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Felix Contreras and Jasmine Garsd on assignment for Alt.Latino in Bogota, Colombia.
NPRTen years ago today, Alt.Latino premiered on NPR Music. I have the same feeling when each of my sons hit that milestone: Ten years already? Weren't you just learning to walk a few years ago?
Roughly 845 shows later, I revisit that very first episode (and pilot!) with my ride-or-die Jasmine Garsd, who co-hosted Alt.Latino for many years and is now a senior reporter for Marketplace. The initial inspiration came from a chat at a snack machine: Wouldn't it be awesome we if we made a show about Latin alternative music?
Alt.Latino's Greatest Hits
We're both pretty proud of the archive we've amassed over the years. We kept an ear and eye out for what was on the minds of various Latinx communities: immigration, LGBTQ concerns, fights for social justice in this country and beyond, celebrations of life and the afterlife in our annual Dia de los Muertos dedications, and of course, music.
We spent hours spent listening to music online, on vinyl and CDs, in clubs, at concerts and street festivals in New York, Bogota, Medellin, Mexico City, Austin, D.C., LA, Havana and many places between. We logged the time to share this music and these stories with you.
But as we look back, Jasmine notes that we do so in a moment when the world seems like a dystopian novel. The entire planet is hunkered down in quarantine and more than 100,000 people in the U.S. are dead from a pandemic. A massive movement demands justice for the lives of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and several others killed by police.
But that is our reality. It inspires and challenges Alt.Latino to present music and conversation that not only offers relief but also hope for the future. That's essentially why Jasmine and I started the show: to make a difference.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the show in any way. And thanks, most of all, to you, our dedicated listeners. Now let's set our sights on the Alt.Latinoquinceñera!
