Anything For Selena
WBUR & Futuro Studios
Maria Garcia was 9 years old and living on the U.S.-Mexico border when Selena was murdered. Twenty five years later, Maria is on a quest to understand what it means to love, mourn and remember Selena. In this intimate journey, Maria explores what Selena's legacy shows us about belonging in America. Editors’ Notes: Mexican-American recording artist Selena Quintanilla not only popularized Tejano music to mainstream American audiences, but also helped put Latinos on the map and broke barriers of all kinds before her untimely passing in 1995. Journalist María García initially took notice of her talent when she was only seven years old. “I couldn’t articulate this when I was younger, but I felt it—a profound sense that she mattered, not just because of her music but because of her expansive cultural impact,” García tells Apple Podcasts. On her podcast Anything for Selena, Apple Podcasts’ Show of the Year of 2021, García, who most recently served as Managing Editor for Boston public radio station WBUR, combines rigorous reporting with impassioned storytelling to honor her legacy. She also explores the indelible mark she left on Latino identity and belonging, whether it’s fatherhood, big-butt politics, and the fraught relationship with whiteness and language. Though she sees the show as a personal journey “to make meaning of Selena's life and legacy,” García felt it was important to make sense of how she profoundly touched the hearts and minds of many. “It’s not a biography podcast. Instead, we tried to make meaning of Selena's life and legacy,” she says. “So many people wrote to me telling me the storytelling in the podcast made them feel seen."
- 44 minutes 49 secondsBONUS: Selena and Chris
Maria heads to Joshua Tree, California for an intimate interview with Selena's widower, Chris Perez. Chris shares a side of Selena we rarely get to see, and Maria learns about how romantic love was one of the ways Selena charted her own path.
5 March 2021, 3:06 am - 45 minutesBONUS: Anything for Selena Live!
In this intimate Q&A, host Maria Garcia and producers Antonia Cereijido and Kristin Torres take listeners behind the scenes for a look at the making of Anything for Selena.
This episode was recorded live during a virtual event with WBUR Cityspace.
4 March 2021, 3:06 am - 35 minutes 18 secondsSelena and Us
In the series finale of Anything for Selena, Maria reflects on what her year-long examination into Selena’s legacy reveals about La Reina’s humanity.
2 March 2021, 10:06 pm - 45 minutes 9 secondsSelena and Race
After the premiere of Selena: The Series on Netflix, some fans claimed Selena had been "whitewashed" in the show.
In this episode, Maria analyzes why Selena's brownness is an essential part of her legacy and reflects on how the exploration of Selena's race led Maria to revelations about her own identity.
23 February 2021, 9:42 pm - 42 minutes 18 secondsSelena and the Internet
A quarter century after her death, Selena is breaking the internet. Online, Selena’s image and music have taken on new life on social media and platforms that weren’t even imaginable when she was still alive. Selena devotees of all ages have turned to Instagram, TikTok and Youtube to restore and remix Selena’s memory.
In this episode, Maria explores how the internet has become a place where fans celebrate and remember Selena, as well as grapple with the void she left behind.
16 February 2021, 9:55 pm - 43 minutes 4 secondsSpanglish
Selena Quintanilla may have built her career singing Spanish songs, but she didn’t grow up speaking Spanish at home. She learned Spanish in the public eye, and her mistakes became some of her most famous and endearing moments.
In this episode, Maria explores why Selena’s Spanglish seemed so revolutionary for its time, and yet so familiar to many fans who also struggled with the language of their heritage. The exploration takes us to an unexpected place.
9 February 2021, 8:04 pm - 38 minutes 34 secondsTejano Tension
Selena is often called the "Queen of Tejano music." In the 1990s, she brought this underdog genre to international heights. Tejano award shows were glitzy affairs and Tejano radio DJs were like rock stars in Texas and the Southwest. Even the New York Times called it the fastest-growing Latino genre in the country.
But when Selena died, Tejano went from boom to bust. The story of Tejano's decline isn't so simple, though. Maria discovers that it's a story of immigration, money and how two often-ignored groups were pitted against each other.
2 February 2021, 7:25 pm - 44 minutes 35 secondsBig Butt Politics
Nearly 30 years ago, Sir-Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back (I Like Big Butts)” hit the airwaves to the delight and shock of listeners.
Today, the obsession with big butts is still strong with idols like Cardi B and Beyonce. It has also permeated white culture, with Kim Kardashian “breaking the internet” and butt selfie queen Jen Selter. Maria has a theory about how big butts went from taboo to obsession--and it involves Selena and Jennifer Lopez.
She uncovers that booty politics is ultimately about race and brings us to a long overdue conversation about anti-blackness within the Latinx community.
26 January 2021, 5:27 pm - 41 minutes 54 secondsBirth of a Symbol
In her life, Selena was a symbol of hope. She became a role model for how Latinos could achieve the American dream and find acceptance. But a forgotten culture war following her death painted a different picture. In the 25 years since her murder, Selena’s image has taken on new meaning. In this episode, Maria traces how Selena became a symbol of solidarity and resistance.
19 January 2021, 8:25 pm - 43 minutes 20 secondsSelena and Abraham
Maria knows that to truly understand Selena as a person and not just an icon, she needs to go to Corpus Christi. Maria’s quest takes her to Abraham Quintanilla, Selena Quintanilla’s notoriously guarded father. Maria confronts his complicated legacy and reflects on fatherhood in Latinx cultures.
12 January 2021, 9:24 pm - 29 minutes 16 secondsSelena and Me
Growing up along the US-Mexico border, Maria Garcia felt torn between her two identities as Mexican and American. But then, something changed her life.
She discovered Selena Quintanilla—the Mexican-American pop icon who proved she didn’t have to choose.
In the premiere episode of Anything for Selena, host Maria Garcia explores how Selena helped Maria find her own place in the world.
12 January 2021, 8:06 pm - More Episodes? Get the App