October 24, 2025 • 26 mins
Jorge Ramos and his daughter, Paola Ramos, didn’t spend much time together while she was growing up in Madrid and he was anchoring Univision’s newscast in Miami. Now, this power duo is making up for lost time as a family. They are collaborating for the first time as co-hosts of The Moment, a new podcast. Maria Hinojosa sits with them to discuss their relationship, their concept of press neutrality and what it means to stand against the free speech and human rights attacks of the Trump Administration, while documenting how Latinos who voted for Trump are feeling remorse or reconsidering the “American dream."
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
I'm Lisaakazawa.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Join me on season two of Stars and Stars with Lisa,
where I sit down with some of the most exciting
stars of our time to find out what their birth
chart reveals about their life's purpose, their relationships, and their challenges.
Winner of the Signal Award for Most Inspirational Podcast, Stars
and Stars will help you make sense of today's complicated times.
Even if you're an astrology skeptic. You can listen to
(00:30):
Stars and Stars with Lisa wherever you get your podcasts.
Don't forget to follow the show so you never miss
an episode.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Hoi Ramos, pa Ramos, what's up?
Speaker 4 (00:47):
We're together?
Speaker 5 (00:48):
We never thought it was going to be something like this, No,
but it's so true.
Speaker 6 (00:54):
Earlier this month, I got to sit down with two
of my favorite people, Ramos and his daughter, Paula. Ramos Portier,
of course, is a renowned journalist and author, and he
was the prime time evening anchor at Univision for four
decades before leaving the network last year. Baola, his daughter,
is also an award winning journalist and author. She's a
(01:17):
contributor for MSNBC and Telemundo, and now they have joined
forces in a new English language podcast called The Moment.
In it, Portie remains the inquisitive and tough interviewer that
Latino audiences grew to know and trust from his Univision days.
Here's Porte with the Democratic New York City mayoral candidate
(01:39):
Zoran Mandani in the first interview of The Moment, took
place in mid September.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Do you think that Miguel Dias canel in a dictator.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
I haven't thought much about Miguel Dias.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
I'll be honest with you.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
I think mostly about these five boroughs and how we
can actually deliver affordability for New Yorkers.
Speaker 5 (01:59):
What do you think Nicola Maduro is a dictator in Venezuela.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
I think he has done many a horrible thing.
Speaker 5 (02:05):
But again, do you do you think it's important that
you say that they are dictators and that people understand
here in New York that you are not aligned with them.
Speaker 6 (02:14):
And Paula brings her sharp analysis to every conversation like
this one she and Jorge had with Anthony Romero, the
executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Speaker 7 (02:25):
I think we spent so much time talking about rightly
so Venezuela and migrants, but I'm even thinking about the
larger picture right.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Between ICE and CBP.
Speaker 7 (02:34):
They've deported over two hundred and fifty thousand people already
just in the first seven months of this administration. Many
of these folks were perhaps racially profiled, denied due process,
literally snatched on the streets, disappeared.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
And so I'm thinking about them.
Speaker 7 (02:49):
Right and I'm thinking about what justice looks like for them,
but more than anything, what accountability looks like for ICE,
Like who's to be held accountable for those people.
Speaker 6 (03:00):
It's the first time that Paula and Jorge, father and
daughter are working together.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Many many years ago.
Speaker 5 (03:11):
We wanted to do it, but back then we thought
we wanted to do a TV show or a documentary.
And then time has passed and we and we're moving.
We're transitioning from legacy media towards something completely different.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
I don't know, you know.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
What what Maria Jossa oh is new.
Speaker 7 (03:29):
This was the way, that's the magic of Maria knew
years ago that we would all somehow end up here.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
From media.
Speaker 6 (03:43):
I'm Maria Josa today a conversation with journalists and father
daughter duo Jorge and Paula Planos. We talk about what
it's like working together in a new medium for the
first time, Why neutrality is failing journalists in the second
Trump administration, and the importance of making up for lost
family time and warning to listeners. This episode includes audio
(04:12):
of people in distress. So you know, you and I
have never actually talked about this, but it must be
that we have mental telepathy, because when you retired from
Univision about a year ago, you said the true journalists
(04:33):
never retire, and I have always been saying this. It's that, like,
what do you mean retire from being a journal Is that?
How do you retire from doing the work that we do?
So I just want to know, like, what how did
it come about? Was it one of your multiple conversations
with Bao where you were like, you know what, actually
do something together, Let's let's let's do that.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
Yeah, you just can't retire.
Speaker 5 (04:56):
And I knew that after I left the TV network
that I needed to do something else. Not only that,
my dear, but I think that in just a few years,
people are going to be asking us what did you
do during those years? I needed an answer, and the
answer is independent journalism. That's what I've done, That's what
I continue doing. That, so the question was where to
(05:19):
do it. I wasn't going to go back to another
network because I mean, you've seen the numbers more people
now to got their news through social media and the
Internet and streaming services that on legacy media, and the
opportunity came with iHeart that Paul and I could do
a podcast together, and that's how it started.
Speaker 6 (05:39):
About Were you like absolutely that? What was your immediate line?
Speaker 1 (05:44):
I I was excited.
Speaker 7 (05:45):
I mean, I think I think even even before this year,
I think we've always played with the idea of doing
something together, and I think it naturally took us to
this place, and I think it just speaks to where
the media landscape is. And I think the challenge for
me is what I think could be interesting and exciting
is is getting that audience that grew up watching my dad, right, Like,
(06:09):
is there a way to converge all those people at
this point stas I grew up watching you dad? Can
we bring them with I think the younger generation of Latinos.
And I think it's an open question, mark, right, can
you do that in English only? Do you need to
do it in Spanglish? And so I think that to
me is like an interesting challenge to work with Boo.
Speaker 6 (06:30):
You said that working with your dad in this situation
was a way to take back time. Now that really
struck me because, as you know, you're the daughter of
an anchor. I have kids who are son and daughter
of an anchor journalist, and we talk now that they're
(06:52):
older about the time that was lost because of breaking news,
because of the job, because of our commitment.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
I'm wondering, is that what you're talking about.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, I think it's it's part of that, right.
Speaker 7 (07:03):
I think for anyone who has parents that are journalists,
you grow up understanding that the priority oftentimes isn't you right,
It is the news.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
It is breaking news.
Speaker 7 (07:14):
And I have learned later in life myself as a
fellow journalist now that to love this job is to
kind of recognize that, right. But I think on top
of that, my dad and I grew up in two
different continents, and so from the age of two until
I was sixteen years old, I basically ping ponged between Madrid,
(07:36):
which is where I lived with my mom, in Miami,
which is where my dad was. And so to now
be able to have these conversations in a more public setting,
to talk about, you know, the things that we couldn't
talk about when I was eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen fifteen,
like it's a privilege, it's amazing.
Speaker 5 (07:56):
When I was younger, I was I always read at
myself blue and and perdido and and in a way,
that's exactly what we're trying trying to do the other day.
Or show me a note that made me made me
cry when when when she was traveling by herself from
Miami to Madrid and from to Miami, she was showing
(08:19):
the fellow passengers that she was my daughter. Uh, and
that made me incredibly proud. And now is what I find.
So it's very cheesy, and we could see to the westo.
But but what I find really interesting is that now
I can say, well, I'm the father of Paula Ramos
who's on MSNBC and so on.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
So the roles have changed.
Speaker 7 (08:39):
Hm.
Speaker 6 (08:40):
I can't believe that you actually just said that your
daughter made you cry.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Yes, Ramos is not one that cries.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
For thirty eight years, I couldn't do that.
Speaker 5 (08:48):
I mean, I was I was never paid to cry
on the air or to to be funny on there.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
That was not that was not my role.
Speaker 5 (08:56):
And now that I have a podcast, that I have
a show in Spanish on digital media. I can do
whatever I want, but politically it's necessary enough to be
completely open, because I think we have to denounce what's
happening with immigrants right now, how they're being separated from
their families, that in human way which they are being treated,
(09:17):
and maybe this kind of freedom that we have now
it would have been almost impossible to do before.
Speaker 6 (09:24):
So I'm wondering about how you feel about doing journalism
at this precise moment. Or you just said there's there's
nothing to hold back. You feel a kind of urgency
to say what you have to say, and I kind
of feel like, you know what this administration has created
(09:46):
such havoc, that all the rules have been broken, right.
Speaker 5 (09:50):
Yeah, Sometimes if we are neutral, I think we might
be missing the story. And that's the problem. And I
think sometimes you have to take a stand when it
comes to racism, discrimination, corruption or public lies, the violation
of human rights, dictatorship, the destruction of the environment. You
have to take a stand because if you don't take
a stand, and if you don't challenge authority, if you
(10:13):
don't question those who are in power, I don't think
you're doing your job as a journalist, and I think
that's the big difference nowadays.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Just to report both sides is not enough.
Speaker 5 (10:23):
What we are seeing every single day with the race,
you get your hand, No, not family being separated. I mean,
I'm completely approached by the by the children. The kind
(10:44):
of trauma that that is creating in the Latino community
and the imgrant community is huge. So I think neutrality
doesn't work nowadays, especially when it comes to the way
our immigrants, people like me are being treated.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Power.
Speaker 6 (10:59):
What's it like to hear your dad say as a
journalist in the United States of America, I cannot remain
neutral anymore.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
I mean, I think it speaks to the time we're in.
Speaker 7 (11:10):
But I think particularly with my dad, and I remember
vividly recognizing where this country was headed, the moment when
and where my dad got kicked out of that press
conference with Donald Trump. Excuse me, sit down, you weren't
called sit down, And I remember vividly because of his
facial expression.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
I saw the fear that you had.
Speaker 7 (11:34):
No, it wasn't the fear in your because of your life, dad,
but it was kind of the fear of recognizing that
this country could and was changing in an instant, right
because of someone called Donald Trump that was kicking you out.
And so I think I think the time that we're
in forces us to be more than just journalists, right,
because now we're suddenly fighting for a democracy and.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
No one asked us to be here, No, but we
have to do this. And because now we're.
Speaker 7 (11:59):
Suddenly fighting about the First Amendment and we're fighting about
due process, and so I do believe that it's it's
very it's very, very dangerous to be silence and neutral.
Speaker 6 (12:13):
Coming up on Latino USA. What is today's most important story?
For Jorge Ramos and his daughter Baula.
Speaker 7 (12:20):
This is the decline of the American dream, right, this
is the turning point.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Stay with us. Hey, we're back.
Speaker 6 (12:39):
I'm speaking with Jorge and Baula Ramos for the break.
We talked about the urgency to meet the moment as
journalists in the United States. Today, we're going to talk
now about the challenges we all face in our nation.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Let's get back to the conversation.
Speaker 6 (12:56):
Hooryiu, when Bao came to you and said, oh, yeah,
I'm thinking about writing my next book about the right
word shift and the right wing conservative Latinos and Latinas
that are popping up across the United States. Did you say,
Mikita Buena, there, you're absolutely right here onto something or
did you say, I don't, well, what did you say?
Speaker 5 (13:18):
It's interesting because she was seeing something that many people
didn't see. When she was saying it was very difficult
for me to believe that Latinos would vote for someone
who's telling them that they are rapists and criminals, and
who's promoting the possibility of just doing the largest deportation
operation in US history.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
So when Paula was.
Speaker 5 (13:41):
Telling me, Papa c Stangenoldrecha, something's happening here, she was
absolutely right. I mean, this shift to the right was impressive.
And nowadays when I'm talking to Venezuelans and Cubans, many
of them feel completely betrayed because they believe that when
Donald Trump was talking about immigrants and deported immigrants, they
never thought it was going to do that with Nikola
(14:01):
Wincess and Qbans and Venezuelans. So Paula was into something
and now Paula is into something else. Those who are
going back self reporting because life here in the United
States is not is not exactly what they expected. So
I'm actually following her now that she following me.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
I love that, and I know about you're like, yes, no, No.
Speaker 7 (14:24):
The problem with my dad is that no matter what
I write, do or say, even if it's really bad,
he always has my back.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
And that's a problem. Sometimes he is what you're saying.
You never criticized me.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
You're saying something about it.
Speaker 5 (14:36):
You saw something when that ship happened, nobody believed that,
and then you saw it now you and I think
you're seeing.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Something new beyond you.
Speaker 7 (14:43):
I think a lot of a lot of media institutions,
a lot of her colleagues, a lot of the posters
did not want to see a hard truth, and so
I think it goes, it goes beyond you. I think
it's just the idea, right that forty eight percent of
Latinos could could vote for someone like Trump was just
something that I think think just was startling for a
lot of people. And I think now the interesting question
(15:04):
is like is there a sense of remorse?
Speaker 1 (15:06):
And if so, is that enough?
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Now?
Speaker 7 (15:09):
Is that enough to bring back a solidarity among us?
And how solid was that solidarity to begin with? Right?
Speaker 3 (15:15):
So, how what are you seeing about? Are you seen?
Speaker 6 (15:18):
Is there remorse, there is enough to be like a
shift that could shift the what turns up in the
polls coming up in the midterms like that significant.
Speaker 7 (15:29):
Know, and because of many reasons. A, I think it's
it's too soon to tell.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Is there a remorse?
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Yes.
Speaker 7 (15:36):
I just got back from Pennsylvania and I talked to
so many Latino Trump supporters that are now that are
very unpleased. More than anything, They'll say the economy, right.
I talked to like at least three men that even
got very vulnerable because they feel so much shame that
they're unable to provide for their families. So I think
the sort of the the economic anxiety is still there.
(15:59):
But I think when it comes to the raids and
sort of the mass importations, like, yes, I think everyone
feels very disturbed by the images. But then the question
is if that sort of collective moral outrage that we're feeling, like,
does that outweigh the other factors? Does that outweigh the
(16:20):
grievance that he taps into so brilliantly. Because what's interesting
in these conversations when you talk to some of these
Trump supporters that are having second thoughts, is yes, they'll
talk about mass importations. But then in the same sentence
they'll talk about how crime is rising, right, and how yes,
we still need police to save us. And so I
think it's too early to tell. But I think the
(16:42):
other element in all of this is where is the
Democratic Party, right, Because just because you're shying away from
Trump doesn't mean that you're finding a home elsewhere. And
I think that's a party that's in the midst of
a massive identity crisis that still doesn't have answers and
solutions for a lot of these Latinos that may be
trying to find answers else So I think we're kind
of stuck in the perfect storm where there's just like overall,
(17:04):
a very deep sense of laws and disillusionment and mistrust.
Speaker 5 (17:11):
Latino's a voter for Trump might be dissolution and might
feel completely betrayed. But does that mean that they're going
to be bottom for the Democrats in the next election.
I don't know. I'm not sure, and I think it
has to do. That's another conversation. But Democrats just need
to be sharper, much much sharper when it comes to
(17:32):
defining their objectives and what they want to accomplish. When
you talk about Republicans, you know exactly what they think
about abortion, immigration, and guns. When you talk about Democrats,
it's not that easy anymore.
Speaker 7 (17:45):
The lesson for progressives and Democrats from trump Ism is
how clear they are around their values right, what they're
for and what they're against. And I think what we're
staring at is a democratic party where I think between
the three of us, we wouldn't be able to know
and tell listeners right now what this party stands for, right,
are you for or against? And documented immigrants right, it's
(18:07):
a pretty simple answer. Are you for or against the
right of transgender people? Are you for or against? You know,
the list goes on, and so I think there needs
to be a certain level of moral clarity. And I
think unfortunately, perhaps because it is a wider party right
with the community that is more complex and nuanced. So
I can understand why it's difficult to get on the
(18:29):
same page. But I think, particularly when it's so clear
the way in which this administration is dehumanizing everyone else
that isn't for them, then there needs to be an
equal level of moral clarity around what this party's for,
and that doesn't exist right now.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
We'll be right back not the right.
Speaker 6 (18:46):
Yes, Hey, we're back with my conversation with Jorge and
Paula Tramos.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Orgie.
Speaker 6 (19:05):
If you had to say, what is the biggest story
coming out of this administration, which is it? And what
are you paying the most closest attention to, because there's
a list of ten things that have my head on
fire every single morning.
Speaker 5 (19:21):
Yeah, the most important thing is the threat to democracy.
Are we becoming an authoritarian government? That's that's I love
authoritarian country. I think that's a big question. When I
left Mexico in eighteen eighty three, I promised myself that
I wasn't going to be a censor journalist and that
I would never live again in an authoritarian government. And
(19:41):
now in twenty twenty five, that's exactly what we are facing.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
I truly believe it that we still have many freedoms.
Speaker 5 (19:48):
I don't think neither one of us is going to
end up in jail for the things that we're saying
right now. I'm not seeing the military killing civilians in
the United States. In other words, I think we still
have many freedoms. And maybe it's my emaig run soul,
but I truly believe that at the end the country
will do the right thing.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Well, what's the thing that you're watching most keenly?
Speaker 7 (20:12):
I just I feel that this is the decline of
the American dream, right, this is the turning point. This
is where once again this country had an opportunity to
decide what direction. And I think in the kind of
reporting that I've been doing where it's following families that
are leaving, I think what sticks with me is how
(20:33):
liberating some people are feeling when they're suddenly letting go
of something that perhaps seemed more mythical than real. And
to me, that's the story, you know, to kind of
see the United States for what it is, which is,
at the end of the day, a country that is
still very much capable of going back to those white
supremacist roots and to that tendency and to that fear
(20:55):
of allowing this country to become the multiracial, multi ethnic,
pluralistic democrat that we thought we were. And so I
think we are at a turning point where we are
kind of going back to a foundation that has always
been there. And the consequence of that is that generations
of immigrants and generations of people that have built corners
of this country will let go of that, and so
(21:17):
ten twenty thirty years from now, the question is like,
what will that mean for American You know, the sort
of exceptional American democracy story that we told ourselves.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
And so that's where I think we're headed towards.
Speaker 6 (21:31):
This notion of the American dream. I mean, it does
feel like a nightmare. How are you managing this? You
who left Mexico under very clear circumstances, do you still
feel that there is a dream here? Or has it
truly become the nightmare that your daughter is talking about.
Speaker 5 (21:49):
It's so interesting that you mentioned that, because that's one
of the issues in Wich. Paula and I don't necessarily agree,
because I am the problem of the American dream. This
country gave me the opportunities that my country or origin
couldn't give me. And Paola and Nicolas and Carolota they
have lived much better lives than the one I live
(22:09):
when I was when I was younger. So for me,
the American dream is completely real. Not right now. I
mean I've been live in this country for forty two years,
and for forty one years I was able to tell others, Yeah,
this is a good moment to come to the United States.
If they ask me that right now in twenty twenty five, No,
(22:31):
this is not a good moment to come to the
United States. But I am completely convinced that at the
end this country will do the right thing, and not
a country as an abstract, but that we will do
the right thing.
Speaker 7 (22:43):
I think to truly and fully love this country, you
have to understand all aspects of it, and all sides
of it, and the darker sides of it. And I
think I just that's where I am I right now,
and I think precise abuse of that. Like I do
want to keep fighting here, and I do want to
keep reporting here because I think we deserve so much better.
But I and I continue to be optimistic about you
(23:06):
know what Barack Obama made my generation believe, which is
that one day this multiracial, multi ethnic democracy and will
be fully realized.
Speaker 6 (23:15):
But we're not there yet. We've never been there. Okay,
one last final question. So Jorge said that there is
one thing about the American dream is something that you
don't agree on. Can you just tell me one other
(23:37):
thing that you don't agree on and it doesn't have
to be politics.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
Well, Paula is much libre you No, I think she's
trauveling every single week. She does exactly whatever she wants.
So I'm going to use a phrase that that that
we love in Mexico.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
Juan and I think she has the free that I
never had when I was her age and even younger.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
He doesn't like tattoos, do you? But you don't have tattoos,
you don't like piercings. I have too. I didn't even about.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
I did.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
It's so small that I actually I literally was. I know.
It's so small that I was like.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Oh my god, that's adorable.
Speaker 6 (24:27):
To be clear, I am like your dad. I'm also
a tattoo virgin. We are the coolest ones because we
have we have no tattoos. We are now the super cool.
It's been great to be with the both of you.
Thank you so much for joining me on Latino USA.
Speaker 4 (24:46):
Thank you Maria, Thanks Mada. Was it was great?
Speaker 6 (24:48):
Yeah, yes, journalist and you can find their new podcast
The Moment on you to or wherever you get your podcasts.
(25:19):
Our episode was produced by Rebecca Barra. It was edited
by Andrea Lopez Cruzado, who was mixed by J. J.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
Carubin.
Speaker 6 (25:27):
Fernanda Echavari is our managing editor. The Latino USA team
also includes Roxanna Guire, Julia Caruso, Jessica Alis, Renaldo Lanos Junior,
Stephanie LAbau, Luis Luna Rori, mar Marquez, Julieta Martinelli, Monica
Moreles Garcia, Adriana Rodriez and Nancy Trujillo. Benille Ramirez and
(25:47):
I are executive producers. I'm your Host Mariano Posa. Latino
Usa is part of Iheart's Michael Tura podcast Network. Executive
producers at iHeart Our Leo Gomez and Arlene Santana Join
us again on our next episode. In the meantime, look
for us on all of your social media, and don't forget,
dear listener, join futuro Plus.
Speaker 3 (26:08):
It's our new membership program.
Speaker 6 (26:10):
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What's not to love?
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Join futuro Plus and you'll be happy you did a
star Approxima Chiao.
Speaker 8 (26:25):
Latino USA is made possible in part by W. K.
Kellogg Foundation, a partner with communities where Children Come First,
The John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and Michelle
Mercer and Bruce Golden
I'm Lisaakazawa.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Join me on season two of Stars and Stars with Lisa,
where I sit down with some of the most exciting
stars of our time to find out what their birth
chart reveals about their life's purpose, their relationships, and their challenges.
Winner of the Signal Award for Most Inspirational Podcast, Stars
and Stars will help you make sense of today's complicated times.
Even if you're an astrology skeptic. You can listen to
(00:30):
Stars and Stars with Lisa wherever you get your podcasts.
Don't forget to follow the show so you never miss
an episode.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Hoi Ramos, pa Ramos, what's up?
Speaker 4 (00:47):
We're together?
Speaker 5 (00:48):
We never thought it was going to be something like this, No,
but it's so true.
Speaker 6 (00:54):
Earlier this month, I got to sit down with two
of my favorite people, Ramos and his daughter, Paula. Ramos Portier,
of course, is a renowned journalist and author, and he
was the prime time evening anchor at Univision for four
decades before leaving the network last year. Baola, his daughter,
is also an award winning journalist and author. She's a
(01:17):
contributor for MSNBC and Telemundo, and now they have joined
forces in a new English language podcast called The Moment.
In it, Portie remains the inquisitive and tough interviewer that
Latino audiences grew to know and trust from his Univision days.
Here's Porte with the Democratic New York City mayoral candidate
(01:39):
Zoran Mandani in the first interview of The Moment, took
place in mid September.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Do you think that Miguel Dias canel in a dictator.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
I haven't thought much about Miguel Dias.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
I'll be honest with you.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
I think mostly about these five boroughs and how we
can actually deliver affordability for New Yorkers.
Speaker 5 (01:59):
What do you think Nicola Maduro is a dictator in Venezuela.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
I think he has done many a horrible thing.
Speaker 5 (02:05):
But again, do you do you think it's important that
you say that they are dictators and that people understand
here in New York that you are not aligned with them.
Speaker 6 (02:14):
And Paula brings her sharp analysis to every conversation like
this one she and Jorge had with Anthony Romero, the
executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Speaker 7 (02:25):
I think we spent so much time talking about rightly
so Venezuela and migrants, but I'm even thinking about the
larger picture right.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Between ICE and CBP.
Speaker 7 (02:34):
They've deported over two hundred and fifty thousand people already
just in the first seven months of this administration. Many
of these folks were perhaps racially profiled, denied due process,
literally snatched on the streets, disappeared.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
And so I'm thinking about them.
Speaker 7 (02:49):
Right and I'm thinking about what justice looks like for them,
but more than anything, what accountability looks like for ICE,
Like who's to be held accountable for those people.
Speaker 6 (03:00):
It's the first time that Paula and Jorge, father and
daughter are working together.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Many many years ago.
Speaker 5 (03:11):
We wanted to do it, but back then we thought
we wanted to do a TV show or a documentary.
And then time has passed and we and we're moving.
We're transitioning from legacy media towards something completely different.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
I don't know, you know.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
What what Maria Jossa oh is new.
Speaker 7 (03:29):
This was the way, that's the magic of Maria knew
years ago that we would all somehow end up here.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
From media.
Speaker 6 (03:43):
I'm Maria Josa today a conversation with journalists and father
daughter duo Jorge and Paula Planos. We talk about what
it's like working together in a new medium for the
first time, Why neutrality is failing journalists in the second
Trump administration, and the importance of making up for lost
family time and warning to listeners. This episode includes audio
(04:12):
of people in distress. So you know, you and I
have never actually talked about this, but it must be
that we have mental telepathy, because when you retired from
Univision about a year ago, you said the true journalists
(04:33):
never retire, and I have always been saying this. It's that, like,
what do you mean retire from being a journal Is that?
How do you retire from doing the work that we do?
So I just want to know, like, what how did
it come about? Was it one of your multiple conversations
with Bao where you were like, you know what, actually
do something together, Let's let's let's do that.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
Yeah, you just can't retire.
Speaker 5 (04:56):
And I knew that after I left the TV network
that I needed to do something else. Not only that,
my dear, but I think that in just a few years,
people are going to be asking us what did you
do during those years? I needed an answer, and the
answer is independent journalism. That's what I've done, That's what
I continue doing. That, so the question was where to
(05:19):
do it. I wasn't going to go back to another
network because I mean, you've seen the numbers more people
now to got their news through social media and the
Internet and streaming services that on legacy media, and the
opportunity came with iHeart that Paul and I could do
a podcast together, and that's how it started.
Speaker 6 (05:39):
About Were you like absolutely that? What was your immediate line?
Speaker 1 (05:44):
I I was excited.
Speaker 7 (05:45):
I mean, I think I think even even before this year,
I think we've always played with the idea of doing
something together, and I think it naturally took us to
this place, and I think it just speaks to where
the media landscape is. And I think the challenge for
me is what I think could be interesting and exciting
is is getting that audience that grew up watching my dad, right, Like,
(06:09):
is there a way to converge all those people at
this point stas I grew up watching you dad? Can
we bring them with I think the younger generation of Latinos.
And I think it's an open question, mark, right, can
you do that in English only? Do you need to
do it in Spanglish? And so I think that to
me is like an interesting challenge to work with Boo.
Speaker 6 (06:30):
You said that working with your dad in this situation
was a way to take back time. Now that really
struck me because, as you know, you're the daughter of
an anchor. I have kids who are son and daughter
of an anchor journalist, and we talk now that they're
(06:52):
older about the time that was lost because of breaking news,
because of the job, because of our commitment.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
I'm wondering, is that what you're talking about.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, I think it's it's part of that, right.
Speaker 7 (07:03):
I think for anyone who has parents that are journalists,
you grow up understanding that the priority oftentimes isn't you right,
It is the news.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
It is breaking news.
Speaker 7 (07:14):
And I have learned later in life myself as a
fellow journalist now that to love this job is to
kind of recognize that, right. But I think on top
of that, my dad and I grew up in two
different continents, and so from the age of two until
I was sixteen years old, I basically ping ponged between Madrid,
(07:36):
which is where I lived with my mom, in Miami,
which is where my dad was. And so to now
be able to have these conversations in a more public setting,
to talk about, you know, the things that we couldn't
talk about when I was eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen fifteen,
like it's a privilege, it's amazing.
Speaker 5 (07:56):
When I was younger, I was I always read at
myself blue and and perdido and and in a way,
that's exactly what we're trying trying to do the other day.
Or show me a note that made me made me
cry when when when she was traveling by herself from
Miami to Madrid and from to Miami, she was showing
(08:19):
the fellow passengers that she was my daughter. Uh, and
that made me incredibly proud. And now is what I find.
So it's very cheesy, and we could see to the westo.
But but what I find really interesting is that now
I can say, well, I'm the father of Paula Ramos
who's on MSNBC and so on.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
So the roles have changed.
Speaker 7 (08:39):
Hm.
Speaker 6 (08:40):
I can't believe that you actually just said that your
daughter made you cry.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Yes, Ramos is not one that cries.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
For thirty eight years, I couldn't do that.
Speaker 5 (08:48):
I mean, I was I was never paid to cry
on the air or to to be funny on there.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
That was not that was not my role.
Speaker 5 (08:56):
And now that I have a podcast, that I have
a show in Spanish on digital media. I can do
whatever I want, but politically it's necessary enough to be
completely open, because I think we have to denounce what's
happening with immigrants right now, how they're being separated from
their families, that in human way which they are being treated,
(09:17):
and maybe this kind of freedom that we have now
it would have been almost impossible to do before.
Speaker 6 (09:24):
So I'm wondering about how you feel about doing journalism
at this precise moment. Or you just said there's there's
nothing to hold back. You feel a kind of urgency
to say what you have to say, and I kind
of feel like, you know what this administration has created
(09:46):
such havoc, that all the rules have been broken, right.
Speaker 5 (09:50):
Yeah, Sometimes if we are neutral, I think we might
be missing the story. And that's the problem. And I
think sometimes you have to take a stand when it
comes to racism, discrimination, corruption or public lies, the violation
of human rights, dictatorship, the destruction of the environment. You
have to take a stand because if you don't take
a stand, and if you don't challenge authority, if you
(10:13):
don't question those who are in power, I don't think
you're doing your job as a journalist, and I think
that's the big difference nowadays.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Just to report both sides is not enough.
Speaker 5 (10:23):
What we are seeing every single day with the race,
you get your hand, No, not family being separated. I mean,
I'm completely approached by the by the children. The kind
(10:44):
of trauma that that is creating in the Latino community
and the imgrant community is huge. So I think neutrality
doesn't work nowadays, especially when it comes to the way
our immigrants, people like me are being treated.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Power.
Speaker 6 (10:59):
What's it like to hear your dad say as a
journalist in the United States of America, I cannot remain
neutral anymore.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
I mean, I think it speaks to the time we're in.
Speaker 7 (11:10):
But I think particularly with my dad, and I remember
vividly recognizing where this country was headed, the moment when
and where my dad got kicked out of that press
conference with Donald Trump. Excuse me, sit down, you weren't
called sit down, And I remember vividly because of his
facial expression.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
I saw the fear that you had.
Speaker 7 (11:34):
No, it wasn't the fear in your because of your life, dad,
but it was kind of the fear of recognizing that
this country could and was changing in an instant, right
because of someone called Donald Trump that was kicking you out.
And so I think I think the time that we're
in forces us to be more than just journalists, right,
because now we're suddenly fighting for a democracy and.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
No one asked us to be here, No, but we
have to do this. And because now we're.
Speaker 7 (11:59):
Suddenly fighting about the First Amendment and we're fighting about
due process, and so I do believe that it's it's
very it's very, very dangerous to be silence and neutral.
Speaker 6 (12:13):
Coming up on Latino USA. What is today's most important story?
For Jorge Ramos and his daughter Baula.
Speaker 7 (12:20):
This is the decline of the American dream, right, this
is the turning point.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Stay with us. Hey, we're back.
Speaker 6 (12:39):
I'm speaking with Jorge and Baula Ramos for the break.
We talked about the urgency to meet the moment as
journalists in the United States. Today, we're going to talk
now about the challenges we all face in our nation.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Let's get back to the conversation.
Speaker 6 (12:56):
Hooryiu, when Bao came to you and said, oh, yeah,
I'm thinking about writing my next book about the right
word shift and the right wing conservative Latinos and Latinas
that are popping up across the United States. Did you say,
Mikita Buena, there, you're absolutely right here onto something or
did you say, I don't, well, what did you say?
Speaker 5 (13:18):
It's interesting because she was seeing something that many people
didn't see. When she was saying it was very difficult
for me to believe that Latinos would vote for someone
who's telling them that they are rapists and criminals, and
who's promoting the possibility of just doing the largest deportation
operation in US history.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
So when Paula was.
Speaker 5 (13:41):
Telling me, Papa c Stangenoldrecha, something's happening here, she was
absolutely right. I mean, this shift to the right was impressive.
And nowadays when I'm talking to Venezuelans and Cubans, many
of them feel completely betrayed because they believe that when
Donald Trump was talking about immigrants and deported immigrants, they
never thought it was going to do that with Nikola
(14:01):
Wincess and Qbans and Venezuelans. So Paula was into something
and now Paula is into something else. Those who are
going back self reporting because life here in the United
States is not is not exactly what they expected. So
I'm actually following her now that she following me.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
I love that, and I know about you're like, yes, no, No.
Speaker 7 (14:24):
The problem with my dad is that no matter what
I write, do or say, even if it's really bad,
he always has my back.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
And that's a problem. Sometimes he is what you're saying.
You never criticized me.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
You're saying something about it.
Speaker 5 (14:36):
You saw something when that ship happened, nobody believed that,
and then you saw it now you and I think
you're seeing.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Something new beyond you.
Speaker 7 (14:43):
I think a lot of a lot of media institutions,
a lot of her colleagues, a lot of the posters
did not want to see a hard truth, and so
I think it goes, it goes beyond you. I think
it's just the idea, right that forty eight percent of
Latinos could could vote for someone like Trump was just
something that I think think just was startling for a
lot of people. And I think now the interesting question
(15:04):
is like is there a sense of remorse?
Speaker 1 (15:06):
And if so, is that enough?
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Now?
Speaker 7 (15:09):
Is that enough to bring back a solidarity among us?
And how solid was that solidarity to begin with? Right?
Speaker 3 (15:15):
So, how what are you seeing about? Are you seen?
Speaker 6 (15:18):
Is there remorse, there is enough to be like a
shift that could shift the what turns up in the
polls coming up in the midterms like that significant.
Speaker 7 (15:29):
Know, and because of many reasons. A, I think it's
it's too soon to tell.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Is there a remorse?
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Yes.
Speaker 7 (15:36):
I just got back from Pennsylvania and I talked to
so many Latino Trump supporters that are now that are
very unpleased. More than anything, They'll say the economy, right.
I talked to like at least three men that even
got very vulnerable because they feel so much shame that
they're unable to provide for their families. So I think
the sort of the the economic anxiety is still there.
(15:59):
But I think when it comes to the raids and
sort of the mass importations, like, yes, I think everyone
feels very disturbed by the images. But then the question
is if that sort of collective moral outrage that we're feeling, like,
does that outweigh the other factors? Does that outweigh the
(16:20):
grievance that he taps into so brilliantly. Because what's interesting
in these conversations when you talk to some of these
Trump supporters that are having second thoughts, is yes, they'll
talk about mass importations. But then in the same sentence
they'll talk about how crime is rising, right, and how yes,
we still need police to save us. And so I
think it's too early to tell. But I think the
(16:42):
other element in all of this is where is the
Democratic Party, right, Because just because you're shying away from
Trump doesn't mean that you're finding a home elsewhere. And
I think that's a party that's in the midst of
a massive identity crisis that still doesn't have answers and
solutions for a lot of these Latinos that may be
trying to find answers else So I think we're kind
of stuck in the perfect storm where there's just like overall,
(17:04):
a very deep sense of laws and disillusionment and mistrust.
Speaker 5 (17:11):
Latino's a voter for Trump might be dissolution and might
feel completely betrayed. But does that mean that they're going
to be bottom for the Democrats in the next election.
I don't know. I'm not sure, and I think it
has to do. That's another conversation. But Democrats just need
to be sharper, much much sharper when it comes to
(17:32):
defining their objectives and what they want to accomplish. When
you talk about Republicans, you know exactly what they think
about abortion, immigration, and guns. When you talk about Democrats,
it's not that easy anymore.
Speaker 7 (17:45):
The lesson for progressives and Democrats from trump Ism is
how clear they are around their values right, what they're
for and what they're against. And I think what we're
staring at is a democratic party where I think between
the three of us, we wouldn't be able to know
and tell listeners right now what this party stands for, right,
are you for or against? And documented immigrants right, it's
(18:07):
a pretty simple answer. Are you for or against the
right of transgender people? Are you for or against? You know,
the list goes on, and so I think there needs
to be a certain level of moral clarity. And I
think unfortunately, perhaps because it is a wider party right
with the community that is more complex and nuanced. So
I can understand why it's difficult to get on the
(18:29):
same page. But I think, particularly when it's so clear
the way in which this administration is dehumanizing everyone else
that isn't for them, then there needs to be an
equal level of moral clarity around what this party's for,
and that doesn't exist right now.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
We'll be right back not the right.
Speaker 6 (18:46):
Yes, Hey, we're back with my conversation with Jorge and
Paula Tramos.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Orgie.
Speaker 6 (19:05):
If you had to say, what is the biggest story
coming out of this administration, which is it? And what
are you paying the most closest attention to, because there's
a list of ten things that have my head on
fire every single morning.
Speaker 5 (19:21):
Yeah, the most important thing is the threat to democracy.
Are we becoming an authoritarian government? That's that's I love
authoritarian country. I think that's a big question. When I
left Mexico in eighteen eighty three, I promised myself that
I wasn't going to be a censor journalist and that
I would never live again in an authoritarian government. And
(19:41):
now in twenty twenty five, that's exactly what we are facing.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
I truly believe it that we still have many freedoms.
Speaker 5 (19:48):
I don't think neither one of us is going to
end up in jail for the things that we're saying
right now. I'm not seeing the military killing civilians in
the United States. In other words, I think we still
have many freedoms. And maybe it's my emaig run soul,
but I truly believe that at the end the country
will do the right thing.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Well, what's the thing that you're watching most keenly?
Speaker 7 (20:12):
I just I feel that this is the decline of
the American dream, right, this is the turning point. This
is where once again this country had an opportunity to
decide what direction. And I think in the kind of
reporting that I've been doing where it's following families that
are leaving, I think what sticks with me is how
(20:33):
liberating some people are feeling when they're suddenly letting go
of something that perhaps seemed more mythical than real. And
to me, that's the story, you know, to kind of
see the United States for what it is, which is,
at the end of the day, a country that is
still very much capable of going back to those white
supremacist roots and to that tendency and to that fear
(20:55):
of allowing this country to become the multiracial, multi ethnic,
pluralistic democrat that we thought we were. And so I
think we are at a turning point where we are
kind of going back to a foundation that has always
been there. And the consequence of that is that generations
of immigrants and generations of people that have built corners
of this country will let go of that, and so
(21:17):
ten twenty thirty years from now, the question is like,
what will that mean for American You know, the sort
of exceptional American democracy story that we told ourselves.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
And so that's where I think we're headed towards.
Speaker 6 (21:31):
This notion of the American dream. I mean, it does
feel like a nightmare. How are you managing this? You
who left Mexico under very clear circumstances, do you still
feel that there is a dream here? Or has it
truly become the nightmare that your daughter is talking about.
Speaker 5 (21:49):
It's so interesting that you mentioned that, because that's one
of the issues in Wich. Paula and I don't necessarily agree,
because I am the problem of the American dream. This
country gave me the opportunities that my country or origin
couldn't give me. And Paola and Nicolas and Carolota they
have lived much better lives than the one I live
(22:09):
when I was when I was younger. So for me,
the American dream is completely real. Not right now. I
mean I've been live in this country for forty two years,
and for forty one years I was able to tell others, Yeah,
this is a good moment to come to the United States.
If they ask me that right now in twenty twenty five, No,
(22:31):
this is not a good moment to come to the
United States. But I am completely convinced that at the
end this country will do the right thing, and not
a country as an abstract, but that we will do
the right thing.
Speaker 7 (22:43):
I think to truly and fully love this country, you
have to understand all aspects of it, and all sides
of it, and the darker sides of it. And I
think I just that's where I am I right now,
and I think precise abuse of that. Like I do
want to keep fighting here, and I do want to
keep reporting here because I think we deserve so much better.
But I and I continue to be optimistic about you
(23:06):
know what Barack Obama made my generation believe, which is
that one day this multiracial, multi ethnic democracy and will
be fully realized.
Speaker 6 (23:15):
But we're not there yet. We've never been there. Okay,
one last final question. So Jorge said that there is
one thing about the American dream is something that you
don't agree on. Can you just tell me one other
(23:37):
thing that you don't agree on and it doesn't have
to be politics.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
Well, Paula is much libre you No, I think she's
trauveling every single week. She does exactly whatever she wants.
So I'm going to use a phrase that that that
we love in Mexico.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
Juan and I think she has the free that I
never had when I was her age and even younger.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
He doesn't like tattoos, do you? But you don't have tattoos,
you don't like piercings. I have too. I didn't even about.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
I did.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
It's so small that I actually I literally was. I know.
It's so small that I was like.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Oh my god, that's adorable.
Speaker 6 (24:27):
To be clear, I am like your dad. I'm also
a tattoo virgin. We are the coolest ones because we
have we have no tattoos. We are now the super cool.
It's been great to be with the both of you.
Thank you so much for joining me on Latino USA.
Speaker 4 (24:46):
Thank you Maria, Thanks Mada. Was it was great?
Speaker 6 (24:48):
Yeah, yes, journalist and you can find their new podcast
The Moment on you to or wherever you get your podcasts.
(25:19):
Our episode was produced by Rebecca Barra. It was edited
by Andrea Lopez Cruzado, who was mixed by J. J.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
Carubin.
Speaker 6 (25:27):
Fernanda Echavari is our managing editor. The Latino USA team
also includes Roxanna Guire, Julia Caruso, Jessica Alis, Renaldo Lanos Junior,
Stephanie LAbau, Luis Luna Rori, mar Marquez, Julieta Martinelli, Monica
Moreles Garcia, Adriana Rodriez and Nancy Trujillo. Benille Ramirez and
(25:47):
I are executive producers. I'm your Host Mariano Posa. Latino
Usa is part of Iheart's Michael Tura podcast Network. Executive
producers at iHeart Our Leo Gomez and Arlene Santana Join
us again on our next episode. In the meantime, look
for us on all of your social media, and don't forget,
dear listener, join futuro Plus.
Speaker 3 (26:08):
It's our new membership program.
Speaker 6 (26:10):
You get to listen to everything ad free and you
get cool bonus content.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
What's not to love?
Speaker 6 (26:17):
Join futuro Plus and you'll be happy you did a
star Approxima Chiao.
Speaker 8 (26:25):
Latino USA is made possible in part by W. K.
Kellogg Foundation, a partner with communities where Children Come First,
The John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and Michelle
Mercer and Bruce Golden
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