It had been my dream to do a podcast about Selena for years.
I wanted there to be a record that really, really solidified her legacy and told us how she changed culture, how she changed music.
And I wanted to use my craft as a storyteller to pay homage to this woman who left such a tremendous impact on my life.
I wanted to write a love letter to her through serialized storytelling.
So have you ever been so deeply affected by another person that their story literally gives your life context and meaning and even a sense of belonging?
Now, what if that other person was someone you never actually met?
And what if they'd been gone from the planet for more than 25 years, but still, it was like they were present in your life, guiding and inspiring you every day?
Well, that, it turns out, is the power of authenticity and agency and legacy.
And in today's conversation with award winning journalist and writer and producer Maria Garcia, we dive deep into these topics in a very cool and unusual way, through the lens of the life of the iconic performer Selena Quintanilla, and the impact she had, not just on Maria's life, but on tens of millions around the world, even decades after her tragic passing at a young age.
And also not because Maria, or for that matter, any of those millions, knew Selena personally, but because what she embodied, profoundly affected and informed the way Maria and those millions saw themselves.
Their sense of wholeness, heritage, community, and the call to celebrate uniqueness and embrace life through a lens of possibility and joy.
In the end, it's really a story about belonging, which we all need more of.
So, incredibly, in the 27 years since Selena's death, her legend has only grown.
Her story has been told on large screens, small screens, countless interviews, and continues to make an imprint on media and culture and music that transcends generations and nationality.
And still, Maria knew there was more to be told.
She wanted to go deeper, to ask questions, explore issues, and talk to people that had remained in the shadows for decades, then tell their fuller story, the real story, in a way that allowed all of us to step into it and learn from it, and in no small way, reconnect to ourselves and those around us.
So Maria became the driving creative force and on air host of the stunning podcast series anything for Selena, which was named Apple Podcast show of the year in 2021 and produced with Futuro Studios and NPR member station WBUR.
And for the first time in her 15 plus years in journalism, she did something that broke one of the fundamental rules of reporting.
She became a part of the story because, as you learn, she realized she couldn't not.
We talk about how this project became a calling and how and why she felt compelled to weave her own story into the bigger story of Selena's life and her powerful decision to center the universality of struggle and joy, expression, and the complexity of love, relationships, and power in the conversation.