Viewz with Denise De La Cruz

Anthony Victoria from People’s Collective for Environmental Justice discuss how warehouses, which have proliferated in Southern California's Inland Empire, bring pollution that disproportionately affects people of color. 

Drug and environmental writer and podcaster Mary Carreon discusses the potential mental and physical health benefits of drugs such as marijuana, mushrooms, LSD, and ecstasy while also breaking down if trendy spiritual tourism by Westerners in Indigenous lands is problematic or not. 

My hometown friend, Amanda Peña, discusses her research from her dual Master of Social Work and Master of City Planning program at the University of Pennsylvania while also sharing her personal journey that led her to community work.  

(Feel free to reach out to Amanda to discuss her research here: [email protected])

Good riddance, 2020! This year the world was introduced to Covid-19 and nothing was ever the same. I take a reflective and vulnerable look back at the year that had us all face a pandemic, politics, racism, and our own mental health. 

Samuel Messina (a Conservative) discusses with Dee De La Cruz (a Liberal) why he is voting to reelect President Trump in the upcoming 2020 Presidential elections. 

My friend Luis Carrillo and I discuss the "Leftist" versus "Liberal" divide among Americans who agree on wanting President Trump out of the White House, but who do not agree on voting for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Luis and I also dispel the common misconceptions we hear about socialism and what moments in our lives radicalized us politically. 

With just 50 days until a US election that Americans on all sides see as an existential struggle, local writer and podcaster Johan Moreno discusses with me the nuances of being a "moderate millennial" caught in the middle of a political spectrum of far-left and far-right ideologies in the United States. Johan and I also discuss our former lives as print journalists in Orange County and the best spots to eat in LA, OC, and IE. 

Correction: I discussed my Salvadoran family's history with the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) and accidentally said "FMLA." While the Family Medical Leave Act is a progressive bill that also has revolutionary roots, it is not quite the acronym I meant to say.

What do schools in the U.S need to better serve their students, specifically students of color? In this episode, we discuss how cultural representation and access to mental health resources are powerful tools for shortening the equity gap.