A panel of newsies join Elaine Ayala’s ¡Nosotros! podcast to discuss some of the top stories of 2024 and one of the most provocative stories about San Antonio’s progress as a big city.

Suggested reading:

San Antonio is booming. Why is it still so poor?

UTSA demographer studies West Side's 'persistent poverty'

San Antonio affordable housing project killed by four City Council members

Ayala: Now that Fiesta is over, let's talk about its shameful anti-Mexican roots

Ayala: ‘Keep the party, lose the war’ — it’s time to separate Fiesta from a painful history

Keep in touch:

Metro Columnist Elaine Ayala: [email protected]

Follow @ElaineAyala on X (Twitter): https://x.com/ElaineAyala

More ¡Nosotros! Episodes on Youtube: https://exne.ws/nosotros-youtube

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

J.B. Sauceda wasn’t even born when “Texas Country Reporter” first went on the air. The longtime Austinite is now helming it, in its 53rdseason. He’s also hosting a new podcast, “Viva Tejano,” fueled in part by the legacy of the late Johnny Canales.

Suggested reading:

J.B. Sauceda's website

J.B. Sauceda's first TCR episode

'Viva Tejano' podcast trailer

Exclusive: Meet the La Porte man who is the new face of the long-running series 'Texas Country Reporter'

Keep in touch:

Metro Columnist Elaine Ayala: [email protected]

Follow @ElaineAyala on X (Twitter): https://x.com/ElaineAyala

More ¡Nosotros! Episodes on Youtube: https://exne.ws/nosotros-youtube

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As longtime Bexar County elections chief Jacque Callanen wraps up her last election, she also looks back at the changes during her tenure.

Suggested links:

Latinas for Kamala were out in force for the first day of early voting

Bexar County elections chief to step down amid controversy

Univision staff signs up as volunteer voter registrars

Keep in touch:

Metro Columnist Elaine Ayala: [email protected]

Follow @ElaineAyala on X (Twitter): https://x.com/ElaineAyala

More ¡Nosotros! Episodes on Youtube: https://exne.ws/nosotros-youtube

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Perhaps it’s still too soon after the November election to have a better handle on a second Trump administration. But, so far, it looks glum, says UTSA political scientist Jon Taylor in Elaine Ayala’s “Nosotros’ postmortem.

Suggested reading:

Ayala: History proves U.S. citizens can get caught up in 'mass deportations': https://www.expressnews.com/columnist/elaine-ayala/article/immigrant-raid-brown-u-s-citizens-risk-19900000.php

Mass deportations will amount to genocide, family separations and wrongful removals: https://www.expressnews.com/columnist/elaine-ayala/article/project-2025-trump-mass-deportations-19813150.php

Ayala: Donald Trump's indictment reads like a political drama and a historical text: https://www.expressnews.com/columnist/elaine-ayala/article/jack-smith-donald-trump-indictment-18282833.php

Ayala: 'Garbage' comment at Trump rally may not get all Puerto Rican voters to vote against Trump: https://www.expressnews.com/columnist/elaine-ayala/article/garbage-comment-not-sway-puerto-rican-voters-19871045.php

Keep in touch:

Metro Columnist Elaine Ayala's email: [email protected]

Follow @ElaineAyala on X (Twitter): https://x.com/ElaineAyala

More ¡Nosotros! Episodes on Youtube: https://exne.ws/nosotros-youtube

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on ¡Nosotros! we revisit a previous interview Express-News Columnist Elaine Ayala conducted with UTSA professor emerita, Dr. Ellen Riojas Clark. Together they discuss the history of Día De Muertos and share some do's and don'ts to help celebrate the holiday respectfully. (Originally published on Oct. 28, 2022)

Suggested reading:

Day of Dead altar creators to West Side neighbors: Help us with images of your departed

Ayala: 'The sense of loss never leaves you,' nor should honoring the dead

Ayala: Día de los Muertos calls for as much reverence and knowledge as revelry

Día de los Muertos reflects cultural revival

Keep in touch:

Metro Columnist Elaine Ayala: [email protected]

Follow @ElaineAyala on X (Twitter): https://x.com/ElaineAyala

More ¡Nosotros! Episodes on Youtube: https://exne.ws/nosotros-youtube

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mine. The international superstar was in town for just 24 hours – this time – and gave “Nosotros” a half-hour of it. Two years ago, he filmed a movie here, and he was back for the VIP screening of his new indie rom-com, “Say a Little Prayer.”

Suggested reading:

San Antonio rom-com starring Luis Fonsi of 'Despacito' fame gets official trailer, release date

'Despacito' star Luis Fonsi making his feature film debut in San Antonio-shot romantic comedy

Luis Fonsi official website

Keep in touch:

Metro Columnist Elaine Ayala: [email protected]

Follow @ElaineAyala on X (Twitter): https://x.com/ElaineAyala

More ¡Nosotros! Episodes on Youtube: https://exne.ws/nosotros-youtube

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ron Nirenberg reflects on his record as he nears the end of his tenure as mayor of San Antonio – the longest anyone has served since Henry Cisneros. He talks about his best days in office and some of his worst, and he has a little advice for whomever takes the baton from him next May.

Suggested reading:

‘I’m a Democrat’: Mayor Ron Nirenberg campaigns for Kamala Harris, embraces party label

San Antonio affordable housing project killed by four City Council members

Ayala: San Antonio will gift a compassion ‘how-to’ for use by nation’s cities

Mayor Ron Nirenberg's City of San Antonio bio

Keep in touch:

Metro Columnist Elaine Ayala: [email protected]

Follow @ElaineAyala on X (Twitter): https://x.com/ElaineAyala

More ¡Nosotros! Episodes on Youtube: https://exne.ws/nosotros-youtube

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Nosotros with Elaine Ayala” brings together a panel of experts to discuss how a national designation that’s meant to be empowering and celebratory can also be troubling.

Suggested reading:

Ayala: Success of National Hispanic Heritage Month stirring debate

Ayala: In San Antonio and elsewhere, National Hispanic Heritage Month will mean nothing unless Latinos vote and answer the 2020 Census

Mexican American Studies growing exponentially in schools, no thanks to Texas

State Board of Education just couldn’t leave well enough alone

Ayala: A modest San Antonio affair marks its 10th anniversary with another book launch

Keep in touch:

Metro Columnist Elaine Ayala: [email protected]

Follow @ElaineAyala on X (Twitter): https://x.com/ElaineAyala

More ¡Nosotros! Episodes on Youtube: https://exne.ws/nosotros-youtube

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twin brothers Joaquin and Julian Castro aren’t just San Antonio political figures, they’re national ones. One a congressman, the other a former San Antonio mayor and former housing secretary under President Barack Obama. As they celebrate a major milestone in their lives, they look back at their political careers and talk about what’s to come.

Suggested links:

Latino Community Foundation CEO

Congressman for the 20th District of Texas

After getting divorced and landing a new job in California, Julián Castro is staying in San Antonio

What you don't know about Rosie Castro is that she's a poet

Ayala: Should 'Blood In, Blood Out' be in the National Film Registry? U.S. Rep. Castro says yes.

Joaquin Castro talks about the boar that saved his life

Keep in touch:

Metro Columnist Elaine Ayala: [email protected]

Follow @ElaineAyala on X (Twitter): https://x.com/ElaineAyala

More ¡Nosotros! Episodes on Youtube: https://exne.ws/nosotros-youtube

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When San Antonio artists Lionel and Kathy Sosa bought a historic home in Querétaro four years ago, they began to learn about the surprising connections between the two cities. Those go back at least 300 years and has led an exhibit of San Antonio artists in the central Mexican city and a four-part documentary on KLRN.

Suggested links:

Al Otro Lado Del Espejo (othersideofthemirror.com)

Commentary: Beating the heat in Mexico

Sosa: Keep striving, friendly city, to be inclusive

Children of the Revolucion - The Project

Revolutionary Women of Texas and Mexico- Trinity University Press

Keep in touch:

Metro Columnist Elaine Ayala: [email protected]

Follow @ElaineAyala on X (Twitter): https://x.com/ElaineAyala

More ¡Nosotros! Episodes on Youtube: https://exne.ws/nosotros-youtube

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices