La Brega: Campeones

The 1960s brings social and political change to the world and to New York City, where a young Johnny Pacheco keeps people dancing with his orchestra and charanga music. The Dominican musician is also going through a divorce and his lawyer, Jerry Masucci, happens to be a fan of Johnny’s music. The two form a music partnership that will forever change music. They call their music label Fania Records...

The Men’s World Cup is coming to our continent – and to this country. So we’re using this huge event to dive deep into what soccer means in the United States with a new podcast called “American Futbol.” We hear from immigrants all across the country for whom soccer is a touchstone, but who’ve also woven the sport into American culture and life. And we go back to the 90’s, to the very first time th...

It’s been a time of growth at Futuro – we’ve been breaking news and bringing rigorous in-depth journalism at Latino USA, creating ambitious podcasts at Futuro Studios, and sharing some awesome behind the scenes moments and stories at Futuro+ with our subscribers. In this week's special episode, Futuro Studios Executive Editor and host Maria Garcia is joined by Managing Editor of Latino USA Fernand...

A new podcast from Futuro is coming to you soon! In 1964, an Italian-American ex-cop and a Dominican musician in New York City opened “the Motown of Salsa,” Fania Records. Artists like Héctor Lavoe, Willie Colón,  Celia Cruz and La Lupe made the label hip, rebellious, sexy and political all at once. At their height, Fania toured the world, sold millions of records and changed culture forever....

Hoy les traemos un episodio de nuestros amigos de Buenas noches, Cráneo . Esta noche viajamos a una bahía de Puerto Rico donde el agua brilla en la oscuridad.   Junto a Alana Casanova-Burgess, anfitriona de La Brega, vivimos una aventura asombrosa sobre la bioluminiscencia, los peces que dejan huellas de luz y la importancia de cuidar estos ecosistemas mágicos.  “Buenas noches,&nbsp...

This week, we’re sharing an episode from our friends at Code Switch.  President Donald Trump says he wants the U.S. to take back control of the Panama Canal. The Canal has been dubbed the greatest engineering feat in human history. It's also (perhaps less favorably) been called the greatest liberty mankind has ever taken with Mother Nature. So how did we get here? Today on the show, we're tal...

Hoy les traemos un episodio especial desde Puerto Rico de nuestros amigos de Radio Ambulante, quienes se encuentran en plena publicación de su temporada 15.  En marzo de 1975, el pequeño pueblo de Moca, en Puerto Rico, vio cómo se perturbaba su tranquilidad con la aparición de decenas de animales muertos. En un lugar así, sin secretos ni misterios, esa escena siniestra despertaría todo tipo d...

You’ve seen the Instagram posts and the headlines of Puerto Rican campeones in all kinds of arenas. For this special bonus episode we talk to Camila Lamerre Estevez, an athlete who competed on the Puerto Rican women’s ice hockey team. We share Camila’s story, how she turned into a young hockey star, and what she learned about Puerto Ricanness on the ice. The Futuro Plus Team includes associate pro...

Los Young Lords surgieron en los 60 en Chicago como una ganga callejera, pero evolucionaron y se convirtieron en una organización política que llegó a otras ciudades, como Nueva York y Filadelfia. En su mayoría, eran jóvenes boricuas de la diáspora, que se organizaron y educaron a su comunidad sobre el colonialismo estadounidense.  Iris Morales, dirigente del brazo educativo en Nueva York, ha...

In the late 1960s, the Young Lords emerged from a Chicago gang and became a political organization mainly made up of Puerto Ricans in the diaspora. Some had never been to Puerto Rico, some spoke little Spanish – but they all claimed Puerto Rico. Many of these young Boricuas were hungry for stories about their history and tried to learn in any way they could. One of those was Iris Morales, who led...

El dominio de Puerto Rico en el beisbol es más que conocido, pero hay quienes piensan que la pelota boricua ya vio sus mejores días. Y algunos responsabilizan de su declive a una decisión de Major League Baseball de 1990, cuando obligó a los peloteros boricuas a pasar por el sorteo de novatos para llegar a la pelota profesional. Pero, 35 años después, las razones son mucho más complejas.  En...

Puerto Rico has been a baseball powerhouse. For decades, we operated as our own country, under the same rules as nations like the Dominican Republic. Players could be signed to professional teams as young as 16. Then in 1990, Major League Baseball changed the rules to include Puerto Rico in its first-year player draft. Initially, it was seen as protecting young players. But today, there’s a sense...

Por décadas, políticos y activistas boricuas han depuesto ante el Comité de Descolonización de la ONU durante su vista anual sobre Puerto Rico. La mayoría de los deponentes favorece la independencia, pero, recientemente, los pro estadidad se han organizado para aumentar su presencia ante un foro que, en 50 años, no ha conseguido cambiar nada. Porque Puerto Rico sigue siendo una colonia de Estados...

For decades, Puerto Ricans from different political persuasions have gone to the United Nations in New York to speak about the decolonization of Puerto Rico. Most have advocated for independence. But recently, statehood supporters have also spoken before the UN. And for decades, their advocacy has made no difference: Puerto Rico continues to be a colony of the United States. In 2025, La Brega went...

En Puerto Rico, los concursos de belleza son una obsesión nacional que entusiasma al público como cualquier competencia deportiva. Y, en 2024, ocurrió algo que expandió la huella boricua en estos certámenes: Míster Puerto Rico ganó por primera vez Míster Mundo. Danny Mejía nunca había participado en un certamen de belleza, pero viajó a Vietnam para representar a su país y regresó de allí con el tr...

Puerto Rico has a reputation as a beauty queen mecca, the pageant scene is treated as seriously as any competitive sport in the archipelago. And in 2024, the scope of Puerto Rican dominance in the world of beauty pageants expanded even further: for the first time, Mister Puerto Rico became Mister World. Danny Mejía, who had never competed in any pageant before, went to Vietnam all by himself to re...

En 1902, Isabel González llegó a Ellis Island sola, con 11 dólares en el bolsillo y embarazada. La detuvieron, como a tantos otros, por ser “extranjera” y porque consideraron que podría ser “una carga para el Estado”. Pero ella peleó por su derecho de quedarse en el país que había invadido su patria y llegó hasta el Tribunal Supremo para reclamar la ciudadanía estadounidense.  En este episodi...

In 1902, Isabel González arrived in Ellis Island, pregnant, alone and with only $11.00 in her pocket. She – like others before her – was detained for being an "alien" and at risk of becoming a "burden" on the state. But Isabel took her fight to the courts, defending her right to stay in the country that had invaded her homeland just four years earlier. She fought all the way to the Supreme Court w...

En plena Guerra Fría, el presidente estadounidense Jimmy Carter llama al boicot de los Juegos Olímpicos Moscú 1980 y en Puerto Rico se debate qué significa eso para la participación de los deportistas locales. Pero un joven boxeador llamado Alberto Mercado no tiene dudas: no habrá boicot ni protesta que le impida representar a Puerto Rico en el más importante escenario deportivo.  Esta es una...

It was 1980, and the Olympics were to be held in Moscow against the backdrop of the Cold War. When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, President Jimmy Carter called for a boycott of the games, leaving Puerto Rican athletes uncertain of their participation. But Alberto Mercado and two other young Puerto Rican boxers were determined to represent Puerto Rico. This is a story about fighting for visi...

Cuando el cuatrista Luis Sanz se presentó en un estudio para una grabación misteriosa, no imaginó que terminaría tocando un solo de cuatro en “Lo que le pasó a Hawaii”, la canción de Bad Bunny que habla sobre los peligros de la estadidad. Las instrucciones de Benito fueron simples, pero dolorosas: “toca el cuatro como si se estuviera desangrando”. En este episodio, varios cuatristas demuestran por...

When the musician Luís Sanz showed up for a mystery recording session last year, he didn’t know that he’d be playing a cuatro solo for “Lo que le paso a Hawaii,” a lament about the dangers of statehood. Benito’s instruction was simple yet heart-wrenching: “play the cuatro as though it’s bleeding out.”  In this episode, cuatristas show us that the cuatro is more than a musical instrument: it’s...

A horas de que llegara el rey de España a Puerto Rico en enero de 2022, el país se despertó con una sorpresa: la estatua de Juan Ponce de León en el Viejo San Juan estaba tirada en el piso. Ese día, el pasado y presente colonial de Puerto Rico se entrelazaron de manera evidente, y muchos se preguntaron: ¿quién se merece estar en un pedestal?, ¿quién representa la puertorriqueñidad?, ¿quiénes son n...

It was January 24, 2022. The King of Spain was coming to Puerto Rico. But everyone woke up to some unexpected news: the statue of the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León in Old San Juan had been toppled. When the mayor promised to restore it that same day, it raised big questions: Who deserves to be put up on a pedestal? Who represents Puerto Ricanness? Who are our champions? This season, we’r...

¡La Brega regresa! Esta temporada, contamos las historias de personas y símbolos que representan a Puerto Rico. Y nos preguntamos: ¿Quién defiende a Puerto Rico? ¿Qué podemos aprender sobre la puertorriqueñidad al conocer sus historias? Disponible el 3 de febrero. Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for exclusive episodes, sneak peaks and behind-the-scenes chisme on La Brega a...