Ruben In The Center

Host Ruben Navarrette has a timely and entertaining conversation with his friend and fellow Harvard graduate Marcela Davison Avilés. A Stanford-educated lawyer-turned-filmmaker Marcela grew up in Southern Arizona -- specifically Nogales and Tucson -- where her family has deep roots. She spent many years living in San Francisco and working in Hollywood as a writer and consultant to major film proje...

Host Ruben Navarrette has a timely and critically important conversation with his old friend of nearly 40 years, Arnold Torres, a Sacramento CA-based policy analyst, political commentator & Spanish-language radio host. As a lifelong observer of politics and immigration -- and the politics of the immigration debate -- Torres is horrified by what he is seeing take place in Minnesota, which has b...

In this special episode, host Ruben Navarrette has a very personal and heartfelt conversation with his brother, entertainment marketing specialist Roman Navarrette. The two talk about their father, Ruben G. Navarrette Sr., who passed away on Dec. 7 at the age of 84. They dissect a life that unfolded in three acts: childhood and adolescence and enlistment in the U.S. Army; a long career in law enfo...

Host Ruben Navarrette has an interesting and wide-ranging conversation with Mark Madrid, an Austin TX-based   author, consultant and expert on business excellence, entrepreneurship, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. The  two talk about the challenges and opportunities facing Latino-owned small businesses, what entrepreneurship means to Latinos, and what U.S. companies do right or wrong in...

Host Ruben Navarrette has a great conversation with Rene Alegria, the Atlanta-based Chief Innovation Officer at Neuvo Network. The former president and CEO of MundoNow, and founding CEO of Mamiverse Media, Alegria also guided the launch of the groundbreaking Latino podcast network, Oyenos Audio. Before all that, the Tucson native founded and served as publisher of the book imprint Rayo/HarperColli...

Host Ruben Navarrette has a great conversation with Pedro Rios, who -- like him -- has been intimately acquainted with the immigration issue for more than 30 years. The San Diego native, and graduate of the University of San Diego, is the director of the U.S.-Mexico Border Program for the American Friends Service Committee. He is also an op-ed contributor to the online publication, Cal Matters. Th...

Host Ruben Navarrette has a great conversation with Esther Valdez Clayton, a San Diego-based Mexican American immigration attorney and evangelical Christian who is also a pro-Trump Republican. The two discuss the ICE raids and the reasons for the drop in Latino support for President Trump. They unpack the complexities of the immigration debate and address the personal responsibility that immigrant...

Host Ruben Navarrette has a great conversation with Elsa Sevilla, Tijuana-born television journalist and host of the KPBS documentary series, “Historic Places w/ Elsa Sevilla.” She is also a San Diego-based filmmaker, professional speaker and author of the recently published book “Camera Ready: From Hardship To The Spotlight.” The two talk about Sevilla's personal and professional journey. They al...

Host Ruben Navarrette has a candid and far-reaching conversation with his old friend, Alfredo Estrada, the Harvard-educated trailblazing magazine publisher and chronicler of the experience of U.S. Latinos over the last four decades.  They talk about how President Donald Trump's war on immigrants is actually a war against Latinos, and the degreee to which Trump has united the different factions of...

Host Ruben Navarrette has a spirited conversation with Sacramento CA-based GOP Political Consultant Mike Madrid, Co-Founder of The Lincoln Project, Co-Host of "The Latino Vote" Podcast & Author of "The Latino Century: How America's Largest Minority Is Transforming Democracy." The two Mexican American Californians talk about politics, the Latino vote, changing demographics and white resistance,...

Host Ruben Navarrette interviews his old friend, Dr. Jose Angel Gutierrez, a retired professor of political science at University of Texas at Arlington, a former civil rights attorney, and the author of more than 30 books on history, politics, race and culture. Gutierrez was a young activist in his native Texas who left his mark on the Chicano Civil Rights Movement of the early 1970's through his...

Host Ruben Navarrette interviews Dr. Kristina Lopez, PhD, Professor of Social Work. A graduate of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor with a degree in social work and psychology, Lopez explores disparities in early diagnosis and subsequent treatment of underserved children and their families with special emphasis on Latino/a children with autism. The two talk about how Latino families have com...

Host Ruben Navarrette interviews his old friend and former Harvard classmate, Dr. Ronald J. Granieri who is a history professor at the United States Army War College, as well as a Templeton Education Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute . Given that Dr. Granieri's speciality is European history, with an emphasis on the study of allies and adversaries, the conversation could not be bette...

Host Ruben Navarrette interviews his friend and spirtual adviser Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, one of the nation's most prominent Latino evangelical leaders. They discuss faith, social activism and impactful storytelling. They also talk about the moral soul of America, which seems to be hurting at the moment -- and what can be done to heal it. Finally, they delve into the inner workings of Generation Z a...

Host Ruben Navarrette interviews Marisa Calderon, CEO of Prosperity Now, and Bob Friedman, the organization's founder. They discuss social activism, racial justice, and prosperity for all. They also talk about what the political parties have done right and wrong over the years, and how organizations like theirs can help make a better world and build a more perfect union.  

Host Ruben Navarrette has a great conversation with his old friend, Chris Salcedo, a fellow professional communicator and broadcaster who traded living in California for Texas about the same time that Navarrette did the opposite. The two talk about politics, MAGA, the turbulent state of media, and why Latinos are finding a new home with a group of people they detested just 30 years ago: Republican...

Host Ruben Navarrette has a great conversation with his old friend, Emiliano Limon, about the new media and what went wrong with the old media. They talk about Limon's long career in talk radio and how that medium changed America -- and then went off the rails. They also discuss broadcast media in general, and what the future holds for an industry that seems to be changing by the week. 

Host Ruben Navarrette has a great conversation with his old friend, and former Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, Michael Fisher. They discuss immigration enforcement policy, and the most effective methods of securing the nearly 2000-mile long border between the United States and Mexico. They also talk about politics, leadership and the need to speak honestly about complicated problems that don't ha...

Host Ruben Navarrette has a great conversation with Tavis Smiley, his old friend of 30 years and former LA radio co-host. They talk about Smiley's new book, which offers a fresh look at a project he started two decades ago -- "The Covenant With Black America, 20 Years Later." They address the current state of Black America, where it's been and where it's going. They also talk about the 2024 Electi...

Host Ruben Navarrette has a great conversation with powerhouse mother-daughter team, Lupita Castañeda-Liles & Maria Soco Castañeda about their lives, their partnership, and their shared passion for their exciting social media platform, "Becoming Mujeres: Translating Cultural Expectations Into Opportunities." They talk about the mental health challenges facing Latinas -- especially young Latina...

Host Ruben Navarrette interviews Dr. Max Cuevas, CEO of Clinicas de Salud del Valle de Salinas, a string of non-profit and low-cost medical clinics sprinkled throughout the central coast and Salinas valley. They talk about the lack of health care insurance coverage, the high cost of health care, and an innovative project being run by the CSVS that imports doctors from Mexico to treat Mexican farm...

Host Ruben Navarrette interviews his friend, Neal Griffin, about the retired police lieutenant's latest career enhancement -- going from peace officer to crime novelist to beat reporter for a local Wisconsin newspaper. They talk about storytelling, journalism, politics and the state of modern-day policing among other topics.      

Host Ruben Navarrette interviews his longtime friend, Arnold Torres, about the state of American politics, the various challenges facing the country's 62 million Latinos, and the dangerous times in which we live now that Donald Trump has promised mass deportations of undocumented immigrants -- most of whom are Latino.                                                    

Host Ruben Navarrette interviews his friend, Bob Harrison, director of Command College, researcher for RAND Corporation and former police chief in three different California cities. They discuss policing in the modern era, the recent round of protests on university campuses and what the public thinks of the police when its time to restore order.  

Host Ruben Navarrette interviews his longtime friend, Martin Mares, founder and executive director of the Ivy League Project -- a unique leadership initiative that has taken thousands of high school students from migrant and working-class backgrounds to visit Ivy League and other selective universities -- with remarkable results.