09.17.2024 | By Jack Rico |
In a year when the economy has had many of us on edge, Selena Gomez, 32, recently became the first Latina self-made billionaire in America. This monumental achievement, largely due to her beauty brand Rare Beauty, should have been a major celebration. But if you look at the headlines from major outlets like Bloomberg and even Latino media, you’ll notice something missing: her Mexican-American identity. Read More
04.30.2023 | By Jack Rico |
America is currently experiencing a Latino renaissance. Music festivals like Coachella are prominently featuring Latino artists. Groundbreaking Latino-led superhero films like “Blue Beetle” are hitting theaters. Actors like Pedro Pascal, Jenna Ortega, and Aubrey Plaza are hosting Saturday Night Live, while Mexican Regional music occupies the top three spots in global music. However, despite this influx of Latino talent, mainstream news outlets like The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Wall Street Journal conspicuously overlook this cultural movement. Read More
02.9.2023 | By Jack Rico |
In today’s episode of ‘Highly Relevant,’ Xochitl Gonzalez, Puerto Rican-Mexican American author of “Olga Dies Dreaming,” and staff writer for The Atlantic Magazine, joins the show as we have an in-depth discussion about her latest article, The New Case for Social Climbing, and explore the meaning of meritocracy and its impact on Latinos. Gonzalez extensively researched the topic and shared her insights in our first episode of 2023.
10.22.2022 | By Jack Rico |
In today’s episode of ‘Highly Relevant’ episode, I spoke with Marta Tellado, President, and CEO of Consumer Reports. She spoke with me about her new book, Buyer Aware, which helps you protect yourself from dubious consumer deals.
12.2.2021 | By Jack Rico |
As film critics prepare to vote for their best movies of 2021, Hispanic critics, in particular, have been anticipating the long-awaited retelling of Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. Not just because it is a Spielberg-event film, but mainly because of the cultural weight the movie carries. Read More
05.25.2021 | By Jack Rico |
Can Asian and Latino Unity Make ‘In The Heights’ Reach #1 At The Box Office? The upcoming film ‘In The Heights,’ which already accounts for a Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jon Chu collaboration, has A LOT riding on it. If a movie about Latinos fails, studios will view it as evidence that moviegoers aren’t interested in seeing Latino stories. This is a bigger problem for Hispanics than it already is. If it opens at #1, it could single-handedly open the floodgates to Latino stories being normalized on-screen.
02.10.2020 | By Jack Rico |
Netflix has a brand new Latinx show premiering February 17th called, The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia. It stars Paulina Chavez and Jencarlos Canela, with cameos from Mario Lopez and Cristela Alonzo. I had the chance to chat with its young female lead, Chavez, via phone, to discuss the improvement of Latinx images on-screen, sitcom formats, what it was like to be directed by Eva Longoria, and that new album she’s doing with Jencarlos Canela. Read More
01.21.2019 | By Jack Rico |
The new film and entertainment organization LEJA (Latino Entertainment Journalists Association) which I am a proud member of, has announced its first ever Latino Entertainment Film Awards. Here they are…
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04.7.2018 | By Jack Rico |
On episode 71 of Highly Relevant, Ben Lopez, Executive Director of NALIP joins us to discuss the rock-bottom depths Hispanic actors have reached in Hollywood. What is the African-American community doing differently than the Hispanic community? Also, Randy Falco, the CEO of Univision, recently announced he’s retiring early. What type of person should replace him? Is it time for a U.S. born Hispanic to run it and should it be a woman? Should they look into doing English-language programming? And we also chat about how NALIP’s whole mission is to help Hispanic creatives break into Hollywood.
