May 23, 2025 • 34 mins
If some Latinos hear la doctora, it doesn’t evoke the image of a medical doctor. Instead, it’s that of a Cuban American attorney-turned-show host who sings her own theme song.
In 2001, Doctora Polo had been practicing family law for over 20 years in Miami when she was hired to host a new court show on Telemundo that would later become Caso Cerrado. It often aired for multiple hours a day on Telemundo and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy.
In this episode of Latino USA, Doctora Polo reflects on her role as a Latina entertainer and the phenomenon of Caso Cerrado in Latinx pop culture.
Latino USA is the longest-running news and culture radio program in the U.S., centering Latino stories and hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa.
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This episode originally aired in 2022.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I was convinced I was going to be a famous
singer actress. I started writing songs and my parents said,
what the hell is that? So I went to school
and I studied and became a lawyer. And I never
did I think that I was going to become famous
because of lawyering, But there it happened.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Bettino from Futuro Media and PRX, It's Latino Usa. I'm
Maria ino Josa today La bo dora Ana Maria Polo
the host of the long running cour TV show Casso Serrao.
She joins me to talk about trauma, intimacy, beer rights
(00:42):
and her illusionists. Like her TV personality do tora Ana
Maria Polo's birth year was dramatic. She was born in Havana, Cuba,
in nineteen fifty nine, just a few months after a
scruffy Fidel Castro and his compagnio's tople dictator Fulhencio baptistaaac.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Get A say Cacia Marquel.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Polo's family decided to flee Cuba for Miami a couple
of years after the Cuban Revolution, and then they migrated
to another Caribbean island, Puerto Rico, where Polo spent her
childhood and teen years. It was there, as a Catholic schoolgirl,
that she discovered two passions that would one day converge
(01:37):
justice and entertainment. Polo wanted to pursue her career in
music and acting, but when her mom said hell no,
she obeyed. Back in Miami, she studied political science and
eventually earned a PhD in law, which means that's right,
she really is. Unadopa had been practicing family law for
(02:01):
over twenty years in Miami when she was hired to
host a new Spanish language court TV show called Sala
de Barrejas. It premiered on Telemundo in two thousand and
one and was eventually rebranded after her best known phrase.
The show wasn't limited to just couples disputes. Instead, Gaso
(02:22):
Serraro brought on cases about everything in daytime court TV shows, like,
for example, incest, exploitation, worn immigration, Sketchy Beauty, Spas, Bueno
Yatu Sas. She also got to show off her musical
talents by composing and singing the theme song to her
(02:44):
TV Showlexible Galazationlinda Gaso Serrado often aired for multiple hours
a day on Telemundo and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy.
In true Court TV style, each case goes a little
something like this. The plaintiff makes his or her case okay,
(03:11):
making a defendant response uh, witnesses and experts are brought in,
roast are made and eventually makes her decision and that's it.
(03:42):
Case closed, Caserrado marked by the dramatic pounding of a gattle.
We spoke to DOT about the show's impact on Latinos
and television and culture here in the United States, because well,
the show was huge, we also wanted to look at
Caaso Serrado's many paradoxes. For example, I was dismissed as
(04:07):
low culture and yet it was hosted by a highly
educated Latina and how doctor ra Polo is a longtime
queer advocate, but has kept her own sexuality private until now.
With two decades on TV, DOT, ra Polo is a
pop culture icon, particularly among millennial and gen Z Latinos
(04:29):
and Latinas who grew up watching her with their parents
and Agulitos and agueritas. There's a street in Hialia, Florida
that's named after dott Rapolo. And don't you try to
suggest to s Jahitas that Caso Serrado isn't real. Reruns
still played daily on Telemundo, and the show has been
memorialized through viral clips and memes on the internet. Galore
(04:53):
I originally spoke to Lavo, Dora and a Maria Polo
in twenty twenty two, but as Gaso Serrado can team
used to go viral online, we're happy to bring this
conversation back to you, dear listener, so enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
What do I call you?
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Lot Tora, Ana, Maria, Anna, Chica, Muhama ASERI?
Speaker 1 (05:21):
You know? Actually does my friends call me Anita? Anita?
But I'm not your friend though, so I'm just like,
thank you for letting me in. We fight for what
we believe, we do what we like. We're friends. I
don't you think, dude? I love that so sin.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Without reading your bio, just when I would see you,
I was like, well, she's Cuban and she left the
island somewhat recently, and that's why she is so adamant
about these issues of libertad and equality and queer rights.
And then it's like, actually, no, you left Cuba when
(06:00):
you were two, and to my fascination, you're basically raised
on the island of Puerto Rico, But like, how do
you see yourself as a Cuban who ends up being
essentially displaced at a very young age.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
I see myself as a Cuban, but I feel myself
very American. I'm a Miami girl. Really, That's how I
feel a Miami girl. First, I don't remember coming from Cuba.
I was two and a half years old. I have
no memories of that. My memories were at four or
five years old. I was already living here in the
United States and my parents said, Okay, we're moving to
(06:35):
Puerto Rico.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Did your parents have any doubts about the United States
or was it really like no istit Baistrosuenos or.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
No, they didn't. They had no doubts about this country.
My parents loved Cuba, okay. But I realized as I
grew up that they were harboring a deep depression in
sadness for what had happened to them. I mean, they
were the post of all the possessions, of all their memories,
(07:04):
in the prime of their lives. They were in their thirties,
they were doing well. They had dreams of Cuba. Cuba
was a wonderful country prior to nineteen fifty nine, you know,
a country that really was doing so well visa visa
the rest of the countries in the world. It is
a growing, modern city with its constant activity. It looks
(07:28):
like any busy American stream, except for that wonderful custom
of Cista when everything is and they never really talked
to us very much about Cuba. They kept it silent,
and they would really focus everything towards. This is the States.
You can do anything you want here. You can become
anybody you want. You can And me, being a nasty
(07:51):
kid archepy president, I were born here. Wait a second,
you actually were like, I want to be president political
science major. My bachelor's is in political science.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Yeah, but I'm talking about when you were a little girl.
You were like, Mommy, I would have liked to have
been president. But I wasn't born here like a.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Man because I'm I was that kind of a kid.
I would like to read things and then just throw
it in my parents' face so that they knew I knew. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
But you know, being a woman, a female president, having
that concept is pretty deep.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Well. I was discriminated for being Latina, for being a woman,
for being short for being Wokona for a lot of reasons,
but my parents never paid much attention to that. They
wouldn't label things. They said, so, well, find a way
of getting around it. You'll find a way do it.
There's always a way.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Interestingly, Anita, you've talked about just now your parents, you
were the one that kind of went there in the
sense of hitting on trauma like straight up and describing
what that trauma looks like. And for me, as a
young journalist, it was when I went to cover the
story of Elian Gonzalez.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Old Elian Gonzalez has now been removed from his home
or he was staying with his Miami relatives. He was
seized before dawn this morning by federal marshals who are
armed not only with automatic webs.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
I understood the reality that many Cubans were and are
still in the deep throes of PTSD. So can you
talk a little bit about having a sense of trauma
or understanding it even through your parents at a pretty
young age.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
I believe that Cubans, really, most of them are the
one who understand their reality have PTSD. I have no
doubt about that. And the Alan Gonzalez incident, to me
is the clear one, clearest one. I think, yeah, I
think every human lives with a little of PTSD, and
we all live with that desire that one day it
(09:56):
will be free again, it will be a free country.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Now as I was thinking about that, because you, Anita,
have said that you will not go back unless it's free,
unless it's a free country, unless it's free, and you
have to kind of sit with the fact that that
means you may never step foot on the island that
you were born on.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Maria. There were times while I was growing older, like
in my twenties, I said, well, Cuba's free. In my thirties,
I'll go back. I'll help rebuild. And that went by
and it didn't happen. And then I learned about musicians
in Cuba and Silvio Rori Ga Romano's game.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
If I don't know about.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Us, I didn't know about these people. I didn't my
mother would play these singers or anything. But I learned
from other places, and I would listen to their music
and I would admire the lyrics, the melodies. And then
in my forties, I said, well, I'm still in my forties.
If Cuba should be liberated, well, you know, Okay, so
(10:57):
maybe I'll get involved with the political artists of the
transition to stabilize the government and blah blah blah. And
then the forties went by, and then the fifties came in.
I thought, well, you know, maybe I'll raise some money
from the United States to help those who want to
go there and do the best they can. And now
(11:21):
I'm in my sixties and I'm thinking, like you do
eto a brado Is, I don't think I'll see it
in my lifetime. And it's disheartening and it's depressing because
I wish I could see where my mother was born
in Binardle Rio and where I was born, and my
(11:44):
sister and my father and my grandparents. But I think
I won't. Sadly, I think I won't.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
So talk to me a little bit about singing and
what it meant for you and why. And I think
you said to your mom, no, I'm going.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
To be this and a at the dh Mmmm No, no, no,
that's not a career. Then you're gonna have to sleep
with these ugly producers and fat. She said it like
that straight up. See made me too straight up. My
mother was straight up. She didn't cover anything up you're
not doing that. I'll see, get buka bok, you are
(12:31):
not doing that at all. And as a matter of fact,
when I graduated from high school, I had I had
some nice offers from art school's, Juilliard University and a
school in London for acting, and my mother said, forget it.
You're not leaving the house. You're coming with us to Miami,
and you're going to a local college in Miami. So
forget all of that. It's not happening. And you know what,
(12:55):
I found out later in life that my mother was
a singer as well. Mother won in Cuba when she
was like sixteen, one of those contests like Laval's the
Voice and all that, and she recorded records and everything better.
She didn't want us to do that. Maybe she had
a bad experience. Nevertheless, when you have it inside, you
(13:16):
have it inside. And even studying something else, I would
always write songs. At some point I thought, okay, you know,
I'll produce my own record. I'll do whatever I have
to do. But life catch us on. You have to
survive and you have to do what you have to do.
I became a lawyer. I started to practice law. It
went well. I was a good lawyer only because I
(13:39):
connect with my clients. I did the worst area of
the law, which is family law, and they're interminable. Those
cases they never end because people don't want to, you know,
they don't want to give up on their kids or whatever.
Domestic violence. It's just terrible until one day, you know,
Salabad has happened. A friend of mine had opened up
(13:59):
a little restaurant right across the courthouse. She had a
little party. She asked me, I would just sing something
for us and not Well, I was in a good mood.
I picked up the guitar, I sang My guess came up,
he said, can you get the lucy? And there was
a producer from the company that was doing Sala de
Bardi House, which is the predecessor to Castle SrAl And
(14:21):
they had a casting that like three hundred lawyers. They
didn't like anybody. And I said, well, you know what,
why not? And I went and I did a little audition.
Did Judge Judy already exist or did any of those
Judge shows? You You better tell me the truth, because
I'm much smarter.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Than you are.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
I love the truth. Yes, absolutely, Judge Judy exists. She's existent.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Forever, FOREVERA But did they say to you, look, basically,
you're going to be the Latina Judge Judy or not.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
The company was an Argentinian company. I don't think they
knew about Judge Judy. Yeah, now now okay no. So
I said, so, okay, so why do I have to
do this? And they told me you're going to be
a mediator. You're the arbiter and you have the power
to decide because people sign a contract saying that if
they cannot reach an agreement, your decision shall be final. Oh,
(15:17):
I said, okay, I do that. That's pretty good, and
I just pop pop bind. They recorded that thing, they
sent it to Telem said, yes, that's the pitch we
want her. That's how it happened. And then eventually it
(15:39):
was my idea to change it to Castle Crao, which
everybody thought it was, oh my god, so ingenious. All
I did was translate what judges would tell me every
time a trial would finish, Miss Polo case closed. I've
ruled gays closed because I will always want to talk
after the judge had ruled. So I said, EVI cho
(15:59):
boom gaso. What I did is I give it a
little musicality. I put a little music because I did
the gavel in this in the middle of Eddie Joe Boom,
you know, and I it was my idea. I said
to telemon, listen, why are we doing a show about couples.
We're running out of ideas for couples, and we're putting
(16:21):
a couple of dogs, now a couple of cows. Let's
turn it into casto. Everybody in the street already talking
ca and we can open up everything. We can talk
about immigration, and we can talk about negligence and accidents,
and we can talk about family law and torts. And
it just turned into casto the way through bigger and
(16:45):
I served it, girl, I served it. Coming up on Latino, USA.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Reflects on her role as an entertainer and as a
public you're in Spanish language media, while her job was
to be Judgie. She tells us why she always tried
to strike a balance even when she felt stuck.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Stay with us. Hey, we're back, and just a note
before we continue.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
This part of the conversation contains discussion about sexual abuse.
Let's go back now to my conversation with lad the
host of the popular court TV show Caso Serraro.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
I think I was drawn to the show.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Well, okay, the truth is my husband, he's the painter
Edmanperees jsel Pint and he would always have the TV
in the back. So that's how I started watching cacause
he would watch it because he was watching it, and
there was definitely it was like, oh hey wait, because
I never watched any of those others shows. I've never
watched any Judge show in English period, but I was
(18:05):
watching Caso Serralo and I'd be like, wow, see, so
now she's dealing with this immigration thing, and now she's
dealing with an issue of race. I became really intrigued
when I was like, oh, bit at there. So Anita
is like a major advocate on LGBTQ issues. I was like, oh,
(18:26):
becomes even more interesting. So can you tell me a
little bit about that part, because again in Spanish language
television being out being gabed. On the one hand, I
think Latin America is incredibly accepting, and on the other hand,
I think they can also be very damning.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Well, you know the double morality we all have. The
Latinos have this double standard of morality.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
We know that.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
I think religion has a big part in that. I mean,
religion muddles the issues. That's another issue that I've taught
very openly. I mean, I had some strong words for
the popes and the church in general. You know how
they talk about love and this and that, but this
kind of love is bad and that kind of love
(19:12):
is bad. To me, Love is love. It's not bad
in any sense. And listen, I fully support abortion. Fully.
I truly believe it is better to get an abortion
that to bring a child into this world, to make
him suffer, to be mistreated, abused, end up in a
(19:34):
foster home, and all these horrible stories that we hear.
But they didn't want me to ever say, well, I
ordered you to get an abortion. So I always had
to go around the bush and see how I would
bring them to their senses. LGBTQF all those letters. I
(19:57):
don't have a boneus discrimination inside of me. I don't
and I never had it. And it's very funny because
my parents.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Did against queer people, are against black people, against Jewish people.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Oh, gay gay people. I mean, it wasn't a constant
thing or whatever, but I would hear them make comments
that I thought, but that's not nice. But they're saying,
it's not nice only because this person likes somebody of
their own sex. I mean, what's wrong with that?
Speaker 2 (20:26):
You know?
Speaker 1 (20:26):
I remember going to the New York Gay Parade in
June twenty fifteen when the Supreme Court made finally that decision.
The Supreme Court found gay and lesbian Americans have a
constitutional right to marry. We take too long in this
country for everything, if you ask me, it's one of
my biggest complaints. But finally we got that decision, and
(20:48):
I was so elated. I was so happy because prior
to that, I have been defending gay rights for years
and years and years, and finally here was my vindication.
You know, the law of the land, the Supreme Court,
it does Papasca sipt that on when when you came out?
Were they like Simi Hita. I never said anything to anybody,
(21:11):
and I don't talk about my sexuality because first, if
you've seen Casorala long enough, you were going to understand that.
I think everybody's bisexual. I think we were all born
bi sexual, and that we eventually, as we grow up,
we have inclinations, orientations and we then live them. I
(21:37):
think that I am truly bisexual. Truly, I can absolutely
fall in love with anybody from both sexes.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
So I'm going to ask you a difficult question, Anita,
but I think it poses for me the paradox that
I began to feel about Caso Serrao, which is like, wait,
a second doctor is so smart, so astute, non discriminatory,
so open and accepting of everyone. But there was something
(22:11):
that then became very performative, became very over the top.
It was weird sister Aravianraro for a handbro the woman
who could not stop twerking, the man who was impaled
by his girlfriend. I mean, it was just some crazy,
(22:38):
crazy stuff. And that's where I started to be like,
what's going.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
On, Maria. We've gone through twenty years of a daily show.
I would do sometimes three hundred and twenty five episodes
of Castos Ral for Telemundo on a yearly basis. We
would study ratings and we would figure out what is
it that people really want to see? Il on Moosa,
(23:06):
we love it.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
No, maybe you guys think get those things were the
ones that were getting the top ratings.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
They were getting the top ratings. Anything that had to
do with violence, sex, deceiving, infidelities, weirdness with the Internet,
weirdness with tattoos and body modifications, and anything that was
weird would get the top ratings. So we had to
(23:32):
divide things and we had to say, Okay, you got
to bring a serious case and sentimental case, and you
got to bring three weird cases or four weird cases,
because that's what was selling. But I hope that you
saw that in even the weirdness of shows, I was
trying to be the voice of something that would transcend,
(23:54):
that would give a little more than just the scandalous.
It wasn't Jerry Springer.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
There was a part of me that saw that you
were also struggling, and that's where I'm trying to understand
that part of you.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Believe me, there were many times that I had to struggle,
and there were many days where I would scream off
the top of my lungs because I didn't want that,
and I would, you know, I would get the people
ido saying, hey, but this is what self, So we
got to do it. It's what self. So I said, well,
(24:29):
you know what, I have to do the best I
can with this. And then we got more serious at times,
and we did more serious cases, and we dealt with
more political issues and issues of human value and human justice,
and the ratings weren't as good, but they had to accommodate. Also,
what I wanted to bring out the balance, you know,
(24:53):
I needed some balance. So you, like me, actually have
I think a deep love of humanity.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Like while we're really capable of incredible things, incredible love,
sadly incredible hate. But when you're saying about the studies
that you were doing as a producer to see minute
by minute ratings and what people and you're like, la, hint,
there's morbosa, Then how does that leave us in terms
of wait, but we love humanity and we want to
do the best. But it's like, wait a second, but
(25:22):
y'all are showing us that you you'll go to the
lowest common denominator.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
This is how I see it, Madya. Television is a
very powerful medium, no doubt about it. And right now
I think we are in one of the best times
television has existed. We have an incredible amount of content,
some of which is excellent and some of which is deplorable.
(25:49):
So I think we got to educate more in the
sense of really saying, you know, this is television that
the CD is entertaining, is just for entertainment purposes, and
this is television that is serious and you choose what
you want to watch. So that that's a lot of
years and days and shows that you have to record
(26:12):
that I had to record. Yeah, it's a lot of
having to have sl money that in front of you,
you know, kind of on a daily And so again
another sensitive question, Anita, I get a sense that you're
not very public, Like I don't think I've seen you
a lot in people in Espanol, Like I don't think
(26:32):
that that's kind of like your life, right am I right? No,
it isn't. It is not my life. You no say
fight I'm dou Lea. You're not say fight I'm dou la.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
On the show you look one hundred percent. And there
are some people who like to maintain that image, you know,
throughout the rest of their life. And you're basically saying, no,
I played that character. I was that, but then when
I went home, you know, I was in my pajamas.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
No, I am exactly what you see in tele I
do it with jeans and shorts and T shirt. I
am exactly what you see. This is who I am.
I'm not out there because I'm not into you know,
the press and this and being in the line. Like
I've been retired basically since twenty nineteen. My contract with
(27:19):
Telemundo ended, we didn't renew anything, and nothing happened. Then
the pandemic came, okay, because I had other offers and
other places that I was looking to revive, renew Castle,
but the pandemic happened and it was a reality. A
lot of things just went south. I am still amazed
(27:41):
how people keep me alive without me doing a thing.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
Well, that was part of what I wanted to talk about,
which is another one of the you know, kind of
contradictions that I see.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
So the level of intimacy that you were able to achieve.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
On a television show that was rowdy, you know, A'm
atriyize that, and yet I'm wondering about your own intimacy
and how you've decided to keep that very private and
why okay, because.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
There are things and things about subject matters that we
can talk. First, I went through cancer in two thousand
and three. I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Many people
in the public eye say, no, you know, I'm not
going to share this. It's a painful thing. It's private.
I'm going to look ugly, whatever reasons people have. I
(28:34):
said to myself, you know, no, you are a public figure,
you have a following of people. But there's a lot
to learn about this matter. I am going to tell
people about it. I am going to tell them that
I'm getting a mastectomy, that they're going to remove twenty
live notes, that my thyroid broke as well, that I
(28:57):
had to remove my ovaries at forty free and go
through a full blown mental pause. That drove me crazy
because we all have a lot to learn about this,
and I spoke about that, which is intimate. Okay, But
my sex life, Maria, isn't that too much? I think
(29:20):
it's too much. First of all, I'm a sixty two
year old woman, who the hell cares about my sex life? Well,
besides me, what sex life? Please? I don't think I
have to share my sex life with anybody. I don't. Well.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
I ended up writing very publicly about being surviving a
rape at sixteen, even though I didn't realize it had
been a rape at sixteen, and I never called it
a rape even though it was two savass And I
ended up writing about having two abortions, so I have
in fact gone into that place.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
And you're right. We make certain choices as women because
we want to educate, but that is not your sex life.
Those are traumas that you lived and people need to
be educated about them. I was also sexually molested at
sixteen with a gun to my head by a family member,
and I've spoken about it. That's different. But yeah, when
(30:22):
people start saying bitter, wait a minute, you sleep with girls,
you sleep with boys, or you sleep with three or
four at the same time. Wait, wait, wait, wait a minute,
but I so killing Teresa yessna. But sometimes we go
too far in the industry, We go too too far.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
I love the fact that you're saying this, Amita, because
I'm just like, yo, your your show is so explicit
and you dealt with so many explicit things, and you're
just like, you know, people go too far.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
I believe in privacy, believe it or not, even in
this crazy world where privacy basically yeah, it doesn't exist
too much, and it doesn't exist because we give it up.
We give it up.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
And are you are you kind of feeling I mean,
Oyameh since twenty nineteen, who knows what anything is. But
how are you feeling in this point of your life?
Are you happy?
Speaker 1 (31:17):
I am happy. I am still full of dreams, which
I think is part of my formula for happiness. Everybody
has their own formula in my book. The older I grow,
the more I think about having illusions. So quenta me
the less illusions and the things. So you actually you
(31:39):
want to give Casoserrado another chance? What's the dream? I
want to continue it because people want to see it.
They want to see it. And then there's the business part.
There's a lot of companies that want to buy it.
I don't want to work that much. I don't want
to do three hundred cases a year. I would like
to do less cases and just you know, spread them
(32:03):
around people to watch.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
So you're you're you're not slowing down. It's not like, Okay,
I'm taking my guitar. I'm gonna go compose some songs
and hang out with my dogs.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
I do that too. I have time for that now,
I do. I Also, I'm doing a movie, the movie Okay, wait, what, Yes,
I'm doing the movie Caso.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
The movie it is in it's in progress. It's like
the story of your life or the story of not
at all.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
It's going to be a dramedy. It's going to be
an action film. It was an idea of a Chilian
production company. It's a lot of fun. You're starring in it.
I am the protagonist. I mean, yeah, I am. I'm
doing it when stuff comes around that is interesting to
(32:50):
me and just wakes up that sense of illusion. I bite,
who's Gasias more there?
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Thank you for taking this bite and for joining me
and let you know you as Anita, I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
A pleasure, Maria.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
We reached out to Telemundo to confirm some of Doctor
a Polo's characterizations of events that involved the network, but
they declined to comment on that. They did say though,
that they were quote proud to have worked with her
for almost two decades to make a difference in our community.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
This episode was.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Produced by Elisa Baena and edited by Andrea Lopez Cruzado.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
It was mixed by J. J. Crubin.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
The Latino USA team also includes from Sana Guire, Julia Caruso,
Feliciao Minhez, Jessica, Elvis, Victoria Strada, Domniquinestrosa, Renaldo Lanos Junior,
Stephanie Lebau, Louis Luna, Ulia Martinelli, Marta Martinez, Monica Morales, Garcia,
Dasha Sandoval, Nur Saudi and Nancy Trujillo.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
That Chavari is our managing editor.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Benny le Ramidias, Marie Graci and I are co executive producers,
and I'm your host Mariano Hosa.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
Join us again on our next episode.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
In the meantime, I'll see you on social media, especially
on stagran I.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
Chao.
Speaker 4 (34:18):
Latino USA is made possible in part by the William
and Flora Hewlett Foundation for more than fifty years, advancing
ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better.
Speaker 5 (34:31):
World at Hewlett dot org.
Speaker 4 (34:35):
W K.
Speaker 5 (34:35):
Kellogg Foundation, a partner with communities where Children Come First,
and the Ford Foundation, working with visionaries on the front
lines of social change worldwide.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Nina Nando
I was convinced I was going to be a famous
singer actress. I started writing songs and my parents said,
what the hell is that? So I went to school
and I studied and became a lawyer. And I never
did I think that I was going to become famous
because of lawyering, But there it happened.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Bettino from Futuro Media and PRX, It's Latino Usa. I'm
Maria ino Josa today La bo dora Ana Maria Polo
the host of the long running cour TV show Casso Serrao.
She joins me to talk about trauma, intimacy, beer rights
(00:42):
and her illusionists. Like her TV personality do tora Ana
Maria Polo's birth year was dramatic. She was born in Havana, Cuba,
in nineteen fifty nine, just a few months after a
scruffy Fidel Castro and his compagnio's tople dictator Fulhencio baptistaaac.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Get A say Cacia Marquel.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Polo's family decided to flee Cuba for Miami a couple
of years after the Cuban Revolution, and then they migrated
to another Caribbean island, Puerto Rico, where Polo spent her
childhood and teen years. It was there, as a Catholic schoolgirl,
that she discovered two passions that would one day converge
(01:37):
justice and entertainment. Polo wanted to pursue her career in
music and acting, but when her mom said hell no,
she obeyed. Back in Miami, she studied political science and
eventually earned a PhD in law, which means that's right,
she really is. Unadopa had been practicing family law for
(02:01):
over twenty years in Miami when she was hired to
host a new Spanish language court TV show called Sala
de Barrejas. It premiered on Telemundo in two thousand and
one and was eventually rebranded after her best known phrase.
The show wasn't limited to just couples disputes. Instead, Gaso
(02:22):
Serraro brought on cases about everything in daytime court TV shows, like,
for example, incest, exploitation, worn immigration, Sketchy Beauty, Spas, Bueno
Yatu Sas. She also got to show off her musical
talents by composing and singing the theme song to her
(02:44):
TV Showlexible Galazationlinda Gaso Serrado often aired for multiple hours
a day on Telemundo and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy.
In true Court TV style, each case goes a little
something like this. The plaintiff makes his or her case okay,
(03:11):
making a defendant response uh, witnesses and experts are brought in,
roast are made and eventually makes her decision and that's it.
(03:42):
Case closed, Caserrado marked by the dramatic pounding of a gattle.
We spoke to DOT about the show's impact on Latinos
and television and culture here in the United States, because well,
the show was huge, we also wanted to look at
Caaso Serrado's many paradoxes. For example, I was dismissed as
(04:07):
low culture and yet it was hosted by a highly
educated Latina and how doctor ra Polo is a longtime
queer advocate, but has kept her own sexuality private until now.
With two decades on TV, DOT, ra Polo is a
pop culture icon, particularly among millennial and gen Z Latinos
(04:29):
and Latinas who grew up watching her with their parents
and Agulitos and agueritas. There's a street in Hialia, Florida
that's named after dott Rapolo. And don't you try to
suggest to s Jahitas that Caso Serrado isn't real. Reruns
still played daily on Telemundo, and the show has been
memorialized through viral clips and memes on the internet. Galore
(04:53):
I originally spoke to Lavo, Dora and a Maria Polo
in twenty twenty two, but as Gaso Serrado can team
used to go viral online, we're happy to bring this
conversation back to you, dear listener, so enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
What do I call you?
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Lot Tora, Ana, Maria, Anna, Chica, Muhama ASERI?
Speaker 1 (05:21):
You know? Actually does my friends call me Anita? Anita?
But I'm not your friend though, so I'm just like,
thank you for letting me in. We fight for what
we believe, we do what we like. We're friends. I
don't you think, dude? I love that so sin.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Without reading your bio, just when I would see you,
I was like, well, she's Cuban and she left the
island somewhat recently, and that's why she is so adamant
about these issues of libertad and equality and queer rights.
And then it's like, actually, no, you left Cuba when
(06:00):
you were two, and to my fascination, you're basically raised
on the island of Puerto Rico, But like, how do
you see yourself as a Cuban who ends up being
essentially displaced at a very young age.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
I see myself as a Cuban, but I feel myself
very American. I'm a Miami girl. Really, That's how I
feel a Miami girl. First, I don't remember coming from Cuba.
I was two and a half years old. I have
no memories of that. My memories were at four or
five years old. I was already living here in the
United States and my parents said, Okay, we're moving to
(06:35):
Puerto Rico.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Did your parents have any doubts about the United States
or was it really like no istit Baistrosuenos or.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
No, they didn't. They had no doubts about this country.
My parents loved Cuba, okay. But I realized as I
grew up that they were harboring a deep depression in
sadness for what had happened to them. I mean, they
were the post of all the possessions, of all their memories,
(07:04):
in the prime of their lives. They were in their thirties,
they were doing well. They had dreams of Cuba. Cuba
was a wonderful country prior to nineteen fifty nine, you know,
a country that really was doing so well visa visa
the rest of the countries in the world. It is
a growing, modern city with its constant activity. It looks
(07:28):
like any busy American stream, except for that wonderful custom
of Cista when everything is and they never really talked
to us very much about Cuba. They kept it silent,
and they would really focus everything towards. This is the States.
You can do anything you want here. You can become
anybody you want. You can And me, being a nasty
(07:51):
kid archepy president, I were born here. Wait a second,
you actually were like, I want to be president political
science major. My bachelor's is in political science.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Yeah, but I'm talking about when you were a little girl.
You were like, Mommy, I would have liked to have
been president. But I wasn't born here like a.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Man because I'm I was that kind of a kid.
I would like to read things and then just throw
it in my parents' face so that they knew I knew. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
But you know, being a woman, a female president, having
that concept is pretty deep.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Well. I was discriminated for being Latina, for being a woman,
for being short for being Wokona for a lot of reasons,
but my parents never paid much attention to that. They
wouldn't label things. They said, so, well, find a way
of getting around it. You'll find a way do it.
There's always a way.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Interestingly, Anita, you've talked about just now your parents, you
were the one that kind of went there in the
sense of hitting on trauma like straight up and describing
what that trauma looks like. And for me, as a
young journalist, it was when I went to cover the
story of Elian Gonzalez.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Old Elian Gonzalez has now been removed from his home
or he was staying with his Miami relatives. He was
seized before dawn this morning by federal marshals who are
armed not only with automatic webs.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
I understood the reality that many Cubans were and are
still in the deep throes of PTSD. So can you
talk a little bit about having a sense of trauma
or understanding it even through your parents at a pretty
young age.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
I believe that Cubans, really, most of them are the
one who understand their reality have PTSD. I have no
doubt about that. And the Alan Gonzalez incident, to me
is the clear one, clearest one. I think, yeah, I
think every human lives with a little of PTSD, and
we all live with that desire that one day it
(09:56):
will be free again, it will be a free country.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Now as I was thinking about that, because you, Anita,
have said that you will not go back unless it's free,
unless it's a free country, unless it's free, and you
have to kind of sit with the fact that that
means you may never step foot on the island that
you were born on.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Maria. There were times while I was growing older, like
in my twenties, I said, well, Cuba's free. In my thirties,
I'll go back. I'll help rebuild. And that went by
and it didn't happen. And then I learned about musicians
in Cuba and Silvio Rori Ga Romano's game.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
If I don't know about.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Us, I didn't know about these people. I didn't my
mother would play these singers or anything. But I learned
from other places, and I would listen to their music
and I would admire the lyrics, the melodies. And then
in my forties, I said, well, I'm still in my forties.
If Cuba should be liberated, well, you know, Okay, so
(10:57):
maybe I'll get involved with the political artists of the
transition to stabilize the government and blah blah blah. And
then the forties went by, and then the fifties came in.
I thought, well, you know, maybe I'll raise some money
from the United States to help those who want to
go there and do the best they can. And now
(11:21):
I'm in my sixties and I'm thinking, like you do
eto a brado Is, I don't think I'll see it
in my lifetime. And it's disheartening and it's depressing because
I wish I could see where my mother was born
in Binardle Rio and where I was born, and my
(11:44):
sister and my father and my grandparents. But I think
I won't. Sadly, I think I won't.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
So talk to me a little bit about singing and
what it meant for you and why. And I think
you said to your mom, no, I'm going.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
To be this and a at the dh Mmmm No, no, no,
that's not a career. Then you're gonna have to sleep
with these ugly producers and fat. She said it like
that straight up. See made me too straight up. My
mother was straight up. She didn't cover anything up you're
not doing that. I'll see, get buka bok, you are
(12:31):
not doing that at all. And as a matter of fact,
when I graduated from high school, I had I had
some nice offers from art school's, Juilliard University and a
school in London for acting, and my mother said, forget it.
You're not leaving the house. You're coming with us to Miami,
and you're going to a local college in Miami. So
forget all of that. It's not happening. And you know what,
(12:55):
I found out later in life that my mother was
a singer as well. Mother won in Cuba when she
was like sixteen, one of those contests like Laval's the
Voice and all that, and she recorded records and everything better.
She didn't want us to do that. Maybe she had
a bad experience. Nevertheless, when you have it inside, you
(13:16):
have it inside. And even studying something else, I would
always write songs. At some point I thought, okay, you know,
I'll produce my own record. I'll do whatever I have
to do. But life catch us on. You have to
survive and you have to do what you have to do.
I became a lawyer. I started to practice law. It
went well. I was a good lawyer only because I
(13:39):
connect with my clients. I did the worst area of
the law, which is family law, and they're interminable. Those
cases they never end because people don't want to, you know,
they don't want to give up on their kids or whatever.
Domestic violence. It's just terrible until one day, you know,
Salabad has happened. A friend of mine had opened up
(13:59):
a little restaurant right across the courthouse. She had a
little party. She asked me, I would just sing something
for us and not Well, I was in a good mood.
I picked up the guitar, I sang My guess came up,
he said, can you get the lucy? And there was
a producer from the company that was doing Sala de
Bardi House, which is the predecessor to Castle SrAl And
(14:21):
they had a casting that like three hundred lawyers. They
didn't like anybody. And I said, well, you know what,
why not? And I went and I did a little audition.
Did Judge Judy already exist or did any of those
Judge shows? You You better tell me the truth, because
I'm much smarter.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Than you are.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
I love the truth. Yes, absolutely, Judge Judy exists. She's existent.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Forever, FOREVERA But did they say to you, look, basically,
you're going to be the Latina Judge Judy or not.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
The company was an Argentinian company. I don't think they
knew about Judge Judy. Yeah, now now okay no. So
I said, so, okay, so why do I have to
do this? And they told me you're going to be
a mediator. You're the arbiter and you have the power
to decide because people sign a contract saying that if
they cannot reach an agreement, your decision shall be final. Oh,
(15:17):
I said, okay, I do that. That's pretty good, and
I just pop pop bind. They recorded that thing, they
sent it to Telem said, yes, that's the pitch we
want her. That's how it happened. And then eventually it
(15:39):
was my idea to change it to Castle Crao, which
everybody thought it was, oh my god, so ingenious. All
I did was translate what judges would tell me every
time a trial would finish, Miss Polo case closed. I've
ruled gays closed because I will always want to talk
after the judge had ruled. So I said, EVI cho
(15:59):
boom gaso. What I did is I give it a
little musicality. I put a little music because I did
the gavel in this in the middle of Eddie Joe Boom,
you know, and I it was my idea. I said
to telemon, listen, why are we doing a show about couples.
We're running out of ideas for couples, and we're putting
(16:21):
a couple of dogs, now a couple of cows. Let's
turn it into casto. Everybody in the street already talking
ca and we can open up everything. We can talk
about immigration, and we can talk about negligence and accidents,
and we can talk about family law and torts. And
it just turned into casto the way through bigger and
(16:45):
I served it, girl, I served it. Coming up on Latino, USA.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Reflects on her role as an entertainer and as a
public you're in Spanish language media, while her job was
to be Judgie. She tells us why she always tried
to strike a balance even when she felt stuck.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Stay with us. Hey, we're back, and just a note
before we continue.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
This part of the conversation contains discussion about sexual abuse.
Let's go back now to my conversation with lad the
host of the popular court TV show Caso Serraro.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
I think I was drawn to the show.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Well, okay, the truth is my husband, he's the painter
Edmanperees jsel Pint and he would always have the TV
in the back. So that's how I started watching cacause
he would watch it because he was watching it, and
there was definitely it was like, oh hey wait, because
I never watched any of those others shows. I've never
watched any Judge show in English period, but I was
(18:05):
watching Caso Serralo and I'd be like, wow, see, so
now she's dealing with this immigration thing, and now she's
dealing with an issue of race. I became really intrigued
when I was like, oh, bit at there. So Anita
is like a major advocate on LGBTQ issues. I was like, oh,
(18:26):
becomes even more interesting. So can you tell me a
little bit about that part, because again in Spanish language
television being out being gabed. On the one hand, I
think Latin America is incredibly accepting, and on the other hand,
I think they can also be very damning.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Well, you know the double morality we all have. The
Latinos have this double standard of morality.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
We know that.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
I think religion has a big part in that. I mean,
religion muddles the issues. That's another issue that I've taught
very openly. I mean, I had some strong words for
the popes and the church in general. You know how
they talk about love and this and that, but this
kind of love is bad and that kind of love
(19:12):
is bad. To me, Love is love. It's not bad
in any sense. And listen, I fully support abortion. Fully.
I truly believe it is better to get an abortion
that to bring a child into this world, to make
him suffer, to be mistreated, abused, end up in a
(19:34):
foster home, and all these horrible stories that we hear.
But they didn't want me to ever say, well, I
ordered you to get an abortion. So I always had
to go around the bush and see how I would
bring them to their senses. LGBTQF all those letters. I
(19:57):
don't have a boneus discrimination inside of me. I don't
and I never had it. And it's very funny because
my parents.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Did against queer people, are against black people, against Jewish people.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Oh, gay gay people. I mean, it wasn't a constant
thing or whatever, but I would hear them make comments
that I thought, but that's not nice. But they're saying,
it's not nice only because this person likes somebody of
their own sex. I mean, what's wrong with that?
Speaker 2 (20:26):
You know?
Speaker 1 (20:26):
I remember going to the New York Gay Parade in
June twenty fifteen when the Supreme Court made finally that decision.
The Supreme Court found gay and lesbian Americans have a
constitutional right to marry. We take too long in this
country for everything, if you ask me, it's one of
my biggest complaints. But finally we got that decision, and
(20:48):
I was so elated. I was so happy because prior
to that, I have been defending gay rights for years
and years and years, and finally here was my vindication.
You know, the law of the land, the Supreme Court,
it does Papasca sipt that on when when you came out?
Were they like Simi Hita. I never said anything to anybody,
(21:11):
and I don't talk about my sexuality because first, if
you've seen Casorala long enough, you were going to understand that.
I think everybody's bisexual. I think we were all born
bi sexual, and that we eventually, as we grow up,
we have inclinations, orientations and we then live them. I
(21:37):
think that I am truly bisexual. Truly, I can absolutely
fall in love with anybody from both sexes.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
So I'm going to ask you a difficult question, Anita,
but I think it poses for me the paradox that
I began to feel about Caso Serrao, which is like, wait,
a second doctor is so smart, so astute, non discriminatory,
so open and accepting of everyone. But there was something
(22:11):
that then became very performative, became very over the top.
It was weird sister Aravianraro for a handbro the woman
who could not stop twerking, the man who was impaled
by his girlfriend. I mean, it was just some crazy,
(22:38):
crazy stuff. And that's where I started to be like,
what's going.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
On, Maria. We've gone through twenty years of a daily show.
I would do sometimes three hundred and twenty five episodes
of Castos Ral for Telemundo on a yearly basis. We
would study ratings and we would figure out what is
it that people really want to see? Il on Moosa,
(23:06):
we love it.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
No, maybe you guys think get those things were the
ones that were getting the top ratings.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
They were getting the top ratings. Anything that had to
do with violence, sex, deceiving, infidelities, weirdness with the Internet,
weirdness with tattoos and body modifications, and anything that was
weird would get the top ratings. So we had to
(23:32):
divide things and we had to say, Okay, you got
to bring a serious case and sentimental case, and you
got to bring three weird cases or four weird cases,
because that's what was selling. But I hope that you
saw that in even the weirdness of shows, I was
trying to be the voice of something that would transcend,
(23:54):
that would give a little more than just the scandalous.
It wasn't Jerry Springer.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
There was a part of me that saw that you
were also struggling, and that's where I'm trying to understand
that part of you.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Believe me, there were many times that I had to struggle,
and there were many days where I would scream off
the top of my lungs because I didn't want that,
and I would, you know, I would get the people
ido saying, hey, but this is what self, So we
got to do it. It's what self. So I said, well,
(24:29):
you know what, I have to do the best I
can with this. And then we got more serious at times,
and we did more serious cases, and we dealt with
more political issues and issues of human value and human justice,
and the ratings weren't as good, but they had to accommodate. Also,
what I wanted to bring out the balance, you know,
(24:53):
I needed some balance. So you, like me, actually have
I think a deep love of humanity.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Like while we're really capable of incredible things, incredible love,
sadly incredible hate. But when you're saying about the studies
that you were doing as a producer to see minute
by minute ratings and what people and you're like, la, hint,
there's morbosa, Then how does that leave us in terms
of wait, but we love humanity and we want to
do the best. But it's like, wait a second, but
(25:22):
y'all are showing us that you you'll go to the
lowest common denominator.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
This is how I see it, Madya. Television is a
very powerful medium, no doubt about it. And right now
I think we are in one of the best times
television has existed. We have an incredible amount of content,
some of which is excellent and some of which is deplorable.
(25:49):
So I think we got to educate more in the
sense of really saying, you know, this is television that
the CD is entertaining, is just for entertainment purposes, and
this is television that is serious and you choose what
you want to watch. So that that's a lot of
years and days and shows that you have to record
(26:12):
that I had to record. Yeah, it's a lot of
having to have sl money that in front of you,
you know, kind of on a daily And so again
another sensitive question, Anita, I get a sense that you're
not very public, Like I don't think I've seen you
a lot in people in Espanol, Like I don't think
(26:32):
that that's kind of like your life, right am I right? No,
it isn't. It is not my life. You no say
fight I'm dou Lea. You're not say fight I'm dou la.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
On the show you look one hundred percent. And there
are some people who like to maintain that image, you know,
throughout the rest of their life. And you're basically saying, no,
I played that character. I was that, but then when
I went home, you know, I was in my pajamas.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
No, I am exactly what you see in tele I
do it with jeans and shorts and T shirt. I
am exactly what you see. This is who I am.
I'm not out there because I'm not into you know,
the press and this and being in the line. Like
I've been retired basically since twenty nineteen. My contract with
(27:19):
Telemundo ended, we didn't renew anything, and nothing happened. Then
the pandemic came, okay, because I had other offers and
other places that I was looking to revive, renew Castle,
but the pandemic happened and it was a reality. A
lot of things just went south. I am still amazed
(27:41):
how people keep me alive without me doing a thing.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
Well, that was part of what I wanted to talk about,
which is another one of the you know, kind of
contradictions that I see.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
So the level of intimacy that you were able to achieve.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
On a television show that was rowdy, you know, A'm
atriyize that, and yet I'm wondering about your own intimacy
and how you've decided to keep that very private and
why okay, because.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
There are things and things about subject matters that we
can talk. First, I went through cancer in two thousand
and three. I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Many people
in the public eye say, no, you know, I'm not
going to share this. It's a painful thing. It's private.
I'm going to look ugly, whatever reasons people have. I
(28:34):
said to myself, you know, no, you are a public figure,
you have a following of people. But there's a lot
to learn about this matter. I am going to tell
people about it. I am going to tell them that
I'm getting a mastectomy, that they're going to remove twenty
live notes, that my thyroid broke as well, that I
(28:57):
had to remove my ovaries at forty free and go
through a full blown mental pause. That drove me crazy
because we all have a lot to learn about this,
and I spoke about that, which is intimate. Okay, But
my sex life, Maria, isn't that too much? I think
(29:20):
it's too much. First of all, I'm a sixty two
year old woman, who the hell cares about my sex life? Well,
besides me, what sex life? Please? I don't think I
have to share my sex life with anybody. I don't. Well.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
I ended up writing very publicly about being surviving a
rape at sixteen, even though I didn't realize it had
been a rape at sixteen, and I never called it
a rape even though it was two savass And I
ended up writing about having two abortions, so I have
in fact gone into that place.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
And you're right. We make certain choices as women because
we want to educate, but that is not your sex life.
Those are traumas that you lived and people need to
be educated about them. I was also sexually molested at
sixteen with a gun to my head by a family member,
and I've spoken about it. That's different. But yeah, when
(30:22):
people start saying bitter, wait a minute, you sleep with girls,
you sleep with boys, or you sleep with three or
four at the same time. Wait, wait, wait, wait a minute,
but I so killing Teresa yessna. But sometimes we go
too far in the industry, We go too too far.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
I love the fact that you're saying this, Amita, because
I'm just like, yo, your your show is so explicit
and you dealt with so many explicit things, and you're
just like, you know, people go too far.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
I believe in privacy, believe it or not, even in
this crazy world where privacy basically yeah, it doesn't exist
too much, and it doesn't exist because we give it up.
We give it up.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
And are you are you kind of feeling I mean,
Oyameh since twenty nineteen, who knows what anything is. But
how are you feeling in this point of your life?
Are you happy?
Speaker 1 (31:17):
I am happy. I am still full of dreams, which
I think is part of my formula for happiness. Everybody
has their own formula in my book. The older I grow,
the more I think about having illusions. So quenta me
the less illusions and the things. So you actually you
(31:39):
want to give Casoserrado another chance? What's the dream? I
want to continue it because people want to see it.
They want to see it. And then there's the business part.
There's a lot of companies that want to buy it.
I don't want to work that much. I don't want
to do three hundred cases a year. I would like
to do less cases and just you know, spread them
(32:03):
around people to watch.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
So you're you're you're not slowing down. It's not like, Okay,
I'm taking my guitar. I'm gonna go compose some songs
and hang out with my dogs.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
I do that too. I have time for that now,
I do. I Also, I'm doing a movie, the movie Okay, wait, what, Yes,
I'm doing the movie Caso.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
The movie it is in it's in progress. It's like
the story of your life or the story of not
at all.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
It's going to be a dramedy. It's going to be
an action film. It was an idea of a Chilian
production company. It's a lot of fun. You're starring in it.
I am the protagonist. I mean, yeah, I am. I'm
doing it when stuff comes around that is interesting to
(32:50):
me and just wakes up that sense of illusion. I bite,
who's Gasias more there?
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Thank you for taking this bite and for joining me
and let you know you as Anita, I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
A pleasure, Maria.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
We reached out to Telemundo to confirm some of Doctor
a Polo's characterizations of events that involved the network, but
they declined to comment on that. They did say though,
that they were quote proud to have worked with her
for almost two decades to make a difference in our community.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
This episode was.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Produced by Elisa Baena and edited by Andrea Lopez Cruzado.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
It was mixed by J. J. Crubin.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
The Latino USA team also includes from Sana Guire, Julia Caruso,
Feliciao Minhez, Jessica, Elvis, Victoria Strada, Domniquinestrosa, Renaldo Lanos Junior,
Stephanie Lebau, Louis Luna, Ulia Martinelli, Marta Martinez, Monica Morales, Garcia,
Dasha Sandoval, Nur Saudi and Nancy Trujillo.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
That Chavari is our managing editor.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Benny le Ramidias, Marie Graci and I are co executive producers,
and I'm your host Mariano Hosa.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
Join us again on our next episode.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
In the meantime, I'll see you on social media, especially
on stagran I.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
Chao.
Speaker 4 (34:18):
Latino USA is made possible in part by the William
and Flora Hewlett Foundation for more than fifty years, advancing
ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better.
Speaker 5 (34:31):
World at Hewlett dot org.
Speaker 4 (34:35):
W K.
Speaker 5 (34:35):
Kellogg Foundation, a partner with communities where Children Come First,
and the Ford Foundation, working with visionaries on the front
lines of social change worldwide.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Nina Nando
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