October 1, 2025 • 47 mins
In this episode, Diosa and Mala reflect on what it means to be critiqued in real time. They've been sitting with a recent critique in a new publication, Radiophonic Feminisms: Latina Voices in the Digital Age of Broadcasting by Ester Díaz Martín. Díaz Martin began her research in 2018, when they were still independent podcasters. Years later, her book was published, and it credits las Locatoras as the creators of “radiophonic."
There's a clear shift from an affirmative analysis of the early podcast days to a more complicated critique of growth inside a corporate structure. She points out how their femme sound, feminist ideas, and dynamic shaped early episodes, and how later production process “complicates the feminist praxis.”
In this episode, they hold space for expansiveness and evolution to art. How do all of us navigate growth without losing our core values? And how do we balance the nuance of creating within capitalism?
Also, some exciting news! Locatora Radio and Señora Sex Ed are Signal Award finalists AND are up for the Listeners’ Choice Awards!
Support us by:
- Visiting vote.signalaward.com
- Creating an account
- Voting for Locatora Radio (Arts & Culture)
- Voting for Señora Sex Ed (Conversation Starter)
Voting closes October 9th, 2025.
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/locatora_productions
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm scared.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Don't be scared. Don't be scared. We can't be scared.
They smell fear.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
I'm deathly afraid of the listeners.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
They can smell fear, they will pounds.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
This is why I don't post anything.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
No blood in the water, honey, nondy.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Oh lao La Loka motes, I'm Theosa and I'm Mala.
Before we get into today's episode, we want to share
some really exciting news. We are finalists for the Signal Awards.
The Signal Awards is mission focused on uplifting the podcast
medium by recognizing the most potent, meaningful, and unprecedented audio
(00:40):
projects being made today, and both Loka Tora Radio and
Senora Sexad are finalists and in addition, qualify for the
Listener's Choice Award. That's why we need your help. You
can vote for us by heading to vote dot Signal
Awards dot com or check the show notes.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Vote for us, vote for us. We must win. We
have to win. We've been nominated. We were nominated for
a Thekla Award a few years.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Ago, twenty nineteen.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
You know, and even just to be nominated is an honor,
of course. Thank you. Signal Awards but we want to win,
So please send the links and the info to everyone
you know, friends, family, enemies, neighbors. It doesn't matter. Every
vote counts. We want to be able to say. I mean,
we can already say that we're award winning podcasters.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Yes, we are award winning podcaster.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
But we want to keep adding to the list.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Yeah. I mean, honestly, as an audio nerd audio journalist,
the Signal Awards for me is a really big deal.
And I would be so fucking the rilled, elated, psyched
if we could win not only not only placed by
the judges Bronze Silver, Gold category, but also win a
Listener's Choice award.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yes, and we know we have.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
An incredible group community of listeners, and we know, oh
that y'all can do it, and that y'all can can
vote for us. Now, voting is super easy. You just
have to visit vote dot Signal Award dot com, create
an account and vote for Loka Radio in the Arts
and Culture category and Senora sex Said in the Conversation
(02:17):
Starter category. Make sure you also confirm your account and
voting closes October ninth.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
If you're not going to vote in the presidential election,
it's Okay, just vote in this election. This is the
more important election.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Actually, actually no, I don't quote that. I do not
support this message, but do vote for us.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
If you're only going to vote once in your life,
vote for Locata Radio and Senora Sex said for a
Signal award. We are changing culture, we're changing hearts, we're
changing minds. Make an impact. Vote for us today, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
I do support that message. Can't stand dear, but I
love you. This is the duality. It's the duality of
us and who we are. And we're artists and we're
sensitive about our shit.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
We're very sensitive about our ship, which.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Is why we one want you to vote for us too.
Want to talk about what it's like to be critiqued
in real time.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Yeah, we want to complain today, honestly, Well, I want
to throw a fit and complain.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
I want to do some some analysis.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
So we're going to have both. We're going to complain
and we're going to have analysis. We're going to feed
you and both ends of your spectrum.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Yes we are so you know, we're artists and we're
sensitive about our shit, but even we're up for critique,
and that is kind of what we've been like muddeling
over the last couple of weeks and really the last
couple of months, once we saw that this book was
coming into print and was going to make its circuit
(03:47):
and we got to read it before it came out,
and we're like, oh, there's lots to say.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah, and I hope you guys caught that a book
that came out, because honey, we're not just in listicals
and online articles and Instagram posts and TikTok roundups. We
are not only in print in the newspaper. We are
in books dear written about, in books before that, dissertations,
(04:14):
and it's a whole journey, it's a whole story, and
we're grateful for anybody and everybody who has ever written
about us. I mean, don't get me wrong, I would
much rather they write about us than leave us out.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Absolutely absolutely. And I think this is the first time
where we are reading something with a very critical lens
about something that we were really excited about, which is
I think complicates it and lends itself to a lot
of nuance and a lot of discussion, which is what
we want to have here today. And something that you
mentioned my live is like everyone says, I don't read
(04:46):
the comments.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Yes, that's always what online creatives say. Don't read the comments.
Whether you're a recording artist, a podcaster, whether you have
a fashion house, you know, if you're selling a product,
if you put your face on camera, your voice on camera,
if you're sharing your life or your opinions, especially in
the digital space, they always say, don't read the comments,
(05:08):
like for your own mental health and well being, for
your own sense of self, just don't do it.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
But in this case, we were included in a book, right,
we're part of a chapter, and well, that's definitely something
that we want to read and we're going to talk
about that.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Yeah, we are. We're going to talk about that. And
we want to preface this by saying again like we
will hear from our listeners. Oh my god, look at
what our radio was on my syllabus for my class
at my university. You guys are required reading or oh
my god, I wrote about you in a paper. Can
I interview you for a paper? And that's where we
(05:44):
first were introduced to Esther and to the research that
she was doing in this space.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Esther Diaz Martin was doing her research back in twenty eighteen,
which was about two years after we started, and we
met her actually at Podcastadio Fest and she mentioned that
she was writing about Latinas and podcasting. She reached out
about doing an interview with us so she could include
it in her fieldwork and her research. Unfortunately, we weren't
(06:10):
actually ever able to sit down with her. We did
exchange a couple of emails, and now years later, you know,
there's a book as a result of her research and
her work that she's been doing in Latina media studies
and China studies, and the name of the book is
called Radiophonic Feminisms Latina Voices in the Digital Age of Broadcasting.
(06:32):
And she does credit us as the creators of the
word radiophonic and that our Radiophonic Novela inspired the title of.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Her book, which is called Radiophonic Feminisms. And you know,
when Esther, I think first started doing her research into
us as a project and listening to our show, we
were still very much indie. But by the time the
book came out, we were already into our network era
podcasting with iHeartRadio's Michael with a podcast network. So it
(07:01):
was really interesting because you know, we know throughout like
our podcasting career, that it is impossible to make everybody happy.
You just can't do it. Like what sometimes what we
think is like really fun and cool and exciting is
disappointing to a listener or a group of listeners. We're
not the only ones, I think, when like an indie
(07:22):
Latina brand gets a real big deal with like a
mainstream corporate outlet, that's going to draw criticism. Yeah, you know,
especially because our community and our listeners have a very
very strong sensibility when it comes to grassroots community level,
like progressive anti capitalist work.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
We have as a community are specific community a very
strong sense of justice, yes, and when we feel that
someone is maybe stepping out or not aligned with that
sense of justice, we feel, I think, walk the plank
personally attacked or you know, betrayed, and all those feelings
(08:05):
are valid, right, And I think what our argument here
is like we got to allow the nuance and for
all of it to be true at the same time,
you know, at.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
The same time. So along these lines, we joined the network.
We are so excited because please understand, like, oh now
we can pay our bills yea with our work in
podcasting because we have network support. We are not the
highest paid podcasters by any means, correct, I mean on
(08:36):
that spectrum. I'm not even going to tell you where
we are on that spectrum, but you know, we're making
it episode by episode, and it's been wonderful. But I
think that that win for us and for so many
of the listeners is something that was actually a point
of disappointment for others, including esther, including the author of
(08:58):
the Radiophonic feminist book, because she had like some and
I think like not misplaced her invalid criticism, but we
felt in reading her pages and the way that the
analysis of the indie show went from so like affirmative
to them in the network era being so not affirmative, right, Like,
(09:21):
she's disappointed in us basically for joining the network, and
so obviously we had feelings about that.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Yeah, I mean, there's some valid critique that will definitely
want to I definitely want to read a couple of
the pages or a couple of the paragraphs so that
y'all can get some of the context. But in general,
you know, what I really enjoyed about reading this book
is she starts with, like, what Latina feminism looks like
and sounds like in popular culture and she listens and
(09:47):
studies radio hosts like Alicia Laron, Marlene Kinto, and three
West Coast based podcasts which we know and have actually
collabed with, like SUPI Mamas and she Gotta Mother Work
and us So of the sixty something podcast that she
was considering to include in her dissertation. She narrowed it
(10:08):
down to those three, so that alone, I feel is
super impactful and I'm like really proud that in some
ways we made the cut and that she saw that
our work was worth in some ways to be included
in this like Latina feminism soundscape, which I think is
really what we were going for back then and continue
(10:30):
to do now, but just in a more refined way.
But for her, it had these implications of change, you know.
And in addition to the groundwork that she lays out
for the book, she talks about for me super nerdy
and interesting like the history of US LATINX radio and
(10:51):
how both Mexican and US governments created and invested in
radio telegraphy technology during different wars, and you know, thinking
about how radio has been such a tool for our
community and then learning about how it dates back to
like the early nineteen hundreds I think is really fascinating.
(11:11):
And then of course we get into the chapter that
we're included in, you know, which she she titles chapter
four Mama Mothers and Mommy's Gonvivencia and Latina Podcasting.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
And we're the mommies.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
We're the mommies obviously not the mothers.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
No, still not, still still still not.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
We're still not the mothers now that remains true.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
We're still the mommies of myth and bullshit, as you know,
as you know, if you've been listening, if you've been
tuning in, and here's the deal is, I would have
been upset. We would have been upset had we not
been included. Oh yeah, happy to be included, thank you.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
But I think like this is one of the things
about which folks may not know. But when you're writing
a dissertation, you have allotted time to do research.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Right.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
And then this obviously went into print and the dissertation
was published, right, I'm sure that edits were made, but
her window to do more interviews, I'm assuming closed, And
I think for us we would have loved to be
able to talk to her about the network era and
what it meant to join. But you know, in her chapter,
(12:18):
she does talk about how she analyzes the first thirty
two episodes of Look at Ora Radio, which I think
is incredible and also ooh, those first thirty two were incredible,
But she does talk about like how it was the
audio quality was not the best, which we know, we
always knew, and but she also you know, attributes that
(12:39):
to like there being like resquachismo behind it, the fem
sound of it all, and even the way we engage
with each other, even sometimes like our little valley girl accents,
you know, and all of that. She includes that in
like this Latina sound.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Which we've always celebrated that about ourselves, and it's always
been a big part of the show, yeah, always, always,
So I think that she really gave us that positive
feedback in our very early days, like self taught self
starters in the community radio station at Aspasio eighteen thirty
(13:16):
nine with no soundproofing, you know, and like doing everything
just yeah, ourselves. And I think that I really appreciate
that from her, that she really saw us in our beginnings.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I just want to read something
from one of one of the pages, you know, where
she talks about us as mommies of myth and bullshit.
Mala Anddiosa speak to being in the world as self
defined and in playful opposition to the arbitrary narratives and
myths of heteronormative sexism. Certain words they reference in their
mission blurb femmes, feminists, and women of color, reflect their
(13:53):
understanding of gender as socially constructed and fluid. Yes, yeah,
we did do that.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Absolutely, that's all true. Yes, yes, accurate.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Don't go anywhere, locomotives.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
We'll be right back, and we're back with more of
our episode. Yeah, we're doing all this cool indie stuff.
Look at our radio with no money, no please, no money,
multiple jobs, multiple jobs. I mean we were like we
were running ourselves ragged. I need this to be understood. Yes,
(14:26):
we were running ourselves into the ground, working our day
jobs and then living this second life.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Taking We've talked about this before, but just for the record,
so it's on the same episode, right, like using our
sick days, using our vacation days to go work, to
go to travel, to do gigs at universities, to work
on projects. You know, like when we did the Spotify campaign,
we were still indie and I still had my day job,
(14:55):
you know, and like having to take the day off
of work, you know, so using like all of our
resources that we had to then make the podcast and
everything else. They came with it absolutely.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
And as the podcast is growing, because our listeners are
increasing in number and the we're getting hired at a
higher rate to fly out and do a university talk
or to like host a panel, or to host an
event or come to Tropicalia Fest, you know, whatever it was.
(15:29):
We were splitting the time between like full time job,
paying bills and feeding this creative project that was just growing, growing, growing, growing,
and at some point, like something's got to give.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Yeah, I think you know, we had this really we
had this very honest conversation with each other where we decided, like, Okay,
if we can't get an investment in this project, if
we can't place this somewhere, We're not saying it's going
to go way, but we're gonna have to eventually give
it less time and kind of not move on from it.
(16:06):
But it cannot take up all of this time in
our lives because we really were running ourselves ragged ragged, like.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Yeah, we live in LA Like, bills have to get paid, Yeah,
the cost of living is high, like we have to work.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
I did not realize that I had been living for
maybe four years maybe that's a little too long, maybe
three years, like incredibly incredibly like adrenaline high, that when
I graduated grad school no longer had a day job,
only had this crashed intensely because all of the structure
(16:43):
from my life was gone because I was so overworked
and overbooked that I really had no time to let
anything fall. And so it wasn't until all of that
and oh we only had this, which was such a
beautiful thing that I like crashed and burnt own out
and like could knock get out of bed for days.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
And so that is like where we were operating from.
We were operating from this like high stress, also really fun,
but you know, like we had something had to give
at some point.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
At some point. And so when the opportunity came knocking,
and by the way the network reached out to us,
we were not I mean, we were invited to pitch
at networks and then we're able to do podcasting work
at other places or at least pitch like a new
project at other places, and then eventually the Micael through
(17:37):
our podcast network reached out to us and invited us
to join. So it wasn't we we've never really been
good about knocking on doors.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
We really need to do more of it. We do.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Yeah, we've never been good about really self promoting, about
pitching ourselves, about asking to get signed or hired. That
was not the path, like and I don't say it's
in like a braggy way, but just literally they reached
out to us about joining the network.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Absolutely. I mean, I think that is its own skill.
You know that people like when you're in school or
you're in even in your own job, right, they talk
about networking and especially in this industry, the importance of
going to events to pitching yourself, and that was just
never something that we were good at because I don't know,
like this is all this at the time was all
brand new to us. Yes, yeah, we didn't know how
(18:30):
to pitch ourselves.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
But we were visible because we were out and about.
Yes we were.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
And so this idea of like pitching ourselves or pitching
the show. You know, we didn't have an LLC until
twenty twenty one, and we were forced entercomeas because we
were trying to get hired to do something and they
told us, actually, we can't pay you as independent contractors,
which is how we had been operating, and so it
(18:55):
forced us in a positive way to formalize as a business.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
Yeah. Like, people literally had like conversations with us about
you must create your formal container or you're never gonna grow.
And people are trying to hire you and pay you
like literally, people older and wiser and more experience than us.
We're like, you guys need to do this at a
bigger scale. Ye, get your LLC.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
And it costs money.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
It costs money.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
And so with all of that in mind, when we
read this critique, which is valid in so many ways
it is it is of course we're going to have
feelings about it.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Yeah, we need you guys to know the economic backstory here,
because there is one. And it's one of those things
where we again, we weren't knocking on iHeartRadio's door asking
them to let us in.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Now I am, I'm saying please renew us for season A.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Well, now things are different because we're now we're in
the house and we don't want them to kick us out.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Don't go anywhere, lookomotives, we'll.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Be right back, and we're back with more of our episode.
But you know, iHeart and Michael Duda came to us
and the LLC really was like, you guys need to
do this, And it happened the way it was supposed
to happen. And it's one of those situations where like
(20:17):
greatness is knocking on your door, like are you going
to answer the door? Are you going to answer the call?
Are you going to show up? Are you going to
leave the comfort of your bubble and of your nest.
And so we decided like, yes, we're going to do this.
We're going to accept this offer after months of negotiations.
(20:37):
We are going to enter into this network era. We're
gonna quit our jobs. We're not going to be Indie anymore,
at least not all the way Indie, and we're going
to take this thing to the next level. And that
brings us to.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Yeah. So the critique, so she writes, I will now
skip forward to discuss an evolution in their production process
that seemingly COMPLI it's their feminist praxis. Already I feel attacked,
already already question my feminism. Nobody, no, like, in all seriousness,
I think that this has been something that we have
talked about and we've even received a couple of emails
(21:13):
about what I'm about to read, you know, she she
writes about the work that we've done the Spotify, Hispanic
Herritage month, Billboard, launching other podcasts, partnering with HBO Max,
and like all the incredible partnerships that I think that
we feel really proud of.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Right, we were excited for every single thing, every single thing.
You know. Oh, we get to review the Conjuring and
then talk about it on the show, like that's so cool. Yeah,
there's a stand up comedy premiere coming out, and we
get to like conduct the Q and A at the
launch party at.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
The Iconic Conga Room, which ceases does no longer exist
by the way they closed?
Speaker 2 (21:52):
How could we have said no? So, you know, it's
like every every one of these things that came our
way we were very excited about.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Yeah, So here's where the critique really begins. In twenty
twenty two, Loka Dota Radios signed a multi year contract
with Michael Dura Podcast Network, an affiliate of iHeartRadio and
a pre eminent distributor of radio programs and podcasts across
the Americas. MCPN Michael Doda podcast network is backed by
the advertising dollars of multinational corporations. She then names them.
(22:23):
In twenty twenty three, Michael Doda Podcast Network hosted thirty
seven LATINX theme podcast. The implication of this partnership of
lokat Doa Radio with the network, along with the endorsements
from corporations with problematic, racist, and exploitative legacies, or at
the very least for profit capitalist enterprises, stands at odds
(22:46):
with Loka Dora Radio's anti capitalist ethos as well as
their sound identity. She's not rong, she's not wrong, She's
not wrong. I do want to add that we have
not voiced for some of the companies that she is
mentioning no, because we do get a say in that,
and I think that has been really important to us
that we get to say no to things that we
(23:08):
don't want to voice, like a Starbucks ad yeah, because
there's been an active boycott. And then there's others where
like you have to give a little bit, you know,
because we're still.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
With the network, we're under contract.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
And so we have like found these moments right where
we're like no, and then yes, we have to say
yes to some things.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yeah, and what Yosa's talking about is the network will
reach out to us and say, hey, will you guys
voice an ad read for such and such company, And
if we say yes, we record it, we send it
to the network, and then our voiced ad gets placed
on other podcasts or on radio slots. Yes, and we
say no all the time, All the time, we say no.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Yes. Some are really cool, you know, like when we
got to do fab that was so fun. That was
so fun because obviously Fabuloso is an iconic brand that
is used in many Latin households, and that's part of
the I think what Michael Durra specifically tries to do
is find the like authenticity and some of the voice
reads right, like it wouldn't make sense for us to
(24:12):
do certain ad reads right because it wouldn't be authentic
to the show or who we are. And some of
it is not real lived experience, and some of it
is right. And so you know, she continues on in
this chapter and in this these couple of pages right
to even compare our current show bio at the time,
it was we are two ig friends breaking down pop culture, feminism,
(24:34):
sexual wellness. Fresh takes on trending events and interviews with
up and coming LATINX artists. She compares it too.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Long, by the way, Yeah, it's still too long, that
way too long. We have to cut it down.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
She compares it to our twenty seventeen bio, which is quote,
the exploration and celebration of the experiences, brilliance, creativities and
legacies of femmes and women of color. She says how
that ismitted in the new description, along with keywords like
brown girls, oppression and terms like sexual wellness instead of
(25:07):
the sexual trauma, mental health, and sexuality that we talked
about yeah before, which is still part of the conversations
that we have even post network. Yeah, but it's not
on our show description anymore.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Yeah, And it's like, honestly, the changes are there, but
they're like slight. I think the changes are kind of slight.
And the first the first show description was too long.
The current one is still too long, still too long,
very wordy. And you know, I think that what we've
also allowed ourselves every season is a little bit of
(25:43):
a facelift every season, and we give the listeners something
a little different as far as like our promo or
like the theme or the identity of the season. I
think that elasticity has been part of the show like forever.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
Yeah, and I think it's it's also really interesting because
there was no I think we didn't have a conversation
about like, oh, well, now that we're with the network,
we can't talk about sexual trauma and we can't include
that in our bio. So we're going to take all
of these things that are more quote radical and put
like more passive or palatable language. It was just let's
(26:20):
kind of change this just to reflect this new era
and allow ourselves to growth. There was nothing like insidious
or wanting to like leave our radical roots behind or
be less feminist. It was more like, hmm, okay, we've
kind of grown and we want to also like be
(26:42):
able to be on a network and attract a new audience.
Does that mean switching up some of the language just
to kind of reflect a freshness, not a less radical
version of ourselves. Because I will say, although there are
ads on the show, which I know some people are
not crazy about, I would say our content has gotten
(27:03):
better and we have been able to go more in
depth with our analysis, and that has allowed us to
still be like critical of the things that we were
back then. Yeah, and it's still it's still here.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
I also think it's so important to remember that we're
human being and you know, uh, I don't necessarily want
to talk about sexual trauma week after week for years. Yeah,
you know, back then, I was literally working at a
rape crisis center and I was screaming into the void.
I was in so much pain, I was so unwell,
(27:40):
And I think a lot of those early episodes have
that energy. But it's also not fair or realistic or
humane to expect a person to just carry that constantly forever. Eventually. Yeah,
that's a beautiful that's a beautiful shift to me, that
we're going from talking about sexual trauma to sexual wellness.
(28:02):
I love that arc. That's a great arc, you know,
And I think that it's something that I think our
listeners may be also, because so many of them have
been with us for such a long time. And I
like to think that our listeners are, you know, living
their own character arc that maybe when they started listening,
(28:22):
they were also in a particular place.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Yes, but just like we're.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
In a different place than we were when we started
almost ten years ago, I hope our listeners are in
a better place.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
You know, after there's just been a natural evolution with
the podcast and with our own experiences and allowing ourselves
to grow, and I think still maintaining, in my opinion,
like the ethos of the show while celebrating the legacies
and geniuses of women of color is not in the
bio anymore. That has definitely not gone away from the show.
(28:55):
Archiving the present and shifting the culture forward, you know.
I think that is still a part of the show,
and the guests that we have, I think are still
very much aligned with who we had back then, you know.
So I have no regrets about the way we have
operated and the way that we have produced the show,
(29:16):
because I really feel like the core is the same.
It's just evolved because we've evolved and we professionalized, And
I don't think that that's a bad thing.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
It's a very good thing, you know. And I think
one of the pieces of critique too, are about like
I think we were way more of verbally and branding wise,
more anti capitalists in like our outward promotion for the show,
which is like, okay, this is funny, right, we were
our branding was more anti capitalist. Yeah, when we're talking
(29:47):
about things like the tagline and the show description and
the Instagram bio, those are all pieces of promotional materials. Yeah, this,
I think we also want to complicate within her analysis, right,
it's promo, right, And so if you're promoting your show
as being anti capitalist, I mean what does all that mean?
You know? So once we sign with the network and
(30:08):
now we're getting a production budget and part of our
signing in our contract, we understand that we will have
on air ads from Walgreens and Coca Cola and State
Farm us reading and being realistic, does it make sense
for us? Yeah, to publicly promote our show as an
anti capitalist show when before you even hear our voices,
(30:30):
you're gonna hear a State Farm ad. Like, it just
doesn't calculate, It doesn't make sense.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
Well, that's when it's not authentic and phony.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
We gotta change it.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
Yeah, I know. And I think that this is really
like the beauty of the feed, of the podcast feed
is that all of that like content is there still
and so it's not like we've erased it or we've
changed our mind about it, or we don't feel that
way anymore. It's still there. And I think that we
don't have to say the these you know, values, in every
(31:03):
single episode because we've already said it. Yeah, we've already
said it a million times over two hundred episodes, and
so I don't feel the need to reiterate every single
ideology and value that I have in every single episode
because I think if you've been here long enough, you know.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Yeah, and we once had a listener email us upset
about and listen. None of us love on our ads.
I don't love on air ads. I mean I love
the ones on our show because it allows us to
pay our team, which I think is another important piece
is we can pay our team, which is not something
that we couldn't have a team before because we didn't
(31:40):
have any money to pay them, right, And so the
network allows for us to pay our team who are Latinas,
And I think that's really important to remind ourselves, you know.
But you know, we're not like we don't love listening
to a show and hearing on our ads. You know,
it's not like our favorite thing. But it just comes
(32:01):
with the territory and in the history of radio, I mean,
the reason radio exists so that they can also run
ad space, yes, you know, and the most radical of
radio shows unless you're running your own pirate radio from
your house. I mean, if you're on AMFM, they're going
to be ads. It becomes this question of being anti
(32:23):
capitalist in a capitalist society and how And so we
did get an email once from a listener who didn't
like the ads and basically at the end of their
email said, like, I suggest you guys go about finding
funding in a more grassroots way. Okay, So what you
want us to do is to fund raise on the
(32:44):
internet every month to make ends meet. You want us
to beg people for money on the internet every month,
and that's going to make you happy. And like, now
our politics are aligned. Yes, we can't do it. I
won't do it. I won't do it. I won't do
it. It's not sustained, it's not sustainable.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
And we have fundraised in the past. We've we've tried
that model and we did it and it worked for
what we needed to do. But it wasn't too fundraise
for a whole production budget and for a team, right.
It was actually to start the fucking LLC, now that
I remember, Yes, it was for the LLC because we
had no money. But people were telling us, you have
(33:23):
to form an LLC. And that's why we fucking fundraised
I'm remembering now.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Help me, Lord, Yes, it's a lot. So anyways, this
is our complaining portion. We're complaining.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Yeah, I'm sorry, I lost it for a second because
I just remembered that's why we were fundraising, which no,
I mean, I love like. It was such a I
think a very interesting practice for us to raise funds
like this is something that nonprofits do, that grassroots organizations do,
(33:55):
that media companies do. It is not uncommon to ask
for fundraising dollar like, to be clear, but it was
our first time doing it, and I don't think it's
sustainable for us to do it every single year, because
that's not the model that we're operating under.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
Would you, as listeners, prefer that we ask you for
money every month? Or would you prefer that we ask
our network for money?
Speaker 1 (34:18):
Like?
Speaker 2 (34:19):
Honestly, which one would y'all prefer? Because I know which
one I prefer. I prefer to ask the multinational conglomerate. Yes,
that's I would prefer to ask them. Not because I
don't value your politics as listeners, I do, but I
think that your money should be for you, yeah, and
for the fun things you want to do when you're
(34:40):
not working, and after you're done paying all of your
bills under capitalism, I don't think you should also pay
my bills.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
Yeah, And that's like, I think one of kind of
where we have been at this like cross roads for
years now, where you know, we want to put our
stuff online and then we get these like quote influencer contracts,
but then we're selling something to you, and that doesn't
necessarily feel like aligned with who we are and what
(35:08):
we do. You know, we're podcasters. We want to give
you analysis and interviews and some fun and some politics
from time to time, right, But I think like that
has kind of been really challenging for us, where everyone
is like you have to show up online more. We
get that advice all the time, but it's it's still
feeding this algorithm and that complicates my fucking ethics and
(35:30):
politics actually, and so that is kind of where I'm
at in this journey. But I think just bringing it
back to all of this, you know, like we take
the critique and the criticism and we hold it and
we discuss it.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
Oh, we hold it all right, I'm holding it right here.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
We discuss it and we you know, we we apply
what needs to be applied. You know, and some things
cannot be applied, you know. I will say though, like
it's it's definitely vulnerable to have your at this point, right, like,
this is our life's work thus far. Yeah, you know,
to be critiqued. But if I'm putting my scholarly hat on,
I like, I see it and I'm like, I agree
(36:09):
with you, actually. But if I'm taking that hat off
and putting on my artist, producer, podcast or hat, I'm like, yeah,
but this is what makes it sustainable. And that is
a really really hard thing to navigate as a working
artist and as a working producer, especially living in Los Angeles,
(36:30):
to try to negotiate all of these different things, you know.
And so I definitely hold both as the scholar and
the artist. But I'm like, they're not they can't meet,
and it's one of those both can be true for me.
I'm like, I agree with you, actually, but also in
order to live and create, this is part of the journey.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
Yeah, it's part of the journey. But we have to
remember it's the entertainment industry. It's both. Yeah, it's an industry,
you know, and it's work. It's labor. It might be fun,
it's like it's like, okay, to draw comparison, you know
(37:12):
how like runners love to be like, my sport is
your sports punishment. Yes, our job is your entertainment. It's
the thing you do when you're not working, right, It's
the thing you do when you are putting your laundry away,
or when you're on a drive, or when you're on
a walk. So maybe it doesn't feel like work because
(37:34):
it's your downtime, right, but it's our job. And jobs
deserve compensation.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
Yes, right, they do deserve compensation.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
Labor deserves compensation, and so I think that's really important
when we consider, like why is this artist charging so
much for their art for their work? Well, because that's
the compensation. That's their job.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
Yeah, I mean, let's just let's just talk about it
from like a labor perspective, right, let's get into it.
Let's go there. So one episode that's thirty minutes probably
took ten hours to make, and that's on the lower
the lower side. Our producers here, and she can tell
you like, no, you're probably wrong. She'll probably say fifteen, right,
But we're not just talking about the editing, right, It's
(38:19):
like from idea to research to writing to recording, not
even considering like the prep, right, the additional prep driving
to the studio, like the materials, right, that it takes
in by materials, I mean my fucking makeup that is expensive,
you know, and being on camera and what that means, right,
(38:41):
my clothes, having to put a look together, right, That
is all a part of the practice and the labor.
It might seem glamorous, but it's not.
Speaker 2 (38:50):
It's not.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
And then it's work. And then we turn around the
audio to Stephanie, our lovely producer, and then she'll spend
four hours maybe editing, right because it's an our maybe episode,
and she'll trim it down to forty minutes to maybe
thirty minutes. We do our best to stay in like
the confines, and then we still have to put it
(39:13):
up on the distribution platforms, and then we still have
to market it. So actually it's more than ten hours.
But if we're just talking about the labor of making
one episode that's thirty five minutes, it's ten hours.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
And you don't tune in to listen to us because
we're boring. You don't, and you don't tune in because
we don't have opinions or we have nothing to say, right,
like you also tune in because we're bringing personality, we're
bringing life experience, we're bringing like perspective and POV like
and all of our trauma and all of our trauma
(39:43):
and so all of it. You know, we also have
to go out and like live lives so we have
something to come back and talk to you about. Yes,
it's all part of like we're out and about we're living,
we're traveling, we're having experiences, and then we so often
we text each other we need to talk about this
on an episode, and that kicks off the creative process. Yeah, definitely,
(40:06):
you know, so I also wanted to be known that
all of these things that we're saying to you, we
said in an email to Esther. Oh yeah, we wrote
all of this to her after we wrote her after
we read her pages and the critique of the network,
because we didn't have a chance to sit down for
an interview with her about it. So we felt like
we had to explain ourselves or like give some backstory
(40:29):
as to the choice to make the move into the
network and what it entailed for us.
Speaker 1 (40:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
Yeah, I think this is really the first time we've
complained all season.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
Yeah, I think we've been pretty measured all season.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
Actually so good. We've been so good all season.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
You want to know why, Because LA has been on fire,
literally community under attack. We have not had like the
bandwidth and I think airtime to like talk about ourselves. Yeah,
which is fine, okay, but I think that's why we're
all so like overdue, because we're like, oh, we have
a lot to say today.
Speaker 2 (41:02):
We've been holding this in for some time because you
need to know that, like we read these pages a
lot year ago. Yeah, so we've been stewing. Actually we've
been stewing on this for an entire year.
Speaker 1 (41:15):
Yeah, yeah, you know. And this is like no shade
or hate to esther. She you know, hired us to
present to her class because she streamed like look that's
anonymous during the pandemic, you know. And so I do
want to also mention that, like we're just responding to
(41:36):
the critique that we were not able to respond to
in real time, you know, because there was no interview process.
Her research period was over, and so that is also
like why we feel like we want to talk about it.
And also it's part of the archive.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
Yeah, because it's in a book. It's in a book.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
It's in a book, you know.
Speaker 2 (41:54):
Yeah, we have to set the record straight, Honey.
Speaker 1 (41:58):
We must give our nuanced perspective as to what the
network deal meant.
Speaker 2 (42:02):
That's all. Yeah, But if you want, we could just
give up the contract. I don't want, you know, if
that'll make everybody happier.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
It'll make nobody happier, especially yes, And you know what exactly,
And that's exactly what irks me about this whole thing.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
If we had not joined the network, would it have
improved everyone's lives? Like, would everybody be happier? No?
Speaker 1 (42:25):
I would probably be sad. I'd probably be quite sad
because eventually the project would have had to fizzle because
it would have had to because there would have been
no financial backing, no sustainability. Like eventually we would have
probably had to go get real jobs at some and
real not that this is not real, but by real,
I mean a nine to five, Like we would have
had to go back back in to nine to five.
(42:47):
I would have probably gotten a degree in public health.
Speaker 2 (42:51):
We were talking about that. Yeah, then it's because of
the pandemic. Yeah, so we're like, maybe we need to
go into public I need to.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
Go work in comms in public health.
Speaker 2 (42:58):
Because what yeah, and you know those things, I feel
like because of what we've built, like that type of
work can figure in somehow. Oh yeah, right, but because
of what we've built for ourselves, Like this is not
the ceiling. There's more, more is coming, more is on
(43:20):
the horizon. Like there's always something that we're doing backstage, always, always,
always there's something else in progress that's important too, you know.
I just yeah, I'm glad, I'm glad we signed. I'm
glad we did it. I want us to stay.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
Yes, I also would like to stay because it is
it's a tough industry, and the industry feels so precarious.
We've talked about this in like previous episodes, you know
where indie shows don't always get their flowers, they don't
get investment. Now we're in the era of AI hosted
podcast Like studios get bought and then are disbanded. Like
(44:02):
there's so many ways that these The industry is disheartening
and can break your fucking heart. And I think like,
for as long as we can do this and sustain it,
like that's as long as I want to do it.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
It's I mean, I wake up in the morning, I'm
like I go to school, I come to the studio,
we have our events, we do our work, and I
think to myself, like, what a gorgeous life like to
be able to create art intel stories. And we live
in southern California, and you know, is there always more
money that could be made, Sure? Is there more work
(44:35):
that can be done, Sure, But we're laying the foundation
for all of those things to come to us, and
we have been for such a long time. And I
just feel very like privileged to be able to live
the life that we live. Absolutely, it's great, it's cool.
Speaker 1 (44:49):
Yeah, yeah, I mean I'm often fighting for my life,
but you know, like this is it's still something that
I would in trade. You know, I think this year
has been so childchallenging, like the entrepreneurship side of this business,
right because we're always do a business. But you know,
I still wouldn't trade it for anything else. And I
(45:11):
second what you say, like I feel super privileged that
I get to do this and to be fully transparent,
like I'm also able to do this because I got married,
you know, and I don't think that that's something that
is talked about enough, like being a working artist, like
and having a spouse that has a full time job
with a good salary and healthcare like that is also
(45:36):
makes this sustainable. You know, we don't have to pay
for my health insurance. We can pay for malas you know,
you know what I mean. Like that is all part
of like how we make this sustainable for ourselves. We
have like found ways to make it work, and you know,
it's it's not without its challenges, but it is definitely,
you know, something that we're really privileged and happy to
(45:56):
do and want to continue doing and will continue.
Speaker 2 (45:58):
Doing and will continue doing. So. Yeah, we just want
to thank all the haters for motivating us and for
keeping us energized and pushing forward. We couldn't do it
without you.
Speaker 1 (46:10):
I want to thank all our listeners for rocking with us,
not our haters. Sometimes there's an overlap though, but.
Speaker 2 (46:16):
There is sometimes an overlap.
Speaker 1 (46:18):
In particular, I want to thank our listeners who have
rocked with us for so long and who are also
going to vote for us in the Signal Awards. So
don't forget.
Speaker 2 (46:26):
Don't forget.
Speaker 1 (46:27):
You can vote for us, vote dot Signal Awards dot com,
vote for Loka and Senora Sexed our other baby, which
we love so so much and is still active. You
can still listen to those episodes thirty episodes of sex, Sexuality, Relationships,
learning from incredible, incredible Latinos of all ages. So if
(46:49):
you haven't listened to Senora Sex Said, please do after
you vote for us and we'll catch you next time.
Besos look At Radio is executive produced by ViOS FM
and Mala.
Speaker 2 (47:00):
Stephanie Franco is our producer.
Speaker 1 (47:03):
Story editing by Me diosa.
Speaker 2 (47:05):
Creative direction by Me Mala.
Speaker 1 (47:07):
Look At Radio is a part of iHeartRadio's Michael Dura
podcast Network.
Speaker 2 (47:11):
You can listen to lok at Radio on the iHeartRadio
app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (47:16):
Leave us a review and share with your prima or
share with your homegirl.
Speaker 2 (47:19):
And thank you to our local morees, to our listeners
for tuning in each and every week.
Speaker 1 (47:24):
Besitos Loca Luni
I'm scared.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Don't be scared. Don't be scared. We can't be scared.
They smell fear.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
I'm deathly afraid of the listeners.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
They can smell fear, they will pounds.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
This is why I don't post anything.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
No blood in the water, honey, nondy.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Oh lao La Loka motes, I'm Theosa and I'm Mala.
Before we get into today's episode, we want to share
some really exciting news. We are finalists for the Signal Awards.
The Signal Awards is mission focused on uplifting the podcast
medium by recognizing the most potent, meaningful, and unprecedented audio
(00:40):
projects being made today, and both Loka Tora Radio and
Senora Sexad are finalists and in addition, qualify for the
Listener's Choice Award. That's why we need your help. You
can vote for us by heading to vote dot Signal
Awards dot com or check the show notes.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Vote for us, vote for us. We must win. We
have to win. We've been nominated. We were nominated for
a Thekla Award a few years.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Ago, twenty nineteen.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
You know, and even just to be nominated is an honor,
of course. Thank you. Signal Awards but we want to win,
So please send the links and the info to everyone
you know, friends, family, enemies, neighbors. It doesn't matter. Every
vote counts. We want to be able to say. I mean,
we can already say that we're award winning podcasters.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Yes, we are award winning podcaster.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
But we want to keep adding to the list.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Yeah. I mean, honestly, as an audio nerd audio journalist,
the Signal Awards for me is a really big deal.
And I would be so fucking the rilled, elated, psyched
if we could win not only not only placed by
the judges Bronze Silver, Gold category, but also win a
Listener's Choice award.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yes, and we know we have.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
An incredible group community of listeners, and we know, oh
that y'all can do it, and that y'all can can
vote for us. Now, voting is super easy. You just
have to visit vote dot Signal Award dot com, create
an account and vote for Loka Radio in the Arts
and Culture category and Senora sex Said in the Conversation
(02:17):
Starter category. Make sure you also confirm your account and
voting closes October ninth.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
If you're not going to vote in the presidential election,
it's Okay, just vote in this election. This is the
more important election.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Actually, actually no, I don't quote that. I do not
support this message, but do vote for us.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
If you're only going to vote once in your life,
vote for Locata Radio and Senora Sex said for a
Signal award. We are changing culture, we're changing hearts, we're
changing minds. Make an impact. Vote for us today, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
I do support that message. Can't stand dear, but I
love you. This is the duality. It's the duality of
us and who we are. And we're artists and we're
sensitive about our shit.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
We're very sensitive about our ship, which.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Is why we one want you to vote for us too.
Want to talk about what it's like to be critiqued
in real time.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Yeah, we want to complain today, honestly, Well, I want
to throw a fit and complain.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
I want to do some some analysis.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
So we're going to have both. We're going to complain
and we're going to have analysis. We're going to feed
you and both ends of your spectrum.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Yes we are so you know, we're artists and we're
sensitive about our shit, but even we're up for critique,
and that is kind of what we've been like muddeling
over the last couple of weeks and really the last
couple of months, once we saw that this book was
coming into print and was going to make its circuit
(03:47):
and we got to read it before it came out,
and we're like, oh, there's lots to say.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah, and I hope you guys caught that a book
that came out, because honey, we're not just in listicals
and online articles and Instagram posts and TikTok roundups. We
are not only in print in the newspaper. We are
in books dear written about, in books before that, dissertations,
(04:14):
and it's a whole journey, it's a whole story, and
we're grateful for anybody and everybody who has ever written
about us. I mean, don't get me wrong, I would
much rather they write about us than leave us out.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Absolutely absolutely. And I think this is the first time
where we are reading something with a very critical lens
about something that we were really excited about, which is
I think complicates it and lends itself to a lot
of nuance and a lot of discussion, which is what
we want to have here today. And something that you
mentioned my live is like everyone says, I don't read
(04:46):
the comments.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Yes, that's always what online creatives say. Don't read the comments.
Whether you're a recording artist, a podcaster, whether you have
a fashion house, you know, if you're selling a product,
if you put your face on camera, your voice on camera,
if you're sharing your life or your opinions, especially in
the digital space, they always say, don't read the comments,
(05:08):
like for your own mental health and well being, for
your own sense of self, just don't do it.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
But in this case, we were included in a book, right,
we're part of a chapter, and well, that's definitely something
that we want to read and we're going to talk
about that.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Yeah, we are. We're going to talk about that. And
we want to preface this by saying again like we
will hear from our listeners. Oh my god, look at
what our radio was on my syllabus for my class
at my university. You guys are required reading or oh
my god, I wrote about you in a paper. Can
I interview you for a paper? And that's where we
(05:44):
first were introduced to Esther and to the research that
she was doing in this space.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Esther Diaz Martin was doing her research back in twenty eighteen,
which was about two years after we started, and we
met her actually at Podcastadio Fest and she mentioned that
she was writing about Latinas and podcasting. She reached out
about doing an interview with us so she could include
it in her fieldwork and her research. Unfortunately, we weren't
(06:10):
actually ever able to sit down with her. We did
exchange a couple of emails, and now years later, you know,
there's a book as a result of her research and
her work that she's been doing in Latina media studies
and China studies, and the name of the book is
called Radiophonic Feminisms Latina Voices in the Digital Age of Broadcasting.
(06:32):
And she does credit us as the creators of the
word radiophonic and that our Radiophonic Novela inspired the title of.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Her book, which is called Radiophonic Feminisms. And you know,
when Esther, I think first started doing her research into
us as a project and listening to our show, we
were still very much indie. But by the time the
book came out, we were already into our network era
podcasting with iHeartRadio's Michael with a podcast network. So it
(07:01):
was really interesting because you know, we know throughout like
our podcasting career, that it is impossible to make everybody happy.
You just can't do it. Like what sometimes what we
think is like really fun and cool and exciting is
disappointing to a listener or a group of listeners. We're
not the only ones, I think, when like an indie
(07:22):
Latina brand gets a real big deal with like a
mainstream corporate outlet, that's going to draw criticism. Yeah, you know,
especially because our community and our listeners have a very
very strong sensibility when it comes to grassroots community level,
like progressive anti capitalist work.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
We have as a community are specific community a very
strong sense of justice, yes, and when we feel that
someone is maybe stepping out or not aligned with that
sense of justice, we feel, I think, walk the plank
personally attacked or you know, betrayed, and all those feelings
(08:05):
are valid, right, And I think what our argument here
is like we got to allow the nuance and for
all of it to be true at the same time,
you know, at.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
The same time. So along these lines, we joined the network.
We are so excited because please understand, like, oh now
we can pay our bills yea with our work in
podcasting because we have network support. We are not the
highest paid podcasters by any means, correct, I mean on
(08:36):
that spectrum. I'm not even going to tell you where
we are on that spectrum, but you know, we're making
it episode by episode, and it's been wonderful. But I
think that that win for us and for so many
of the listeners is something that was actually a point
of disappointment for others, including esther, including the author of
(08:58):
the Radiophonic feminist book, because she had like some and
I think like not misplaced her invalid criticism, but we
felt in reading her pages and the way that the
analysis of the indie show went from so like affirmative
to them in the network era being so not affirmative, right, Like,
(09:21):
she's disappointed in us basically for joining the network, and
so obviously we had feelings about that.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Yeah, I mean, there's some valid critique that will definitely
want to I definitely want to read a couple of
the pages or a couple of the paragraphs so that
y'all can get some of the context. But in general,
you know, what I really enjoyed about reading this book
is she starts with, like, what Latina feminism looks like
and sounds like in popular culture and she listens and
(09:47):
studies radio hosts like Alicia Laron, Marlene Kinto, and three
West Coast based podcasts which we know and have actually
collabed with, like SUPI Mamas and she Gotta Mother Work
and us So of the sixty something podcast that she
was considering to include in her dissertation. She narrowed it
(10:08):
down to those three, so that alone, I feel is
super impactful and I'm like really proud that in some
ways we made the cut and that she saw that
our work was worth in some ways to be included
in this like Latina feminism soundscape, which I think is
really what we were going for back then and continue
(10:30):
to do now, but just in a more refined way.
But for her, it had these implications of change, you know.
And in addition to the groundwork that she lays out
for the book, she talks about for me super nerdy
and interesting like the history of US LATINX radio and
(10:51):
how both Mexican and US governments created and invested in
radio telegraphy technology during different wars, and you know, thinking
about how radio has been such a tool for our
community and then learning about how it dates back to
like the early nineteen hundreds I think is really fascinating.
(11:11):
And then of course we get into the chapter that
we're included in, you know, which she she titles chapter
four Mama Mothers and Mommy's Gonvivencia and Latina Podcasting.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
And we're the mommies.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
We're the mommies obviously not the mothers.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
No, still not, still still still not.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
We're still not the mothers now that remains true.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
We're still the mommies of myth and bullshit, as you know,
as you know, if you've been listening, if you've been
tuning in, and here's the deal is, I would have
been upset. We would have been upset had we not
been included. Oh yeah, happy to be included, thank you.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
But I think like this is one of the things
about which folks may not know. But when you're writing
a dissertation, you have allotted time to do research.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Right.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
And then this obviously went into print and the dissertation
was published, right, I'm sure that edits were made, but
her window to do more interviews, I'm assuming closed, And
I think for us we would have loved to be
able to talk to her about the network era and
what it meant to join. But you know, in her chapter,
(12:18):
she does talk about how she analyzes the first thirty
two episodes of Look at Ora Radio, which I think
is incredible and also ooh, those first thirty two were incredible,
But she does talk about like how it was the
audio quality was not the best, which we know, we
always knew, and but she also you know, attributes that
(12:39):
to like there being like resquachismo behind it, the fem
sound of it all, and even the way we engage
with each other, even sometimes like our little valley girl accents,
you know, and all of that. She includes that in
like this Latina sound.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Which we've always celebrated that about ourselves, and it's always
been a big part of the show, yeah, always, always,
So I think that she really gave us that positive
feedback in our very early days, like self taught self
starters in the community radio station at Aspasio eighteen thirty
(13:16):
nine with no soundproofing, you know, and like doing everything
just yeah, ourselves. And I think that I really appreciate
that from her, that she really saw us in our beginnings.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I just want to read something
from one of one of the pages, you know, where
she talks about us as mommies of myth and bullshit.
Mala Anddiosa speak to being in the world as self
defined and in playful opposition to the arbitrary narratives and
myths of heteronormative sexism. Certain words they reference in their
mission blurb femmes, feminists, and women of color, reflect their
(13:53):
understanding of gender as socially constructed and fluid. Yes, yeah,
we did do that.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Absolutely, that's all true. Yes, yes, accurate.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Don't go anywhere, locomotives.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
We'll be right back, and we're back with more of
our episode. Yeah, we're doing all this cool indie stuff.
Look at our radio with no money, no please, no money,
multiple jobs, multiple jobs. I mean we were like we
were running ourselves ragged. I need this to be understood. Yes,
(14:26):
we were running ourselves into the ground, working our day
jobs and then living this second life.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Taking We've talked about this before, but just for the record,
so it's on the same episode, right, like using our
sick days, using our vacation days to go work, to
go to travel, to do gigs at universities, to work
on projects. You know, like when we did the Spotify campaign,
we were still indie and I still had my day job,
(14:55):
you know, and like having to take the day off
of work, you know, so using like all of our
resources that we had to then make the podcast and
everything else. They came with it absolutely.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
And as the podcast is growing, because our listeners are
increasing in number and the we're getting hired at a
higher rate to fly out and do a university talk
or to like host a panel, or to host an
event or come to Tropicalia Fest, you know, whatever it was.
(15:29):
We were splitting the time between like full time job,
paying bills and feeding this creative project that was just growing, growing, growing, growing,
and at some point, like something's got to give.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Yeah, I think you know, we had this really we
had this very honest conversation with each other where we decided, like, Okay,
if we can't get an investment in this project, if
we can't place this somewhere, We're not saying it's going
to go way, but we're gonna have to eventually give
it less time and kind of not move on from it.
(16:06):
But it cannot take up all of this time in
our lives because we really were running ourselves ragged ragged, like.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Yeah, we live in LA Like, bills have to get paid, Yeah,
the cost of living is high, like we have to work.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
I did not realize that I had been living for
maybe four years maybe that's a little too long, maybe
three years, like incredibly incredibly like adrenaline high, that when
I graduated grad school no longer had a day job,
only had this crashed intensely because all of the structure
(16:43):
from my life was gone because I was so overworked
and overbooked that I really had no time to let
anything fall. And so it wasn't until all of that
and oh we only had this, which was such a
beautiful thing that I like crashed and burnt own out
and like could knock get out of bed for days.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
And so that is like where we were operating from.
We were operating from this like high stress, also really fun,
but you know, like we had something had to give
at some point.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
At some point. And so when the opportunity came knocking,
and by the way the network reached out to us,
we were not I mean, we were invited to pitch
at networks and then we're able to do podcasting work
at other places or at least pitch like a new
project at other places, and then eventually the Micael through
(17:37):
our podcast network reached out to us and invited us
to join. So it wasn't we we've never really been
good about knocking on doors.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
We really need to do more of it. We do.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Yeah, we've never been good about really self promoting, about
pitching ourselves, about asking to get signed or hired. That
was not the path, like and I don't say it's
in like a braggy way, but just literally they reached
out to us about joining the network.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Absolutely. I mean, I think that is its own skill.
You know that people like when you're in school or
you're in even in your own job, right, they talk
about networking and especially in this industry, the importance of
going to events to pitching yourself, and that was just
never something that we were good at because I don't know,
like this is all this at the time was all
brand new to us. Yes, yeah, we didn't know how
(18:30):
to pitch ourselves.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
But we were visible because we were out and about.
Yes we were.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
And so this idea of like pitching ourselves or pitching
the show. You know, we didn't have an LLC until
twenty twenty one, and we were forced entercomeas because we
were trying to get hired to do something and they
told us, actually, we can't pay you as independent contractors,
which is how we had been operating, and so it
(18:55):
forced us in a positive way to formalize as a business.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
Yeah. Like, people literally had like conversations with us about
you must create your formal container or you're never gonna grow.
And people are trying to hire you and pay you
like literally, people older and wiser and more experience than us.
We're like, you guys need to do this at a
bigger scale. Ye, get your LLC.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
And it costs money.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
It costs money.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
And so with all of that in mind, when we
read this critique, which is valid in so many ways
it is it is of course we're going to have
feelings about it.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Yeah, we need you guys to know the economic backstory here,
because there is one. And it's one of those things
where we again, we weren't knocking on iHeartRadio's door asking
them to let us in.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Now I am, I'm saying please renew us for season A.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Well, now things are different because we're now we're in
the house and we don't want them to kick us out.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Don't go anywhere, lookomotives, we'll.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Be right back, and we're back with more of our episode.
But you know, iHeart and Michael Duda came to us
and the LLC really was like, you guys need to
do this, And it happened the way it was supposed
to happen. And it's one of those situations where like
(20:17):
greatness is knocking on your door, like are you going
to answer the door? Are you going to answer the call?
Are you going to show up? Are you going to
leave the comfort of your bubble and of your nest.
And so we decided like, yes, we're going to do this.
We're going to accept this offer after months of negotiations.
(20:37):
We are going to enter into this network era. We're
gonna quit our jobs. We're not going to be Indie anymore,
at least not all the way Indie, and we're going
to take this thing to the next level. And that
brings us to.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Yeah. So the critique, so she writes, I will now
skip forward to discuss an evolution in their production process
that seemingly COMPLI it's their feminist praxis. Already I feel attacked,
already already question my feminism. Nobody, no, like, in all seriousness,
I think that this has been something that we have
talked about and we've even received a couple of emails
(21:13):
about what I'm about to read, you know, she she
writes about the work that we've done the Spotify, Hispanic
Herritage month, Billboard, launching other podcasts, partnering with HBO Max,
and like all the incredible partnerships that I think that
we feel really proud of.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Right, we were excited for every single thing, every single thing.
You know. Oh, we get to review the Conjuring and
then talk about it on the show, like that's so cool. Yeah,
there's a stand up comedy premiere coming out, and we
get to like conduct the Q and A at the
launch party at.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
The Iconic Conga Room, which ceases does no longer exist
by the way they closed?
Speaker 2 (21:52):
How could we have said no? So, you know, it's
like every every one of these things that came our
way we were very excited about.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Yeah, So here's where the critique really begins. In twenty
twenty two, Loka Dota Radios signed a multi year contract
with Michael Dura Podcast Network, an affiliate of iHeartRadio and
a pre eminent distributor of radio programs and podcasts across
the Americas. MCPN Michael Doda podcast network is backed by
the advertising dollars of multinational corporations. She then names them.
(22:23):
In twenty twenty three, Michael Doda Podcast Network hosted thirty
seven LATINX theme podcast. The implication of this partnership of
lokat Doa Radio with the network, along with the endorsements
from corporations with problematic, racist, and exploitative legacies, or at
the very least for profit capitalist enterprises, stands at odds
(22:46):
with Loka Dora Radio's anti capitalist ethos as well as
their sound identity. She's not rong, she's not wrong, She's
not wrong. I do want to add that we have
not voiced for some of the companies that she is
mentioning no, because we do get a say in that,
and I think that has been really important to us
that we get to say no to things that we
(23:08):
don't want to voice, like a Starbucks ad yeah, because
there's been an active boycott. And then there's others where
like you have to give a little bit, you know,
because we're still.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
With the network, we're under contract.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
And so we have like found these moments right where
we're like no, and then yes, we have to say
yes to some things.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yeah, and what Yosa's talking about is the network will
reach out to us and say, hey, will you guys
voice an ad read for such and such company, And
if we say yes, we record it, we send it
to the network, and then our voiced ad gets placed
on other podcasts or on radio slots. Yes, and we
say no all the time, All the time, we say no.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Yes. Some are really cool, you know, like when we
got to do fab that was so fun. That was
so fun because obviously Fabuloso is an iconic brand that
is used in many Latin households, and that's part of
the I think what Michael Durra specifically tries to do
is find the like authenticity and some of the voice
reads right, like it wouldn't make sense for us to
(24:12):
do certain ad reads right because it wouldn't be authentic
to the show or who we are. And some of
it is not real lived experience, and some of it
is right. And so you know, she continues on in
this chapter and in this these couple of pages right
to even compare our current show bio at the time,
it was we are two ig friends breaking down pop culture, feminism,
(24:34):
sexual wellness. Fresh takes on trending events and interviews with
up and coming LATINX artists. She compares it too.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Long, by the way, Yeah, it's still too long, that
way too long. We have to cut it down.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
She compares it to our twenty seventeen bio, which is quote,
the exploration and celebration of the experiences, brilliance, creativities and
legacies of femmes and women of color. She says how
that ismitted in the new description, along with keywords like
brown girls, oppression and terms like sexual wellness instead of
(25:07):
the sexual trauma, mental health, and sexuality that we talked
about yeah before, which is still part of the conversations
that we have even post network. Yeah, but it's not
on our show description anymore.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Yeah, And it's like, honestly, the changes are there, but
they're like slight. I think the changes are kind of slight.
And the first the first show description was too long.
The current one is still too long, still too long,
very wordy. And you know, I think that what we've
also allowed ourselves every season is a little bit of
(25:43):
a facelift every season, and we give the listeners something
a little different as far as like our promo or
like the theme or the identity of the season. I
think that elasticity has been part of the show like forever.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
Yeah, and I think it's it's also really interesting because
there was no I think we didn't have a conversation
about like, oh, well, now that we're with the network,
we can't talk about sexual trauma and we can't include
that in our bio. So we're going to take all
of these things that are more quote radical and put
like more passive or palatable language. It was just let's
(26:20):
kind of change this just to reflect this new era
and allow ourselves to growth. There was nothing like insidious
or wanting to like leave our radical roots behind or
be less feminist. It was more like, hmm, okay, we've
kind of grown and we want to also like be
(26:42):
able to be on a network and attract a new audience.
Does that mean switching up some of the language just
to kind of reflect a freshness, not a less radical
version of ourselves. Because I will say, although there are
ads on the show, which I know some people are
not crazy about, I would say our content has gotten
(27:03):
better and we have been able to go more in
depth with our analysis, and that has allowed us to
still be like critical of the things that we were
back then. Yeah, and it's still it's still here.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
I also think it's so important to remember that we're
human being and you know, uh, I don't necessarily want
to talk about sexual trauma week after week for years. Yeah,
you know, back then, I was literally working at a
rape crisis center and I was screaming into the void.
I was in so much pain, I was so unwell,
(27:40):
And I think a lot of those early episodes have
that energy. But it's also not fair or realistic or
humane to expect a person to just carry that constantly forever. Eventually. Yeah,
that's a beautiful that's a beautiful shift to me, that
we're going from talking about sexual trauma to sexual wellness.
(28:02):
I love that arc. That's a great arc, you know,
And I think that it's something that I think our
listeners may be also, because so many of them have
been with us for such a long time. And I
like to think that our listeners are, you know, living
their own character arc that maybe when they started listening,
(28:22):
they were also in a particular place.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Yes, but just like we're.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
In a different place than we were when we started
almost ten years ago, I hope our listeners are in
a better place.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
You know, after there's just been a natural evolution with
the podcast and with our own experiences and allowing ourselves
to grow, and I think still maintaining, in my opinion,
like the ethos of the show while celebrating the legacies
and geniuses of women of color is not in the
bio anymore. That has definitely not gone away from the show.
(28:55):
Archiving the present and shifting the culture forward, you know.
I think that is still a part of the show,
and the guests that we have, I think are still
very much aligned with who we had back then, you know.
So I have no regrets about the way we have
operated and the way that we have produced the show,
(29:16):
because I really feel like the core is the same.
It's just evolved because we've evolved and we professionalized, And
I don't think that that's a bad thing.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
It's a very good thing, you know. And I think
one of the pieces of critique too, are about like
I think we were way more of verbally and branding wise,
more anti capitalists in like our outward promotion for the show,
which is like, okay, this is funny, right, we were
our branding was more anti capitalist. Yeah, when we're talking
(29:47):
about things like the tagline and the show description and
the Instagram bio, those are all pieces of promotional materials. Yeah, this,
I think we also want to complicate within her analysis, right,
it's promo, right, And so if you're promoting your show
as being anti capitalist, I mean what does all that mean?
You know? So once we sign with the network and
(30:08):
now we're getting a production budget and part of our
signing in our contract, we understand that we will have
on air ads from Walgreens and Coca Cola and State
Farm us reading and being realistic, does it make sense
for us? Yeah, to publicly promote our show as an
anti capitalist show when before you even hear our voices,
(30:30):
you're gonna hear a State Farm ad. Like, it just
doesn't calculate, It doesn't make sense.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
Well, that's when it's not authentic and phony.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
We gotta change it.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
Yeah, I know. And I think that this is really
like the beauty of the feed, of the podcast feed
is that all of that like content is there still
and so it's not like we've erased it or we've
changed our mind about it, or we don't feel that
way anymore. It's still there. And I think that we
don't have to say the these you know, values, in every
(31:03):
single episode because we've already said it. Yeah, we've already
said it a million times over two hundred episodes, and
so I don't feel the need to reiterate every single
ideology and value that I have in every single episode
because I think if you've been here long enough, you know.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Yeah, and we once had a listener email us upset
about and listen. None of us love on our ads.
I don't love on air ads. I mean I love
the ones on our show because it allows us to
pay our team, which I think is another important piece
is we can pay our team, which is not something
that we couldn't have a team before because we didn't
(31:40):
have any money to pay them, right, And so the
network allows for us to pay our team who are Latinas,
And I think that's really important to remind ourselves, you know.
But you know, we're not like we don't love listening
to a show and hearing on our ads. You know,
it's not like our favorite thing. But it just comes
(32:01):
with the territory and in the history of radio, I mean,
the reason radio exists so that they can also run
ad space, yes, you know, and the most radical of
radio shows unless you're running your own pirate radio from
your house. I mean, if you're on AMFM, they're going
to be ads. It becomes this question of being anti
(32:23):
capitalist in a capitalist society and how And so we
did get an email once from a listener who didn't
like the ads and basically at the end of their
email said, like, I suggest you guys go about finding
funding in a more grassroots way. Okay, So what you
want us to do is to fund raise on the
(32:44):
internet every month to make ends meet. You want us
to beg people for money on the internet every month,
and that's going to make you happy. And like, now
our politics are aligned. Yes, we can't do it. I
won't do it. I won't do it. I won't do
it. It's not sustained, it's not sustainable.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
And we have fundraised in the past. We've we've tried
that model and we did it and it worked for
what we needed to do. But it wasn't too fundraise
for a whole production budget and for a team, right.
It was actually to start the fucking LLC, now that
I remember, Yes, it was for the LLC because we
had no money. But people were telling us, you have
(33:23):
to form an LLC. And that's why we fucking fundraised
I'm remembering now.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Help me, Lord, Yes, it's a lot. So anyways, this
is our complaining portion. We're complaining.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Yeah, I'm sorry, I lost it for a second because
I just remembered that's why we were fundraising, which no,
I mean, I love like. It was such a I
think a very interesting practice for us to raise funds
like this is something that nonprofits do, that grassroots organizations do,
(33:55):
that media companies do. It is not uncommon to ask
for fundraising dollar like, to be clear, but it was
our first time doing it, and I don't think it's
sustainable for us to do it every single year, because
that's not the model that we're operating under.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
Would you, as listeners, prefer that we ask you for
money every month? Or would you prefer that we ask
our network for money?
Speaker 1 (34:18):
Like?
Speaker 2 (34:19):
Honestly, which one would y'all prefer? Because I know which
one I prefer. I prefer to ask the multinational conglomerate. Yes,
that's I would prefer to ask them. Not because I
don't value your politics as listeners, I do, but I
think that your money should be for you, yeah, and
for the fun things you want to do when you're
(34:40):
not working, and after you're done paying all of your
bills under capitalism, I don't think you should also pay
my bills.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
Yeah, And that's like, I think one of kind of
where we have been at this like cross roads for
years now, where you know, we want to put our
stuff online and then we get these like quote influencer contracts,
but then we're selling something to you, and that doesn't
necessarily feel like aligned with who we are and what
(35:08):
we do. You know, we're podcasters. We want to give
you analysis and interviews and some fun and some politics
from time to time, right, But I think like that
has kind of been really challenging for us, where everyone
is like you have to show up online more. We
get that advice all the time, but it's it's still
feeding this algorithm and that complicates my fucking ethics and
(35:30):
politics actually, and so that is kind of where I'm
at in this journey. But I think just bringing it
back to all of this, you know, like we take
the critique and the criticism and we hold it and
we discuss it.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
Oh, we hold it all right, I'm holding it right here.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
We discuss it and we you know, we we apply
what needs to be applied. You know, and some things
cannot be applied, you know. I will say though, like
it's it's definitely vulnerable to have your at this point, right, like,
this is our life's work thus far. Yeah, you know,
to be critiqued. But if I'm putting my scholarly hat on,
I like, I see it and I'm like, I agree
(36:09):
with you, actually. But if I'm taking that hat off
and putting on my artist, producer, podcast or hat, I'm like, yeah,
but this is what makes it sustainable. And that is
a really really hard thing to navigate as a working
artist and as a working producer, especially living in Los Angeles,
(36:30):
to try to negotiate all of these different things, you know.
And so I definitely hold both as the scholar and
the artist. But I'm like, they're not they can't meet,
and it's one of those both can be true for me.
I'm like, I agree with you, actually, but also in
order to live and create, this is part of the journey.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
Yeah, it's part of the journey. But we have to
remember it's the entertainment industry. It's both. Yeah, it's an industry,
you know, and it's work. It's labor. It might be fun,
it's like it's like, okay, to draw comparison, you know
(37:12):
how like runners love to be like, my sport is
your sports punishment. Yes, our job is your entertainment. It's
the thing you do when you're not working, right, It's
the thing you do when you are putting your laundry away,
or when you're on a drive, or when you're on
a walk. So maybe it doesn't feel like work because
(37:34):
it's your downtime, right, but it's our job. And jobs
deserve compensation.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
Yes, right, they do deserve compensation.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
Labor deserves compensation, and so I think that's really important
when we consider, like why is this artist charging so
much for their art for their work? Well, because that's
the compensation. That's their job.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
Yeah, I mean, let's just let's just talk about it
from like a labor perspective, right, let's get into it.
Let's go there. So one episode that's thirty minutes probably
took ten hours to make, and that's on the lower
the lower side. Our producers here, and she can tell
you like, no, you're probably wrong. She'll probably say fifteen, right,
But we're not just talking about the editing, right, It's
(38:19):
like from idea to research to writing to recording, not
even considering like the prep, right, the additional prep driving
to the studio, like the materials, right, that it takes
in by materials, I mean my fucking makeup that is expensive,
you know, and being on camera and what that means, right,
(38:41):
my clothes, having to put a look together, right, That
is all a part of the practice and the labor.
It might seem glamorous, but it's not.
Speaker 2 (38:50):
It's not.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
And then it's work. And then we turn around the
audio to Stephanie, our lovely producer, and then she'll spend
four hours maybe editing, right because it's an our maybe episode,
and she'll trim it down to forty minutes to maybe
thirty minutes. We do our best to stay in like
the confines, and then we still have to put it
(39:13):
up on the distribution platforms, and then we still have
to market it. So actually it's more than ten hours.
But if we're just talking about the labor of making
one episode that's thirty five minutes, it's ten hours.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
And you don't tune in to listen to us because
we're boring. You don't, and you don't tune in because
we don't have opinions or we have nothing to say, right,
like you also tune in because we're bringing personality, we're
bringing life experience, we're bringing like perspective and POV like
and all of our trauma and all of our trauma
(39:43):
and so all of it. You know, we also have
to go out and like live lives so we have
something to come back and talk to you about. Yes,
it's all part of like we're out and about we're living,
we're traveling, we're having experiences, and then we so often
we text each other we need to talk about this
on an episode, and that kicks off the creative process. Yeah, definitely,
(40:06):
you know, so I also wanted to be known that
all of these things that we're saying to you, we
said in an email to Esther. Oh yeah, we wrote
all of this to her after we wrote her after
we read her pages and the critique of the network,
because we didn't have a chance to sit down for
an interview with her about it. So we felt like
we had to explain ourselves or like give some backstory
(40:29):
as to the choice to make the move into the
network and what it entailed for us.
Speaker 1 (40:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
Yeah, I think this is really the first time we've
complained all season.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
Yeah, I think we've been pretty measured all season.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
Actually so good. We've been so good all season.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
You want to know why, Because LA has been on fire,
literally community under attack. We have not had like the
bandwidth and I think airtime to like talk about ourselves. Yeah,
which is fine, okay, but I think that's why we're
all so like overdue, because we're like, oh, we have
a lot to say today.
Speaker 2 (41:02):
We've been holding this in for some time because you
need to know that, like we read these pages a
lot year ago. Yeah, so we've been stewing. Actually we've
been stewing on this for an entire year.
Speaker 1 (41:15):
Yeah, yeah, you know. And this is like no shade
or hate to esther. She you know, hired us to
present to her class because she streamed like look that's
anonymous during the pandemic, you know. And so I do
want to also mention that, like we're just responding to
(41:36):
the critique that we were not able to respond to
in real time, you know, because there was no interview process.
Her research period was over, and so that is also
like why we feel like we want to talk about it.
And also it's part of the archive.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
Yeah, because it's in a book. It's in a book.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
It's in a book, you know.
Speaker 2 (41:54):
Yeah, we have to set the record straight, Honey.
Speaker 1 (41:58):
We must give our nuanced perspective as to what the
network deal meant.
Speaker 2 (42:02):
That's all. Yeah, But if you want, we could just
give up the contract. I don't want, you know, if
that'll make everybody happier.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
It'll make nobody happier, especially yes, And you know what exactly,
And that's exactly what irks me about this whole thing.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
If we had not joined the network, would it have
improved everyone's lives? Like, would everybody be happier? No?
Speaker 1 (42:25):
I would probably be sad. I'd probably be quite sad
because eventually the project would have had to fizzle because
it would have had to because there would have been
no financial backing, no sustainability. Like eventually we would have
probably had to go get real jobs at some and
real not that this is not real, but by real,
I mean a nine to five, Like we would have
had to go back back in to nine to five.
(42:47):
I would have probably gotten a degree in public health.
Speaker 2 (42:51):
We were talking about that. Yeah, then it's because of
the pandemic. Yeah, so we're like, maybe we need to
go into public I need to.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
Go work in comms in public health.
Speaker 2 (42:58):
Because what yeah, and you know those things, I feel
like because of what we've built, like that type of
work can figure in somehow. Oh yeah, right, but because
of what we've built for ourselves, Like this is not
the ceiling. There's more, more is coming, more is on
(43:20):
the horizon. Like there's always something that we're doing backstage, always, always,
always there's something else in progress that's important too, you know.
I just yeah, I'm glad, I'm glad we signed. I'm
glad we did it. I want us to stay.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
Yes, I also would like to stay because it is
it's a tough industry, and the industry feels so precarious.
We've talked about this in like previous episodes, you know
where indie shows don't always get their flowers, they don't
get investment. Now we're in the era of AI hosted
podcast Like studios get bought and then are disbanded. Like
(44:02):
there's so many ways that these The industry is disheartening
and can break your fucking heart. And I think like,
for as long as we can do this and sustain it,
like that's as long as I want to do it.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
It's I mean, I wake up in the morning, I'm
like I go to school, I come to the studio,
we have our events, we do our work, and I
think to myself, like, what a gorgeous life like to
be able to create art intel stories. And we live
in southern California, and you know, is there always more
money that could be made, Sure? Is there more work
(44:35):
that can be done, Sure, But we're laying the foundation
for all of those things to come to us, and
we have been for such a long time. And I
just feel very like privileged to be able to live
the life that we live. Absolutely, it's great, it's cool.
Speaker 1 (44:49):
Yeah, yeah, I mean I'm often fighting for my life,
but you know, like this is it's still something that
I would in trade. You know, I think this year
has been so childchallenging, like the entrepreneurship side of this business,
right because we're always do a business. But you know,
I still wouldn't trade it for anything else. And I
(45:11):
second what you say, like I feel super privileged that
I get to do this and to be fully transparent,
like I'm also able to do this because I got married,
you know, and I don't think that that's something that
is talked about enough, like being a working artist, like
and having a spouse that has a full time job
with a good salary and healthcare like that is also
(45:36):
makes this sustainable. You know, we don't have to pay
for my health insurance. We can pay for malas you know,
you know what I mean. Like that is all part
of like how we make this sustainable for ourselves. We
have like found ways to make it work, and you know,
it's it's not without its challenges, but it is definitely,
you know, something that we're really privileged and happy to
(45:56):
do and want to continue doing and will continue.
Speaker 2 (45:58):
Doing and will continue doing. So. Yeah, we just want
to thank all the haters for motivating us and for
keeping us energized and pushing forward. We couldn't do it
without you.
Speaker 1 (46:10):
I want to thank all our listeners for rocking with us,
not our haters. Sometimes there's an overlap though, but.
Speaker 2 (46:16):
There is sometimes an overlap.
Speaker 1 (46:18):
In particular, I want to thank our listeners who have
rocked with us for so long and who are also
going to vote for us in the Signal Awards. So
don't forget.
Speaker 2 (46:26):
Don't forget.
Speaker 1 (46:27):
You can vote for us, vote dot Signal Awards dot com,
vote for Loka and Senora Sexed our other baby, which
we love so so much and is still active. You
can still listen to those episodes thirty episodes of sex, Sexuality, Relationships,
learning from incredible, incredible Latinos of all ages. So if
(46:49):
you haven't listened to Senora Sex Said, please do after
you vote for us and we'll catch you next time.
Besos look At Radio is executive produced by ViOS FM
and Mala.
Speaker 2 (47:00):
Stephanie Franco is our producer.
Speaker 1 (47:03):
Story editing by Me diosa.
Speaker 2 (47:05):
Creative direction by Me Mala.
Speaker 1 (47:07):
Look At Radio is a part of iHeartRadio's Michael Dura
podcast Network.
Speaker 2 (47:11):
You can listen to lok at Radio on the iHeartRadio
app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (47:16):
Leave us a review and share with your prima or
share with your homegirl.
Speaker 2 (47:19):
And thank you to our local morees, to our listeners
for tuning in each and every week.
Speaker 1 (47:24):
Besitos Loca Luni
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