Before the Latinx Files was a newsletter, it was a seed of an idea.
“Wouldn’t it be great if the Los Angeles Times had a dedicated space to tell stories about the Latino experience?” I’d ask rhetorically to anyone who would listen before spouting on about how Los Angeles is half Latino. That we make up 40% of California’s total population and account for nearly 1 in 5 Americans.
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And then the whole world watched the fallout after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, forcing Americans and institutions to reckon with race, discrimination and policing. The Times was no exception. In the aftermath of the tragedy, the paper reflected on its past failures to fairly cover L.A.’s communities of color, apologized for it and promised to do better.
It was in this environment that the Latinx Files sprouted to life. After talking endlessly about it, I was tasked with creating a news product that would examine and explore the many contours of Latinidad.
The newsletter debuted in November 2020.
A few years into this project, it became clear that more than one person was needed for the job. To better accomplish the goal, the newsletter had to be scaled up. And so, in July 2023, the L.A. Times launched De Los, a new section that expanded the mission of the Latinx Files.
Nearly three years later, that initial idea has germinated once again with the launch of “The De Los Podcast,” a new interview-style video podcast from LA Times Studios and Sonoro that will feature candid conversations with movers and shakers who have helped shape Latino culture in the United States — and have proved that we are integral to the fabric that is America.
The weekly video series, which premiered on Wednesday, is co-hosted by De Los editor Suzy Exposito and me. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner in crime. She is the LeBron James of Latino culture writers — she has written multiple Bad Bunny cover stories, including for Rolling Stone, i-D Magazine and the L.A. Times.
Guests include iconic names and Latino creatives on the ascent, such as actor Xolo Maridueña (“Blue Beetle,” “Cobra Kai”); Cuban American rapper Sen Dog of L.A. hip-hop group Cypress Hill; filmmaker Alex Rivera (“Sleep Dealer”); comedy legend and Chicano art benefactor Cheech Marin; and author Vanessa Díaz (“P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance”), with more to be announced.
Our inaugural guest is Leslie Grace!
Leslie Grace on the De Los Podcast
(L.A. Times Studios)
The Latin Grammy-nominated singer and actor helped us kick off the podcast with a bang. Grace began her artistic career as a teenager, recording a Christian music album in her closet before releasing her self-titled sophomore effort in 2013. The bilingual LP established her as a prominent voice in the male-dominated world of bachata — I challenge you to listen to her cover of the Shirelles’ “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” and not get it stuck in your head — and helped attract a global audience to the genre. In May, the 31-year-old released “Amor, ¿Quién Eres?,” her first album in over a decade.
Grace also opened up about her acting career, from making her film debut in 2021’s “In the Heights” — the critically acclaimed musical was the rare blockbuster that centered a Latino narrative — to being tapped to portray Barbara Gordon in “Batgirl.” The project was ultimately scrapped in August 2022 while it was still in postproduction, after Discovery Inc. and Warner Bros. merged.
“It was disappointing because we knew the film that we were making,” Grace said. “I knew that it wasn’t a reflection of our work, because this is something that happens. But I think because of the context of the conversation around representation, and the way that films can be discarded, after a lot of work and time and money has gone into something … the creative community really felt for me.”
She has since starred in more independent films in recent years — including “In the Summers,” which won a grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024 — and the 2026 features “Stages” and “Campeón Gabacho,” which premiered at this year’s edition of South By Southwest.
“I really am grateful for every person that reached out to me and was like: ‘Hey, I’ve got you, whatever you need,’ or ‘This is wrong,’” Grace said. “When something happens to me, I focus on my experience and what I gained from it, that no one could really take away.”
Where to find the podcast
You can listen and/or watch the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
If you’re a fan of this newsletter and of the work we do at De Los, I encourage you to subscribe to our feeds, give us a five-star rating and tell everyone you know to do the same.
Is this announcement this week’s Latinx Files?
Nope! We’ll be returning to our regularly scheduled programming this Friday.