American Colony | The Latino Newsletter Podcast

José Raphael sueña con retirarse a Puerto Rico, donde nació. Es el padre de T.J. Raphael, la productora de este episodio. José sobrevivió a Vietnam, al Agente Naranja y al cáncer. Pero en todo el archipiélago hay un solo hospital de veteranos operativo...

José Raphael dreams of one thing: retiring in Puerto Rico, the place where he was born. He survived Vietnam, Agent Orange, and cancer. But the archipelago has just one fully functioning VA hospital, and going back could cost him the care keeping him al...

Es el 4 de julio y Estados Unidos cumple 250 años. También es el día en que celebra su libertad del colonialismo. ¿Y Puerto Rico? En el episodio prólogo de American Colony, los presentadores Julio Ricardo Varela y Nuria Net se preguntan: ¿qué significa...

It’s the Fourth of July, and the United States is 250 years old. It is also a day Americans celebrate freedom from colonialism. But what about Puerto Rico? In the prologue episode of American Colony, hosts Julio Ricardo Varela and Nuria Net ask: What d...

Host Michelle Zacarias sits down with queer social media influencer Jay Trevino ( https://www.instagram.com/edenxjay/ ), the co-creator of the grassroots queer Latin movement Preciosa, which she built alongside her wife, Eden. Jay opens up about their ...

American Colony premieres July 4, 2026, and will be available on The Latino Newsletter podcast feed, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major podcast platforms.

From hyper-local neighborhood alert systems to confronting ICE on the streets, Leo Martinez (@tacodpollo ( https://www.instagram.com/tacodpollo/ )) shares how VC Defensa ( https://www.instagram.com/vcdefensa ) is building community power from the groun...

Host Michelle Zacarias sits down with Afro-Latino public historian, social media content creator, and fine art photojournalist Anthony Milian ( https://www.instagram.com/deffnotant/ ) to explore the power of storytelling as resistance. Anthony shares h...

Michelle Zacarias sits down with mental health professional, social worker, and community organizer Ramsey Robinson ( https://www.instagram.com/ramsey4gov/ ), who is running for Governor of California on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket. They talk ab...

What does it mean to build your own table — and then invite your community to sit at it? In this episode of the Latino Newsletter Podcast, host Michelle Zacarias sits down with Brenda Gonzalez, founder and co-host of ( https://www.tamarindopodcast.com/ ...

A UC Santa Barbara professor and 2024 Green Party Vice Presidential candidate, Butch Ware is now running for Governor of California and challenging the two-party system head-on, despite ongoing legal battles to keep him on the June primary ballot. In t...

In this special episode of the Latino Newsletter podcast, host Michelle Zacarias is joined by founder Julio Ricardo Varela to discuss the New York Times report on the sexual abuse allegations against César Chávez. Michelle and Julio process the public ...

In this deeply personal episode of The Latino Newsletter podcast and in honor of National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, host Michelle Zacarias sits down with LA Times columnist Gustavo Arellano for a heartfelt conversation about colonoscopies, col...

Six-time Emmy award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker John Carlos Frey shares his unconventional journey from Hollywood actor to investigative reporter covering immigration and border issues — a transition sparked by learning about the horro...

Filmmaker Colette Ghunim discusses her award-winning documentary “Traces of Home.” The film follows Colette and her parents as they return to Mexico and Palestine — the homelands they were forced to leave — to confront intergenerational trauma, displac...

Investigative reporter Nicole Foy joins the Latino Newsletter Podcast to discuss her groundbreaking ProPublica investigation that uncovered more than 170 U.S. citizens detained by immigration agents as of October 2025 — a number she describes as a "vas...

The first weekend of 2026 started with the news that the United States had captured Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro. For this episode of The Latino Newsletter podcast, host Michelle Zacarias welcomes Juan Escalante, an immigrant rights advocate, dig...

In this episode, Andrea Flores reflects on her journey as an immigration lawyer and policy advocate, sharing firsthand insights from her work in both the Obama and Biden administrations. She discusses the challenges of navigating a broken immigration s...

For our latest episode, The Latino Newsletter and El Planeta teams interview Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey about Latino communities in the state and what they are experiencing in 2025. This episode marks the start of a new bilingual partnership b...

Chicano activist and political cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz on growing up in a border town, politics in comic strips, and AI in the art world. From the controversial comic strips “La Cucaracha” to his latest project, a musical compilation called “Contra ICE...

Multi-faceted artist and reggaeton historian Katelina Eccleston, known as La Gata, on becoming the first queer, Black femme with a platform discussing the roots and reverberations of Reggaeton. From her online course Perreo 101 to lecturing at Harvard ...

Season 2 of The Latino Newsletter podcast is back with a very special guest: Bobbito García, aka Kool Bob Love. Host Julio Ricardo Varela welcomes Bobbito to talk about his latest memoir, Bobbito's Book of B-Ball Bong Bong! They cover an array of topic...

As we close out Second Chance Month, The Latino Newsletter podcast presents a powerful collaboration with our friends at CALÓ News. Guest hosts Brenda Verano and Michelle Zacarias sit down with newly sworn-in attorney Ester Mendez. a first-generation O...

Julio Ricardo Varela talks with Melisa López Franzen, a former Minnesota State Senator leader now running in the 2026 Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) primary for the United States Senate. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, López Franzen reflects on building...

Live from Miami and the Knight Media Forum, Julio Ricardo Varela hosts a discussion with FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez and FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya. They delve into pressing issues surrounding Latino media, the challenges of audience measurement...