A message from SquadCast co-founder Rock Felder:
From day one, SquadCast’s mission has been to amplify collaboration. We do this by making it easier to record meaningful conversations without compromising on quality. We help creators build connections with their guests and audiences to share their stories with the world. An exciting development is seeing (and hearing) the growth of all the shows created in Spanish and those representing the Latinx community using our platform!
As a team with approximately half Hispanic heritage, we are grateful to play a small role in the incredible conversations and shows recorded on SquadCast. In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, SquadCast is proud to collaborate with the amazing Maribel Quezada Smith to recognize the contributions and accomplishments of Hispanic creators who inspire us all.
Hispanic Heritage month is just around the corner, and it’s only a matter of time until we find these types of lists popping up all over the internet. Blogs, magazines and everyone who runs a media company is pressed to get in on the rise of popularity and increased focus on Hispanic, Latinx, Chicano, and all kinds of Spanish-speaking content.
It would be awesome if my fellow Latina and Latinx creators got as much shine all year round, but you know… we live in America. So I decided to do something different this year, rather than waiting for someone else to come up with some arbitrary list of honorable mentions, I’ve written my own with actual verifiable criteria based on facts. Something most of these top lists are likely going to skip on, because… “too much work”.
Before we go any further, I want to note that I sincerely struggled to find independent English/Spanish bilingual podcasts that meet the criteria I listed below. I came across several interesting bilingual podcasts that have podfaded or have not published in more than 90 days, and this opened up a deeper question for me… what’s making it so hard for bilingual podcasts to stick around? I plan to dive deeper into this and will report back with my findings, soon. And if you are reading this and know of an independent English/Spanish Bilingual podcast, please let me know!
I’ve curated this list of independent bilingual Hispanic and Latinx podcasts based on the following six criteria:
- The podcaster must identify as a Latinx, Latina, Latino or Hispanic person. No, they don’t all mean the same thing.
- The podcast must be active. I’m defining active as: published a new episode within the past 90 days. Because some folks have seasonal shows. This is to prevent adding folks to the list who may have podfaded.
- The podcast creates content with the Latinx community in mind. Either speaks to a Hispanic audience, or the topics are a culturally representative of the Latin-American experience.
- The podcast is an established podcast with longevity. “Established” in this context is determined by the length of time the show has been around. Anything created before August 30th 2020 makes the cut.
- The podcast must have solid sound quality. Again, this can be very subjective, so for this purpose I determined sound quality by looking for the following when I listened to the podcast episodes: the podcaster uses a microphone, episodes have low to no echo or feedback, low use of filler words, and few distracting sounds.
- The podcast is bilingual. This means the podcaster publishes entire episodes in Spanish and in English, within the same RSS feed.
SIDE NOTE: Independent podcasts are not run or produced by networks, studios or public media.
Here are five Hispanic and Latinx bilingual podcasts advancing la cultura. ¡Vamos!
1. Modern immigrant, by Vero – Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, Vero is the engaging host of modern Immigrant, where she creates a space for open discussion and communication about our unique immigration stories. From the podcaster: Growing up, she was fascinated with her father’s journey as he shared his stories about his immigration. Vero’s experience with immigration continues today as she explores life in the USA.
2. De Pueblo, Catolico y Gay, by Elder DĂaz Santillan. Host, Elder is the empathetic voice taking the audience on a journey of growth and understanding through the intimate stories of folks in the LGBTQ+ community. Many of the episodes are in Spanish, but the the one with the catholic priest was in English and so touching, it had me in tears. Podcast description: An oral history archive of Latinx LGBTQ+ stories exploring how gender and sexual identities intersect with religion and traditional family values. This is a space for open conversations with ourselves, our family and our friends.
3. CafĂ© con Pam, by Pam Covarrubias – I always learn something new when listening to Pam’s discussions on her podcast, CafĂ© con Pam. The episode about Breaking Through Your Own Glass Ceiling with Linda Gonzalez had me nodding so hard I almost got whiplash. Podcast Description: CafĂ© con Pam is the weekly podcast featuring fearless Latine/x and People of The Global Majority that break barriers, change lives and make the world a better place while living in the US. Cafe con Pam is the platform where Latinx are able to share their stories and inspire one another through conversation of course while enjoying a fabulous cup of coffee.
4. DIFERENTE, by Maribel Quezada Smith – Yes, that’s me! If you haven’t heard an episode before, some of my favorites are, Making Rich White lady Decisions (English) and Cuando ConocĂ el Racismo (Spanish). Podcast Description: The bilingual podcast that celebrates and explores the complexities of living life between two (or more) cultures. In DIFERENTE I present stories and interviews about cultural identity, questioning the norm, and becoming empowered, among other topics that relate to the bicultural experience.
5. The Latina Mom Legacy Podcast, by Janny Perez – Though Janny considers her podcast a “Spanglish” show, I included her on the list because she’s done some episodes in español too, and because I hope this encourages her to make more! I loved the one from 2019, where Janny and her bilingual daughter have a conversation in Spanish while they review a book together. Podcast Description: A global parenting Spanglish podcast where Colombian American mom, Janny Perez empowers Latina and multicultural moms raising bilingual & bicultural children, talk about madrehood, growing up Latina, and traditions. Tune in to can’t-stop-listening interviews of inspiring, powerful Latina moms from around the world on a variety of subjects. Join our community of global moms with one purpose, to keep our Latinx culture and language alive in our children. All are welcome, but mamis preferred! Come as you are, grab a cafecito, and start creating a legacy your abuela would be proud of.
Rockwell Felder is a CPA, entrepreneur, and co-founder of SquadCast. He and his team are on a mission to amplify collaboration, seeking to empower creatives to engage in meaningful conversations without barriers.
