For Ayodele Casel tap dancing is magic. As a young high school student, she dreamed of one day dancing like Ginger Rogers as she recreated Ginger’s moves in her bedroom. But it wasn’t until Ayodele Casel was a sophomore at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts that she took her first tap dancing class. That was her entry point into the art form which would eventually lead to a more than 20 year career as a professional tap dancer. 

As a Black and Puerto Rican woman, Ayodele Casel didn’t see herself reflected in the mainstream image of tap dancers because the form has been largely whitewashed through systematic racism. For that reason, she works tirelessly to remind her audiences that tap is deeply rooted in Black art and culture.
In this episode of “How I Made It” Ayodele takes us through her tap journey, and reclaims tap dancing as a Black art form.

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This episode originally aired in 2021.

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To say that the United States and Mexico have a complicated relationship is to put it lightly. We’re talking over 200 years of a complicated power dynamicAnd today more than ever, it’s hard to keep up with how much is constantly happening between the two. 

So for this episode we’ll bring OG border and immigration reporters Alfredo Corchado and Angela Kocherga to understand what it could look like now that an unpredictable macho man is in the White House and a cool-headed woman is leading Mexico?

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Harvey Guillén talks with Maria Hinojosa about his role as Guillermo de la Cruz in the FX vampire comedy, What We Do in the Shadows. Harvey reflects on some recent tragic moments and some others from his childhood, none of which has stopped him from pursuing his dreams of being a Hollywood star.

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As President Trump threatens to take the Panama Canal back, journalist Cristela Guerra recalls her childhood memories growing up between the U.S. and Panama. She tells us about the complicated history between the two countries and what’s at stake if the U.S. tries to take the canal back. 

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Emilia Pérez has sparked significant controversy not only because of polarizing remarks from its director and lead star, but for its eccentric storytelling and what many call a downright “off” portrayal of Mexico. The film has received countless accolades and is nominated for 13 Oscars. We spoke to film thinkers in Mexico and the U.S. about what went wrong, what went right, and how critics and fans are responding. Listen to our conversation with Gonzalo Galván from El Heraldo de México, Fernanda Solórzano from Letras Libres, LAist’s Antonia Cereijido, and San Antonio Current’s Kiko Martínez.

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In the second episode of our new series "Hombre: Understanding Latino Men," Maria Hinojosa sits down with two young Latino voters from Texas. Alejandro Flores, from Dallas, cast his ballot for Kamala Harris in 2024. First-time voter Alexis Uscanga, from the Rio Grande Valley, chose Donald Trump. This roundtable gets into the issues that informed both Alexis’ and Alejandro’s vote.

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Author Cristina Rivera Garza’s memoir received the Pulitzer prize in 2024. In Mexico, the book sparked a feminist movement demanding justice for gender-based violence. In “Liliana’s Invincible Summer,” Cristina delves into the “emotional archive” of her sister, who was allegedly killed by her boyfriend 30 years ago, when Liliana was only 20. In this conversation, Cristina Rivera Garza and Maria Hinojosa discuss their own journeys to find the words and power to talk about gender-based violence and femicide in both English and Spanish.

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When you enter the Caribbean Social Club, or Toñita’s, it feels like you could be in your grandmother’s living room. And that’s exactly what its owner, Maria Antonia Cay, —better known as Toñita— was aiming for when she opened the club in the 1970s as a gathering place for the local baseball team. 50 years later, Toñita’s is still standing in Los Sures, the south side of Williamsburg—the most gentrified neighborhood in New York City. Yet over the years, Toñita has faced ever greater challenges to keep her club open. In this episode of Latino USA, we follow Toñita through her latest hurdle, a court battle, and we learn about how the Puerto Rican community in Los Sures has kept culture alive.

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This episode originally aired in 2024.

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This week on Latino USA, we're sharing an episode from Code Switch. 

We bring you a different kind of immigration coverage. We're telling a New York story: one that celebrates the beautiful, everyday life of the immigrant. Code Switch producer, Xavier Lopez, and NPR immigration reporter, Jasmine Garsd, spend a day at Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

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Amid the chaos generated by Donald Trump’s first days back in the White House,  Maria Hinojosa sits down with someone who has sounded off on the former and current president for years: New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

AOC tells us what, in her opinion, went wrong for Democrats in 2024 and how the party can win back voters. She also highlights the beauty and value immigrants bring to the U.S., analyzes the new geopolitics of Latin America and more.

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