Published by Rubén Mendive
Join your host, Rubén Mendive, as he compiles a list of Latino/a/x/e writers you need to know. Each episode features an in-depth interview with a writer on where they've been and where they're headed. Follow us @lalistapodcast on Instagram! lalistapodcast.com
Listen on Apple Podcasts30 min
This week: Thulio becomes a gay cowboy ghost-story extra, free LA archery turns him into Katniss Everdeen, Rubén finds artistic hope at a queer film night at Akbar, Comic-Con throws every Ryan into the MCU, and Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey somehow makes Ancient Greece straight. Plus a Punch-Up on the gay guide to escalator etiquette... and late-stage capitalism turning everyone at LAX into the villain. La Lista Podcast host Rubén Mendive and writer Thulio DaSilva ditch the formal interviews and hop on the mic for quick, unfiltered conversations about their chaotic creative lives — covering new writing projects, hot takes on industry trends, dating disasters, and whatever discourse the algorithm served them that morning. Instagram - @lalistapodcast Music: Sunny Side - Airstream
1 hr 2 min
A MEXICAN-AMERICAN WRITER AND ARMY VETERAN FROM CHICAGO Jon-Alexander Genson shares growing up Mexican-American in northern Illinois, joining the Army to escape his hometown before a deployment to Guantanamo Bay helped him start accepting who he was, studying creative writing at Illinois State, breaking in through the Writers Guild Foundation's Veteran Writing Project and Support Staff Training Program, co-writing an episode of FBI: Most Wanted , and exploring masculinity, shame, and outsiders stumbling toward self-awareness in his work. Instagram - @lalistapodcast Music: Arriba Mami - Jingle Punks
31 min
This week: Thulio survives The Abbey phone-theft industrial complex, Rubén's office job turns him into a fluorescent-lit shell of a woman, Love Island signs off and World Cup brain rot clocks in, Erling Haaland becomes the internet's strangest tall king, and The Great LA Exodus has everyone asking whether the dream is still worth the rent. Plus a Punch-Up on FIFA refs choosing favorites... and Riverside, the AI podcasting hellbox holding us hostage. La Lista Podcast host Rubén Mendive and writer Thulio DaSilva ditch the formal interviews and hop on the mic for quick, unfiltered conversations about their chaotic creative lives — covering new writing projects, hot takes on industry trends, dating disasters, and whatever discourse the algorithm served them that morning. Instagram - @lalistapodcast Music: Sunny Side - Airstream
50 min
A CAN'T STOP, WON'T STOP LATINX WRITER Lisa Quintela shares growing up Cuban-American between New Jersey, Miami, and New York, how her parents' harrowing escape from Cuba shaped her drive and storytelling, moving from Tisch-trained actor to journalist to lawyer before writing a pilot about her family that brought her to LA, breaking into TV on The L Word: Generation Q , and using her legal background and love of exposing hidden rot in shows like The Lincoln Lawyer and CBS's Matlock . Instagram - @lalistapodcast Music: Arriba Mami - Jingle Punks
30 min
This week: Thulio returns from Gilmore Girls country and enters his World Cup Brazilian era, Rubén turns 35 and discovers his head is now extra-wide at Warby Parker, a queer vaquero fundraiser cracks the TikTok marketing code, Love Island takes over the algorithm, and the feed is fake but the clips are forever. Plus a Punch-Up on airlines forcing broke bitches to gate-check their carry-ons... and politicians letting data centers and toxic fires get way too comfortable in our neighborhoods. La Lista Podcast host Rubén Mendive and writer Thulio DaSilva ditch the formal interviews and hop on the mic for quick, unfiltered conversations about their chaotic creative lives — covering new writing projects, hot takes on industry trends, dating disasters, and whatever discourse the algorithm served them that morning. XGIMI MoGo 2 Pro (New) Portable Projector with Multi-Angle Stand Instagram - @lalistapodcast Music: Sunny Side - Airstream
55 min
A GRATEFUL, CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC, IN-HIS-HEAD, OCD LATINX WRITER Eugene Garcia-Cross shares growing up half Puerto Rican in Erie, Pennsylvania, feeling like the Latino kid in his hometown and the gringo cousin in Puerto Rico, trading a decade in academia for a last-chance leap into TV writing, breaking in through the NBC Writers Program and writer's PA jobs, and finding his old-school sitcom dream on NBC's Happy's Place . Instagram - @lalistapodcast Music: Arriba Mami - Jingle Punks
31 min
This week: Corporate Pride is dead (but the Chase Sapphire rainbow logo lives in our hearts), Thulio dodges the WeHo Pride tax, Rubén hits Club Cobra and begs DJs to let a song breathe, the LA mayoral race takes a post-Spencer Pratt breath, and Unc cinema faces the rise of Gen Z excellence. Plus a Punch-Up on Y2K parties with no whimsy... and nosy gays turning open vs. monogamous relationship discourse into a courtroom drama. La Lista Podcast host Rubén Mendive and writer Thulio DaSilva ditch the formal interviews and hop on the mic for quick, unfiltered conversations about their chaotic creative lives — covering new writing projects, hot takes on industry trends, dating disasters, and whatever discourse the algorithm served them that morning. Instagram - @lalistapodcast Music: Sunny Side - Airstream
53 min
A CUBADORIAN WRITER-ACTION DIRECTOR Michelle Salcedo shares growing up Cuban and Ecuadorian in Miami, turning her parents' immigrant love story into creative fuel, finding her voice through years of writing features at the library, making her Sundance-supported short ' Cinnamon Skin ,' breaking into action with her feature ' Switch and Bait ,' and exploring why her work keeps returning to underestimated heroes, complicated morality, and the cost of freedom. Instagram - @lalistapodcast Music: Arriba Mami - Jingle Punks
30 min
This week: Thulio gets spit-roasted by ailments, Brown & Out 8 has its final-final encore at the WeHo Pride Arts Festival, Akbar delivers DFMO antics, Gen Z boos AI and war criminals at commencement, and Gen Z filmmakers take over the box office with Obsession and Backrooms . Plus a Punch-Up on NPCs asking too damn much... and Spectrum, AT&T, and every other company failing to provide the service we're literally paying for. La Lista Podcast host Rubén Mendive and writer Thulio DaSilva ditch the formal interviews and hop on the mic for quick, unfiltered conversations about their chaotic creative lives — covering new writing projects, hot takes on industry trends, dating disasters, and whatever discourse the algorithm served them that morning. Instagram - @lalistapodcast Music: Sunny Side - Airstream
51 min
A LATINO WRITER WHO WOULD LIKE EVERYTHING TO BE 10% WEIRDER, THANK YOU Alberto Roldán shares growing up Puerto Rican in rural central Pennsylvania, having his artistic world cracked open by Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia , detouring through Northwestern, NPR, and political work, navigating the long road to his first staff job, learning when to let the clown play before the professor takes over, and bringing his love of weird, thoughtful entertainment to Apple TV's Widow's Bay . Instagram - @lalistapodcast Music: Arriba Mami - Jingle Punks
31 min
This week: Thulio gets fed and read at Courier Cumbia, Rubén goes full wilderness girlie at Point Mugu, Brown & Out 8 gets a free encore at the WeHo Pride Arts Festival, Instagram launches "Instants" for some reason, and AI discourse hits Hacks , The Comeback , and our last nerve. Plus a Punch-Up on the DACA renewal backlog... and a punch-around on bad beard lines, AI Met Gala delusion, and people checking their Apple Watches mid-conversation. La Lista Podcast host Rubén Mendive and writer Thulio DaSilva ditch the formal interviews and hop on the mic for quick, unfiltered conversations about their chaotic creative lives — covering new writing projects, hot takes on industry trends, dating disasters, and whatever discourse the algorithm served them that morning. Free Tix for Brown & Out 8 on May 24th! Instagram - @lalistapodcast Music: Sunny Side - Airstream
59 min
A DRIVEN LATINA WRITER Christina Piña shares growing up in a loud Cuban-American Miami household, secretly applying to USC against her dad's wishes, cutting her teeth through years of assistant jobs before breaking in through the Paramount Writers Mentoring Program, rising from staff writer to supervising producer, breaking down strategies for how Latino writers can survive in a shifting industry, and writing on the new Miami-set NBC/Peacock series M.I.A. ! Instagram - @lalistapodcast Music: Arriba Mami - Jingle Punks
32 min
This week: Thulio survives a UTI (Rat Beach will pay for its crimes), summer is coming (Lorde hive rise), The Devil Wears Prada 2 review, Beyoncé Act III conspiracy theories, and TV fellowship season is among us... let's get in formation. Plus a Punch-Up on looksmaxxers... and immigrant stories that still treat us like set dressing. La Lista Podcast host Rubén Mendive and writer Thulio DaSilva ditch the formal interviews and hop on the mic for quick, unfiltered conversations about their chaotic creative lives — covering new writing projects, hot takes on industry trends, dating disasters, and whatever discourse the algorithm served them that morning. Tower 28 SOS Daily Rescue Facial Spray Instagram - @lalistapodcast Music: Sunny Side - Airstream
1 hr 1 min
A CHAOTIC AND RELENTLESS FIRST-GEN LATINO WRITER Philippe Bowgen shares growing up between Peruvian and British cultures in wealthy, white Connecticut, hiding his sexuality at an all-boys prep school while striving to excel at everything, abandoning a path to diplomacy for acting and writing, and how his obsession with messy families, identity, and belonging inspired The Set Up , a scripted podcast from Sonoro and iHeartRadio . Instagram - @lalistapodcast Music: Arriba Mami - Jingle Punks
31 min
This week: Closing night of Brown & Out, defining Club Tempo trade, Sizzler hot bar theology, Alex-on-Alix podcast beef, and Ruben walks back his "cinema is dead" thesis. Plus a Punch-Up on flaky gay guy group chats... and influencers getting paid to tell you how to vote. La Lista Podcast host Rubén Mendive and writer Thulio DaSilva ditch the formal interviews and hop on the mic for quick, unfiltered conversations about their chaotic creative lives — covering new writing projects, hot takes on industry trends, dating disasters, and whatever discourse the algorithm served them that morning. Instagram - @lalistapodcast Music: Sunny Side - Airstream
43 min
A VOCAL MULTIETHNIC MULTI-HYPHENATE WRITER Glenís Hunter shares growing up between the Bronx and the Dominican Republic, leaving behind a path in psychology to pursue acting and storytelling, exploring themes of identity and grief in her short films, and breaking through with the Netflix-sponsored LALIFF Inclusion Fellowship and the Mitú x Walmart Filmmaker Mentorship Program. Instagram - @lalistapodcast Music: Arriba Mami - Jingle Punks
31 min
This week: Opening night of Brown & Out (Thulio's playwright era unlocked), theater audiences treating it like a group chat, bimbofication scandals, Sisters in Christ burritos, and the WGA staff strike exposing how unaffordable LA really is. Plus a Punch-Up on indie artists who won't drop their music… and moderates who keep flopping. La Lista Podcast host Rubén Mendive and writer Thulio DaSilva ditch the formal interviews and hop on the mic for quick, unfiltered conversations about their chaotic creative lives — covering new writing projects, hot takes on industry trends, dating disasters, and whatever discourse the algorithm served them that morning. Come See Brown & Out at the LA LGBT Center April 10th! Instagram - @lalistapodcast Music: Sunny Side - Airstream
48 min
A "VIVA INDIE" LATINO WRITER & FILMMAKER Alejandro Montoya Marín shares growing up between Laredo and Merida, opening a video store in Monterrey before taking the leap to film school in Vancouver, grinding for years in New Mexico before landing on Robert Rodriguez's Rebel Without a Crew: The Series , and how betting on himself led to his latest action comedy The Unexpecteds on Tubi, backed by indie film champion Kevin Smith. Instagram - @lalistapodcast Music: Arriba Mami - Jingle Punks
31 min
This week: Fellowship rejection season is upon us (and the girls are coping), Thulio goes full Heated Rivalry at an LA Kings game, the male loneliness epidemic (but make it queer), Mormon MomTok chaos, and Ruben's take on why AI in Hollywood is a very expensive nothing burger. Plus a Punch-Up on Hollywood's lack of emotionally resonant TV... and the gays being way too horny in IG Reels comments. La Lista Podcast host Rubén Mendive and writer Thulio DaSilva ditch the formal interviews and hop on the mic for quick, unfiltered conversations about their chaotic creative lives — covering new writing projects, hot takes on industry trends, dating disasters, and whatever discourse the algorithm served them that morning. Come See Brown & Out at the LA LGBT Center April 3rd & 10th! Instagram - @lalistapodcast Music: Sunny Side - Airstream
48 min
A QUIRKY LATINA WRITER Maor shares her upbringing in Miami between Honduran and Moroccan Jewish cultures, discovering improv and comedy as a way to channel her outsider perspective, moving to Los Angeles after studying screenwriting at UCLA, surviving the pandemic and strikes while building a creative life in Hollywood, and how years of writing, collaboration, and persistence led to her first TV writing credit on Peacock's emerging creator series The Kouncil , Telemundo's first English-language series. Instagram - @lalistapodcast Music: Arriba Mami - Jingle Punks