LIVING IN SPANGLISH RADIO ON WBAI FM 99.5 IN NEW YORK
WHAT IS LIVING IN SPANGLISH?
My show is an eclectic mix of music, political commentary, and bilingual/bicultural extemporaneous chatter. I’ve featured guests like Draco Rosa, Rita Indiana, Bomba Estereo, IFÉ, Les Butcherettes, Flaco Navaja, Lara Bello, Marta Sánchez, ChocQuibTown, Monsieur Periné, Tito Matos of Viento de Agua, and many others.Tune in at 99.5 FM on your dial or listen to the live stream at wbai.org.
Some of the full-length shows and individual segments are posted on my Soundcloud page, which can be accessed here.
August 9, 2018: The “last” Living in Spanglish radio broadcast on WBAI, featuring former Puerto Rico governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá and New Politics co-editor Saulo Colón. Also, salsa, Latin trap, and insightful commentary.
July 12th, 2018
This installment of Living in Spanglish focuses on the Latin Alternative Music Conference, with an interview with Colombian-US avant garde singer Gabriel Garzón Montano as well as futbol influencer Rodrigo Salazar. Initial commentary on the election victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
June 14, 2018: On tonight’s show we’re featuring new music from Ali Sheed Mohammed & Adrian Younge, Henry Cole, Chicano Batman & Miguel, Monsieur Perine, Aterciopelados, Choc Quib Town, and the usual “salsa bloc.” I will be talking about Puerto Rico, The Mueller Investigation, Suicides and Capitalism, y todo lo que da.
May 10, 2018: On this episode of Living in Spanglish we talk briefly with producer Eduardo Cabra about the new Monsieur Periné project, relentless pitching for WBAI Buddy contributions, commentary on Junot Díaz, Diego el Cigala, new R+R=Now, “This Is America,” Karol G, “Dame tu Cosita” (Nereida remix with Alexis Valdés). Plus Empress, Kali, SALSA!
April 12, 2018: On this episode of Living in Spanglish, we feature Prof Ian Seda-Irizarry on Wall Street and the failure of neoclassical economics; Black Panther vs. The Young Karl Marx, and The Fall of Mark Zuckerberg.
February 8, 2018: The latest episode of Living in Spanglish radio features an excerpt from the Radical Latinx podcast with Economics Professor Ian Seda-Irizarry, Jorge Drexler interviewed by Lidia Hernández Tapia, and Isabelia Herrera, music editor of remezcla.com. Plus the usual commentary, salsa, hiphop, and Latin alternative soul.
January 11th, 2018: On this first Living in Spanglish show for 2018, I play an eclectic mix of r&b, salsa, hiphop, jazz, and Latin alternative. Special guest Lidia Hernández Tapia talks about new developments in Cuban electronica.
November 9th, 2017: I interviewed photographer Joseph Rodríguez, Puerto Rico Representative Manuel Natal Albelo, and filmmaker Macdara Vallely. We talk about Rodriguez’s photographic work in New York, Los Angeles, and Puerto Rico, Natal’s new investigation of conflicts of interest in Unidos Por Puerto Rico, and Vallely’s documentary footage of post-Hurricane Maria Puerto Rico. Plus salsa, post-disco, Latin alternative, and jazz.
October 12th, 2017: I interviewed Jorge Díaz of AgitArte and Shey Rivera, whose installation “Fantasy Island” is currently on view at the Loisaida Center.
September 14, 2017: This broadcast of Living in Spanglish Radio features new music from Princess Nokia, Kali Uchis, Ibeyi, Rubén Blades, Flaco Navaja, alt-Dominican, and classic hiphop tracks with Steely Dan samples. Plus Silvio Rodríguez tunes, commentary on Puerto Rico Debt Crisis, and more.
July 13, 2017: This edition of Living in Spanglish Radio features music from Chicano Batman, Princess Nokia, A Chal, Melvis Santa, our usual salsa bloc, moody Brazilian and r&b music, Luis Gutiérrez on Tomás Rivera Schatz and more wry political commentary on dystopia and utopia alike.
June 8, 2017: Puerto Rican Pride/Oscar López Rivera Special
April 13, 2017: On this Second Anniversary edition of Living in Spanglish we interview Lara Bello, a singer from Granada, Andalucía, living in New York about her new album Sikame. We also feature interviews with activists from the NYU Sanctuary collective talking about the need to formally recognize their campus as a sanctuary campus. Plus new music from Chicano Batman, Residente, Ifé, salsa, soul, and Thundercat.
January 12. 2017: This episode of Living in Spanglish Radio features interviews with Larry Harlow and Raquel Berríos (Buscabulla), salsa, hiphop, electronic, a sound collage with Brian Eno and Noam Chomsky, Cornel West, Jeremy Scahill and Angela Davis. Plus the usual #NotMyPresident subversive political commentary.
December 8, 2016: For this final broadcast of 2016, I interviewed José López, whose brother Oscar López Rivera has been a Puerto Rican political prisoner for over 35 years in U.S. prisons. Also featured is Alynda Segarra, lead singer of Hooray for the Riff Raff, talking about her new album due in 2017, and her new single “Rican Beach.” Plus new Tribe, Nani Castle, slamming salsa, and Aires de Navidad.
November 10, 2016: This edition of Living in Spanglish tries to give voice to those who don’t, cannot, and will not accept the Presidency of Donald Trump. While preventing him from taking office may not be a realistic goal, it’s important to express resistance as quickly and powerfully as possible. Plus Latin rock, funk, salsa, and hiphop. (Originally broadcast on WBAI FM November 10, 2016.)
September 14, 2016: This week on Living in Spanglish Radio there’s an interview with Ian Seda Irizarry, an economics professor at John Jay College, and we’ll be talking about the latest developments in the Puerto Rico Debt Crisis. Professor Seda is also a big salsa buff, so he will be picking out the tunes for our weekly salsa segment and we will both comment on his selections. Plus new music from the Robert Glasper Experiment, Zack de la Rocha (of Rage Against the Machine), new Puerto Rican band Émina, a tribute to the late Gustavo Cerati, and the new De La Soul. And the usual bilingual banter designed to satisfy your Spanglish soul.
July 14, 2016: This edition of Living in Spanglish Radio features an interview with Amilcar Priestly, co-director of New York’s Afro-Latino Festival. We’ll talk about the connection between Afro-Latino Identity and Black Lives Matter. I’ll also be playing music featured at the Afro-Latino Festival and the Latin Alternative Music Conference. Plus: music from Cuba, Cuban exiles, Cuban boleros, and Fuego’s Spanish version of Hotline Bling.
June 9, 2016: This episode of Living in Spanglish is a special Puerto Rican Pride edition, in time for the Puerto Rican National Day Parade in New York. There’s plenty of salsa, bugalú and boleros, and special guests iLe, Calle 13 vocalist with a new solo album called Ilevitable, and David Galarza, Nuyorican activist, talk about life, love, music, and politics.
April 14, 2016: On this edition of Living in Spanglish we feature new music from Downtown Boys, Kali Uchis, Jessy Lanza, Daymé Arocena and ILe, plus old school salsa, 90s hiphop, and neo-folklorica from East LA and Santurce, PR. Plus, an interview with Rafael Bernabe, PPT candidate for Governor of Puerto Rico speaking about the debt crisis.
March 10, 2016 This edition of Living in Spanglish features new music from Corrine Bailey Rae, Esperanza Spalding, Aterciopelados, Saúl Hernández, El Bles, Nitti Scott, plus classic salsa, post-punk fake jazz, real jazz, jazz-rock fusion. Excellent interview with Rutgers U Prof Lyra Monteiro about the problematic representation of people of color in the Broadway play “Hamilton.”
January 14, 2016: This latest edition of Living in Spanglish radio features rocker/pop star singer-songwriter Draco Rosa, Neo-plena band Viento de Agua leader Tito Matos and his wife Mariana Reyes, Gypsy Jazz Latin Grammy winners Monsieur Periné and jazz pianist Marta Sánchez. Plus my usual vibrant commentary and subtle digs.
December 3, 2015: Reflections on 2015; Music from Liam Bailey, Gustavo Cerati, jazz, salsa bloc!
November 12. 2015: Hotline Bing remix; Lara Bello from Granada; salsa bloc, Tribe Called Quest, Los Amigos Invisibles. Special appearance from Glenn Martin, social justice advocate.
October 1, 2015: Special guest: Otura from Puerto Rico’s Ifé, Terry Suárez from Les Bucherettes. Salsa! and excerpts from Camaradas del Barrio panel on PR debt crisis.
August 13, 2015: Obama influencer Marc Lasry’s role in the Puerto Rico debt crisis; interview with Illinois Representative Luis Gutiérrez, interview with Colombia’s Choc Quib Town. Salsa; Sistema Solar. Long live interview with actor Flaco Navaja.
July 16, 2015: Puerto Rico debt crisis in focus; gossip about the Latin Alternative Music Conference; Afro-Latino festival. Interview with Cultura Profético, Bomba Estereo’s Li Samuet.
June 11, 2015: Simón Mejía of Bomba Estereo, Francisca Valenzuela, and the Plenatorium Project from Loisaida. Representing at PR Day Parade not enough with Debt Crisis approaching.
April 16. 2015: This is the very first episode of Living in Spanglish radio; it features a brief excerpt of an interview I did with Rita Indiana; some dance tracks by Munchi and Fuego, and it all culminates with “Brujería” by Markolino Dimond.
ED MORALES 