Ruben In The Center

EP 157 | Arnold Torres, Policy Analyst, Political Commentator & Spanish-language Radio Host

Host Ruben Navarrette has a timely and critically important conversation with his old friend of nearly 40 years, Arnold Torres, a Sacramento CA-based policy analyst, political commentator & Spanish-language radio host. As a lifelong observer of politics and immigration -- and the politics of the immigration debate -- Torres is horrified by what he is seeing take place in Minnesota, which has been invaded by federal ICE agents.  He has three things he desperately wants to talk about with his old friend: the fact that the federal government is abusing its power in Minnesota and other places; the necessary conversation that he thinks needs to take place about state's rights and the 10th Amendment provides the mechanism to push back against federal overreach; and the pathetic lack of leadership being served up by Latino elected officials, who are busy hiding from this crisis impacting the community they claim to represent. Navarrette agrees with Torres, except where he doesn't. Then, as usual with these two, sparks fly.

EP 156 | Roman Navarrette, son of Ruben G. Navarrette Sr.

In this special episode, host Ruben Navarrette has a very personal and heartfelt conversation with his brother, entertainment marketing specialist Roman Navarrette. The two talk about their father, Ruben G. Navarrette Sr., who passed away on Dec. 7 at the age of 84. They dissect a life that unfolded in three acts: childhood and adolescence and enlistment in the U.S. Army; a long career in law enforcement; and retirement, becoming a grandfather and caregiver. Totally unscripted, and straight from the heart, the brothers put together a very special tribute to a good man, not a perfect man but a good man and a great dad who had a life well-lived. 

EP 155 | Mark Madrid, CEO & Founder of Breakthrough Mavens, LLC & former Associate Administrator of U.S. Small Business Administration

Host Ruben Navarrette has an interesting and wide-ranging conversation with Mark Madrid, an Austin TX-based  author, consultant and expert on business excellence, entrepreneurship, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. The two talk about the challenges and opportunities facing Latino-owned small businesses, what entrepreneurship means to Latinos, and what U.S. companies do right or wrong in term of attracting Latino customers.  They also discuss the media, and the ways in which the coverage of Latinos in the United States seems to be inaccurate or incomplete. 

EP 154 | Rene Alegria, media executive, cultural innovator and digital media entrepreneur

Host Ruben Navarrette has a great conversation with Rene Alegria, the Atlanta-based Chief Innovation Officer at Neuvo Network. The former president and CEO of MundoNow, and founding CEO of Mamiverse Media, Alegria also guided the launch of the groundbreaking Latino podcast network, Oyenos Audio. Before all that, the Tucson native founded and served as publisher of the book imprint Rayo/HarperCollins. Today, he continues to look for new ways to connect with and inspire Latino audiences with compelling stories. The two media pioneers talk about where Latinos fit into the modern media landscape, and what the world of digital media gets wrong and right about America's largest minority.

EP 153 | Pedro Rios, Director of the U.S.-Mexico Border Program for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)

Host Ruben Navarrette has a great conversation with Pedro Rios, who -- like him -- has been intimately acquainted with the immigration issue for more than 30 years. The San Diego native, and graduate of the University of San Diego, is the director of the U.S.-Mexico Border Program for the American Friends Service Committee. He is also an op-ed contributor to the online publication, Cal Matters. The two of them talk about how the root causes of the flow of immigrants into the United States, whether ICE should be defunded, and whether the left went too far in accommodating the undocumented -- and thus enabled the right. They also talk about why racism controls the Republican Party, how profoundly the Democratic Party failed Latinos, and what a real immigration solution would look like.