definitely a 710 00:46:07,640 --> 00:46:11,120 Speaker 1: desire for podcast Madrina's out there. So if you wanted 711 00:46:11,160 --> 00:46:16,000 Speaker 1: to become everyone's podcast Madrina and uh you know mentor 712 00:46:16,200 --> 00:46:19,960 Speaker 1: the younger generation, I think we would sign up a sap. 713 00:46:20,200 --> 00:46:24,360 Speaker 1: Absolutely just saying but I had a question, Yeah, I 714 00:46:24,480 --> 00:46:27,239 Speaker 1: had a question. Um, going back, you know in the 715 00:46:27,400 --> 00:46:30,600 Speaker 1: beginning of our conversation, you said that you had a 716 00:46:30,719 --> 00:46:33,200 Speaker 1: feeling Once I Was You was going to be pigeonholed 717 00:46:33,239 --> 00:46:37,200 Speaker 1: as an immigration story or immigration novel. What is your 718 00:46:37,400 --> 00:46:41,319 Speaker 1: vision for Once I Was You? What do you want 719 00:46:41,440 --> 00:46:48,000 Speaker 1: the public to take away from it? So, um, my 720 00:46:48,239 --> 00:46:52,279 Speaker 1: vision is that that Once I Was You becomes one 721 00:46:52,360 --> 00:46:56,320 Speaker 1: of the important intersectional books written by a Latino and 722 00:46:56,360 --> 00:46:59,800 Speaker 1: the United States of America. Because to me, Once I 723 00:47:00,000 --> 00:47:04,120 Speaker 1: As You is really an intersectional book. M who is 724 00:47:04,600 --> 00:47:09,239 Speaker 1: my best friend Madrina who keeps me straight? Is an 725 00:47:09,239 --> 00:47:14,239 Speaker 1: African American woman named Sandy Ratley who is, um, you know, 726 00:47:14,440 --> 00:47:19,120 Speaker 1: my my my wisdom guide, and my ramanna and and 727 00:47:19,280 --> 00:47:22,200 Speaker 1: my colleague. Actually we worked together and she's a best 728 00:47:22,280 --> 00:47:24,840 Speaker 1: friend of my husband. I mean we're very tight. She's 729 00:47:24,960 --> 00:47:27,920 Speaker 1: she's a black woman who has taught me so much 730 00:47:28,040 --> 00:47:32,120 Speaker 1: about understanding my power because she is a black woman. Um, 731 00:47:32,880 --> 00:47:38,919 Speaker 1: you know, there is the intersectionality of of me being 732 00:47:38,960 --> 00:47:42,000 Speaker 1: a part of the civil rights era. So it is 733 00:47:42,040 --> 00:47:44,759 Speaker 1: a feminist book. In my view. It is a it 734 00:47:44,920 --> 00:47:50,200 Speaker 1: is a feminism from a woman of colors perspective. Right um. 735 00:47:50,360 --> 00:47:53,680 Speaker 1: It is a history book, right um. And its history 736 00:47:53,800 --> 00:47:56,680 Speaker 1: in the sense of taking back our history and therefore 737 00:47:56,719 --> 00:48:01,400 Speaker 1: giving us information UM to empower us to have the dialogue. UM, 738 00:48:01,760 --> 00:48:04,480 Speaker 1: I hope I don't know, I can't remember now, but 739 00:48:04,600 --> 00:48:08,360 Speaker 1: I hope that my my connection to them, to the 740 00:48:08,920 --> 00:48:12,680 Speaker 1: queer specifically l g B, t Q and and and 741 00:48:12,800 --> 00:48:15,440 Speaker 1: to the trans community. I'm not so sure it comes 742 00:48:15,480 --> 00:48:18,880 Speaker 1: out in this book or I can't remember, but UM, 743 00:48:19,040 --> 00:48:21,880 Speaker 1: they're a very important part of kind of my experience. 744 00:48:21,960 --> 00:48:24,719 Speaker 1: And I hope that you know, I've been told by um, 745 00:48:25,880 --> 00:48:28,760 Speaker 1: by Gabi Ribera, who you know, whose handle is Quirky Weekend, 746 00:48:29,560 --> 00:48:32,160 Speaker 1: that I'm like, uh, thea. You know, I'm the queer 747 00:48:32,320 --> 00:48:35,480 Speaker 1: people's queer Latin X tier. Yeah, you know that people 748 00:48:36,160 --> 00:48:39,520 Speaker 1: see themselves in me, and they saw Madame Mucho. You know. 749 00:48:39,719 --> 00:48:45,319 Speaker 1: I love that. So I would hope that it's that yes, 750 00:48:45,440 --> 00:48:48,640 Speaker 1: for Latinos and Latinas, that we you are going to 751 00:48:48,760 --> 00:48:53,800 Speaker 1: have a very particular relationship to it. And I'm so 752 00:48:54,120 --> 00:48:57,000 Speaker 1: happy about that because we need that desperately. What we're 753 00:48:57,080 --> 00:49:01,200 Speaker 1: being made invisible and reduced to, you know, being criminals 754 00:49:01,680 --> 00:49:04,600 Speaker 1: by this administration, every single one of us. So we 755 00:49:04,760 --> 00:49:09,160 Speaker 1: need that, we need that connection to our souls. But 756 00:49:10,080 --> 00:49:12,719 Speaker 1: I am a product of the south side of Chicago, 757 00:49:13,840 --> 00:49:17,399 Speaker 1: Martin Luther King for me. Yeah, I know, yeah, he's 758 00:49:17,440 --> 00:49:19,960 Speaker 1: like an old and you know, but but he was 759 00:49:20,040 --> 00:49:22,840 Speaker 1: actually somebody who I saw and spoke to me like 760 00:49:23,000 --> 00:49:26,239 Speaker 1: he made me think like damn, if he can be 761 00:49:26,320 --> 00:49:29,560 Speaker 1: a leader and he's black, then like maybe I can. 762 00:49:29,840 --> 00:49:33,840 Speaker 1: You know, um, I know, crazy, but we needed that 763 00:49:34,000 --> 00:49:37,520 Speaker 1: because we were so invisible. Um you know, the feminism, 764 00:49:37,760 --> 00:49:41,320 Speaker 1: the being a survivor of sexual sexual assault, of rape. 765 00:49:41,880 --> 00:49:46,719 Speaker 1: I would hope that you know, my cannabis community by 766 00:49:46,719 --> 00:49:51,640 Speaker 1: the way, um you know my cannabis community, that I 767 00:49:51,800 --> 00:49:56,160 Speaker 1: hope that they understand right that that um you know, 768 00:49:56,360 --> 00:50:01,279 Speaker 1: I I really, I mean, you know, I was not 769 00:50:01,520 --> 00:50:06,120 Speaker 1: that post nine eleven with PTSD. My husband was the 770 00:50:06,200 --> 00:50:07,799 Speaker 1: one and I was like, no, no, I don't think, 771 00:50:07,840 --> 00:50:14,000 Speaker 1: I can I think and then to fucking calm down. Yeah. Right. 772 00:50:14,560 --> 00:50:18,040 Speaker 1: So I'm dying for this book to be part received 773 00:50:18,120 --> 00:50:20,040 Speaker 1: in the I mean it's a throwaway line. It was 774 00:50:20,080 --> 00:50:22,239 Speaker 1: a bigger part of the book. They led it to 775 00:50:22,280 --> 00:50:24,120 Speaker 1: be just like throw it. But I'm like, I am 776 00:50:24,160 --> 00:50:26,200 Speaker 1: a kind of public person and I am revealing that 777 00:50:26,400 --> 00:50:30,600 Speaker 1: I consume cannabis and there's very little of that. Like 778 00:50:30,840 --> 00:50:35,719 Speaker 1: Latina marijuana representation and I love it. I'm here for it. 779 00:50:36,040 --> 00:50:41,240 Speaker 1: Oh hell yes, because nois not alone. Nois It's another 780 00:50:41,320 --> 00:50:43,480 Speaker 1: one of those things that were made, you know, when 781 00:50:43,560 --> 00:50:47,000 Speaker 1: I realized that, like I will eat us in Mexico 782 00:50:47,160 --> 00:50:55,759 Speaker 1: City growing, having growing leaves and taking the leaves and 783 00:50:55,880 --> 00:50:59,120 Speaker 1: making because they put into alcohol and then they use it. 784 00:50:59,800 --> 00:51:03,360 Speaker 1: So I'm like, come on, now, come on now. Na 785 00:51:03,800 --> 00:51:07,759 Speaker 1: once brought me like a tincture from Mexico and it 786 00:51:07,920 --> 00:51:14,080 Speaker 1: was cannabis and peyote oil. Good stuff, very good stuff. 787 00:51:15,680 --> 00:51:19,680 Speaker 1: So that would be my hope is that the different communities. Oh, 788 00:51:19,840 --> 00:51:24,080 Speaker 1: I have a dream that the Vietnamese community, Asian community 789 00:51:24,160 --> 00:51:27,480 Speaker 1: writ large. But of course, you know, to take it 790 00:51:27,560 --> 00:51:29,560 Speaker 1: apart a little bit more, I write a lot about 791 00:51:30,320 --> 00:51:35,560 Speaker 1: the experience of the Vietnamese community because they are blanketed 792 00:51:35,600 --> 00:51:38,920 Speaker 1: again kind of you know, with a big swath. And 793 00:51:39,000 --> 00:51:40,800 Speaker 1: as a journalist, I'm like, I'm not going to do that. 794 00:51:41,120 --> 00:51:44,040 Speaker 1: So I'm hopeful that like it gets into the hands 795 00:51:44,080 --> 00:51:47,560 Speaker 1: of Vietnamese writers and authors and journalists and that they 796 00:51:48,120 --> 00:51:51,719 Speaker 1: supported and so that's my dream. That's really my dream 797 00:51:51,800 --> 00:51:54,840 Speaker 1: is that it um it is that the home is 798 00:51:54,960 --> 00:51:59,239 Speaker 1: with Latinos and Latinos, but that we are intersectional, so 799 00:51:59,360 --> 00:52:03,640 Speaker 1: then it grows. There's a piece in your book as 800 00:52:03,719 --> 00:52:07,839 Speaker 1: well where you talk about like walking away from CBS 801 00:52:08,120 --> 00:52:12,000 Speaker 1: or like a major contract and the benefits and the stability. 802 00:52:12,080 --> 00:52:16,120 Speaker 1: And I know for us as entrepreneurs, as creatives, and 803 00:52:16,239 --> 00:52:19,640 Speaker 1: also our listeners ask us all the time about becoming 804 00:52:19,680 --> 00:52:22,840 Speaker 1: small business owners because so many Latinas are small business 805 00:52:22,920 --> 00:52:26,000 Speaker 1: owners and have hustles or want to go into business 806 00:52:26,080 --> 00:52:28,799 Speaker 1: on their own full time. So I wanted to ask 807 00:52:28,880 --> 00:52:31,120 Speaker 1: about that, that piece of the story and that piece 808 00:52:31,160 --> 00:52:33,880 Speaker 1: of the book, and how do you decide right to 809 00:52:34,000 --> 00:52:37,080 Speaker 1: walk away from stability when it's something that is so 810 00:52:37,480 --> 00:52:41,520 Speaker 1: emphasized for us, get a good job, be diligent. One 811 00:52:41,560 --> 00:52:45,280 Speaker 1: of the makers of success for immigrants and immigrant children, 812 00:52:45,640 --> 00:52:48,640 Speaker 1: you know, is like the stability, the paycheck, the nine 813 00:52:48,719 --> 00:52:55,799 Speaker 1: to five, the health. Yeah, here's the thing I realized. 814 00:52:56,080 --> 00:52:59,600 Speaker 1: I realized that I could stay at a place like CBS. 815 00:53:00,040 --> 00:53:03,400 Speaker 1: I was being told all over the place, stay, stay, stay. 816 00:53:04,200 --> 00:53:06,200 Speaker 1: But I think part of what was happening was that 817 00:53:06,400 --> 00:53:11,160 Speaker 1: something inside of me was dying and and it was 818 00:53:11,440 --> 00:53:16,960 Speaker 1: in fact the creative, the artistic, the rebel um And 819 00:53:17,239 --> 00:53:20,960 Speaker 1: that is where we as Latinas. We really have to 820 00:53:21,040 --> 00:53:29,359 Speaker 1: stay in touch with that that rebel, creative, inspirational. It's 821 00:53:29,360 --> 00:53:34,040 Speaker 1: going to save us. I have I know many Latinas 822 00:53:34,080 --> 00:53:39,560 Speaker 1: who have made decisions about working in those high powered companies, 823 00:53:39,960 --> 00:53:45,080 Speaker 1: and I worry about their souls. I do, I do, 824 00:53:45,360 --> 00:53:47,319 Speaker 1: and I love you know, I know them. I love them, 825 00:53:47,360 --> 00:53:52,560 Speaker 1: but I worry about their souls because it's been a 826 00:53:52,640 --> 00:53:54,879 Speaker 1: long time since I've been in those very white, male 827 00:53:54,920 --> 00:54:01,200 Speaker 1: dominated spaces. I don't have those platos anymore. What what 828 00:54:01,440 --> 00:54:05,680 Speaker 1: did happen was that following that kind of independent street 829 00:54:05,719 --> 00:54:07,759 Speaker 1: allowed me to make the best decision that I made, 830 00:54:07,800 --> 00:54:09,440 Speaker 1: one of the best decisions I made in my life, 831 00:54:09,440 --> 00:54:11,719 Speaker 1: which was to marry my husband. Herman Bed is an 832 00:54:11,800 --> 00:54:17,280 Speaker 1: artist independent from the Dominican Republic. Afro Latino Indigenous daino 833 00:54:18,360 --> 00:54:23,040 Speaker 1: um and he has such an independent streak because he 834 00:54:23,200 --> 00:54:27,160 Speaker 1: was an artist and always teased and mental spcio, because 835 00:54:28,440 --> 00:54:31,560 Speaker 1: the Dominican Republic can be hard for a sensitive artistic 836 00:54:31,680 --> 00:54:35,040 Speaker 1: man um and so he's the one who was just 837 00:54:35,200 --> 00:54:38,279 Speaker 1: like your your route, and that's why the kind of 838 00:54:38,400 --> 00:54:44,120 Speaker 1: independence he fostered, that which leads to surround yourself with 839 00:54:44,239 --> 00:54:49,480 Speaker 1: people who are going to support you and there are 840 00:54:49,480 --> 00:54:53,759 Speaker 1: a lot of people, as you know, who are even 841 00:54:53,840 --> 00:54:56,360 Speaker 1: going to be close to you, who will find a 842 00:54:57,040 --> 00:55:03,120 Speaker 1: one Herman calls them being a globos. You know you're 843 00:55:03,120 --> 00:55:05,759 Speaker 1: gonna do what. You're gonna start your own company. I know, 844 00:55:05,920 --> 00:55:09,839 Speaker 1: stan Loca. I love that, Stan Locas. I think you're 845 00:55:09,840 --> 00:55:16,680 Speaker 1: gonna do what must not. So, yeah, we have to 846 00:55:16,880 --> 00:55:21,279 Speaker 1: listen to that voice and trusted right. Thank you for 847 00:55:21,360 --> 00:55:24,240 Speaker 1: sharing that. UM. I wanted to ask you a question 848 00:55:24,520 --> 00:55:26,759 Speaker 1: about because we get this a lot, you know. I 849 00:55:26,800 --> 00:55:29,879 Speaker 1: think we're in the era of self care and we're 850 00:55:29,880 --> 00:55:32,239 Speaker 1: talking about it and especially the way you know, women 851 00:55:32,280 --> 00:55:35,839 Speaker 1: of color practice self care. And so during this pandemic, 852 00:55:36,040 --> 00:55:40,400 Speaker 1: our self care has had to shift, evolved change. For instance, 853 00:55:40,800 --> 00:55:43,399 Speaker 1: for me, my self care was getting my nails done. 854 00:55:43,640 --> 00:55:46,200 Speaker 1: Not doing that anymore, you know. And so my question 855 00:55:46,320 --> 00:55:48,399 Speaker 1: is for you, like, what is your self care look 856 00:55:48,520 --> 00:55:52,759 Speaker 1: like during this pandemic in general? Has it shifted at 857 00:55:52,800 --> 00:55:55,920 Speaker 1: all from the before times too? Now? So I think 858 00:55:56,000 --> 00:56:00,359 Speaker 1: you know that I'm a survivor of COVID, Yes, yes, so, Um, 859 00:56:00,680 --> 00:56:07,319 Speaker 1: you know, from March to um basically the beginning of May, 860 00:56:07,920 --> 00:56:10,680 Speaker 1: it was a really challenging time and I was not 861 00:56:10,880 --> 00:56:14,399 Speaker 1: strong and I was having a real time because I'm 862 00:56:14,560 --> 00:56:16,120 Speaker 1: one of those people who was out of the house, 863 00:56:16,680 --> 00:56:18,600 Speaker 1: you know, six thirty I was boxing in the gym, 864 00:56:18,840 --> 00:56:21,080 Speaker 1: you know, etcetera, etcetera, And so I had to there 865 00:56:21,160 --> 00:56:24,279 Speaker 1: was a whole recalibration which was just you know, there 866 00:56:24,400 --> 00:56:27,719 Speaker 1: was I had fever for about thirty days, so there 867 00:56:27,880 --> 00:56:32,799 Speaker 1: was times when I just barely could not move. Now 868 00:56:32,960 --> 00:56:35,960 Speaker 1: that I'm fully healed and now that New York has 869 00:56:36,040 --> 00:56:41,600 Speaker 1: opened up a bit more, um, I have. Self care 870 00:56:41,760 --> 00:56:44,080 Speaker 1: is super important. So it starts in the morning. The 871 00:56:44,239 --> 00:56:46,920 Speaker 1: very first thing I do, well, I'll be honest, The 872 00:56:46,920 --> 00:56:49,279 Speaker 1: first thing I do is I do check social media. 873 00:56:49,360 --> 00:56:54,040 Speaker 1: It's bad. I start, you know, I'm I try to 874 00:56:54,120 --> 00:56:56,840 Speaker 1: do it for about just two or three minutes, just 875 00:57:00,040 --> 00:57:03,920 Speaker 1: and then I'll put in my meditation app and I'll 876 00:57:04,520 --> 00:57:09,960 Speaker 1: go into a meditative state for about an hour. Sometimes, 877 00:57:10,120 --> 00:57:11,839 Speaker 1: when I need it more, I'll just lay in bed, 878 00:57:11,880 --> 00:57:14,840 Speaker 1: won't do anything, just for ten minutes, just just that. 879 00:57:15,080 --> 00:57:21,520 Speaker 1: But other times I'm meditating, I'm chanting mantras, I'm doing 880 00:57:21,920 --> 00:57:27,760 Speaker 1: sound therapy, I'm and I'm moving slowly. I'm taking care 881 00:57:27,840 --> 00:57:30,520 Speaker 1: of me. In that moment, I left out my lemons 882 00:57:30,560 --> 00:57:32,960 Speaker 1: from the night before, I left out my decaf already 883 00:57:33,200 --> 00:57:37,800 Speaker 1: ready and set. I'm watering my plants. I'm spending some 884 00:57:37,920 --> 00:57:42,960 Speaker 1: time at the altar. I'm getting ready for the day. 885 00:57:43,520 --> 00:57:46,160 Speaker 1: Um and now that I was able to connect with 886 00:57:46,680 --> 00:57:49,479 Speaker 1: a badass group of people. By seven o'clock in the morning, 887 00:57:49,520 --> 00:57:52,520 Speaker 1: I'm boxing in the park. So I'm in the park. 888 00:57:52,600 --> 00:57:56,640 Speaker 1: I'm connected to nature. I'm seeing wildlife, you know. I mean, 889 00:57:56,720 --> 00:57:59,040 Speaker 1: I walk into my Harlem park, I might see a raccoon, 890 00:57:59,200 --> 00:58:05,480 Speaker 1: an egrit an eagle, a hawk, um, a blue juh woodpecker. 891 00:58:05,960 --> 00:58:08,439 Speaker 1: Just in the time that I walked out of my house, 892 00:58:08,480 --> 00:58:12,640 Speaker 1: and a block too where we're working out. So I 893 00:58:12,800 --> 00:58:15,880 Speaker 1: spend an hour working out the workout. Now I found 894 00:58:15,920 --> 00:58:21,240 Speaker 1: this great group of people where we're dancing, kickboxing, boxing, um, 895 00:58:21,440 --> 00:58:25,160 Speaker 1: and and dancing and just having a great time. Um 896 00:58:26,800 --> 00:58:32,080 Speaker 1: and then uh and then you know, when it's not 897 00:58:32,200 --> 00:58:34,840 Speaker 1: the summer. I often take a lot of baths, a 898 00:58:34,920 --> 00:58:37,800 Speaker 1: lot of epps and salt baths. That's something that I 899 00:58:37,920 --> 00:58:42,840 Speaker 1: do with me eat us and self care also looks 900 00:58:42,960 --> 00:58:46,440 Speaker 1: like healing. So, for example, I developed tendonitis because I 901 00:58:46,520 --> 00:58:48,800 Speaker 1: had stopped working out for so long because of COVID, 902 00:58:48,880 --> 00:58:51,320 Speaker 1: and then I developed tendonitis, so you know, going to 903 00:58:51,440 --> 00:58:55,160 Speaker 1: the physical therapist, devoting myself to that, you know, our 904 00:58:55,320 --> 00:58:58,000 Speaker 1: and more than you know ninety minutes. That's a big 905 00:58:58,080 --> 00:59:01,600 Speaker 1: chunk at my day to doing that, doing the acupuncture, 906 00:59:02,080 --> 00:59:06,240 Speaker 1: doing the stretching. So there's there's there is quite a 907 00:59:06,320 --> 00:59:09,320 Speaker 1: bit of self care, um, and and also being trying 908 00:59:09,400 --> 00:59:15,720 Speaker 1: to be gentle with myself, um, focusing on abundance, on gratitude. 909 00:59:17,280 --> 00:59:19,720 Speaker 1: I mean, you, guys, I hate to say you guys. 910 00:59:20,120 --> 00:59:23,160 Speaker 1: You is know it that right now, this is a 911 00:59:23,320 --> 00:59:28,280 Speaker 1: really scary time as a journalist who's very public, you 912 00:59:28,360 --> 00:59:34,200 Speaker 1: know I do. And I'm just like, be thankful. Look, 913 00:59:34,280 --> 00:59:38,240 Speaker 1: your husband is here, You're still married, you love him, 914 00:59:38,400 --> 00:59:42,320 Speaker 1: he loves you. You have children who they are frustrated 915 00:59:42,360 --> 00:59:45,600 Speaker 1: with you, but they love you, you know, because we're 916 00:59:46,080 --> 00:59:50,160 Speaker 1: we're living on top of each other straight up. Um. 917 00:59:50,880 --> 00:59:55,880 Speaker 1: So then I'm just like gratitude, gratitude, gratitude, gratitude, gratitude. 918 00:59:56,160 --> 00:59:59,120 Speaker 1: Another light one song of the summer for you? What 919 00:59:59,240 --> 01:00:01,640 Speaker 1: are you listening to? What are you loving? What gets 920 01:00:01,720 --> 01:00:05,160 Speaker 1: you moving? What gets you happy? What's your summer anthem? 921 01:00:06,360 --> 01:00:08,120 Speaker 1: I can't give you the name of any one song 922 01:00:08,200 --> 01:00:11,880 Speaker 1: because I'm really bad with songs like like I'll know 923 01:00:12,040 --> 01:00:13,240 Speaker 1: it and I'll be like, oh, that's my and then 924 01:00:13,240 --> 01:00:15,040 Speaker 1: my daughter will be like that's that person. I'm like, 925 01:00:15,080 --> 01:00:17,200 Speaker 1: how do you know that? Because I don't know? And 926 01:00:17,440 --> 01:00:22,840 Speaker 1: this So actually, what what my anthem is is, I 927 01:00:23,000 --> 01:00:27,480 Speaker 1: created a gratitude playlist. Actually, I went on Twitter and 928 01:00:27,600 --> 01:00:31,200 Speaker 1: I said, people, I'm starting a gratitude playlist. Help me 929 01:00:31,920 --> 01:00:34,320 Speaker 1: with you know, with things that I can listen to. 930 01:00:34,560 --> 01:00:37,120 Speaker 1: And so it's a gratitude playlist with a lot of 931 01:00:37,240 --> 01:00:41,360 Speaker 1: rhythm um. And so right now, to be honest with you, 932 01:00:41,600 --> 01:00:44,720 Speaker 1: like when we're working out what we're my my trainer 933 01:00:44,880 --> 01:00:47,920 Speaker 1: is from Senegal, and so it's all African music with 934 01:00:48,000 --> 01:00:51,400 Speaker 1: a serious, serious rhythm. So I'm just doing a lot 935 01:00:51,440 --> 01:00:55,880 Speaker 1: of Senegalese African dancing and rhythm um. Anything that has 936 01:00:55,920 --> 01:01:00,960 Speaker 1: a rhythm um. You know, anything that is school salts me. 937 01:01:01,640 --> 01:01:04,600 Speaker 1: I'm there for it, whether it's one Louis Guerra quatro 938 01:01:04,720 --> 01:01:08,960 Speaker 1: cinta or you know actor level or you know, like 939 01:01:09,120 --> 01:01:13,240 Speaker 1: old school you know, human blades, it's blades, by the way, 940 01:01:13,360 --> 01:01:20,200 Speaker 1: it's not I I know I did too. And then 941 01:01:20,400 --> 01:01:23,080 Speaker 1: we finally sat down and I was like, what up 942 01:01:23,120 --> 01:01:30,280 Speaker 1: and He's like, it's blades, it's I know, so so 943 01:01:30,760 --> 01:01:35,240 Speaker 1: I you know whether sometimes it will be Los Banchos, 944 01:01:35,280 --> 01:01:39,800 Speaker 1: which is super old school, you know. Um, I also 945 01:01:39,880 --> 01:01:42,160 Speaker 1: will just put on the radio and so whatever, so 946 01:01:42,360 --> 01:01:50,120 Speaker 1: you know that one, she's a that one. See, I 947 01:01:50,200 --> 01:01:53,040 Speaker 1: can't even tell oh, I mean what I am listening 948 01:01:53,080 --> 01:01:58,520 Speaker 1: to right now? For sure, I can't even yes yes 949 01:01:59,600 --> 01:02:04,200 Speaker 1: for listeners. The new Cardi B megan the stallium clap 950 01:02:04,280 --> 01:02:09,440 Speaker 1: that we're all bumping, we're except there's here's the thing, 951 01:02:09,880 --> 01:02:12,680 Speaker 1: tell us, tell us, tell us. By the way, I 952 01:02:12,840 --> 01:02:16,240 Speaker 1: love Cardi B. That's the one interview that I'm still 953 01:02:16,320 --> 01:02:18,360 Speaker 1: waiting to get when people ask me, what the who's 954 01:02:18,360 --> 01:02:21,600 Speaker 1: the person? And I want to talk politics with Cardi B. Politics, 955 01:02:21,960 --> 01:02:23,840 Speaker 1: I want to talk sleep with Cardi B. Because I 956 01:02:23,880 --> 01:02:26,160 Speaker 1: don't understand how she doesn't sleep because she's a four 957 01:02:26,200 --> 01:02:33,040 Speaker 1: in the morning. I'm just like, hi, um so what okay, 958 01:02:33,960 --> 01:02:40,200 Speaker 1: wet ass pussy, Yes, okay, so yes, yes, but you 959 01:02:40,280 --> 01:02:46,720 Speaker 1: know what, somebody's gotta make that happen. So I my 960 01:02:47,000 --> 01:02:54,400 Speaker 1: critique of that is that, A I I want a 961 01:02:54,440 --> 01:02:57,960 Speaker 1: little bit more recognition that for some of us, Yes, 962 01:02:58,080 --> 01:03:01,040 Speaker 1: if we're lucky and thank god, I'm still you know, Yes, 963 01:03:01,320 --> 01:03:03,480 Speaker 1: I'm lucky in that way, even though yes, as you 964 01:03:03,520 --> 01:03:15,080 Speaker 1: get older, things change. But the person work, the person 965 01:03:15,280 --> 01:03:20,040 Speaker 1: has to put in work, right, whether it's yourself, because 966 01:03:20,080 --> 01:03:21,920 Speaker 1: you're gonna go into your own self, okay, then you 967 01:03:22,000 --> 01:03:24,440 Speaker 1: gotta do your own work, or whether you're gonna be 968 01:03:24,520 --> 01:03:27,240 Speaker 1: pleasuring with somebody else, then there's gotta be So it 969 01:03:27,280 --> 01:03:29,280 Speaker 1: can't just be like, oh man, we're walking around hot 970 01:03:29,320 --> 01:03:32,040 Speaker 1: all the time. No, we're walking around with We're walking 971 01:03:32,080 --> 01:03:34,400 Speaker 1: around with a lot of stuff that we're taking care of. Right, 972 01:03:34,840 --> 01:03:37,360 Speaker 1: Cardi B's walking around with a lot of worries. She's 973 01:03:37,400 --> 01:03:39,640 Speaker 1: worrying about her business. She's worrying about how she's gonna 974 01:03:39,640 --> 01:03:41,760 Speaker 1: pay all these people. She's worrying. She's worrying about a 975 01:03:41,800 --> 01:03:44,640 Speaker 1: lot of things. So, yes, I love that there are 976 01:03:44,720 --> 01:03:48,160 Speaker 1: so many sex positive especially Latinas and Afro Latinas who 977 01:03:48,200 --> 01:03:52,080 Speaker 1: are we're super sex positive. Luna has been very inspirational 978 01:03:52,200 --> 01:03:56,760 Speaker 1: for me, um, But again, it's like you, you have 979 01:03:56,960 --> 01:03:59,720 Speaker 1: to bring out that desire in me. You have to 980 01:03:59,800 --> 01:04:01,960 Speaker 1: bring out that desire. I have to be willing to 981 01:04:02,120 --> 01:04:06,160 Speaker 1: connect with my ocean and open up. Absolutely, I have to, 982 01:04:06,440 --> 01:04:09,680 Speaker 1: you know, the Goddess of pleasure. I have to open 983 01:04:09,760 --> 01:04:17,640 Speaker 1: up to her. So that's the only thing my critique 984 01:04:17,720 --> 01:04:20,560 Speaker 1: of now that now that you guys have it is 985 01:04:21,920 --> 01:04:24,480 Speaker 1: they needed to recognize at the work that the other 986 01:04:24,600 --> 01:04:27,240 Speaker 1: partner needs to put it that I agree with. Yes, 987 01:04:27,560 --> 01:04:29,960 Speaker 1: I just would like to point out that this is 988 01:04:30,080 --> 01:04:34,360 Speaker 1: the exclusive that shared She's Got a Whop and look 989 01:04:34,400 --> 01:04:37,920 Speaker 1: a thought. Our radio friends heard it here first. This 990 01:04:38,080 --> 01:04:43,840 Speaker 1: is the exclusive Mariasa Award winning journalists author of Once 991 01:04:43,920 --> 01:04:45,760 Speaker 1: I Was You, a memoir of love and hate in 992 01:04:45,800 --> 01:04:48,280 Speaker 1: a tourn America. Thank you so much for being with 993 01:04:48,480 --> 01:04:51,600 Speaker 1: us today. Where can our listeners pick up Once I 994 01:04:51,840 --> 01:04:54,840 Speaker 1: Was You and get to reading. Well, I think it's 995 01:04:54,880 --> 01:04:57,560 Speaker 1: on the Simon and Schuster website. You can pre order 996 01:04:57,760 --> 01:05:01,640 Speaker 1: right now. It comes out September. Um. So yeah, if 997 01:05:01,680 --> 01:05:04,920 Speaker 1: you go to any of my social media Instagram, Twitter, 998 01:05:05,120 --> 01:05:08,600 Speaker 1: or on Facebook, um, you can find the link there. Um. 999 01:05:08,760 --> 01:05:11,040 Speaker 1: I'm I'm really desperate to try to get the pre 1000 01:05:11,200 --> 01:05:14,280 Speaker 1: orders up because we have to show strong numbers and 1001 01:05:14,360 --> 01:05:16,640 Speaker 1: it takes like five times of mentioning the book to 1002 01:05:16,760 --> 01:05:20,240 Speaker 1: people before they decide to actually do it. Um. But yeah, 1003 01:05:20,360 --> 01:05:22,720 Speaker 1: so it's out there. Take a picture of yourself with 1004 01:05:22,840 --> 01:05:25,040 Speaker 1: the book when you have it. Yes, screen you know 1005 01:05:25,520 --> 01:05:28,720 Speaker 1: tag me were but yes, I love speaking with the 1006 01:05:28,800 --> 01:05:30,760 Speaker 1: both of you. That's why I want to come back, 1007 01:05:30,920 --> 01:05:34,760 Speaker 1: because I I just love everything about what you're doing, 1008 01:05:36,040 --> 01:05:39,400 Speaker 1: absolutely everything, and I love your bedrooms too. Thank you, 1009 01:05:40,360 --> 01:05:44,720 Speaker 1: thank you, thank you so much, thank you. Thank you. 1010 01:05:48,480 --> 01:06:04,080 Speaker 1: Radio Radio with and Bullshit, a radiophonic novella local to 1011 01:06:04,200 --> 01:06:07,560 Speaker 1: a radio hosted by Mala Munos and Diosafem