Podcast
Fronteras
"Fronteras" is a Texas Public Radio program exploring the changing culture and demographics of the American Southwest. From Texas to New Mexico and California, "Fronteras" provides insight into life along the U.S.- Mexico border. Our stories examine unique regional issues affecting lifestyle, politics, economics and the environment.
- Episodes
- 41
- Releases
- Weekly
- Typical length
- 25 min
- On air since
- 2026
- Latest episode
- 4 days ago
Episodes
41 episodes, newest first
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30 min
Fronteras: New MacArthur Fellow uses forensics to bring dignity to immigrant deaths
Show notes
Kate Spradley founded Operation Identification in 2013 to facilitate the identification and repatriation of immigrants who died along the U.S.-Mexico border.
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30 min
Fronteras: ‘The Rio Grande is dying’ — How a water war threatens the livelihoods of border residents
Show notes
Journalist Jack Herrera discusses the dire consequences that are unfolding on the Rio Grande due to environmental, political, and social factors.
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26 min
Fronteras: San Antonio’s Vincent Valdez creates a public remembrance through his larger-than-life artworks
Show notes
Valdez, whose work takes on social injustice and underrepresented communities, is one of 20 MacArthur Fellows recognized this year across a variety of fields.
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27 min
Fronteras: Going beyond the taco — ‘Tacos of Texas’ podcast returns for season seis
Show notes
Taco journalist Mando Rayo explores the stories, history, and culture of Tacos and the people who make them in the Lone Star State.
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28 min
Fronteras: Exploring the little-known history of the Republic of the Rio Grande
Show notes
What we know now as the Rio Grande Valley once rose to become the Republic of the Rio Grande. Podcaster Brandon Seale explores the topic in a new documentary.
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22 min
Fronteras: Twenty years of consequences — Chronicling the lifelong impact of San Antonio gang life in the ‘90s
Show notes
The book "Homeboys Forever" by sociologist Avelardo Valdez examines how violence, addiction, and imprisonment affected the lives of young gang members in San Antonio.
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26 min
Fronteras: From the barrio to a prison siege — The life and impact of San Antonio drug lord, Fred Carrasco
Show notes
A San Antonio native revisits the life of Fred Gómez Carrasco and the 1974 prison standoff that captured national attention. His podcast looks beyond the headlines to explore Carrasco, the people involved and the lasting impact of those events.
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29 min
Fronteras: An endangered Latinx landmark — The fight to preserve San Antonio’s Alazán-Apache Courts
Show notes
Community activism has saved the city's oldest public housing units. It was recently named a 2026 Endangered Latinx Landmark by Latinos in Heritage Conservation.
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29 min
Fronteras: From Latinas with tender hearts to tías locas — How storytelling can shatter cultural stereotypes
Show notes
Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez has spent her career writing to break down barriers and reach out to those who may not have access to academia. Her books center on the cultural challenges many Brown girls face.
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24 min
Fronteras: New research examines the role Latino identity plays in individuals across America
Show notes
The Pew Research Center finds that while Latino identity is a major factor in people's lives, identity is not singuarly defined culturally or politically.
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26 min
Fronteras: Revisiting the 1918 Porvenir massacre — How border construction puts the future of the site in danger
Show notes
In 1918, 15 unarmed Mexican men and boys were killed in the remote West Texas community of Porvenir. The commemorative site is now in danger of being bulldozed and cut off by federal border wall construction.
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25 min
Fronteras: The Latino Community Foundation expands support in Texas as immigration enforcement ramps up
Show notes
The California-based organization has granted $350,000 to ten organizations in the Southwest to support them with legal defense, community protection, and rapid response.
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26 min
Fronteras: No longer just ‘deportees’ — The search to identify the passengers of the Los Gatos plane crash
Show notes
Writer Tim Z. Hernandez has spent nearly two decades working to identify the Mexican nationals who were killed in the 1948 incident.
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22 min
Fronteras: Writer Rudy Ruiz explores the complexities of living between two nations and cultures
Show notes
The South Texas native discusses his works and how they're influenced by the duality that exists living on the U.S.-Mexico border.
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22 min
Fronteras: ‘Detention is everywhere’ — Photo series highlights impact of private ICE facilities on rural landscapes
Show notes
Photographer Marni Shindelman's series, "Restore the Night Sky" documents the effects of light pollution at 45 private ICE detention centers across the U.S.
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29 min
Fronteras: How a new young adult book reclaims and reframes San Antonio’s legend of the Donkey Lady
Show notes
The new book, “The Donkey Lady: A Graphic Parable,” retells a haunting San Antonio legend by inviting children and adults alike to consider new moral dilemmas.
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24 min
Fronteras: Sustainable fashion meets an iconic Chicano aesthetic in 'Runway Rasquachic'
Show notes
Local fashion designers took high fashion to the streets last month to showcase clothes characterized as "rasquachic."
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23 min
Fronteras: How the dismantling of a key Voting Rights Act provision will affect Texas communities
Show notes
The Voting Rights Act, the landmark civil rights law, banned racial discrimination in voting and enforced the 15th Amendment right for Black men to vote.
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22 min
Fronteras: Essay collection ‘Migrant Heart’ details the power of forgetting and remembering
Show notes
Author Reyna Grande writes about the struggles of assimilation and the healing powers of storytelling in her new memoir.
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23 min
Fronteras: Author Reyna Grande reframes her traumatic immigration story in ‘Migrant Heart’
Show notes
In her latest essay collection, author Reyna Grande reflects on her difficult experiences migrating to the U.S. from Mexico.
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