Empower House Radio KXEP-LP

Season 3 is about self-care, because self-care is community care. Our guest this week, Nathan Brown, shares how his writing practice has been a powerful act of self-care, including his practice of writing one poem a day for the last 30 years. He shares his journey through big changes, including the pandemic shutdown which caused him to pivot and to create “fireside sessions,” a livestream weekly p...

Season 3 is about self-care, because self-care is community care. Today Jen Yáñez-Alaniz, a Chicana Mestiza activist, educator, poet, and PhD Fellow in Culture, Literacy, and Language at UT San Antonio shares some of her experiences working with refugee students in both the classroom and the garden setting.  She also shares about how she is addressing her chronic pain through a deepening relations...

Season 3 is about self-care, because self-care is community care. Today’s guest Estrella shares what it’s like to be a migrant in a society that’s not shaped to support and care for migrant bodies. She shares about her own journey of self-care and how it has landed her back home in her childhood community, caring for her land, her parents, her child, and her own body. Self-care also includes thing...

The finale of Season 2: “Grief” airs today with guest ire’ne lara silva, who experienced the life, love, and loss of her brother Moises, whom she was roommates, co-creator, and caregiver for 20 years. Moises strove for beauty which came out in his painting, his cooking, and in the way he showed up in the world. You simply must take the time to listen. Spoiler alert: you cry. We moo like cows. You...

My sit-down with Jo Reyes-Boitel began with a platica as if we were sitting down at a small vintage metal table with cafecito Cubano in hand. She began by sharing who the artist and individual are setting the stage by exploring who she is and how she exists in the world. This unique foundation led seamlessly into a discussion of her work, focusing on her distinctive voice and the sensuous undercur...

Carla lost her husband Paul in July 2024 after 10 years of major health challenges and 36 years of a life well loved.  She shares her journey of grieving the loss of her beloved husband, Paul Pineda, who passed away 6 months ago. She shares some of the surprises along the way, and likens her experience to a pilgrimage, where it is about the journey, not the destination. Carla finds that Paul is st...

Daniel Ramirez, poet and teaching artist, shares about his journey of feeling the depths of his emotions through meditation and breath. For Daniel, sacred poetry - by sacred poets such as Rumi and Hafez - was a deep medicine in his grieving process. These days he continues to show up in the world with a conscious, intentional connection to what’s happening within.  

Happy New Year! Today Armando Estrada joins me in the studio to take a moment to look at Empower House Radio and what it’s all about. Then we spoke about The Resilience Within and the spirit behind it.

Sarah Joy Thompson shares the story of navigating loss and grief after the passing of her father and then later undergoing treatment for aggressive breast cancer. She found ways to ‘reclaim the narrative,’ including through the exploration of movement, dance and poetry. Sarah Joy Thompson is a Filipina-American poet and the author of a chapbook The Everyday, the Mundane, and the Brave (Finishing L...

All that was missing was fresh pan dulce and cafecito with my sit-down with Clementina. Our platica explored the power of transformation, healing, and self-discovery. The episode began with a reading of Gloria Anzaldúa, titled ‘Acts of Healing’, which was the inspiration of our encounter, setting the tone for a discussion on Latine resilience, identity, and spiritual awakening. We both shared our...

I felt like one lucky fan at a personal concert on the perfect sunny Sunday where my platica with Joaquin Muerte was an intimate and inspiring exploration of his life, artistry, and philosophy. Joaquin, a musician, songwriter, and activist living in San Antonio, shared stories of his childhood in the barrio of San Felipe in Del Rio, where his parents instilled in him a deep love for music and acti...

The Translanguage Poetic Pleasure Workshop was a generative workshop led by Alejandra Sanchez Alanis, a dynamic facilitator and multidisciplinary artist known for her ability to create inclusive, empowering spaces for self-discovery and creative exploration. As a poet, DJ, and advocate of pleasure activism, Alejandra skillfully combined somatic practices, music, and sensory engagement to guide par...

Laura Riojas-Noriega is a small town girl from Taft, Texas with a fairy tale love story. She is learning to live this story in a new way since her husband Ruben’s passing Jan 4, 2020. As she describes for us: the depth of her pain is the depth of her love. The magic she has experienced with Ruben is still here: in the love of those who still surround her, in signs and messages, in dreams… and in b...

A Restorative Justice week Special!

Amalia Ortiz, award-winning author, poet, teatrista, educator, and creator of @the_cancion_cannibal_cabaret and @las_hijas_de_la_madre shared a glimpse of her love and heartbreak for her best friend Maria Ibarra. Maria was a Chingona powerhouse teatrista, artist, poet, mother and educator who impacted our community in infinite ways. Amalia’s medicine includes writing, where she says she writes abo...

In my platica with Marc Anthony Leal his poetry offered a rich tapestry of imagery, emotion, and cultural reflection, seamlessly weaving themes of nature, spirituality, memory, and community. His works, such as “A Moment in Flight,” “As Do,” “If Heaven is a Real Place,” “Woodlawn Sunsets,” and “Take Pause My Love,” serve as vivid explorations of life’s complexities, celebrating both its beauty and...

Melissa “Mo” Guerra a poetic hermana took us on an intimate journey through her poetry, weaving together themes of cultural identity, grief, resilience, and spiritual transcendence. Her work invited readers to walk in an exploration of raw emotions and shared humanity. Our platica delved into a deeper understanding of her creative process and the stories that have shaped her confessional voice. Sp...

John Lambert  -   Settling In to Love In this episode John Lambert, widowed father of two, shared the story of Ivania, his beloved wife, who passed away from cancer. They were married when he was very young, and her loving existence shaped how he shows up in the world today.   John is a writer, actor, and curator of San Antonio’s Sacred Underground Film Festival (fourth installment takes place Nov...

Carmen Calatayud - Grief Work, The Journey In this episode Carmen Calatayud, poet and author of In the Company of Spirits and This Tangled Body shared about her grief work as a mental health counselor who specializes in trauma and grief. She shared parts of her journey that led her to grief work and where her current questions lie.  

Joaquin Muerte -   Xicanx Masculinity and Grief In this episode Joaquin Muerte shared about his Xicanx vs Aliens podcast, which was created to normalize conversations around the supernatural and destigmatize these experiences. He shares some of his activist upbringing, and his own journey of healing through food with his dad. He finishes with how healing for the Xicanx masculine can start with the...