Rubén Blades Wasn’t Supposed to Be a Salsa Star

Rubén Blades Wasn’t Supposed to Be a Salsa Star

For roughly half a century, the singer Rubén Blades has been spreading the gospel of salsa music to every corner of the globe, but his status as an music icon was anything but assured. Despite having an interest in music at an early age, the Panamanian-born Blades was pursuing a law career. But when the tumultuous political climate in Panama forced his family into exile in the United States, Blades found his way back into the music industry—through a record-company mailroom. “My diploma was not accepted by the Florida Bar, so I didn’t know what to do. I felt useless,” Blades tells The New Yorker’s Graciela Mochkofsky. “Then all of the sudden I thought of calling Fania Records, which was the biggest salsa label at the time.” Through the subsequent years, Blades came to recognize the power of salsa as a vehicle for people from disparate backgrounds and ideologies to find “common ground.” “My goal from the beginning was not to become famous or rich,” Blades says. “My goal from the beginning was to communicate, to present a position and create a conversation.” Mochkofsky talks with him about serving in the Panamanian government and about his lengthy career as an actor; outside the Americas, more people might know Rubén Blades as Daniel Salazar on “Fear the Walking Dead” than as a living legend of salsa.

New Yorker Radio Hour listeners, we want to hear from you. We have a few questions about the show and how you listen to it. The survey takes about twenty minutes, and your feedback will help us make our podcast better. Take the survey here.

Jaksot(1022)

Patrick Radden Keefe on “London Falling,” His Book About a Teen-Ager’s Mysterious Life and Death

Patrick Radden Keefe on “London Falling,” His Book About a Teen-Ager’s Mysterious Life and Death

When Patrick Radden Keefe was living in London while shooting the TV adaptation of his book “Say Nothing,” he heard about a teen-ager who fell from a luxurious apartment tower in mysterious circumstan...

21 Huhti 19min

A Genocide Scholar Asks “What Went Wrong” in Israel

A Genocide Scholar Asks “What Went Wrong” in Israel

Omer Bartov is an Israeli professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University. He grew up in a Zionist home and served as an officer in the Israel Defense Forces, but he has long been conc...

17 Huhti 39min

Anna Wintour as Vogue Icon

Anna Wintour as Vogue Icon

Anna Wintour graces the cover of Vogue’s May issue alongside her theatrical double: Meryl Streep in the role of Miranda Priestly, from “The Devil Wears Prada,” whose much-anticipated sequel comes out ...

14 Huhti 38min

Sam Altman’s Trust Issues at OpenAI

Sam Altman’s Trust Issues at OpenAI

At the end of February, OpenAI’s C.E.O., Sam Altman, made headlines by swiftly cutting a deal with the Pentagon for his company to replace Anthropic, which had balked at the Trump Administration’s bid...

10 Huhti 49min

Pick Three: Spring Sports News

Pick Three: Spring Sports News

The New Yorker staff writer Louisa Thomas, who writes the Sporting Scene column, talks with David Remnick about the biggest basketball stories this season: how LeBron James embraced a new late-career ...

7 Huhti 14min

How Donald Trump’s War on Iran Helps Vladimir Putin’s War on Ukraine

How Donald Trump’s War on Iran Helps Vladimir Putin’s War on Ukraine

In 2021, when Olga Rudenko and other journalists launched the English-language news outlet the Kyiv Independent, they were committed to making a publication that wouldn’t face political pressure from ...

3 Huhti 36min

A Former Federal Prosecutor on Why He Quit Donald Trump’s Department of Justice

A Former Federal Prosecutor on Why He Quit Donald Trump’s Department of Justice

Thousands of federal prosecutors have been fired or have resigned from their roles since Pam Bondi took over as Attorney General. She has made no secret of weaponizing the Justice Department to pursue...

31 Maalis 22min

John Lithgow on the Controversial Authors Roald Dahl and J. K. Rowling

John Lithgow on the Controversial Authors Roald Dahl and J. K. Rowling

The new play “Giant,” on Broadway, dramatizes the scandal around Roald Dahl, the beloved children’s-book author who, in the nineteen-eighties, began making antisemitic statements and invoking stereoty...

27 Maalis 28min

Suosittua kategoriassa Politiikka ja uutiset

uutiscast
aikalisa
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
politiikan-puskaradio
rss-ootsa-kuullut-tasta
tervo-halme
rss-pinnalla
rss-podme-livebox
rss-asiastudio
otetaan-yhdet
aihe
the-ulkopolitist
et-sa-noin-voi-sanoo-esittaa
radio-antro
rss-vaalirankkurit-podcast
rss-ulkopoditiikkaa
rss-mina-ukkola
rss-raha-talous-ja-politiikka
viisupodi
rss-virkkusvartti