Anything For Selena

Maria was watching the Benito Bowl when an unexpected artist came on: the one and only Ricky Martin. He sang one of Bad Bunny’s most political, anti-colonial anthems. Maria knew this was a touchstone moment — the artist who most represented the 90’s Latin Boom wasn’t performing to a white audience for recognition or acceptance; he was singing a song of resistance, in Spanish. And then Maria’s 11-year-old son said, “Who’s that???” Today, Maria revisits the importance of Ricky Martin’s career and life, and how he had to live “La vida loca” so that Bad Bunny could do “Lo que le da la gana.” Watch this episode on YouTube. Follow Muy Excited with Maria Garcia for more episodes.

The 1960s brings social and political change to the world and to New York City, where a young Johnny Pacheco keeps people dancing with his orchestra and charanga music. The Dominican musician is also going through a divorce and his lawyer, Jerry Masucci, happens to be a fan of Johnny’s music. The two form a music partnership that will forever change music. They call their music label Fania Records. Listen to Our Thing: The Birth of Salsa in Nueva York out now wherever you listen to podcasts.

The Futuro Studios podcast, La Brega, returns for its third season. In Season 3, La Brega shares stories of Puerto Rico’s champions. They take us to the ballfields and cultural battlegrounds where carrying the flag takes on even more meaning. You’ll meet fighters who have represented Puerto Rico in courtrooms and in boxing rings, and icons who have worn Puerto Rico on their sashes and their jerseys. La Brega asks: what do we learn about Puerto Ricanness by spending time with our champions?  La Brega: Season 3 is out everywhere on 2/3. New episodes every Tuesday on the La Brega: Campeones feed.

In this special bonus episode of Anything for Selena, host Maria Garcia and artist Maya Murillo come together in front of a live audience at the Apple Store at The Grove in Los Angeles to celebrate Selena's legacy and the induction of Anything for Selena into Apple Podcasts Series Essentials.

Host Maria Garcia is back to introduce the spiritual sequel to Anything For Selena — a podcast about going back to your roots, with the life of Juan Gabriel as a guide. To listen to the Apple Original podcast My Divo, click here: http://apple.co/MyDivo

Introducing Beyond All Repair, a new WBUR podcast hosted by Amory Sivertson. This series tells the story of a murder, but also the woman who was accused of that murder, Sophia. Sophia was newly married and 6 months pregnant when she was charged with murdering her mother-in-law in 2002. She gave birth to a son in jail that she hasn’t seen since, and for the last three years, she’s been telling me her story in hopes of getting justice for her mother-in-law, of having a chance of meeting her son, and of finally being believed. This is the first chapter of Beyond All Repair. Episode 2 is already waiting for you. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Produced by WBUR, Boston’s NPR, in partnership with The Trace, The Gun Machine looks into the past to bring you a story that most Americans never learned in history class: how early partnerships between mad scientist gunsmiths and a fledgling U.S. government created the gun industry in the Northeast, and how that industry has been partners with the government ever since. Host Alain Stephens examines how this 250-year relationship underpins all Americans’ interactions with guns — including our failures in dealing with the fallout of gun violence. The Gun Machine episodes drop every Wednesday, starting Oct. 4, 2023. Listen and follow on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts. https://link.chtbl.com/thegunmachine

We want to share a first listen of a new podcast we're working on at WBUR. Violation tells the story of two families bound together by an unthinkable crime. It explores America's opaque parole system and asks: How much time in prison is enough? Who gets to decide? And, when someone commits a terrible crime, what does redemption look like?  Listen to the trailer and if you like what you hear, head over to the Violation feed wherever you get your podcasts and hit subscribe so you'll get new episodes when they drop, beginning March 22.

NPR and Futuro Studios present The Last Cup, a limited series about soccer and the immigrant experience. Lionel Messi is known as the best soccer player of his generation, but there’s one dream he’s never achieved: winning a World Cup for Argentina, the country he left decades ago. What does home mean when you are so far away, for so long?

Imagine if Frank Sinatra went on stage every night with a gun in his waistband, or if Tupac got into a shootout onstage at a rodeo. Well, Chalino Sanchez did just that. Today, we're sharing an episode of a brand new podcast from our friends at Futuro Studios, "Ídolo: The Ballad of Chalino Sánchez." The 8-episode series examines the extraordinary life of the “King of Corridos” and an attempt to unravel the mystery of his death. This is the first episode, "Death Note."

Maria heads to Joshua Tree, California for an intimate interview with Selena\'s widower, Chris Perez. Chris shares a side of Selena we rarely get to see, and Maria learns about how romantic love was one of the ways Selena charted her own path.\r\n

In this intimate Q&A, host Maria Garcia and producers Antonia Cereijido and Kristin Torres take listeners behind the scenes for a look at the making of Anything for Selena. This episode was recorded live during a virtual event with WBUR Cityspace.\r\n

En el final de la serie Anything for Selena, Maria reflexiona sobre lo que su año de análisis del legado de Selena revela sobre la humanidad de La Reina.

Tras el debut de la serie Selena en Netflix, algunos fans señalaron que la cantante había sido "blanqueada" en ese show. En este episodio, Maria analiza por qué la tez morena de Selena es parte crucial del legado de la reina del tex-mex y reflexiona sobre cómo su exploración de la raza de Selena la condujo a revelaciones acerca de su propia identidad.

Un cuarto de siglo después de su muerte, Selena está arrasando en internet. En línea, la imagen y la música de Selena han adquirido nueva vida en redes sociales y plataformas que eran inimaginables cuando ella aún vivía. Sus seguidores de todas las edades han recurrido a Instagram, TikTok y YouTube para restaurar y presentar de nuevas formas la memoria de Selena. En este episodio, Maria explora cómo la internet se ha convertido en un lugar en el que los fans honran y recuerdan a Selena, y sobrellevan juntos el vacío que dejó.

Puede ser que Selena haya hecho una carrera cantando temas en español, pero no se crió hablando español en casa. Aprendió castellano a la vista del público, y los errores que cometió se convirtieron en algunos de sus momentos más famosos y entrañables. En este episodio, Maria explora por qué el spanglish de Selena parecía tan revolucionario para su época y, a la misma vez, tan familiar para sus fans, quienes también padecían con el idioma de sus padres o antepasados. Esta exploración nos lleva a un lugar inesperado.

Selena es usualmente descrita como la "reina de la música tejana". En la década de 1990, fue ella quien elevó este género del pueblo a niveles internacionales. Las ceremonias de premiación de la música tejana eran eventos glamorosos y los DJ de estaciones de radio dedicadas al género eran vistos como estrellas de rock en Texas y el resto del sudoeste de Estados Unidos. Incluso el New York Times lo catalogó "el género latino de más rápido crecimiento del país". Pero cuando Selena falleció, la música tejana pasó de la gloria a la decadencia. Sin embargo, la historia de su declive no es tan sencilla. Maria descubre que es una historia de inmigración, de dinero y de cómo dos grupos usualmente ignorados fueron enfrentados entre sí.

En los noventa, "Baby Got Back (I Like Big Butts)" de Sir Mix-A-Lot debutó en la radio. Hoy, la obsesión con los traseros grandes se mantiene sólida gracias a ídolos como Cardi B y Beyoncé. También ha impregnado la cultura blanca con Kim Kardashian y "belfie queen" Jen Selter. María comparte su teoría sobre cómo los traseros pasaron de tabú a obsesión, y cómo involucra a Selena y JLO. Ella descubre que la política de los traseros es a fin de cuentas sobre raza, y nos conduce a una conversación postergada sobre la anti-negritud en la cultura latina.

En el transcurso de su vida, Selena se convirtió en un símbolo de esperanza. Se transformó en el modelo a seguir de cómo alcanzar la aceptación dentro del sueño americano para todos los Latinos. Pero la manifestación de una guerra cultural oculta luego de su muerte nos revela otra historia. En este episodio Maria le sigue la pista a las razones por las cuales Selena se convirtió en símbolo de solidaridad y resistencia mientras conversa con Curly Velasquez de Pero Like.

María sabe que para entender verdaderamente a Selena no solo como un ícono, sino también como persona, necesita ir a Corpus Christi. Su búsqueda la lleva hasta Abraham Quintanilla, el padre de Selena. En este episodio, María repasa el legado complicado de Abraham y conversa con la autora Yesika Salgado, con quien reflexiona sobre la relación padre e hija en las familias latinas.