Join us in celebrating a monumental moment - the 100th episode of the Paseo Podcast! Over the past four years, we've embarked on an incredible journey, dedicated to spotlighting stories by, from and about the Puerto Rican community. Since the beginning of our podcast project, it’s been a true honor to be part of our community's narrative. This epis…

Today we’re sharing Josh’s recent appearance on City Cast Chicago, a daily podcast hosted by Jacoby Cochran. City Cast Chicago is fresh each weekday at 6 a.m. and features timely conversations with news and culture makers; activists and artists; and every day people who love this city, but who are always working to make it better. Josh and, City Ca…

Political activist, José Cha Cha Jiménez, who also held the positions of President & Chairman of the Young Lords, joins us for this episode along with Young Lords Scholar, Jacqueline Lazú, PhD. In this episode, we sit down for a rare, uninterrupted long-form interview about the The Young Lords, also known as the Young Lords Organization. The civil …

Today we’re sharing Josh’s recent appearance on It's All Trash, a bi-weekly podcast hosted by Sabrina Alicea. It's All Trash is a podcast diving into the trash world of education. It welcomes guests on to talk about their own education journey, and highlight traditional and nontraditional career pathways. Josh stopped by to play Puerto Rican trivia…

Scott Vargas, the Founder and President of the Puerto Rico Ice Hockey Association (PRIHA), stops by the show to discuss the importance of Puerto Rico's international representation in sports, what the ice hockey scene looks like on la Isla, founding PRIHA and the barriers many Puerto Ricans face when trying to play ice hockey professionally today. …

Jessie Fuentes returns to the show to discuss the impact of Hurricane Fiona on Puerto Rico, the storm exposing a decades-deep issue, and how you can support disaster relief efforts. Guest: Jessie Fuentes, Co-Chair of the Puerto Rican Agenda (Chicago) & Director of Policy and Youth Advocacy for the Puerto Rican Cultural Center of Chicago. Host: Josh…

Today we’re sharing Josh’s recent appearance on City Cast Chicago, a daily podcast hosted by Jacoby Cochran. City Cast Chicago is fresh each weekday at 6 a.m. and features timely conversations with news and culture makers; activists and artists; and every day people who love this city, but who are always working to make it better. Josh told Jacoby …

It's time for some Puerto Rican history! Long time listeners know these are some of our favorite episodes to do because they give us a chance to learn alongside you. This time, we’re focusing on the 1966 Division Street Riots in Chicago - the first riot in the United States attributed to Puerto Ricans. In the second half of the show, we break down …

In this bonus episode, we’re sharing a press conference from the House Committee on Natural Resources, which oversees insular affairs for the United States, including the affairs of Puerto Rico. What you'll hear in this press conference is a historic announcement from congressional members, who have supported two opposing bills that address Puerto …

Mónica Feliú Mójer, Ph.D. joins the show today. She is a scientist, science communicator & project lead for the Aquí Nos Cuidamos, which is an award-winning community engagement project that promotes COVID-19 prevention and the well-being of vulnerable and marginalized communities in Puerto Rico through culturally relevant multimedia education, com…

Happy Earth Day! In this episode, we show love to Puerto Rico’s ecology with a ton of fun facts that show just how naturally amazing la Isla is. Press play to learn about PR’s national flower, how wet El Yunque can get, the way Taíno’s used Ceiba Trees, native and not-so-native animals, and a whole bunch more. Host: Joshua ★ https://twitter.com/jsd…

Puerto Rico's newest debt restructuring plan has been met with harsh criticism, but you would never know it reading most of the mainstream media coverage of its approval. Marisol LeBrón and Sarah Molinari published an opinion piece in Truthout challenging the mainland press narrative that the plan is one of the best things to ever happen to Puerto …

If Puerto Rico became independent, what would happen to its economy? Some fear Puerto Rico would self-destruct, but author Javier A. Hernández has a different take. In this episode, we sit down with Javier to discuss how a sovereign Puerto Rico could potentially be economically sustainable. In the second half of the show, we break down the latest P…

Puerto Rican marine biologist Melissa Cristina Márquez has appeared in places like Forbes, Good Morning America & National Geographic. Her next stop? Our podcast! Listen to this episode to learn more about Melissa's work, shark myths, the reasons shark research is lacking in Puerto Rico, obstacles preventing more Latinas from entering the STEM fiel…

For this bonus episode, we’re sharing a Facebook Live panel discussion from Power 4 Puerto Rico. The topic of discussion is on the State of the U.S. Colonies. Listen in to hear from leaders, scholars, and activists from American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands on the major challenges these colonies…

Author J.L. Torres discusses his latest book Migrations, Roberto Clemente being confronted with racism & writing about the Puerto Rican diaspora. Migrations is a collection of stories focused on selected moments in Puerto Rican history & their impact on everyday people. In the second half of the show, we break down the latest Puerto Rican News, inc…

Have you ever heard of the Black Code policy that passed in the 19th century in Puerto Rico? Educator Nina Vázquez has studied this topic extensively & stops by the show to give us a little history lesson on this awful racist law. You won't want to miss out on the deep dive into a moment of Puerto Rico's history. Stay tuned for the end of the show …

For this bonus episode, we’re sharing a Facebook Live panel discussion from our friends at Power 4 Puerto Rico. The topic of discussion is Puerto Rico’s recently approved debt restructuring plan that the US colonial board - La Junta - imposed on Puerto Rico. We talked about the new debt restructuring plan and its faults in our last episode and took…

Author Xochitl Gonzalez stops by the show! She has worn many hats - entrepreneur, wedding planner, tarot card reader. Now, people are loving her work as an author with her debut novel, Olga Dies Dreaming. We cover a lot of ground in this interview, including the ways her novel explores Puerto Rico's status issues, class dynamics, gentrification, an…

Sonia Manzano has gone from teaching us our ABCs & 123s on Sesame Street to highlighting #PuertoRican culture in her new children's show on PBS, Alma's Way. We sit down with the 15x Emmy winner and accomplished author to discuss Alma's Way, her early experiences as one of the first Latinas on TV, Willie Colón visiting her home as a kid, and what be…

How are young Puerto Ricans changing in their views on Puerto Rico's status? Are they leaning toward independence, statehood or keeping the current common wealth status? And - across age groups - where do the demographics fall or rise in support for PR's political parties? Insider Senior Reporter Gwen Aviles joins the show to discuss her recent rep…

Considering all of the stories coming out of Puerto Rico & by Puerto Ricans, why a remake of West Side Story now? In this episode, we sit down with 3 Latina academics to reflect on & analyze the impact of the production over the past 60+ years. Guests: Dr. Grisel Y. Acosta, Professor of English, Bronx Community College Dr. Frances Negrón-Muntaner, …

We’re going to talk about Puerto Rican food in this episode. The underlying theme in our conversation surrounds the question - Is Puerto Rican food healthy? And by that we mean...how do we think about our food? Do we only look at it as fast food? Why do we eat the food we eat today? Are we ignoring other parts of our ancestral history in trying to …

It's a packed episode today! First, we welcome Denise Ruiz and Cristina Gutierrez to the show. They are the founders of The Honeycomb Network - a holistic co-working and co-creating collective care sanctuary centered and focused on the BIPOC community. We recorded this back in September and it was a lot of fun because it was only our second in-pers…

In a historic leak, the Pandora Papers revealed that wealthy people have billions of dollars hidden beyond reach in tax havens around the world - AND Puerto Rico banks, celebrities & more are involved. Journalist Luis Valentín has been doing some great reporting on this story for Centro de Periodismo Investigativo, so we invited him on the show to …

Puerto Rico residents are PISSED over consistent power outages happening in Puerto Rico since LUMA Energy - a private Canadian-American company - took over la Isla's electricity on June 1, 2021. We welcome Nicole Acevedo, NBC News and NBC Latino reporter, and Carlos Berríos Polanco, a freelance independent journalist focused on covering extremism, …

The Puerto Rican Festival begins today through September 26! It’s been going strong for 39 years, but was once at risk of not happening in 2019 due to the unethical stewardship of the committee in charge at the time that ended in the organization filing bankruptcy. The group of community leaders we have on today’s show actually stepped up during th…

Being a small business owner can be tough, and the pandemic has only made things harder, especially for BIPOC owners. On today's episode, we welcome Boricua small business owner, Rachel Diaz, to the show. She is the owner of a Puerto Rican Bakeshop called Borinken Cakes. She’s a working mother of two, who - before getting into the baking business -…

What’s up everyone! It’s good to be back in action. In today’s episode we get the Paseo Podcast team together to talk about a ton of Puerto Rico news that we either missed or wanted to talk about while we were on break. We’re going to talk about Puerto Rican athletes, Jessica Camacho-Quinn and Amanda Serrano, Puerto Rico as a tax haven through the …

On today’s show we welcome Nicole Alvarez. She's the Co-Founder & Coordinator of Actívate PR, which is a collective dedicated to bringing awareness to the importance of Puerto Rican independence from a present day lens. We’re going to discuss predatory gentrification in Puerto Rico today. There’s been a number of news stories over the years bringin…

On today’s show we welcome Dr. Sara Awartani. We're going to talk about settler colonialism and armed struggle within the context of Puerto Rico and Palestine, examples of Puerto Rican and Palestinian solidarity, and hear some of her literary suggestions on where people can begin to educate themselves on Puerto Rico and Palestine independence. She …

On today’s show, we welcome Ali Six. He is a multi-medium artist from Chicago. Among other things, in today’s episode we’re going to discuss the role Aladdin & Michael Jordan played in his name, his 3 key takeaways for aspiring artists he’s learned in his career, what getting arrested meant for his trajectory in the Chicago art scene and where in t…

On today’s show we welcome returning guest, Federico A. de Jesús. He is an advisor for the Center for American Progress. You may remember him from the last time we had him on the show to discuss the PR Self-Determination Act and his work with Power 4 Puerto Rico. We also welcome Laura Rodriguez, she’s the Vice President for Government Affairs at th…

On today’s show we welcome the Executive Director of the Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center, Omar Torres Kortright. The cultural center is the longest serving Latinx cultural center in Chicago and this year they are celebrating their 50th Anniversary, so we invited Omar on the show to talk about the center’s namesake, what initiated its founding i…

We welcome Monica Cruz. She's a labor reporter with BreakThrough News and host of the weekly podcast, On the Picket Line. She's a 3rd generation Afro-Boricua raised in New Jersey and an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. We discuss the PRO Act, a major labor legislation that could transform the lives of working class people and …

We welcome Dr. Lisa Calvente to the show. She is a Communications and Black studies scholar. We’re going to discuss her connection to the Notorious B.I.G., her work and research, her connection to Puerto Rican culture after her father’s passing, a lawsuit she’s filled against DePaul University stemming from her tenure process and a whole lot more. …

We welcome Victoria Leandra to the show. She's the Editorial Director for The Americano and Floricua, a news outlet for and by Latinas in the US. Prior to becoming the Editorial Director for The Americano/Floricuas, Victoria worked for VICE News and Bloomberg and you might have seen her bylines in outlets like Refinery29, Oprah Magazine, Bustle, an…

Melissa DuPrey joins the show this week. She’s a Black Puerto Rican performer, storyteller, & comic. She’s been on shows, such as Empire and Chicago PD, and in films, like Cherry on Apple TV. She’s also had success on stage with shows like SUSHI-frito and currently has a recurring row on Grey’s Anatomy as Dr. Sara Ortiz. We’re going to talk about h…

Jessie Fuentes returns to the show! She’s an activist, the Co-Chair of the Puerto Rican Agenda Chicago Chapter and the new Director of Policy and Youth Advocacy for the Puerto Rican Cultural Center in Chicago. If you want to learn more about Jessie and her work, give episode 4 of the podcast a listen. Today we’re going to discuss the systemic issue…

This week was the first-ever National Borinqueneers Day! On today's episode, we answer the question - Who were The Borinqueneers? Host, Joshua Smyser-DeLeon's Twitter ★ https://twitter.com/jsdeleon Podcast Website ★ https://www.paseomedia.org YouTube Channel ★ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiErkggr7eqspgCfR9jUOZA Facebook ★ https://www.facebook.…

For this week’s episode, we’re sharing 2 separate, but related, interviews. We speak to Federico A. de Jesús, Senior Advisor for Power 4 Puerto Rico and a Former Obama-Biden Official, about the Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act, including misconceptions of the bill, how it came to be, how it seeks to address Puerto Rico’s status, and how it compar…

For this week’s episode, we welcome César Rosado Marzán. He’s a labor and employment law scholar and professor in the University of Iowa’s College of Law. We invited him on the show today because there’s been some big unionization news in the media recently. In case you haven’t seen it, there is a vital election going on to unionize an Amazon Wareh…

For this bonus episode, we welcome Congressman Jesús "Chuy" García to the show. We talk to him about the role he’s playing in legislation at the federal level that can impact Puerto Rico’s colonial, financial and environmental status, his views on the future of the Democratic Party, his relationship with The Squad and more! Host, Joshua Smyser-DeLe…

We welcome NBC News and NBC Latino reporter, Nicole Acevedo, to the show. In the past, Nicole has published stories for MSNBC, Telemundo 47 and NPR’s Latino USA. She’s done a lot of reporting on Puerto Rico, so we’re going to talk about her recent reporting on two opposing bills in congress that are trying to address the issue of Puerto Rico’s stat…

We’re making history by welcoming our very first Missourican guest to the show! Daniela Velázquez joins us today. She is the Senior Manager of Public Relations at Elasticity, a St Louis-based digital marketing and advertising firm, and sits on the leadership board for VozKC, a Missouri-based PAC focused on building the power of Latinos across the s…

We welcome two returning guests to the podcast this week. Today we welcome back IL State Senator Cristina Pacione-Zayas and Managing Director of Corps Member Leadership at Teach for America, Jason Dones. We’re going to discuss the Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading standards that Illinois state lawmakers recently adopted, which will elevate…

We welcome Dr. Melissa Lewis to the show. She’s the principal of Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School located on Paseo Boricua in Chicago. We’re going to discuss the high school and how it differs from Chicago Public Schools, her experience as an Afro-Boricua in the education field, what it has been like leading the high school through …

We welcome back to the show, City Bureau journalist, Justin Agrelo. Justin reports on housing for City Bureau and he and their housing team published a report on Chicago’s looming housing crisis. They spoke with Chicago residents facing eviction to better understand the impacts the pandemic is having on their ability to keep a roof over their heads…

Naomi Bonafoux joins the podcast this week and we’re taking a trip across the pond to London’s Puerto Rican Diaspora. She holds a few hats, but on top of being a part of the Puerto Rican community in London, she’s also an activist and actress. We’re going to talk about why she left Puerto Rico for London, the struggle of trying to find a job in a n…

Julio Ricardo Varela joins the podcast this week. He's the founder of the independent media outlet, Latino Rebels, Co-host of the show, In The Thick, and Vice-President of New Business for Futuro Media, which produces the nationally syndicated public radio program, Latino USA. We’re going to talk about how why he founded Latino Rebels, how Latino R…