In The Thick

Futuro Media and PRX

Journalists tell you what you’re missing from the mainstream news. Co-hosted by award-winning journalists Maria Hinojosa and Julio Ricardo Varela, IN THE THICK has the conversations about race, identity and politics few people are discussing or want to discuss.

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Our Editor's Take

The In The Thick podcast is a public radio podcast that wants to make a difference. Award-winning journalists Maria Hinojosa and Julio Ricardo Varela produce and host the show. They cover the stories "that are missing from the mainstream news." The two travel far and wide, speaking with those affected and marginalized. From current events to diverse perspectives on news and issues, listeners stay informed. The hosts interview activists, journalists, and thought leaders on race, politics, and culture. The pair's real talk afterward enlightens even more.

In The Thick explores issues such as immigration and identity. The hosts address difficult issues like gun violence from the victims' perspective. The podcast covers stories from all parts of the country and worldwide events. The hosts challenge traditional narratives with fresh perspectives, analysis, and commentary. They offer a platform for those without. Fans find the podcast thought-provoking and laud it as an agent of change.

Podcast cohost Hinojosa and Varela team up to explore a wide variety of issues. One episode discusses Black and Asian solidarity in the US. The hosts interview thought leaders on race and identity. They study allyship in those communities, historical and present. Another podcast episode examined diversity within the Latino community. Topics include the Indigenous experience and the value of cultural diversity. A top-rated episode explored how climate change impacts marginalized communities more than others.

Listeners laud the depth the podcast offers over mainstream news. The hosts commented on the first anniversary of the Uvalde Texas school shooting. They discussed their interview with the only responding Uvalde pediatrician. Hinojosa talked about the people she met while helping make a documentary on the tragedy. She shared stories of a child survivor whose family she befriended. Like all episodes, In The Thick again went beyond basic coverage. The podcast further offered victims and families a platform for change.

In The Thick airs once a week. Episodes are usually around 45-60 minutes in length. The podcast began in 2016, so listeners can enjoy a backlog of enlightening episodes.

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Gov. Wes Moore on Redefining Patriotism, from TIME’s Person of The Week

Gov. Wes Moore on Redefining Patriotism, from TIME’s Person of The Week

This week, we’re sharing something special from our friends over at TIME. It’s a preview of their first original podcast, Person of the Week. Each week, TIME Senior Correspondent Charlotte Alter hosts candid conversations with the people who shape the world, about the forces that shape them. In this episode, Maryland Governor Wes Moore dives deep into the heart of patriotism, unpacking the often-misunderstood term, the symbolism of the American flag and what it means to be an American in today's changing world. Listen to more episodes of Person of the Week here.

Episodes

Gov. Wes Moore on Redefining Patriotism, from TIME’s Person of The Week

Gov. Wes Moore on Redefining Patriotism, from TIME’s Person of The Week

This week, we’re sharing something special from our friends over at TIME. It’s a preview of their first original podcast, Person of the Week. Each week, TIME Senior Correspondent Charlotte Alter hosts candid conversations with the people who shape the world, about the forces that shape them. In this episode, Maryland Governor Wes Moore dives deep into the heart of patriotism, unpacking the often-misunderstood term, the symbolism of the American flag and what it means to be an American in today's changing world. Listen to more episodes of Person of the Week here.

A Message for Our Listeners

A Message for Our Listeners

Maria checks in with an important update about In The Thick. Your favorite political podcast is taking a break for the rest of 2023. While we won't be releasing any new episodes during this hiatus, all of our previous episodes are still available on your podcast feeds. We’ll be restructuring and coming up with something new and better than ever as we get ready for our 2024 election coverage! And we want to hear from you, dear listener. Reach out to us on social media and let us know what you’d like to see on the show in the coming year. Peace for now– but we’ll be back. No te vayas!

AI Is Not What You Think

AI Is Not What You Think

In this episode, we’re unpacking AI. Julio is joined by Karen Hao, contributing writer for The Atlantic focusing on AI, to talk about the human impact of the rapidly evolving technology and what it means to decolonize AI. ITT Staff Picks: Rebecca Tan and Regine Cabato report on the “digital sweatshops” across the Global South, where workers have to sort and label data for AI models, in this article for the Washington Post. “Many creative types are wrestling with the credit conundrum and questions around copyright when it comes to making use of content that has been trained on original illustrations, graphics, and written material,” writes Ko Bragg, in this article for The Markup.Prosecutors from across the US are asking lawmakers to create a commission to study the impacts of AI on child exploitation, reports Meg Kinnard for The Associated Press. Photo credit: AP Photo/Richard Drew

A Pivotal Moment in American Labor

A Pivotal Moment in American Labor

Futuro Media is taking a short summer break, so we’re sharing an episode from 2022, where Maria and Julio talk with Kim Kelly, labor journalist and author of “Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor,” about the history of labor organizing in the United States and what it says about the labor movement today. They also discuss how women of color have been at the forefront of these movements. Photo credit: AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez

The Party of Authoritarianism

The Party of Authoritarianism

Julio and guest co-host Fernanda Santos kick off the show with some of the latest news, including the first Republican 2024 presidential debate, and an update on extreme climate across the globe. In our roundtable, Mike German, fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty and National Security Program, joins Maria and Julio to talk about why people of color join white supremacist movements, and how authoritarianism in the Republican Party is nothing new. ITT Staff Picks: As the GOP presidential debates make their premiere in Milwaukee, Jeanne Whalen reports on Donald Trump’s failure to make good on a promise of bringing a manufacturing boom to Wisconsin, in this piece for the Washington Post. The deadly fires in Maui reveal the danger of compounding climate events. Emily Pontecorvo writes, “While the precise relationship between the fires, the hurricane, and climate change has yet to be determined, these kinds of “compound” events are likely to increase in a warming world, with consequences that are hard to predict,” in this article for Heatmap. Mike German answers nuanced questions in this Spanish-language Q&A with editor-in-chief of Brennan en Español, Mireya Navarro. Photo credit: AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall

Oppenheimer’s Nuclear Colonialism

Oppenheimer’s Nuclear Colonialism

Maria and Julio discuss the indictment of Donald Trump and his allies in Georgia, and the devastating fires in Maui. Then, we share a recent episode of Latino Rebels Radio. Julio talks to Myrriah Gómez, associate professor at the University of New Mexico, about the film “Oppenheimer” and its omission of New Mexican history in the creation of the atomic bomb. ITT Staff Picks: “Trevian Kutti, a former publicist for rappers Ye (Kanye West) and R-Kelly, is named as a co-defendant in the sprawling RICO case against Trump and his allies. Charged with three felony offenses, Kutti is accused of participating in the overarching criminal enterprise to subvert the election, as well as conspiring “to solicit, request, and importune Ruby Freeman, a Fulton County, Georgia, election worker, to engage in conduct constituting the felony offense,” writes Nikki McCann Ramirez in this article for Rolling Stone.Mitch Smith and Kellen Browning talked to some of the families of people that are still missing in Hawaii, in this article for The New York Times.Myrriah Gómez writes about how the Manhattan Project negatively impacted Indigenous and Mexican communities in New Mexico, a part of the story that was conveniently left out of the movie Oppenheimer, in this article for The Latinx Project. Photo credit: AP Photo

All the Other Barbies

All the Other Barbies

Julio and guest co-host Fernanda Santos discuss the reelection of Tennessee state Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones and the move by New York City Mayor Eric Adams to relocate migrants seeking shelter. In our roundtable, Dr. Aria S. Halliday, associate professor in the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Kentucky, joins them in Barbieland to break down the legacy of Black Barbie. ITT Staff Picks: Michelle Boorstein discusses the changing role of the Black church in liberation politics through the new sensation known as ‘The Justins,’ in this article for The Washington Post.Daniel Parra exposes the labor scam practiced by many New York City employment agencies, which often illegally charge immigrants upfront fees for their services, in this article for City Limits.“Whether you’re skipping Barbie in protest of its mega-corporation backer or standing in line for the film as we speak, it’s worth remembering the ways in which the 64-year-old doll has cemented unattainable societal expectations into our general consciousness, and how artists have used Barbie to dismantle the very ideas she represents,” writes Elaine Velie, in this article for Hyperallergic. Photo credit: Diane Bondareff/AP Images for Mattel

Hot Labor Summer

Hot Labor Summer

Julio and guest co-host Fernanda Santos discuss Gov. Ron DeSantis’ alarming amendments to the Florida school curriculum regarding slavery. They also discuss the newest indictment against former President Donald Trump. In our roundtable, Lauren Kaori Gurley, labor reporter for the Washington post, and Dani Fernandez, writer and actor on strike, join Julio to talk about the Hollywood strikes and the labor movement in the United States. ITT Staff Picks: “If you’re wondering how Trump has survived as a candidate for office, you can look squarely at the conservative elites in politics and media,” writes Adam Serwer in this piece about Trump’s indictment, for The Atlantic. “The history we teach to students in the present is as much about the country we hope to be as it is a record of the country we once were. A curriculum that distorts the truth of past injustice is meant, ultimately, for a country that excludes in the present,” writes Jamelle Bouie in this opinion piece for The New York Times. Hamilton Nolan writes about how the writers and actors participating in the Hollywood strikes are fighting a battle that all Americans will benefit from, in this article for The Guardian. Photo credit: AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey

How to Beat the Disinformers, From Say More

How to Beat the Disinformers, From Say More

This week, we’re sharing something special from our friends over at The Boston Globe, it’s a preview of their new show, Say More. On Say More, host Shirley Leung talks to the doers and thinkers behind the BIGGEST ideas and debates of our time. Like … will artificial intelligence make humans obsolete? Can giving cash to low-income families bring stability to their lives? Is the U.S. already in a Cold War with China? Politics. Culture. Entrepreneurship. Women shattering the glass ceiling. And more. In this clip: Joan Donovan first saw extremism up close more than 20 years ago as the vocalist of a punk band in the Boston underground scene — when she got punched in the face by a neo-Nazi. Today, Joan is a sociologist at Harvard who studies disinformation and how it colors American society, including the outsized influence that white supremacists and other fringe groups hold in online forums and social media. With the 2024 presidential cycle already begun, Joan tells us what the public — and the media — can do to combat disinformation and limit the reach of bad actors. You can listen to more episodes of Say More here.

From Punishment to Torture

From Punishment to Torture

Julio and guest co-host Fernanda Santos discuss the judicial reforms in Israel and the rebranding of Twitter. In our roundtable, Fernanda is joined by climate reporter Kendra Pierre-Louis and Dr. Amite Dominick, president of the Texas Prison Community Advocates, for a conversation on how the climate crisis is impacting incarcerated individuals. ITT Staff Picks: In this latest episode of Intercepted, hosts Jeremy Scahill and Murtaza Hussain talk to Israeli American journalist Mairav Zonszein about the mass protests in Israel following judicial reforms that would limit the power of the Supreme Court.“The idea that Twitter and its 17 year-old codebase could be modified to run the global economy, of course, has exactly zero basis in reality,” writes Janus Rose, in this article for Vice.Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg reports on a lawsuit filed by the ACLU over children at risk of heat-related death in Louisiana’s Angola prison, for The Appeal. Photo credit: AP Photo/Eric Gay

The Political Court

The Political Court

Maria and guest co-host Fernanda Santos talk about the ongoing labor strikes and how record heat levels are affecting workers. In our roundtable, Maria and Julio are joined by Elie Mystal, The Nation’s justice correspondent and the host of its new legal podcast, Contempt of Court, to break down some of the recent Supreme Court decisions. They discuss affirmative action, LGBTQ+ rights, and the push for court expansion. ITT Staff Picks: “Hollywood’s CEOs are suffering. Not primarily from labor disputes or industry disruption or public-relations issues, but from vincible ignorance, which seems to be endemic in C-suites of all industries. Under pressure to deliver to Wall Street, too many CEOs have lost the plot of their own movie,” writes Xochitl Gonzales, in this article for The Atlantic. Kwaneta Harris talks about her horrific experiences being incarcerated and in solitary confinement during a record heat wave in Texas, in this article for Prism Reports.Steven Colón debunks common myths about affirmative action and talks about why meritocracy is a myth, in this article for The Hechinger Report. Photo credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Native Rights Upheld

Native Rights Upheld

Maria and Julio discuss the record levels of heat in the world and the disappointing dismissal of reparations for survivors of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. In our roundtable, Julio is joined by Rebecca Nagle, a Cherokee writer and host of the award-winning podcast This Land, and Joseph M. Pierce, associate professor in the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literature at Stony Brook University, to talk about Indigenous rights in light of the Supreme Court ruling on ICWA. ITT Staff Picks: Joseph Winters writes about how climate change is driving more frequent and more severe heat waves, in this article for Grist. “The survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre were not trying to punish the people of Tulsa, nor were they asking for a handout. They paid taxes to be protected by a law enforcement and justice system that instead robbed them of their homes, loved ones and livelihoods. The descendants of the enslaved are simply seeking a return on the investment their ancestors contributed to America’s wealth fund,” writes Michael Harriot, in this article for The Grio. In her podcast This Land, Rebecca Nagle discusses the sinister reasons that the far-right wants to use Native children. Listen to the series on Crooked Media. Photo credit: AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File

American Whitelash

American Whitelash

Maria and Julio are joined by Wesley Lowery, journalist and author, to discuss his new book “American Whitelash: A Changing Nation and the Cost of Progress.” They get into how the election of Barack Obama in 2008 led to an increase in anti-immigrant, white supremacist and racially-motivated violence in America. ITT Staff Picks: In this interview for Politico, Erin Aubry Kaplan talks to Wesley Lowery about how racial violence has been embedded in our culture since our nation’s founding. “And while it is true that sweeping change and deeply felt reckoning remain elusive, it is equally true that sustained activism has brought significant change to municipalities across the country,” writes Wesley Lowery, in this article for The Washington Post. Odette Yousef talks about the concern over political repression as domestic terrorism charges in Georgia rise, in this article for NPR. Photo credit: Wesley Lowery

Equity, Justice, Love

Equity, Justice, Love

Julio and guest co-host Fernanda Santos discuss the latest Supreme Court decisions and the Wagner Group in Russia. In our roundtable, Karlton Laster, Director of Policy and Organizing at Outfront Minnesota, and Marshall Martinez, Executive Director of Equality New Mexico, join Julio to unpack how Minnesota and New Mexico became sanctuary states for the trans community. ITT Staff Picks: Adam Serwer uses Moore v. Harper to identify the line that even the conservative Supreme Court is unwilling to cross, in this piece for The Atlantic. “From the start of the invasion to Prigozhin’s dramatic insurrection, the fight against corruption has greatly influenced the course of events. And Ukraine will need to defeat corruption if it has any hope of winning the conflict and securing a meaningful peace,” write Norman Eisen and Josh Rudolph in this opinion piece for MSNBC. Karlton Laster writes about how allyship is conditional and explains why the LGBTQ+ movement needs more co-conspirators, in this article for An Injustice! Photo credit: AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes

Roots of Cultural Expression

Roots of Cultural Expression

Maria and Julio discuss the latest with former President Donald Trump’s indictment, and Hunter Biden’s plea deal on tax-related crimes. In our roundtable, we’re sharing an episode from 2021, where Maria and Julio talk with fiber artist Bisa Butler about her quilted portraits that celebrate Black life. They also get into the history of Juneteenth and the push by Republican lawmakers to take critical race theory out of classrooms. ITT Staff Picks: Solomon Jones analyzes how Trump’s indictment has widened disparities within the justice system and equates Trump’s desire to live by a different set of rights to that of a tyrant, in this piece for The Philadelphia Inquirer.Ayanna Dozier likens Bisa Butler’s quilted portraits to the art created by a DJ, sampling culture to create their own unique work of art and celebrate Black life, in this article for Artsy.“It is impossible to celebrate a national holiday that marks the emancipation of Black people in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, without confronting the history of slavery and the role of education in freedom,” writes Kellie Carter Jackson in this piece for the Los Angeles Times. Photo credit: Courtesy of Bisa Butler

“They Used Us”

Julio and guest co-host Fernanda Santos talk about the indictment of former President Donald Trump. In our roundtable, Daniel Parra, Spanish-language editor and reporter for City Limits, and Claudia Tristán, immigration campaign director with MomsRising, join Julio to discuss challenges for migrants in NYC, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ anti-immigrant political stunt and the dangers of the asylum process. ITT Staff Picks: “In Albany, where more than 230 migrants were relocated in recent weeks, community-based organizations say they are already stretched thin,” Daniel Parra reports for City Limits.A childcare program for low-income immigrants who lack permanent legal status in NYC is set to expire at the end of the month, reports Arya Sundaram in this article for Gothamist.Rommel H. Ojeda explains what happens if asylum seekers don’t file an asylum application within one year of entering the country, for Documented. Photo credit: AP Photo/Christian Chavez, File

Buckling up for 2024

Buckling up for 2024

Julio and guest co-host Fernanda Santos discuss Mike Pence launching his 2024 bid and the latest with Cop City in Atlanta. In our roundtable, Astead Herndon, national political reporter for The New York Times and host of The Run-Up podcast, and Sabrina Rodríguez, national political reporter for The Washington Post, join Julio to delve deeper into the growing number of Republican presidential candidates. They also unpack the likelihood of a Biden/Trump rematch in 2024 and the already growing apathy among voters. ITT Staff Picks: “This is a global struggle against fascism, it’s a global struggle against the militarization of the police and state violence against folks whose dissent is being oppressed,” says Atlanta organizer Jasmine in an interview about Cop City on the Movement Memos podcast from Truthout. David A. Graham unpacks Mike Pence’s presidential campaign, in this piece for The Atlantic. Michael Barajas talks about two Republican-backed bills that are threatening election administration in Texas’ largest county, in this article for Bolts magazine. Photo credit: AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, Meg Kinnard

Tension in the American Dream

Tension in the American Dream

Maria and Julio talk about Uvalde, the fight for gun legislation and what to expect from the Republican presidential race. Then in our roundtable, they’re joined by Imara Jones, founder and CEO of TransLash Media and host of its investigative podcast, The Anti-Trans Hate Machine: The Plot Against Equality, to discuss the wave of anti-trans legislation across the country. ITT Staff Picks: Don’t miss Futuro’s new documentary with FRONTLINE about Uvalde. You can watch it here, and let us know your thoughts!Legislators have introduced more than 400 anti-trans bills this year so far, more than the previous four years combined, according to this Washington Post analysis.“Three states want to stipulate how, and whether, autistic transgender youth and those with mental health conditions are able to access gender-affirming care — a new tactic aimed at the intersection of two marginalized groups,” write Orion Rummler and Sara Luterman in this piece for The 19th News. Photo credit: AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File

Healing in Uvalde

Healing in Uvalde

Maria and Julio reflect on the one-year anniversary of the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas and the lasting impacts on the community. We go deeper in our roundtable to look at how families of victims– especially mothers, both past and present, bring about change. Maria leads the discussion with Keith Beauchamp, award-winning filmmaker and producer on the film “Till,” and Monica Muñoz Martinez, historian and associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin. ITT Staff Picks: A new FRONTLINE documentary with Futuro Investigates and The Texas Tribune seeks to answer the lingering questions after the tragedy. You can watch the trailer here.“Parents have been fighting for a full accounting, but a promised city investigation hasn’t happened and a lot of information is bottled up in the district attorney's own investigation,” writes Suzanne Gamboa about the families fighting for justice in Uvalde one year later, in this piece for NBC News.Following the Uvalde school massacre last year, Loyola Professor Elliott Gorn wrote “Publishing grim photographs of mass killings might do some good in reforming America’s insane gun regime. But it won’t be because gun rights fundamentalists see the light,” for The Chicago Sun-Times. Photo credit: AP Photo/Eric Gay, File

A Culture of Fear

A Culture of Fear

Julio and guest co-host Fernanda Santos discuss the latest with immigration and the abortion ban in North Carolina. Then in our roundtable, Maria is joined by Josie Duffy Rice, journalist and writer, and Adam Serwer, staff writer at The Atlantic, to unpack what’s happening at the border, violence against unhoused people, and the growing issue of gun violence in this country. ITT Staff Picks: Adam Serwer talks about the fantasy of violence that drives right-wing Republicans, in this piece for The Atlantic.Karla Cornejo Villavicencio writes about the unreciprocated love immigrants have for the American dream, and how they are the secret weapon in the fight against authoritarianism, in this article for The New York Times.Dylan Scott writes about the GOP’s empty promises to support women and families after Roe, in this piece for Vox. Photo credit: AP Photo/Michael Conroy