Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang - “Overqualified” (w/ Becca Ramos AKA Producer Becca!)

Episode Date: January 28, 2026

A real treat for THE readers, publicists, kayteighs, finalists, and Kyles because Matt & Bowen are joined by Becca Ramos AKA Producer Becca! The three get into all things Texas, Beyonce, The Rodeo, southern football culture, and the highs and lows of Baylor University Greek Life, but most importantly Puerto Rico! Becca has a new show on iHeart’s myCultura network called Welcome to El Barrio out 2/3. Matt & Bo get an exclusive sneak peak into the world of the show, chat Bad Bunny’s cultural impact, Becca’s journey as their producer, and more. Plus IDTSH’s circling insane rollercoasters, loud dachshunds (sorry chicha!) and NYC apartment hunting. Get into it! Most importantly — check out Welcome to El Barrio’s trailer out NOW! And don’t miss the first episode dropping 02/03!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, it's Joel and Matt from How to Money. If your New Year's resolution is to finally get your finances in shape, we've got your back. Prices, they're still high. And the economy is all over the place. But 2026 is the year for you to get intentional and make real progress. That's right.

Yeah, each week we break down what's happening with your money, the most important issues to focus on. And the small moves that make a big difference. Kick off the year with confidence. Listen to How to Money on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Dr. Jesse Mills, host of the Mailroom podcast. Each January, men promise to get stronger, work harder, and fix what's broken. But what if the real work isn't physical at all? I sat down with psychologist Dr. Steve Poulter to unpack shame, anxiety, and the emotional pain men were never taught how to name.

Part of the way through the Valley of Despair is realizing this has happened, and you have to make a choice whether you're going to stay in it or move forward. Our two-part conversation is available now. Listen to the mailroom on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. What if mind control is real? If you could control the behavior of anybody around you, what kind of life would you have? Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car? When you look at your car, you're going to become overwhelmed with such good feelings.

Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you? I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. Mind Games, a new podcast exploring NLP, aka neurolinguistic programming. Is it a self-help miracle, a shady hypnosis scam, or both? Listen to Mind Games on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Look, man.

Where? Oh, I see. Wow. Bowen, look over there. Wow, is that culture? Oh, my goodness. Wow. Las cultureistas. Ding dong, last culture of recent calling.

You know what I just realized it is for me, and I didn't understand it to be this type of day today, but it is, it's a multiple liquids day. You are, you're a water sign classically. Oh, yeah. And the moon is new? Babe, I think the moon might be new right now, but by the time this episode is out, the moon could be old as fuck. But I'm just saying you are filling yourself up to be dictated by the, the pole of the lunar pole. Did you know that actually

when we drink water now, it hydrates us? Okay, let me, let me be careful about this. So the water that we drink now is the hydration that we have in three weeks. And the, but the, the piss that we piss tonight is from the water that we drink today. Correct. So when you piss later.

I don't understand this at all. When you piss later, it will be water. you've had recently. That's often why you'll find that you drink a lot of water and then like a short time later we'll have to pee. That is that very water. But the hydration station is water you've drank from a while back. You know who told me this? Doug Peck. Oh, well, the vocal coach. The genius Doug Peck. Who knows about hydration and quite frankly drinking water. Also, room temp is best. Now, what do I do if it burns a little? When you pee? I'm kidding. When was your last STI?

Oh God, we're going there. At this point... We're going to ask her question. I guess this question. We're going to... I'm going to say the last time... I got on like a doxy thing because someone called like a few months ago.

Someone called and said, hey girl. Hey girl, I'm so sorry. I regret to inform you. Respectful. Respectful. So, no. And he was, there was shame there. And I was like,

there's you truly have no reason to be ashamed um thank you for like you know and like i'm gonna go i'm gonna go get the doxy so that was a few months ago but then like it was just the pill and i've i've gotten like the shot in the ass and i'm like oh this we're not we're not joking around what about you i've never taken doxy pep which for everyone up there who doesn't know for the um what we're going to call the 99 the 98 percent which is the uh women that listen to this um doxy pep would be uh like a prophylactic sort of a prophylactic the day after. For your bacterial things.

Exactly. Yeah. Get them eliminated. Never taken that, but never had to. I just had one gnarly, gnarly STI back in the day. Like a lot of people that I, a lot of sexually active people I talk to are like, yes, I have, it's not a big deal. Like I get, I've gotten them a series of them, whatever. I've just had one nasty one.

And syphilis. Oh, siff is tough. I was 26. And I got the pirate STI. Oh, I don't like that. I said syphilis is like the pink of STIs. It has always been here. And it will always remain.

It's Rural Culture number 12. Syphilis is like the pink of STIs. It has always been here. And it will always remain. Love pink. Love pink. I love our guest. You want to know why?

She's family. Truly. And I feel like, I love the joy of the readers, Katie's Publiss's finalist and Kyle's, whenever producer Becca joins the fray. And I feel as though this is an auspicious thing. Yeah. Because not only is our beloved producer Becca Ramos joining us,

but it is for a terrific reason, which is the launch of her very own podcast right here. And it's called Welcome to El Barrio. It is out on February 3rd Right here at Iheart Right here at Iheart Big money? No

Oh Damn Trauma No it's on the Michael Tura network Okay It's on the Michael Tura network And I've I would just go ahead and say

Can they hit pre-subscribe I don't know how podcasts work Yes When this episode comes out The trailer will be out So you can Save the show And come back next week

Are you getting used to doing this Like and subscribe Like and subscribe. You covered your face, I think. Oh, no, no, no, no. I just want to make sure. Like and subscribe. What a pro.

We got to bring her in. This is our beloved producer who's joined us on our benchmarked episodes. Chimes in for very important reasons. Oh, yeah. She famously said every 30 seconds. What was, what did she say? Ding and dong. Ding and dawn for the iconic 400.

And then of Checha occasionally. Oh, the mother of Checha. Mother of Teacher, the Amazing Dog. She is the host, creator, producer of Welcome to Elbario at February 3rd, as we said. Everyone please welcome. Becca Ramos, aka producer Becca, now guest Becca. This is crazy. It's crazy to sit there, usually, and then now be here in the lights and the cameras and the action.

Welcome to your public life. I know. It's scary. I posted my first front-facing camera video yesterday in promotion of the show because I was like, Oh, we're a little less than a month out. I probably should start posting about it. And it was well received, but it is nerve-wracking. Like now I have to, like, not just hide behind everything like I normally do,

making sure everything happens and go smoothly. Now it's like my job to also be the face. You're the face? You were never hiding behind. You were always pulling the levers. Yes, I'm strategically making everything happen. The man behind the curtain, so you speak. Also, on any given day, you are the best dressed.

person. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah, but you know that. Oh, no, it's always nice to hear, though. Do you identify as someone who has, like, a sartorialist? Would you say you identify as someone with good fashion or your own fashion? Both, but I would think good fashion.

Yeah, good. Yeah. Because I don't think I'm tacky, you know. I would never use that word to describe you. What are the words that would describe the aesthetic? Colorful. I would say, I just colorful. I'm wearing brown, which is like not normally, but I have a pop of red.

Brown's a color. Brown's a color. And if you're full of the red and the brown and the black that I'm seeing picked up on the boots? I'm normally, I think a monochrome look or a color block look is kind of my style. And like one print, maybe. Prints can be deceiving because you might see that print and say that's an interesting print. And then you find out when you wear the print, that print is not for you. Absolutely.

And I do have a couple pieces like that where I was like, oh, you. You know what, it might be time to get rid of this. Why do we... Why do we hedge for so long on certain pieces? I have shit where I'm like, that should have been out years ago. They should have left that on the rack. I think it depends if, like, you bought it or if it was gifted to you. Because sometimes I'll buy something and it was a little more expensive than I probably would have wanted to pay for that.

And then you bring it home and you're like, I don't love it. But now you're like, well, I'm kind of stuck with it. It was at a thrift. I can't return it. You know what, though? Those are the things you wear on the pie. podcast. Because I feel like now that podcasts are a visual medium for real, don't we know? The prophecy foretold. The prophecy was so foretold. It's not even funny. But like I do find that

it's a good place to wear like your bold stuff. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, I almost wore a really bold pant today. But then I decided against it because I wanted to wear the vest. I bought this vest pretty recently at a, thank you, at a vintage shop up state. And then I was like, I don't know. how to wear this vest. And so like you just expressed, I was like, I will wear this vest on this podcast today. I will wear this vest as you just expressed. I was like, this needs to be worn, but I don't know how to wear it.

And I went through so many iterations. And then I ultimately was like, okay, I'm just going to do a monochrome look, but I don't want it to be boring, so I wore the red. And you got to, you have an iconic neckerchief. Yes, so I wore a little gorgeous. Specifically the Beyonce Levi's. Is that

what we're giving? Yes. I bought it for Cowboy Carter, But also it is the one she wore in the commercial. So this is dovetelling into another question, which is when an artist like Beyonce, who is the icon, like, sort of like, we know we're going to be in the midst of a new era, which is accompanied by a merch drop. How quickly do we buy? Yeah. I know the answer for you immediately. I'm pretty immediate on it.

I immediately bought the Cowboy Carter jacket. Yep, you wore it to the show. Still have the ashtray on my kitchen counter. It's a great jacket. and various, you know, ribbed t-shirts. So I'm very quick on it, which isn't, it's good, but it's also not great. It's, I am in between. It's a form of fast fashion to me.

Yes. Well, and also, I hate to be someone who's like, yeah, I'm wearing the merch. But with Beyonce, I am that person, like no other artists. And I love lots of artists and I love going to shows. But Beyonce's the only one that I'm like, and I have to buy the merch. No, no, no, no. See, that's the thing is it's like, I'll get, militant very quickly about like supporting.

Yeah. Like when the rock album is, when the topic is not just like, you know, just something that's floating around. Yeah. I'm very excited to have a rock era. I'm very excited. I'm very intrigued. I can't wait to revisit Lemonade to reenter the rock era.

Yes. Because that's where we got a first taste. Don't hurt yourself. Don't hurt yourself. Do we think the motif is, so if Renaissance was like silver and metallic. Yes. Calvert Carter was denim. Yes.

Do we think rock is going to be leather? I feel like it has to be. So you better stuck up on the leather now, all of you, all of you. Well, she's been hinting. But I will say, actually, Beyonce's first rock moment, this is a performance. This is one of her best live performances. With Friends? No.

Well, obviously that. Obviously that. But I feel like when she explicitly, like, in her own individual way, was like, I'm going to do a rock song. Do you remember when she performed if I were a boy and did a medist? with you ought to know. Wow. So she came out and she did, it was if I were a boy, which by the way, it's not a Beyonce song that everyone talks about.

No. But I do think it's one of my favorites. And it's one of her number one hits. I would concur with that she also made it in Spanish. Yes, she certainly did. He did. I used to listen to it in Spanish. Just because my Spanish is really bad.

And in college when I was taking Spanish, I would listen to like all these songs that Beyonce would flip. Like the irreplaceable Spanish version? Yes. Specifically. When an artist does that gives you bilingual. Yes. It doesn't have to be my own.

There's a gentle whispering Maria. She does English video. She does Russian video sometimes. I always watch the Russian shit first. I'm like, give me that. But with the Spanish thing, like, I guess like we haven't really, and I think it's okay that we haven't really like zeroed in on that. But it's like that was a great risky, I guess, quote unquote,

not risky, but like... I think she knew her audience because she's from Texas. Yes. So there is, like, I think she has an homage to Selena. Yes. I think there's a lot of overlap

in the, like, Tejano community with her, especially because she comes from Houston, the rodeo. The rodeo famously has lots of Tehano artists. That's where Selena also got her big break. Was it the rodeo? Weirdly, also Bruno Mars and lots of other people...

I don't know if it was his big break, but I definitely saw him at the rodeo growing up. Roots in the rodeo. Yes. Lots of Root. in the rodeo. A lot of black and brown artists have roots in the Houston live suction rodeo. So I do think if you are from the South and you're like trying to figure out different avenues to break, I did notice a lot of artists will do a couple country or not

country, sorry, excuse me, do a couple Spanish songs because Kisi Muxgrave covered Como La Flore. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. So it is like a weird bridge. Is Kisi Mousgraves from Texas? She is in Golden Texas. She's from Golden Texas. I just read this because, you know, I don't know if you know, A-24 has like two books about two states, specifically one for Florida and one for Texas. I bought myself with my like A-24 membership discount, whatever, the Texas book, because I was like, well, I'm a girl from Texas. I got to buy this book.

And I was swimming through, Casey Musgraves does the pro, what's it called, the prolog? The pro, the forward. The forward. The forward. Yes, Casey Musgraves does the forward. And it's really beautiful. She does like her little homage to coming from such a suburb. small town, Texas.

Because she is. She's from like central, middle of nowhere, Texas. Golden Texas is like, I think, don't quote me on this. West Texas. Like, West, like Central West. Like, I think west of Waco. And I should know I went to Baylor. But, yeah, small town.

Yeah. Speaking of Texas, what is the biography there for you? Give us the, give us Becca Ramos diaspora life. So I was born. in Los Angeles, California. Believe it or not. My parents are both Puerto Rican, but from different ways of life.

My mom grew up in Puerto Rico. She was born and raised on the island. My mom's mom is New York. She was born in New York, moved to Puerto Rico, had kids in Puerto Rico. So my mom has a more traditional Puerto Rican diasporic experience.

And then my dad, he was born here in Brooklyn, but then moved to California when he was very little, and he's like a valley kid. He sounds like John Stammer. So he has a very strong, like, L.A. accent, which is probably why I don't have much of a southern accent between the two parents. But they end up in Texas, both of them, when they're, like, in their early 20s and meet via their families.

And they both... Where in Texas? In Houston. Oh, great. And they bond over their hatred of living there. And so they get married, and they move back to California. They're like, fuck this. We don't want to be in Texas.

Our families can figure it out without us, and they go back. and they have my brother and I in California, and then life just got too expensive, too hard. My parents went to college in their 30s, so they didn't have a traditional, like, a traditional, like, career path or income. And so they're like, well, maybe in Texas is cheaper, our parents are still in Texas. We can figure it out in Texas.

So then they move us when I was two to Texas, and then I grew up in Texas. And I stayed there. I been in Houston the whole time. I ended up at Baylor. And then I lived in Dallas for a stint. I like dabbled in Austin and then I ultimately when I graduated

landed an internship at a big ad agency in Portland Oregon but I was like love Portlandia I was like see ya let me see because you saw in Portlandia a new world it's where young people go to retire

totally so I was like I'm a young person who wants to like have a chill life so I moved to Portland I enjoyed it it was a cute little stint I was there a lot of reefer it was my first time yeah well I had smoked a couple times in college but I was such a goody tissues. Yeah.

I'm definitely afraid. I think that's kind of both of us too. We relate to the game. Well, you have immigrant parents. I have very brown parents. They were like, fear of God and me. Of course.

If you do anything wrong, you're dead. So I was, and then I went to a private Baptist college, which not to say there weren't, there were plenty of drugs. Like rich kids doing cocaine everywhere. Rich religious kids.

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. I mean,

it's a dry. We were technically not allowed to drink. You could get expelled for being drunk on campus, even if you were of age. And does that make you want it more and to get out more? I was in a sorority. I, like, did the whole thing. I was, like, rural, like, southern girl. Like, I was a Zeta.

Like, I was in a white sorority. And I lived, like, in a sorority house off campus. And I feel like if you were in the Greek life, you partied hard. Like, that was just, I was, like, typically the D.D. Because I, or not D.D., but I was at least the one keeping it. A little because, and not to get too dark. But when I went to Baylor, it was kind of like a scary time to be a girl at Baylor. There was a lot of like rape culture at Baylor.

Like a lot of like, what year was this? I was there 2013 to 2017. So this is like peak Arp. Riles gets fired because, and this is when Baylor's at their peak for football. Right. So people in the like in the conversation before I went to Baylor in 2013, it was like the branched dividian like that like cults that did the mass murder. Yeah. After I started going to Baylor, it was like football.

We became a football school. Like we were like this underdog that became a big football school. Football filled the vacuum of Branch Divideon? Yes. That's crazy. It was crazy because people would be like, you go to Baylor-Waco where that like cult is. And then it became like, oh, Baylor Bears, football. It became a big deal.

And while I was there, though, it was like, while Baylor was like scoring high in football, it was also like, we're covering up all the football players raping people. So then it became this big. thing. By the time I graduated, our Bryos got fired. They fired our president, who was the lawyer against Bill Clinton, Monica Lewinsky. He's the one who convinced, like, whatever, was defending Bill Clinton. He was our president at the university. And he got fired. He gets fired for covering up the assaults happening on campus. And then they still let him do our commencement speech, which is crazy. He was disgraced president.

They fired him while I was there and then brought him back to do our commencement speech. Crazy. But all that to say, the culture at Baylor was wild at that time. Like you were thinking, Trump got elected. Yes. You know, like the assault culture was at its peak. They're like doing, they're teaching us as a sorority girls. They would have us do these seminars.

They were like, yeah, just make sure you're like not too drunk and like don't wear short skirts and like be better. And then it's like, what are you telling the guys that's crazy? Right, right, right, right. So, do you think that's an assumption that they just won't change? Boys will be boys. 100%. And they were like definitely taking fraternities off campus because it was like in tandem as these like football players were being covered up. These frats were getting really rowdy.

And they were getting like flagged by nationals to be like, hey, this chapter hazing is really bad. This chapter's hazing is really bad. So I was at a time in the Greek culture, especially like what, that X movie was out, whatever, the party. movie. Oh, sure. Yeah. So I feel like that's like where the culture was. Like they were, Baylor was like trying to compete with UT to be like the big party school. Yeah, that was like, it almost felt achievement based to be the biggest. Bigest part of the rowdiest. Yes. And it's like L.O.L. You're a private Baptist college in the middle of nowhere, Texas. But they, they were part in. It wasn't nothing. It wasn't that small, you know. And so you're making a

a D.D. choice. Yeah, so I was like not always like sober by any means, but I definitely was like keeping an eye on my girls. I was like, especially because once I got to get too dark, being a brown girl at a very white university, I'm undesirable. I didn't know I was hot until I left Texas. Stop God. I truly was like, I'm ugly. Like no one likes to. Oh my God. And then I like moved to Portland, Oregon of all places. And then I was like, oh, I was an ugly. I was just ugly for like a private Baptist university in the middle of nowhere, Texas. So. Everyone looks the same. So I was protecting my girls and my girls were white mostly. And so, you know, I would see them.

I'm like swatting them off my best friend because she's like peak beautiful, like brown, long, luscious, gorgeous hair, like teeny mini little thing. Love her to death. She's still my best friend. But the men flock to her, you know? And so I'm just like standing down only two drinks and being like, do not put anything in her drink or I will take you down. Yeah. And yeah. And so you're seeing attention being.

and given in a new way. You're looking at it from the outside and therefore can see it the most clearly. Yes, exactly. So I had like fun at my house. Like I live in a house of like five sorority girls. So we party. And it was community.

It was a good experience. I had a great like Greek life experience. Even though there was obviously like mean girls, bullying, like whatever, you're going to have that at any school age of 18 to 22 year olds, you know. Totally. But I ended up building a really strong community of like girlfriends. I'm still best friends. with two of the girls I lived with in college.

There's still my girls to this day. And I think had I gone to somewhere like UT, it actually would have been worse because the Greek life, I think, is more toxic at other public universities. I think Baylor, because of the religious aspect, it actually was way more tame for the sororities, not for the fraternities, but for the sororities.

So yeah, it was not the most pleasant experience, but it's a story. Yeah, but just on an environmental level, like, of course that like starts to be pernicious and you start to like think these, you start to live in the system of like the whiteness of it all. Yeah, you're like, I obviously didn't have the language we all have now with like assimilation, like learning what it means to be a person of color, all these things. These are not conversations we're having in 2013 through 2017.

I didn't find out what Afro-Latina meant until 2017. I was like, that's me. I just was like, I'm Puerto Rican. And then people were like, you're black. And I'd be like, well, no. And then now I'm like, yes. But then I didn't have that language. So at that time, I was just like, well, if I'm just the best at everything, I'll be accepted, surely.

Sure. I was like on the executive council of my sorority. I was a deansless student. I mean, I went to a private Baptist college. I was like, I, if I just, if I'm good enough, they'll like me. And then I dated this guy in college, though. This, he was five years old than me, which was already a problem in. of itself. You know, if you're 20, don't date a 25. Oh, God. Also, no one, certainly no one

older than that either. You don't know what's weird until. You don't know what's weird until you're out of it. And so he was my TA, so already, bad. Were you attracted to the fact that it felt like a hierarchy? 100%. Well, I, because all semester when he was my TA, I thought we were flirting, but I took it as like, Tee-he-he, this is so fun. This is like a fantasy. This is like he'd a rivalry. It's a thing I'm not really supposed to be doing. You watch something horny about. That's right. Exactly.

You watched cheated rivalry back in the day. Yeah, of course. You knew what happened. I knew what it was. No, it was fantasy to me, right? Like when I would go and I would go back to my girlfriends, I'd be like, oh my God, no, I think he's flirting with me. And then I got really drunk in the summer with one of my friends,

because I stayed in Waco for that summer because I was interning or something. And I got really drunk and I added him on Facebook, because that's the time we were living in. Instagram was not like that. But I, like, stout. his name, his full name, and I added him on Facebook. And then he messaged me asking to take me out because I was no longer his student anymore. And so he was like, well, we can like go on a date. And then we went on a date. And the next day you know, we dated for like almost three years.

I dated from like 20 to 23 till I moved to Portland and then like it kind of fizzled out from when I was living in Portland in the long distance, many of the things. But I sailed as to say, as we were dating my senior year, he is a grad student, he is older, I had to get a fake idea to go out with him because he was embarrassed to take me out. Like, should have known. Wait a minute. Lots of things that you ignore when you are just simply attracted to someone. Right, right. And assuming a lot about that, he's going to take care of me.

Yes. And so we're out one night and he was like, oh, well, you know, my family doesn't like love you. And I was like, huh? I was like, wait, wait, wait, wait. I've met your family I've gone to Virginia to meet them This is before Get Out came out which Was he white?

Yes very much so he's like East Coast family of lawyers Dad went to Georgetown like old money Epstein list like probably He was Epsteinless white So to me I was like this was also exciting Because I was like oh he's like elite Like he's like he's special

You know I'm just a bumpkin from Houston Texas He's like from the East Coast Sure sure culture and so She graded my pain papers. Yeah, literally. And so I, actually, he was a geology TA, which is like, I had to take one lab science. A geology TA?

He brought in the rocks. I don't fucking cares. Literally. And so, but we're out and he's like. Just make sure there's no dirt on this one. To all the geology TAs out there. I'm going to sit in the corner now. We love your geology TAs.

We respect you geology TAs. We respect you scientists. Just not for me. No, but. And I was like, what do you mean? Your family doesn't like me? He's like, well, you're just not like a rich, white, one athlete. And he set this to my face. And then he was just like, and it was nagging.

Of course, now we have this language. We have therapy language now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We have all these words you can overuse. But at that time, I was like, and it was like the first moment that I was like, oh, it doesn't matter how much I try to assimilate. I will never be enough. Like for these, like, I can be the best I got. At that time, I had already landed my job at the ad agency, which is the number one ad agency in the industry. Like, I was like, I was the best of the best of the best in every category. And it was not enough for this family because simply I'd not come from money and I was not white. Do you think it never would have been enough even if they did spend a lot of time with you? Yes. I don't think it would ever been enough because I remember so distinctly, his mom came into town for something, like for work.

And my mom happened to also come in town. And I was like, oh, we should get dinner. And so our parents or our moms met. And I remember feeling so at that time, uncomfortable. comfortable with how loud my mom was and how much of a like Puerto Rican woman she was. And it was because I was like shrinking myself to fit into this space that was so clearly not meant for me. And now I look back feeling so sad that I even ever felt that way looking at my mom. But I know where it came from because it was just like it was so clear the writing on the

wall that I was just never going to be accepted by this person. And I think if I had road in it out, we would have gotten married and divorced. Like, I do think, like, had I not moved to Portland, I would be married and divorced by now. And your whole relationship to, what I think we might be getting at, like, on, like, the pathway to you starting this podcast, is, like, you probably developed a very wonderful sense of,

quote, unquote, like, what the lineage is, right? And, like, how you had both of your parents are also diaspora Puerto Ricans who then went, like, you know, know who now like, and now you go back and like you revisit and you have this beautiful appreciation and this like connection to it. Like you got to root yourself in that. Yes. After this fucking like this thing. It's like crazy to think about my past life in Texas because now I've lived outside of Texas for almost a decade. I moved to Portland in 2017. So I was in Portland for like three years and

I've been here for six. So I've been almost out of Texas for a decade. But it's like I kind of put my, my Texas life on a shelf. I feel like after Cowboy Carter came out, it was like the first time I was like, okay, it's okay for me to be Texas. Like I was wondering how connected you are to Texas now. Yeah, I was very traumatized, I think, from my upbringing. And now I've had enough distance and I've lived out of Texas long enough that I can have a deep appreciation for the beautiful parts of my upbringing. But I'm still never going back. Right.

You know, it's something I'm trying to get my parents out of there. And they've even looked at me. I think when I first moved, they're very sad. And they were like, of course, like, we wish you could just get a job here. But I always knew, like, even from when I was little, like something in me, I was like, I'm not meant to be here. Like, I meant for bigger and better things. I want to achieve this big, grandiose life.

I don't know what that looks like, but I know I can't do it here in Texas. And I think those first few years, they were like, come home. But then when I moved to New York, they were actually like, stay there. They're like, you're happy. You seem like this is where you're meant to be. And they have roots here. Yeah, my mom is, she loves New York. She loves visiting.

She grew up in her summers here in New York because my grandmother was born in Spanish Harlem and grew up in Spanish Harlem and the Bronx. We have family of the Bronx. We have family of Spanish Harlem. So my mom spent summers in New York because she would go visit her grandmother who still lived in New York. But my dad has no connection to New York. He is very like, he is a California dude.

He loves L.A. He misses L.A. Opposites truly attracted. Yeah. He's like, please take me back. if you could pay, if you make enough money, Becca, please retire us in L.A. And I'm like, I hope so. We will get there.

I think people with the right idea think of like California as a retirement decision. My parents are in Florida. And it's tough. Yeah. Because it's like, it's like, you're like, oh, it's so warm and sunny and Disney's right there. But then it's like, it's Florida. Oh, please. The Disney of it all fades right away when you realize that is not the state.

Is your family? Because I know you love Disney, but does your face? family? Are they Disney? The reason that we loved Disney is because we were we, that was the at the time, affordable vacation for us. My family's a Disney family too. And that was like the only vacation.

It is because it's then. Yeah. So now it's not affordable. They're very bald about it being about the bottom line and it's almost better for them to just be honest about it. Then put like a Disney Mickey smile on it and take all the money from the families. But this was not how it was back in the day. The reason

why we were going down there so much and I think one of the reasons why my sister went to college in Florida is because we had like an experience going there once a year and it was of course a warm state. It didn't have the political reputation that it has now. It didn't have sort of We weren't thinking about it like that back then. No it wasn't like that and also

we were young and like I was just excited to go on vacation because we couldn't afford like probably similarly to you like it was not we weren't going anywhere fancy. No and And like basically we, because I grew up fairly poor up until like I was in middle school. Because my mom was a stay-at-home mom up until I was like seven. And she finished her degree while I was like, while she was a stay-at-home mom. And I like went to her college graduation in second grade, I think. And it was after that, it was like a huge change because then my parents became a two-income

household. And my mom became a teacher. And all of a sudden by the time I got to high school, like freshman year, we started to like get to go to Disney. and like go on vacation. But my dad is, he's a very particular person and he likes only certain things

in certain ways. And so the only vacation he's willing to go to is Disney. Wow. So then we just became a Disney family because it's like, the only place my dad was willing to travel to is Disney. What are the things

the particular is about Disney that work for him? I think it's because it's so Americana. Yeah. You know, my dad and my mom are very different diasporican, Puerto Ricans. Like my dad is like very,

he's like, I'm an American. I grew up in California. I love hot dogs and pizza. burgers, he's like, I'm proud to be an American. Whereas, like, my mom, I think she is more enriched in the culture because she actually grew up on the island. But I say all that to say, when we're at Disney, I think he likes the Americana of it all. I think he likes it. It's like, and it's like he doesn't have to think.

A huge part of it. Main Street, USA. And he doesn't have a think. You go and you just, you eat the food. You go on the rides. There's no planning. I mean, it's just like, you just show up. And everything's done for you.

It's the Disney way, the magic. And I think he likes that. Yes. Or at least it was the way. It was the way. I know we went last year and it was. Now you need like the app and you need like all this. It's so much work.

You have to plan for months in order to enjoy a day there. And my mom is, shout out. If you want a Disney vacation, hire my mom. She does do like. Does she really? Yes. Oh, so we could jam out about this. Yes.

No, absolutely. She does all the bookings. My mom's booked all our trips. But she also is like an official like Disney vacation planner. Oh, wow. She retired as a teacher and then became like a little Disney vacation planner. That's really fun. So, and she loves it.

That's a great retirement job. Because she gets discounts to go to Disney. Totally. And like people call up and they're excited about having their vacation. And the fact is it is overwhelming and difficult to navigate. Yeah. And she loves doing that. She loves a plan.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. She's very organized type A kind of woman. Yeah. Back to your mom, though, and about like you feeling embarrassed that, you know, about her volume. Yeah. This reminds me of this thing someone said, I forget who, but it was like, they were talking about the way people talk about movies and TV and just culture nowadays. We're like, I didn't like it because the characters are on. unlikable. And then it's this thing where it's like, the thing you don't like is usually the point.

Yes. And like the thing that we feel shame about with particular parents, because I'm relating to this on some level, like the things that I would be very embarrassed about, like, and you would just have this embarrassment, embarrassed because of white supremacy or whatever, or just living in America, like, I'd be embarrassed about the food that I would bring to school or something like that. And now I'm realizing that's, that's the, like, the reason the food is like, the reasons for being ashamed of like the way our parents behaved or the way like our culture gets brought into these places is the point. Yeah.

That's the great thing. It's the beauty of where you come from because then you're not like everybody else. And there's, I think it takes like growing up to realize that. I think when you're young, you're like, oh my God, I just desperately don't want to be perceived in a way. You're like, I want to fit. Especially when you like already look out of place, right? Like I don't look like any of the other kids.

I am also have the experience that many Puerto Ricans have. where your family just all doesn't look the same because we're from an island that's like so mixed. Like my dad is like very white Puerto Rican and my mom is much more dark skin. But like I am like Afro-Latina. Like I don't look like either of my parents. At least when I was growing up, my hair was much curlier. My hair is like jet black. I was always darker.

I am shades lighter than I grew up because in Texas the sun's always out. So I was very dark when I lived in Texas like my whole life because the same. because the son was always out. Right. So I just looked not like my family. So I think that was like already a problem. Like people used to, which is so fucked up. My mom used to tell me this as like, aha, ha, ha.

And then you think about it. You're like, wow, that's like really messed up. But people used to stop my mom and be like, so it's like Becca's dad the same as hurt your son's dad? Because my brother and I are only a year and a half apart. But he and I look very different. He's got like light brown hair. He's much more fair than I am.

And yeah, people used to ask my mom all the time when we were kids if we had the same dad. And mom's like, they're a year and a half apart. You think I'm crazy? You think I'm just stepping out on my husband like that, eight months postpartum? The comfort that people had asking her that is, yeah, that's very telling. Pretty wild. New year, new goals. And in this economy, a better money plan is more necessary than ever.

I am Matt. And I'm Joel. We are from the how to money podcast. and every week we help you to spend smarter, save more, and make sense of what's going on out there. If you want 2026 to be the year you finally feel in control of your money, we're here to give you the tools and advice to help you make it happen. Listen to How to Money on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. What if mind control is real? If you could control the behavior of anybody around you, what kind of life would you have? Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car? When you look at your car, you're going to become overwhelmed. with such good feelings. Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you?

I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. NLP, aka neurolinguistic programming, is a blend of hypnosis, linguistics, and psychology. Fans say it's like finally getting a user manual for your brain. It's about engineering consciousness. Mind games is the story of NLP.

It's crazy cast of, disciples and the fake doctor who invented it at a new age commune and sold it to guys in suits. He stood trial for murder and got acquitted. The biggest mind game of all, NLP, might actually work. This is wild. Listen to mind games on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey there, this is Dr. Jesse Mills, director of the men's clinic at UCLA Health and host of the mailroom podcast.

Each January guys everywhere make the same resolutions. Get stronger, work harder, fix, what's broken? But what if the real work isn't physical at all? To kick off the new year, I sat down with Dr. Steve Polter, a psychologist with over 30 years' experience, helping men unpack shame, anxiety, and emotional pain they were never taught to name. In a powerful two-part conversation, we discuss why men aren't emotionally bulletproof, why shame hides in plain sight, and how real strength comes from listening to yourself and to others. Guys who are toxic, they're immature, or they've got something they just haven't resolved.

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Follow Sacred Lessons with Mike Delo Rocha and start listening on the free IHeart Radio app today. You just got back from Puerto Rico recordings at these first episodes of the podcast. What was that like? It was so much fun. It was actually kind of an interesting experience because this year, if you had asked me before 2024 if I would go to Puerto Rico five times in a year, I would have like, no way. I would never have the privilege to be able to do that.

But in 2025, I went four times. Wow. Or three times? Three or four. Four. Three. This is my fourth time. Maybe the pinky went up.

Yeah. Because we went for my birthday. Three plus times. We went for my third. 30th birthday, which is a lot of fun. And then we went for my partner's birthday in July. And then I had a good friend that was like, I'm selling my bad money tickets. Do you want them?

And I was like, and it was like, well, we're literally in Puerto Rico right now. Do we book a trip to be back in three weeks? We did. And we came to. It's August? It was August. It was the first weekend of the like non-border local residency. Yes.

Because we ended up there the first weekend of the local residency, not because we had tickets because we just wanted to come for my partner's birthday. And then we tried to get tickets and we couldn't get them. And then at the same time, my friend's like, I can't make my trip. I'm going to sell my tickets. But obviously, I wanted to talk to you first. And I was like, yeah, it's a once-in-lifetime opportunity.

I'm going to buy those tickets. And so I brought my mom for that last trip. So I went three times. And then I just went this past week in January, 2026. So four times in less than a year, I would have never thought in my lifetime that I'd be able to frequent the island like that. It's been such a beautiful, like, healing experience to, like, go to Puerto Rico to network, to, like, build community.

I, like, now have friends on the island that, like, live there. Yeah. And, like, I can see, and it doesn't feel like I'm, like, on vacation so much. It feels like I'm coming home. You have an honest thing, too. Exactly. Throughout the seasons, even though it's, like, this temperate thing all year, but yes. Yes.

And this is my first time going in the winter, which was very interesting because it definitely is colder than you think. It's rainy. It's rainy. There are these things called sand fleas, which I experience. when I went in March many, many moons ago when I was in college, but I didn't experience in them all summer, so I'm thinking, I'm putting my thinking cap on Puerto Ricans let me know, are the sand fleas worse in the winter? Because I am like eating.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's, it's bad. It looks like I have chicken pox. So did you prepare at all for this or do you own-aware? I did not anticipate that at all. I was like doing a photo shoot on the beach and they literally, I didn't even get in the water or like sit on the sand. They were jumping from the sand to bite.

me. Fuck. Yeah. Well, do you identify as someone that, and a lot of people do identify as this, someone that mosquitoes love? Like, some people are like, you do? I do identify someone that mosquitoes love. See, I've been lucky about this.

I have this privilege. What's your blood type? I was going to ask you. Type O. Oh. Oh, I'm O. That's weird. Then you should love you.

Is that a thing? That's what I've been told. My mom has always said that too. Maybe it's an old wise tale. Yes. Positive. I think I'm Oneg. Oh, nag.

I'm O'Nag. Maybe it's O'Nag. So what is it? Is it you guys are the universal donors? Yes. O'Nag. I'm a universal receiver. Yeah, I was what I say.

You're a universal receiver. Any old person can make a deposit. But yes, we're universal donors. But I do think there is something about it. But the Sanflee's are. It doesn't matter who you are. Everyone got Sanfrees. It doesn't matter who you are.

They will eat you up. Capital H-I-M. But this is beautiful. you're going for work. Yes. You're going for personal occasions of like, it's my birthday, it's my partner's birthday. And then before we ask you the question,

like talk about the experience of going to like these, these shows because this album, W2 Ramos Photos is like, oh my God. Historic, gargantuan culture changing album, like the best. Well, you know, so I was there in July, which was like the beginning of the tour. And the energy in the island was like electric.

because it was the beginning of the tour for the residents who live in Puerto Rico. It was before the tours. And a lot of people did ask us, they're like, are you here, like, snacking tickets from locals? And we're like, no, we came because we were. I hadn't even thought of that. Yeah, so this is something that I'm going to tackle in the show,

but it is, there's a lot of tension between Puerto Ricans that are from the island who live on the island and those of us who live here in the states because there are socioeconomic struggles between the two, cultural divides. Like, it's purposeful. the way the government has divided the communities. And I am hoping

with the show to kind of bridge that. But I come up on that. Every time I show up, I am trying to be like, no, look, I might be from the States, but I am here in liberation of Puerto Rico to love and care for this island and respect you, those who are like here because it is hard to live in Puerto Rico. And they were very excited in the summer. I feel like in the summer,

people were like so jazzed about the tour and about what was going on on the island because Bet Bunny did have like a lot of stuff for locals to be able to do. Like he was not only like surging the economy, but he did like have all these events. Like he did like an art gallery at the museum of fine art, like of like this Adidas collection that he did of all these shoes he's designed for Adidas, like archival, ones that have never seen the light of day. He like did this exhibit. He did like in the plaza at El Choli is like the concert hall in Puerto Rico that he performed at. But in the plaza, you didn't have to

tickets to go and experience stuff outside. So there was like food and drink and like gift bags and like photo ops. And so like you could enjoy the show if you couldn't get tickets to the show. And then they would give away tickets every night. Like if you waited in line, like there were like a handful of tickets for those who weren't able to get them to get tickets. So he was doing a lot for the people of Puerto Rico, which is like I don't think people will realize like, yes, it's capitalism. Yes, it looks good for him to be so for Puerto Rico. But I'm like, he really is. doing that. Like he is like for the culture and he's outside. Like one thing I've learned coming back and forth between Puerto Rico, what's the expression? Can you tell me my

partners in the room? Puerto Rico is a twin side day. But how do you say in Spanish? Oh, Puerto Rico is a comma twin. Which means everybody's, everybody's in bed way everybody. I have like and I'm not in. It's bad bunny vibes. Exactly. I have not been in bed because I am loyally monogamous. But what did you say? You said bad bunny is out? He's outside.

He's outside. Everybody knows each other. Like what I've learned going back and forth between Puerto Rico so many times this year is like every like it is a small island. Like it's a powerful. There's like brouherry or something happening that like we're able to like amass such a following and like have community in so many places and like be such a loud voice in such a small place.

Yeah. But everybody does know. I am like one degree of separation from Bad Bunny on like multiple accounts. Like my designer for the show art, which hopefully I'll be able to release this coming week. Well, obviously by the time this episode comes out, the show art will be out. But I'm working with Nanette who did the Choli residency art for Bad Bunny. My good friend, who's gonna be the first episode of the show, Dorel Malendez Barrio and his wife, Aurora Santiago Ortiz. They worked with Bad Bunny to do the visualizers for his album.

And they're academics. They're academics. I am good friends with somebody whose cousin is like one of Bad Bunny's main directors and now we're in contact. We're chatting. So it's like it's crazy. Like he really is for the people. I say he'll say he's outside. He's outside in the community, networking with real Puerto Rican's.

And he is really doing the work. Well, the residency was like. Oh, yes. To bring it back to that. But I was saying it was like it was like, it was practical in the sense that it was like there's, fucking in, there's, there's a violent assault on brown people in the mainland of America. Yes.

I'm not touring there and putting those people in danger. Absolutely. Come to me. Yes. Like that? And it's, I feel like Puerto Rico is a safe haven for a lot of like, um, migrants in the United States who can't go home.

Yeah. Because it is a U.S. territory. So they can legally travel to Puerto Rico and experience like a Latin culture. Mm-hmm. When they can't go. back to their home countries because of their citizenship status or whatever. So I find that very beautiful that because it is like Puerto Rico, yes, they speak English there, but all the signs are going to be in Spanish and Puerto Rico.

The locals do not want to talk to in English. They will look at you with full disdain that you're not speaking in Spanish. And yeah, they are like, it is a fully Spanish-speaking country. I don't think a lot of people understand that. I think they think, well, it's like Hawaii. And it's like, well, that's why he had the song about Hawaii. Because he's like, we don't want to be like, why. We don't want to be a state and then end up with our culture being like American-washed, you know.

But to talk about the shows. Yes. You guys know I'm Beehive Down. You guys know. Of course. But you're about to say something. I'm about to say something crazy. It was better.

It was better than Cowboy Carter. And y'all know I had pit seats for Cowboy Carter. Of course. I remember the lead-up. Yeah. I was in the nosebleets of, of, um, Deby, Tiber. my photos and I had a ball. It was the best concert I've seen in my life.

Wow. It was so much fun. It was like the whole energy in the room, it was like a true party and honestly what was really beautiful about the show, everything was really cheap. Like the food and drink and everything, he did not mark up. They did not mark up for the locals.

They really kept it very affordable because like we go, what do we went to? Madison Square Garden and see Sabrina? We saw Sabrina on Halloween. Yeah, about two drinks. Oh, it was crazy. Yeah, I got two drinks, 50 bucks. Terrible.

You know, I was able to get drinks for everybody who was $50. Yeah, we were with Anna and Fraser. And I think it was like, it was truly like between the four of us. It was like over, it was three figures. Yes. For drinks. It was crazy. Whereas like we were able to feed me, my mom.

I also brought Anna to Puerto Rico for the show. Yeah. I remember that. You guys had a fucking blast. Because we're a producing team. Yeah. I love that you guys have become such friends. Oh yeah.

That's my best. Yes, your girl. It's my girl. But, no, I took her with. and we had such a ball. It was, I did get COVID. I did fully, I will say. I totally got COVID.

Like the concert? Absolutely. Like, I was totally fine. It's nice to get it somewhere memorable. It was like, I got it in Mexico City. Yeah, it was, it was bad. For New York. Because I was like, there's no way this is the flu.

It was like, because I had. No, because you were, you were out. I was like, I was like, 100 plus fever. Like, I was down. Down bad. Yeah. Like, we were at a restaurant and I was like, I don't think anybody believed me. I was like, I'm heading south right now.

They're like, you haven't eaten all day. And I was like, because I am sick. I can feel my body is like actively shutting down. I was, my fever was so bad. I was like, because a lot of Puerto Rican homes are like concrete or tile. I was laying on the tile because I was so hot. Like I could feel myself sweating and like nothing could break my fever. But it was worth it.

It was worth it. It was worth it. For you to sit in the nosebleeds. And because his show is so like, it's the tone of it is so warm and inviting. and it's like a bath. He's like, the fact that he can convey that to you, like up in the nosebleeds

and bring you in, that is, I mean, that he's such a perfect showman. It's such a cool venue because it reminds me a lot of Barclay Center, not that it's easy to get, I don't like going to Barclay Center.

I do enjoy a show at Barclay Center because I do feel like there's not a bad seat at Barclay Center. And similarly, El Choli was like, there was not really a bad seat, but it was very cool because he had two stages, right, But it was cool because where we sat, we were able to see both stages very well.

So I didn't feel like I was like missing out on anything from being in the nosebleeds. Like we were able to see like the main like stage that looked like El Yonke. And then the house stage was the one that was like kind of in front of us. So we couldn't see the front of the house. But the cameras were facing. So like you could see it on the prompter. Yep. The house.

So you weren't missing out on the house. Sure, sure. We were there the day. What's the movie he was in with? Happy Gilmore 2? No, no. The other one, the, the, the, caught stealing.

We were there when the caught stealing people were there. Oh, fun. It's like Austin Butler and like Zodlardt's. Oh, fun. Obviously he did all those interviews after being like, I was high on shit on an edible. Right. He did like, when you were actively watching it,

you're like, oh my God, he's trying so hard to be cool. Like it looked like he was like, yeah, I'm like cool. But instead he was just zonked. And probably like intimately that he didn't speak any Spanish. Because like when the Pereo started. It was great. The way people were grinding in every aisle. To the point, my mom was like, y'all grind.

And I was like, Carol D. Absolutely not. You are my mother. I am not like gonna perreo in front of you. This is not what I was taught growing up. At the end of the day, you raised me in the South. We didn't raise in Puerto Rico. All of a sudden, her burrico came out.

And I was like, love. Orlena and I were like. And you're like, okay, now you see your parent as they. have been as they were all along. I was like, oh, this is who you were. I was like, when you were without my dad, this is crazy. That's fun.

But yeah, it was a time of my life. It truly was like such a, like, eye-opening and heartwarming trip. Because that trip also, we went to La Sala Libre, which was like this project done by Mikey Codero, who's one of the first interviews I do for the show. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're saying.

But he is part of this project called Dasperico, which is bringing, or not bringing, but highlighting the stories of Dasparicans, like those Puerto Ricans and the DASparicans, diaspora that are making a pilgrimage back to the Puerto Rico and building a life in Puerto Rico and kind of highlighting like the struggles but also the beauty of like reclaiming the island and how difficult it can be because you can feel very rejected like I have definitely felt

very rejected. Yeah, this tension between people who are who live there and people who don't. But you have to like kind of build a thick skin and kind of get over it and know you are building something for the greater good of Puerto Rico. I think when I had visited Puerto Rico younger, I was very intimidated by that. I felt very hurt. hurt, but now that I have more knowledge about why the people Puerto Rico feel that way and like what I can do to be, it's almost like gentrification, right? It's like, how can I be of service to this community instead of like actively gentrifying it? And so I think you have to like, with genderification and people being upset with you about being in these neighborhoods, you have

to like take it on the chin and then also be like, how can I actually help? You know, like I have to live here or I have to be here or I want to be here. So how do I not be a parasite to this community? How do I be a part of the good in this community? And so I think I've become more comfortable in my skin and being Puerto Rican. I think if I ever nail down my Spanish, I'll no longer feel like an outsider, but my Spanish is still Massa Menos. Yeah. Well, language is so interesting because I've gone through stages of this with the Mandarin

of it all and like... Do your parents speak English? They do. Yeah. They are trying to, like, like, get me back on the path of like, let's just keep it to Mandarin between us exclusively. And I got to say, going to China this past summer, I was like, ooh, like this is, this is like just the way, this is the means of communication literally.

And of course, that is the most important thing to preserve. It is also something that like is completely on your own pace because your brain is your brain. Yeah. Well, you know what I found out as an adult, I'm. super dyslexic. Really? Yes. And I have severe ADHD,

which I'm sure maybe you guys knew. I didn't find this out until this year. You've never represented yourself as being out of control with your attention at all. Well, thank you so much because all my friends were like, girl, you didn't know? And I was like, no, I was never diagnosed until this year. Not the friends being at brunch being like, funny, I would never think of, I would never think of that. Quite literally every one of my friends was like, we thought you knew. And I was like, wait a minute.

Yeah, yeah. But I'm also severely dyslexic and I found out there is a correlation between like struggle with learning language and dyslexia. Because I've always struggled trying to learn Spanish. I have been taking Spanish classes since I was in seventh grade. I even during COVID went out of my way to pay for like a really expensive program Spanish and Bena. I guess it's not that expensive. But it is like I spend my own harder money to pay for a class as an adult to try to learn Spanish. And I still like I understand it a lot more.

Like I feel like if people are speaking to me, I can. pretty much pick up what you're saying, but I totally freeze like communicating back. This is what I did before this China trip was, there's not an ad, PEPLIE, where it's just like one-on-one video lessons where these tutors are so good, at least the Mandarin ones,

but I'm sure this applies to all the languages. It's like they will very gently guide you back to being like, so you just said this and you actually meant to say this. And then let me write that down in a document for you. And I'll send it up. I will be a little bit like that. I guess, language is hard enough when you are speaking your own. And then I can't even spell in English.

Right, right, right. I often say my words wrong. I didn't even figure out I was dyslexical. I was dating my partner. We were dating probably like a year or so. And I was like looking up somewhere we were going. And I was like reading a street sign. He's like, that's not what that said at all.

And I was like, what? And he's like, are you dyslexic? And I was like, and then I got tested. And I was like, oh my God, I am. Which honestly makes so much sense. I always struggled with like different things in academia. I was like always a really hard achieving student, but I think that was just like my own familial traumas and expectations of me.

That was a different kind of pressure. Exactly. So it was like I succeeded out of survival, but not without intense challenges. And I definitely had remembered flagging to many people being like, I am struggling. Like I always struggled with critical reads, even though English was my favorite class.

And I like always was an amazing writer, but a reader I was always struggling. And so many doctors, though, as a woman, as a woman of color, I think as a child, they just like dismiss you. Of course. They're like, yeah, yeah, but like, you'll figure it out. You have good grades. So, like, there's nothing to worry about. But then in reality, it's like, it's now I'm looking back.

I'm like, oh, yeah. It was so prevalent my issues. There's like a fundamental thing. The other thing about languages, it's this like raw opening, ew, sorry, for people to like, for people to like, for people to like, Assess how much of the culture you are part of. Right. And it's so interesting because you understand it on some level, but it is the thing of like, I don't know.

Like. Well, I think a lot of people hold on to the language because it is so attached to your culture. And so to look at you and you don't speak it, it's like almost to be like the privilege you have to not have, not learn our language because you are in these other space. and you're able to navigate these other spaces. And I think the not knowing English is like also attached to like, not just your assimilation, but like your socioeconomic status, like your ability to blend into these different circles that they do not have the same privilege. So it's like I have much more empathy now to those who have given me a hard time.

But I will say for many years, it was a deep rooted like, ugh, like pain of mine that I don't. did not know and something I like held against my parents for many, many, many years. But now with enough therapy and age, I'm like, they were doing their best, you know? Like, I can't fault them for the choices they made to hopefully give me a better life. You know, it was a conscious choice they made to not teach me Spanish. But it wasn't like out of malice, you know, and I have to remember that. Totally. It's like being a beneficiary of a system or a circumstance that you had no control over. Yeah.

And that you did not design. Yeah. And you, all you can do is just have an understanding of like where it all comes from. And the fact that you're doing this podcast going there, seeking out people who will know, will be able to like fill in a shade of knowledge for you. Yeah. Is like, I mean, this podcast, it's been, I've had this idea for many years. Like, I actually got my job at I Heart because of this podcast in a little, like, circumvent

way. I Heart did this fellowship that our producer on. created called Next Up. About four years ago, I had seen it because I was a listener of the Daily Zykeyes and heard an ad for it. And at that time, I was in advertising still. And I wanted to get out of advertising. It was COVID.

I had these big dreams. I was like, I can't. I mean, it was radicalized by COVID. I was like, I cannot be selling ads for the rest of my life. This cannot be my purpose. This isn't it for me. Yeah. But I had worked on this podcast at the agency I worked at in Portland called Onchigos,

and it was a woman of color travel platform podcast. and it was really fun. We had won an I-Hard Award as an independent show, which was really cool. But I just was like looking back during COVID, all the things I enjoyed doing. And I was like, I liked doing that. I liked curating events in Portland.

None of the things I enjoyed doing had to do with advertising. So I was like, how do I get to do those things? And I knew I had to be a producer of sorts. But then before all that, I hear the ad. And I'm like, okay, I think I'll just pitch a podcast idea. And so I had two ideas. One of them, I'm like, oh, well, that was such a stupid idea. But one of them was this Puerto Rico podcast.

It didn't look the way it looks now. But it was like, oh, a podcast about the history of Puerto Rico. That was like my soft pitch because the application didn't require you to do like a crazy pitch. It was like getting people who are not in the industry to be in the industry. And so I had applied and I didn't get it. And I was so sad. You didn't get the up next. Don't worry.

Don't worry. Because what she had said, because I remember I was talking to you about, I'm pointing to. I don't know. But I had talked to you about Becca, probably like a like six or seven months ago, just about how amazing you are. And she was saying like that you were in the fellowship, but it became so clear that you were overqualified almost immediately. Yes.

So then you became our producer. Yes, because basically I had bullied Anna into hiring me because I was like, this is going to change my life. Is that what happened? Anna thing now. I was like, this is going to change my life. I was like, I know in my heart and hearts like, like this is going to change my life. I need to like figure this out.

So I had applied it and get it. I email Anna. And I'm like, hey, like, why didn't I get it? There was some mistake. Yeah, I was like, I was like, please I'll do anything. And then she was like, you're overqualified. Oh, that's why. But they don't tell you that when you don't get it.

No. See, that would be nice to know. Anna had too many people. She had so many people to notify because then I helped out the next year. I was like, I see. But I was like, okay, well, if there's any way I can, like, work here, like, this is what I dream. And so Anna and I just stayed in conversation for months. and finally she was like, I actually am hiring a part-time producer.

Like, that was the offer. They were like, I've been begging for help. They finally greenlit me to hire a part-time producer. And so I had submitted something to, like, be in contract. And then they were like, you know what, let's just hire you full-time. And then I became your host producer. And were we the first and only show you were producing? It was you and the Daily Zykeyes.

Because I feel like a lot of people, when you're hired on the L.A. team, you end up on the daily Zykeyes. Because it's a well-oil-oil-oil-machine. It's Jack's show, you know, the head of development. And it's, I think, a great intro show for anybody because it's daily. So you really are just like from the beginning having to like be on it, work it, work it, figure out what's going. There's all these moving pieces. So it was you guys. It was daily zeit guys.

And then I had hopped on on a couple shows that like, you know, had one to two seasons. I did Blair Socky show, which was like a lot of fun. I did. Was this 2020? 2021. Yeah, December 2021. I just saw it remember we met you on Zoom. We met on Zoom.

This was the Zoom. Do you remember your first episode of Las Colch? I don't remember the exact first episode, but one of was a virtual with Julio Torres. Oh, fair. Yes. Because at that time, his little, what's it called, location scout was scouting my apartment for Problemista. Oh my God. Yes, you told us.

Because I remember going downstairs one day and I see this little crumbled up note in like the Cinder that we used to prop the door open. She's already very Julio Torres. And I was like, and I clearly nobody else in my building gave a fuck about this like, no, but I was so curious and I was like, what is this? And so I pull it out and it's like this typed out letter that's like, hello, I am working on a project for Julio Torres. And we would love to use the second floor unit of this building.

And I text. This note will now weep and flenkel away. And so, and it was like, please contact whatever, whatever. And mind you, I had like a really kind of like interesting landlord. at that time. He was this older man who was like an ex-cop and like it was a small building. It was like only four units. And he definitely like operated like a cop. You know, he was very much. What? What neighborhood was this is in? What neighborhood was his? Betts type. Yes. Yes. And so it was like a black own building. It was like all black tenants. And so I think he like thought like, well, like I'm,

I'm helping you guys out. You help me. But it was like very like con like between the two of us, this relationship that I was like, why do I feel like I'm like? I'm like, talking to my dad every time I talk to you that I'm like going to disappoint you and that you're mad at me all the time and I can't ask you for anything. It was very strange. And so I knew that he would not bite like doing this. But I texted the second floor because it wasn't my unit. I was in the third floor. I texted the second floor guys because there are these two young guys who I think working in tech and they were smoking so much weed our apartment. Smolling like weed all the time. And but I text on. I was like, yo like they're going to pay you to like run this unit.

You was like, you should do it. Like this is cool. And they never reached out. Yeah. But I could tell that that scene where like what my unit was supposed to be filmed for in the scene based on watching movie. I was like, oh, this scene is in Bedstay and definitely this scene was meant to be my apartment or like my building. Like what like he goes back to the apartment with like all of his roommates. No, no, no. That is the scene with the guy who tries to hire Julio. Oh yes, yes. Yes. To clean his house. Yeah, to clean his house. I see. To clean his house. So yeah. But you're also a Los Angeles Spookies fan. Like you're a whole I'm a Julio fan.

I was like, so excited when I saw that, but I was like, I, it's not my unit. I can't really do it. And I was like, and my landlord is definitely not going to bite about this. I was like, I'm not touching this with 10 foot pole. But I was like, in theory, this is very cool. It's a cool thing that happened to me. And for that to be one of your first episodes of Lost Colts. Yeah.

And then I was like, oh my God, and then the Julio. Because I've been a fan of Julio for years. And before that, I just think he's such a fun and interesting. I love, like, the weird Latino community. I think he represents, like, the weirdos in the Latino community, which I love. Because I was like, I think when you are a misfit in wherever you grow up, you end up leaning in this emo world, which I was like a full emo,

like warp tour going, hot topic, like black eyeliner, tumbler, girl, straight bangs, like emo. I want to meet that, Becca. I want to meet sorority beca. I want to meet Portland, Becca. You did have ares. You had ERIS. You had ERIS tour. Speaking of ERIS, we haven't even asked.

We're shooting the fucking breeze. I know. We got to ask you the question. New year, new goals, and in this economy, a better money plan is more necessary than ever. I am Matt. And I'm Joel. We are from the How to Money podcast. And every week, we help you to spend smarter, save more, and make sense of what's going on out there.

If you want 2026 to be the year you finally feel in control of your money, we're here to give you the tools and advice. to help you make it happen. Listen to How to Money on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What if mind control is real? If you could control the behavior of anybody around you, what kind of life would you have? Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car? When you look at your car, you're going to become overwhelmed with such good feelings. Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you?

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and sold it to guys in suits. He stood trial for murder and got acquitted. The biggest mind game of all, NLP, might actually work. This is wild. Listen to Mind Games on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A new year doesn't mean erasing who you were. It means honoring what you've survived and choosing how you want to grow. It means giving ourselves permission to feel what we've been holding and knowing that it's okay to ask for help.

I'm Mike Dolorotia, host of Sacred Lessons. This podcast is a space for men to talk openly about mental health, grief, relationships, and the patterns we inherit, but don't have to repeat. Here, we slow down. We listen. We learn how vulnerability becomes strength and how healing happens in community, not in isolation. If you're ready to let go of what no longer serves you and step into the year with clarity, compassion, and purpose, sacred lessons is your companion on your healing.

healing journey. Listen to Sacred Lessons with Mike Delo Rocha on America's number one podcast network, IHeart. Follow Sacred Lessons with Mike Delocha and start listening on the free IHeart Radio app today. Hey there, this is Dr. Jesse Mills, director of the men's clinic at UCLA Health and host of the mailroom podcast. Each January guys everywhere make the same resolutions. Get stronger, work harder, fix, what's broken.

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If you want this to be the year, you stop powering through pain and start understanding what's underneath, listen to the mailroom on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.

Becca Ramos, what was the culture that made you say culture is for you? Oh, my God, okay, I have two, kind of leaning into the emo. They're both leaning into the email, and I kind of just mentioned

one of them. The first one is Twilight. So do you mean the books, the movies, the movie's? Everything. All of it. The whole franchise. Stephanie and my name.

was a queen for you. Yes. I, because I was never a Harry Potter. My brother was big, Harry Potter. Even my parents, like, read all the Harry Potter books.

It might be a slight generational thing. Yes. Micro. My brother and I are only a year and a half apart. I think, though, he was an early reader. My brother is kind of, he's very, very smart. My brother's like, stupid smart.

Like math savant, like double major in engineering and math. Like he is like, we're like this. Like, no Venn diagram, oil, water in terms of how our brains work. And so he was like an early, early reader, and he loved Harry Potter. And my parents started to read Harry Potter because they wanted to make sure that, like, the books were like, okay for children. So they read them before.

And then they fell in love with them. But I was like, I tried. I read the first book like three times. I was like, I can't get into it. Love the movies because it's cinema, but, you know, I couldn't get into the books. And now it doesn't even matter because she's disgrace. So I feel. We don't need her anymore.

I feel vindicated, not that Stephanie Myers any better. Is she also bad? Well, she's just like deeply Mormon. And I think there's, you know, it's not as black and white. Understood. Got it. Yeah. You know, but.

What was it about Twilight? I think it is inherently pretty horny for a young girl. Got it. You're reading it and because I actually, okay, do you, do you all know that she wrote another book during COVID? Stephanie Meyer? I think I had heard this and it was not real well received. It was called Midnight's Son and it is a. Sorry, Larson.

Wow. It's a mirror. It's a mirror. of the first book Twilight, but from Edwards' perspective. Oh. And I, during COVID, because we were in lockdown and Chambles, like conspiracy theories are happening on TikTok. We were like, why does Stephanie Meyer have a website up and a countdown?

And sure enough, she was selling the book during COVID. And I pre-ordered it on Amazon just for shits and giggles. And then one day, three months later, it showed up at my door. And I was like, I didn't order anything. I forgot how to order the book. So I read it during COVID because I had all this time on my hands. And then I was transported to like eight or ten, 12 year old Becca and I was like, I should not have been reading this because it is like the power

dynamics at play. It is like as an adult with like a fully formed brain. You're like, no, it's like weird that this 100 year old vampire is into like 17 year old, you know, Kristen Stewart, Bella Swan. Right. Like you've been manipulated by men older than you as well. Yeah. And so you're like, oh. And but like as a child who is like at this time in my life, I'm so like, I'm boy crazy. Right. Hormones are crazy. But also. also no one likes me. So I'm like, I'm hormone crazy. No one likes me.

So I'm like reading this book. And it's like this deep love story where it's like you're convinced this control is love. Right. So you're reading this like codependency. And you're like it's so romantic. He's so enabbered by her. Like he's just like his, her smell is so intoxicating. Like she can't be with anybody else.

You know, as a child, you're like, oh my God, that's romance. And as an adult, you're like, that's fear. To be consumed actually sounds kind of good. Yes. And so I was like, and I think. I also just like really love that fantasy realm. Like I've never been into like sci-fi, but like true fantasy,

like the vampires, which, like that was my link. I liked that type of stuff. Supernatural. Supernatural. Yes. I think super natural. Your girl.

But yes, I loved all the supernatural stuff. And then the movies come out, right? And they're cool classic. I was at the premieres. Like I was Midnight Girl, team Edward. Wow.

Like aggressive team Edward. Maybe I just had a crush and Robert Pattinson. People look back fondly on those movies now. Like, even Robert Pattinson recently said he'd do a sequel. I take a rewatch every fall. Wow. Of all of them?

Of all of them, because it's fun, especially Twilight, specifically. Because Twilight was an indie production, and it is a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun to what? Remember those soundtracks? Alex Betzavis, music supervisor from the OC, Grace Anatomy. Incredible soundtrack. Quitelightly American Mouth. Yes.

Absolutely underrated. So good. Underrated soundtrack. And like, mind you, this is also then connected with Hot topic, every flood's hot topic. Because you know, paramour's in the soundtrack. Of course. Wait, is Hop Topic your second culture? Well, no. Hot Topic was just where Twilight lived.

You're talking back to the mall. Yes, talk about the mall, that culture, being emo. You know, I think if you were like in the, if you were Twilight heavy, you were also very emo. It was just kind of, and then my second culture, Tumblr. And, and you were deep on the Tumblr edits. You were deep on the shirtless Edward. Oh, yeah. Bella, this is the skin of a killer.

I remember. I remember an image of him. like walking out into daylight that broke the internet. It was one of the first examples I remember of the internet breaking. It was like a leaked image of Robert Pattinson with no shirt walking out of I believe

some sort of cathedral or church into the sunlight and everyone was like can we breathe? I don't think anyone would be breath. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't breathe. I was obsessed. You loved him. You were team Edward. I was team I were down. I did not give a fuck about Taylor Lautner. I was like my friends were, I think, Team Jacob, but I was like, I'm Team AdW.

Because, like, the romance was between Edward and Bella. Like, if you're reading the books, the actual love story, love, love story is between the two of them. So I think I was very romance by the love. It would be like being like, I like Gail in the Hunger Games. It's like, we all know Katness and Peter are going to be like having PTSD together when they're old. Exactly. But when you say Tumblr culture. Oh, yeah.

Do you agree with the following statement? Tumblr had monoculture or do you agree with this statement, which is Tumblr was different lanes and we were all in our different. Was that the beginning of like the algorithm where it's like we all have our special corners of the internet? What do you think it was all streamlined in one? That is a hard question because I do think it's a little bit of both. Yeah. I think as Tumblr became more mainstream, it did become like there was. was a idea of what Tumblr culture is and Tumblr aesthetic.

But I think at the beginning, if you were on in like 2010, like I was, then it was very silo, which it's almost like why I think gravitated TikTok when TikTok kind of took off. Because it was kind of feeding your algorithm. And same thing with Tumblr was like, I was following these blogs that like were like these different fandoms that I enjoyed and I was reposting. I was reblogging those things. But I also was like riding on Tumblr. Like I was never Tumblr famous. But it was like a true outlet for me as a young kid.

I am left-handed, so I'm not very good at writing. I was never taught properly to write. And I think my undiagnosed ADHD, I had a hard time pen to paper. My brain was moving faster than my hand could. So I would type. I would like write intense stories on Tumblr. Like more like biographical memoir, like journal entries. But like I was a journaler on Tumblr.

I was writing, writing, writing, a heartbreak, like all. these different things going on. Do you still have access to it? Oh, yeah. You do. Oh, yeah. Only I think I've shared with one or two people my whole life, my Tumblr. Like, I'm like...

Do you know it? You've seen it? He's special enough. But it took years and I was dating for me to give it to him. Like years. Beautiful. I told him I was like... That's opening your heart.

When you open your Tumblr, you open your heart. That's real culture number of 30. When you open your Tumblr, you open your heart. No, it was... Because it is like 14-year-old me sobbing on the keyboard about like my first love, you know? Like it is like intense the things I would write on there. But yeah. And fan fiction on Tumblr.

And fan fiction on Tumblr. Right. Reposting it is like the key thing on Tumblr that I think, uh, or resharing. What was it called? Reblogging. Reblogging. I'm sorry. I mean it's all the same shit.

They all, all the tech companies re made the same terms. They are re-reeing. They're re-rearing. They're re-reting the repost. Retweet. But re-blogging was interesting because what said Tumblr apart from I want to say like blogger or like like MySpace or let's throw it all the way back to fucking Zanga. It's like, oh, there's a way to like proliferate what one person puts out there, whether it's an image,

meme, video, anything. Yeah. Like Tumblr kind of like gave the right like delivery system for like what would come in like TikTok and then regressively somehow Instagram, how Instagram became like Snapchat and TikTok. Also, but on Instagram now you have the carousels or like doing the screenshots which are basically the re-blogs. Literally some of them are screenshots of re-blogs on Tumblr. Because on Tumblr, I think the beauty of it other than other forums was like when you re-blogged, you could like add your own little clip to it and then that goes viral. The notes and yeah, all that.

All the notes. It's like, oh my God, you got 80,000 notes. Like, she's crazy, but never me. I was never fine. How hard did you pop off? Honestly, I was like, I kept that shit to myself. I liked Tumblr. I think in the way that I enjoyed TikTok for a while, that it was very like, uh,

I could hide behind it. Like, people didn't know my Tumblr. Like, it was like, my Tumblr wasn't your profile. It wasn't your face. Right. It was like, you know, whatever my Tumblr URL was and like whatever I wanted. I could be whoever I wanted in this blog space. So I liked the anonymity of it.

And that's how I viewed TikTok for me because I wasn't following people back or anything. I was just, like, reposting whatever in my own feed. And I liked the anonymity of like I could have content without following anybody. I could just be fed things that I enjoyed and like no one needs to know that I'm on TikTok similar to the way I was on Tumblr. But I guess me asking those two separate questions earlier is like I'm not, I'm still, my thought is like

Oh yes. Tumblr feels so romantic because it's like TikTok is purely I mean a mess. It's a mess and it's, but it's cool but it's also like completely individualized in the algorithm and sometimes there's moments of like There's not a lot of community on TikTok where there is community or was on Tumblr

But I think with Tumblr That was also really interesting Is yeah you have these monocultures where it's like The Lana del Rey's Yes The skinny like The Red Pills skinniness of Tumblr Like where you were like being fed

To be like Thighap culture And like all these days If you were a girl on Tumblr It was like depending on what side of Tumblr you were on Really rough Like because your-Dap started on Tumblr Oh 100%.

And I was like Luckily I mean Now I am a very crevacious woman and I am proud of that. But I wasn't growing up and I was naturally very, like, tiny. Like I was very skinny. So I didn't fall susceptible into the skinny culture, but because I was already luckily a beneficiary of it. And I do think if I was the size that I am now then,

I would have been wrecked. Sure. But that was, that was Tumblr culture, like the dancing, the skinny girl, the ballet. Like the goal was to be as like slender. an emo and like cigarette. Like I wanted to smoke a cigarette so bad because of a Tumblr,

but I like, to have my deep anxieties. I was like, I can never pick one up. Being the kind of person that you were in high school, no, because your parents could never have found out

you smoked a cigarette. No, I'd be murdered. That would be the worst thing in the world. But I wanted to. I wanted to be cool. I wanted to be like Lana Del Rey's cigarette smoking girl. Are you a Lana girly? Oh yeah.

I was a Lana girly. Absolutely like that. And I feel like I was Lana a little bit after the mark because I was so emo for so long on Tumblr. Like I was like deep hair or more. I was like in these bands that like were touring Warp Tour like May Day Parade and like I don't even know other like um black parade uh my chemical romance panning at the disco

were like hey like that was my world were you aware of Katie Perry when she was on Warp Tour? I went to Warp Tour and Katie Perry was at Warp Tour. That was a lot of fun. Yeah. And then she like I mean she was with 303. 3.03. Her whole first album, not first album because the first album was the Christian one under Katie. Hudson. But then the first album is like...

One of the boys. I was there. What's the other ones? A cobra starship. No, Cobrasherstarchet. Is that good girls got bad? With Layton Meester. I was going to say, late Meester. Wow. No, that was me for a long time.

And then I probably hit the Lana streak when I got to college. So what is that like ultraviolence era? Yeah. Yeah. Like, um, ultraviolence. What is it? Cherry Cola. My pussy tastes like

Terri Cola. My eyes are wide like cherry pie. Love that. I was in, I saw her at, Austin City Limits. Oh, ACL. That's cool. Because I was an ACL girl

for all a college. Because like if you're in college, I think it's a right of passage. If you are a college student in Texas, you have to go to ACA. So when we discovered Lana Del Rey on this podcast, you probably were in the corner like, Jesus.

Fucking Christ. I was like, I was on some random dude. shoulder because my boyfriend at the time abandoned me to go to a Texas Baylor football game. Different boyfriend, by the way. But I literally, we bought Texas ACL together as a unit, me, him and his roommate. And they were like, Becca, we got to go to the college football game. And I was like, we're here for ACL. And they're like, we're just going to go to the game and they won't meet you later. Of course there's no service. It's like a different era of phones. Yeah, yeah. Totally. I phoned dead. Couldn't access anybody. Didn't know how I was going to end up,

where I was going to end up. And so I was just like, well, I can't have anxiety about this now. I'm just going to go to Lana Del Rey. I run there some man who flew in to ACL because he had like, he was like a festival junkie. He had all these festival respans. He saw me standing there and my little five to ass, couldn't see shit. He was like, do you want to get my shoulders? And I was like, yeah.

So I saw Lana Del Rey on some random, I think British man's shoulders who was kind enough to let me see the show. And that man was Robert Patton. And if only it was Robert Pattinson, a dream, a broken dream. And I bet you that this fucking guy and all of his friends couldn't tell you a single thing now about what that fucking game was. No. No. You're not going to, don't ditch ACL for a game. Yeah.

I mean, so the podcast comes out February 3rd. Podcast comes out February 3rd. February 3rd is the day. And so, like, how many episodes do you have? Like, where are you at with it? I know. It's a big deal. This is a big deal.

I mean, like I had said. this idea came into fruition in summer 2021. And I had put it away for a long time. And then as I became a better producer and I felt really confident in my skills, I was like, okay, I think it's time for me to redevelop this idea. And I did and I pitch for a long time

and now we're here. And obviously now four years in the making is incredible. But February 3rd, I already have four episodes done. The first episode is going to be narrative. It's going to be very vulnerable. It's going to be me telling me. story. Why am I making the show? Biographical. But from there, it's going to be talk show. So I have three talk show episodes recorded in Puerto Rico. It was very important to me to come back all the way to

that question to record the first few episodes in Puerto Rico because I want the listeners to understand this is a diasporic experience and that I think as a New York, as someone who is Puerto Rican lives in New York, it's very easy when you say you're doing a show about Puerto Rico that people assume It's about New York-Iraican culture because New York is such an important piece of Puerto Rico. But I wanted this to be a bridging of the diaspora. So I wanted it to be intentional, to be shot partially in Puerto Rico

to show that, like, I am coming there, I want to bridge this gap, I want people to know that this is what it's about. And I interviewed Jorrell Melendez Barrio and Santiago Ortiz. They're both professors, authors, incredible folk to talk to. We talk about a little bit about the history,

the connection of the states and of the island. And then also we get a little bit into the connection between Puerto Rico and Venezuela. I know that's hot topic right now. We're not going to get into that on this podcast. But there is... Or this one. But I do it.

I do think... This is what I wanted to start talking about it. No, but it's even outside of like the current events of it all. There is historically a strong connection between Venezuela. Puerto Rico. And Jorrell is a historian. I want him to talk about that because I was like, it's so

relevant right now. Like, people need to know. I didn't know. And then the second episode is with Ali Marie Fuwera, and she is a writer, like a culture writer, but she has lived in the diaspora between she went to grad school here at NYU and I think somewhere in Boston, or no, not at NYU,

but she went to grad school in New York. I think. upstate and then also in Boston and now lives in Puerto Rico. She's doing a boozy book club in Puerto Rico where she's trying to like build community on the island. And she's also just so smart. She's so funny. She taught me about the socialist college in Puerto Rico.

I had no idea existed. It's like one of the only publicly funded universities or schools because I think she went there from like middle school through college. It's one of the only publicly funded schools in Puerto Rico. And it's also the only socialist school. So it's like one of the only schools that talks about liberation of Puerto Rico. That's amazing. Like history of Puerto Rico, a lot of the schools state side and in Puerto Rico do not talk about Puerto Rican history.

And that's purposeful because the less we know, the less angry we are for the freedom and liberation of Puerto Rico. So Ali and Marie was great. And then I talked to Mikey Cordero, which I already talked to you guys about. And all the amazing incredible activism work he's been doing. But he's also from Bushwick originally. So he's like kind of like. slowly throughout his life, rebuilt this connection with the island.

He grew up spending summers in Puerto Rico. And then eventually he, like, became a part of this giant activist artist group in college and then just stayed in Puerto Rico. And, like, well, slowly was, I think, spending more time split between New York and Puerto Rico. Now he lives fully in Puerto Rico. But, yeah.

That's amazing. I mean, these are also, these are also, like, 360 narratives on diasporic experiences within the Puerto Brican community where it's like, it just, it comes just radially from all angles and it just converges back very beautifully, like, on the island where you got to talk to them. Yes. And what I really wanted to do with the show, I wanted to show that, like, kind of filled a gap I needed growing up where I felt very, even though I was fully Puerto Rican, I never had a question about being Puerto Rican, because I had two Puerto Rican parents. But I think just being somewhere where there is no Puerto Rican culture, I did feel very removed. I felt almost like I think a lot of mixed race kids feel where you're,

You're like, I'm neither this nor this. Like, I'm living here, but, like, I'm clearly othered by everyone around me, but I also don't feel like Puerto Rican enough. And so selfishly, I, like, build this podcast to meet really dope. Puerto Ricans doing really incredible shit for the island, for the community, for the liberation of Puerto Rico, and just, like, highlighting what they're doing and, like, the incredible art they're making. And, yeah, and then I get into, like, their patio stories, which are, like, moments that

they felt like they really connected with their identity. Like the first time they recognized they were really Puerto Rican. I feel like mine, one of the examples I have is like, I was asked to be in this quince when I was 15 by this person who was Dominican. We were not friends. Like she was a classmate of mine and we both knew we were like Latino, but we weren't really friends. This is in Texas?

This is in Texas. And so she was like, I want you to be my kinsengh because she didn't have enough people for her kinsai. But then like in joining her kinsay, I got increasingly bull. for not being Puerto Rican enough. And I'm like, you asked me to be here because you needed more bodies and now your whole family's gonna bully me

for not being Puerto Rican enough. So then we're in the hair salon getting our hair done for these Kiena photos, which mind you, being a part of Kinsei is like being in a wedding. And I did not know that because this is my first Kinsei. And so then I was like, okay, now all of a sudden my parents are mad

that we're spending all this money to be in this woman's Kinsea that we don't really know, this family that we don't know. And I'm texting my mom because these women are ferociously bullying me 14. Oh, fucking good.

And in Spanish also. And I recognized it because my mom also chose to speak in Spanish when she didn't want me to know something. So I was like, the tone I'm hearing is making fun of Becca. So I'm texting my mom, like, holding back tears. Like, everyone's being fun of me and I don't speak Spanish.

And then she comes, she's like, where are you? And so she comes barreling in and she's like, nobody will make fun of my child for not being Puerto Rican enough for not speaking Spanish. And she's yelling at everybody in Spanish. Or I think she started yelling at everybody English and she's like, and I can yell at everybody in Spanish because I speak both languages. And so then she started yelling at everybody in Spanish and then she pulled my little ass out of there.

And then she looked at me later and was like, you don't have to do this. If you don't want to be in this quince. You don't have to be in this quince. And so then I didn't. I went to warp to her. And saw Miss Kate Hudson. And I probably did see Katie Perry. Katie Perry.

But yeah, that was like a moment where it was like, okay, being Puerto Rican was like very important for this story. And so I wanted to hear more stories from other Puerto Ricans of the Daspora that were like, what was a moment that was whether it was silly or serious or whatever that really rooted you in your identity and made you like the Boricua you are today? And then, yeah, and then they give me recommendations of other art and cool shit that Puerto Ricans are doing. I ask at the end of every episode, I like want to hear from them like, who do you think is really cool? Like give me a recommendation of like a book you're reading and artists you're listening to an exhibit you're going to so that the listeners can also like find this other stuff.

And also I guess before that, there's a Chisme corner called Gaye Bon Chinche, where I just asked him to bring in a little bit of like chisemay, whether it's serious or not. That's how we kind of talked about Venezuela because when we recorded that, I had just landed right after they had closed the airways of Puerto Rico. They had closed for 24 hours, you know, because of everything that happened. And so I was like, well, the perfect person to have on to kind of talk about this. And so we talked about it a little bit. One of the guests we had talked about, her chisemay was actually like her piece.

She was like, I'm not in the chisemay and that's actually my chisemay, which was like a really interesting take. And then we, on one of the episodes, talked about Romeo Santos on that New York Times podcast. And I won't get into it here because I get into it plenty over there. But yeah, so it can be as like serious as Venezuela or as, as I. As silly as like, you're protecting your peace and you're like, I'm not going to be in the mix. Of course. Because at the end of the day, Puerto Rican is a sweet inside bed. So you got to be careful.

There's enough drama. There's enough drama. Anacoma twin. That's how, that's, I love it. No. It's like I started like when I found out that expression, I started asking everybody I saw that week. And they're like, oh yeah. And you're like, so who have you?

And they're like, we're proud of you. So proud of you. This is so cool. Thank you. This is awesome. I mean, it's so validating to like. hear that from you guys, kings of podcasting. We love you.

And also to be here, to be given this seat to talk to you guys is like, I couldn't be more grateful. Honestly, like, I big-brained it was like, I can only do this when I feel. As the perfectionist I am, I was like, I must wait till the perfect time to release this podcast. And I do feel like now more than ever, even though this podcast has been in my mind for four years, the Bad Bunny really did like put Puerto Rico on the map in this way that kind gave a lot of opportunity to the people I'm interviewing to be the platforms they are.

Because a lot of the people I'm interviewing have been doing this work. And because of Bad Bunny, they now have a new platform to like high tail their work to the world. And I'm so excited to be a part of that movement to be a part of those conversations. And selfishly, I'm like just really grateful to be making, you know, a lot of new friends. And like meeting Puerto Ricans and they're making me feel at home. They're making me feel like I have this extended family because I didn't grow up with a huge. extended family. We were pretty removed from my extended family. So it's been like really beautiful to build this like new kind of family. Yeah. That is beautiful. Congrats on like

doing this thing. It's also like you're gonna enjoy every second of it because it is your interest. It's your culture. It's like it's it's just perfect. Yeah. I'm very excited. I'm very excited. I'm very excited for you guys to listen. I know. We can't wait to listen. It's happening. It's coming February 3rd. February 3rd, baby, but you can watch the trailer and listen to it out now. Listen to you. You're already doing this. I think you're many. Well, you know, it's funny. It's almost like you've been producing.

It's almost like I've been behind the scenes for years. No. You can ask my partner who helped produce the episodes we did in Puerto Rico because we couldn't book a studio space because everyone was on vacation. Because if you know anything about Puerto Rican Christmas is the longest Christmas of any country. It's like a month long. And I did not take that a new account when I went to Puerto Rico to try to capture some content because I had never visited Puerto Rico during the winter. And I was like, no, everyone's truly like, check the fuck out. They are like not doing anything. So my gracious partner, who is a video editor and producer by trade, set up our whole

set up in like two different Airbnbs for us to record these episodes and make them happen. They're not going to be fully on YouTube, but they are going to be clips and all that stuff. But that first episode, I was so nervous, y'all. Like, there's going to be a lot of editing in that first episode because I was like, bleh, but. We all do it. We all edit. We all do it. We got to edit. But I feel much better now. Now I'm here. Now you're here. The heart part's over.

You started it. I started for you. The hard part's over. Yeah. But I'll still be here, guys. You're listening. And she'll still be here. I will still be producer Becca of Los Angeles.

I'm not letting that go. No. New year, new goals. And in this economy, a better money plan is more necessary than ever. I am Matt. And I'm Joel. We are from the how to money podcast. And every week, we help you to spend smarter, save more, and make sense.

of what's going on out there. If you want 2026 to be the year you finally feel in control of your money, we're here to give you the tools and advice to help you make it happen. Listen to How to Money on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What if mind control is real? If you could control the behavior of anybody around you, what kind of life would you have? Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car? When you look at your car, you're going to become overwhelmed with such good feelings.

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A new year doesn't mean erasing who you were. It means honoring what you've survived and choosing how you want to grow. It means giving ourselves permission to feel what we've been holding and knowing that that it's okay to ask for help. I'm Mike Dolorotcha, host of Sacred Lessons. This podcast is a space for men to talk openly about mental health, grief, relationships, and the patterns we inherit, but don't have to repeat.

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Hey there, this is Dr. Jesse Mills, director of the men's clinic at UCLA Health and host of the Mailroom podcast. Each January guys everywhere make the same resolutions. get stronger, work harder, fix, what's broken? But what if the real work isn't physical at all? To kick off the new year, I sat down with Dr. Steve Polter, a psychologist with over 30 years' experience, helping men unpack shame, anxiety, and emotional pain they were never taught to name. In a powerful two-part conversation, we discuss why men aren't emotionally bulletproof,

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One of the things characteristic of Los Culture Reast's episode is, of course, I don't think so, honey. So this would be your first, I don't think so honey. This would be my first, I don't think so honey. So let's just like, if you forgot for some reason, we'll demo it. Of course, of course. It's a 60 second segment in which I don't think so honey gets said and it gets meant about something in culture. And I got something because, you know, we got to get into it. We got to get into it.

This is Matt Rogers. I don't think so many that the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world is at Six Flags Cadilla City in Saudi Arabia. So I'm not going there. I'm not going there to go do that and that's a shame because I am interested in it. It is over 600 feet tall is 155 miles per hour.

The layout of the roller coaster actually goes into the natural cliffs in the region. You have to go online and just low-key incognito mode if you really don't want to support. But just take the POV of it and watch people doing it. It's fucking insane

and it's in Saudi Arabia. So I'm not one of those people that's going to be like shoulder shrug, let's go. I ain't going. But I will say, 15 seconds. It looks like quite the ride. And I don't think they're going to be able to one up it. Because I don't, it is a bespoke coaster built into the landscape. So I guess, you know, if that's for you, go off. It's not for me. I'm watching from home. And I'm disappointed about it. Because I would like to rocket ship off, blast off, warp, tour. Into a cliff.

That's one minute. Have you seen it? I've seen it. It hasn't won a Guinness Booker World Records? It doesn't even a... It's clear away. It looks crazy. I have to look this up now.

It's completely absurd. And this is my heights to go that far. Of course. This is my thing with coasters, though. It's like we're plateauing. Once you hit a certain threshold of like speed, heights, drops, whatever, it's like, it's basically the same as Veloccoaster. So then what happens is, what you need to do is you need like your bespoke elements in order to make these things extra special.

In this case, it is a bespoke element in the landscape in Saudi Arabia. So we can't be going there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I would say, like, I don't know, I guess I look to like the Alps now. Yes. They must build a coaster into the Alps. You take the Yeti ride at Disney. You sure.

Yes. Expedition Everest. It is just a faint whisper. Still will never understand fear of horror movies, love of roller coasters. One is clearly more scary. I don't know. Like, I think sometimes it's just the idea that I'd be trapped in a room watching something so I can't move. What about the idea that you were on a speeding vehicle that people sometimes die on? But I think what's scarier would be being in that country.

We're not talking about that. I'm talking about just people are afraid of roller coasters understand because something is happening to them physically. Can I say something? We're more likely to die right here right now than on a roller coaster. From anything?

No. On a roller coaster, I am protected. On a roller coaster, I am, it has actually been battle tested. These things are like, you know that for an order for a roller coaster to run, it has to do something like a thousand continuous hours without incident. And so it's like how they say like when you're on a plane, you're actually safer than you are in a car

because this is something that has been proven, tested, and more to be safe. Otherwise, it would be crazy to let it run or put it into action. So you are safer on the Veloccoaster than you are walking the streets of New York. But is that like new regulations? Because I feel like growing up being in Astor World and Waterworld, they were definitely not safe at all. I mean, Astro World got tearing down.

Well, yes, I think that, what was it? Welcome to, it was, there's, there was a, there was an HBO Max documentary a couple years ago about a particular water park, which was like known for like,

if you want to get hurt, come here. Yes, I know what you're talking about. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't remember where it is, but yes. Action Park. Action Park. Action Park.

Thank you. So basically it's Action Park and it's, it's kind of an interesting documentary because it's just like bodily injury was almost a surety. Yeah, it was a day-to-day. Yeah. But that's not how it is at these big ones.

I bring this up to sort of synthesize all of this and say, I don't know of people who've died from watching a horror movie. And I think you're safer watching a horror movie than you are. You got me there. You got me there for sure. This is why dialogue is so important. Yes. Because you got me there.

But I will say I do feel like I'm going to die more when I'm watching, Welcome to Derry. Okay, I have not watched Welcome to Derry. Yeah. So all my friends decided to watch, to put on It Welcome to Derry the other day. And I was like, okay, well, you want to do this more than hang out with me then. Because I am leaving. And they were like, okay, see.

Yeah, we do. And I was like, all right, fair. It was Stephen Dave and Jared. And I was just like, you guys really picked the show over me. They were like, yeah, we want to watch it. I was like, okay, I guess I'm abnormal here because I will have a heart attack watching this. I will see myself out. And I think I went home and watched like, I don't know.

Maybe I tried to watch Beverly Hills this season and was like, this is boring. It's rough. Every opportunity like this is an invitation to enjoy the genre. Weapons doing well at awards. Weapons was really great. It's an invitation to enjoy the genre. Well, I told you, I did watch it by force

because the person in front of me on the plane was watching it. You didn't watch it. You didn't hear the sounds. You didn't hear the sounds. See, and that makes me feel like the sounds are like... No, the soundtrack was released. There's just one moment where... I've heard the soundtrack is...

One moment where the sounds are terrible. Yeah. What is it? The face stabbing? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not even the face stabbing. Not even Whitmer Thomas. See, I know the other thing you're talking about.

Something else, right? I just can't. I mean, hereditary still haunts me. Little diva head come off. Little diva head come off. Fucking love that movie. Like, you actually can get your little diva head come off merch on the store. It is an evergreen item.

Until 824 or Susa. Yeah, right. Which at this point. Why not? Come. Are you ready? I'm ready. This is going to upset people in this room.

Oh, shoot. This is Bowen-Yangs. Or they'll feel validated. Oh, God. Can I only go one or two ways? Yeah. This is Bowen-Yangs. I don't think so honey.

His time starts now. I don't think so honey, toxins. How can you be so cute and so damn loud? So damn loud at the same time. It's such a fucking. Raw deal, isn't it, that the cutest dog breed there is, in my opinion, is also so easily angered, so damn cute, and yet so fucking loud that I would go crazy and go into psychosis. 30 seconds. There was a beautiful dachshund named Nut that I knew in college.

G-N-U-T, Nut. So cute. And then I realized, oh, he's crazy. Chicha, she's the most beautiful dog I've ever met. She's a legend and more. I actually, I don't find Chita to be that. She's bad. She's very well-behaved.

And yeah, you guys as the owner knows, you know something besides me. Everyone in the room. This is the, this is the, this is a bad legend. Torturous tension of dachshunds is that they're so adorable. But fuck are they loud and so, so, so tough. The scream just really hits you primarily. You're like, I need to stop. No, okay.

I'm not upset with you because you're not wrong. Yeah. I made the mistake of getting a dog's in. And now it's become my personality. But if you ask my partner, he doesn't forget to remind me every day that we made a bad choice with love. I'm so sorry, you guys.

We love Cheecha. She is our tyrant. She is our overlord. She runs the house and she has a lot of rules. What you do today? What are the rules? She doesn't like it when one of us is traveling or if we travel at all and we drop her off at daycare.

She hates daycare. and she makes everyone at daycare hold her the entire time because she doesn't like to play with the other dogs because they're beneath her. Oh my God. She also just, I think is sad and she's like, I need someone to cuddle with me 24-7. If I'm doing my makeup for too long, like today,

she will start circling me and then barking at me because I'm not sitting, she can't sit in my lap. She's like, you're already beautiful. Yeah, she's like, you're already beautiful and you're taking up my time, which is for my lap. So she doesn't like it when I'm spending too much time. doing, getting ready. She doesn't like it when it's too loud.

So like at daycare, they sent me a video of her barking at all the other dogs for playing too loud. Like they're doing too much. She doesn't like it when either of us travels. She'll be like a real like bad dog when we're one of us is gone. Like she'll just start acting out like barking like crazy, being very reactive. She's a bad legend. Yeah, she's a bad legend.

And then famously lately, the crazier thing, because now I have two dachshunds. One of them is good. for the most part. He's a full-size, standard wire hair. His name's Jack, and we adopted him. I hoped its name was Cheecho. I know. We only kept his name because it seemed like he really

responded to his name. Because we got him as a puppy. He was like eight months when we found him. You can't change the name on the door. Yeah, I was like, it seems like he really learned Jack. So I was like, okay, we have Jack and we have Cheecho. But I will say behaviorally, the full size are much better than the minis. The minis are the bad dogs.

But they're so cute. They're so cute. But Jack is a little bit more dense than Checha. Checha's so smart. I don't mean him to be smart. Well, I was going to say they fight over this one bone often. And Cheetah's now gotten so smart. She'll like rile Jack up and act like someone's at the door and start like barking like,

oh my God, someone's at the door. And so then Jack will be like, oh my God, someone's at the door. And he'll start running to the door. And then Checha will turn around. Like she'll like run with him to act like, oh yeah, we're chasing the. door and then she'll turn around and swoop the bone. Cheetah for Trader Season 5. Yeah.

No, she would be a perfect addition to traders because she is. Oh, she would be jamming out with Lisa Rina and Candice right now. She would have big plans. She's so manipulative. Because Jack, he just wants to do good. He just wants to be loved. He just wants to be pet. And he's a little demanding for sure.

Doesn't seem like a German dog. Right? Just so like. And Cheetah is particularly loud. You're not wrong. Like specifically, I've been told by many people like for a doxin. Checha is loud. And people think she,

because her bark isn't just loud, but she has like a big girl bark. Like behind the door, people open up and they'll be like, what the fuck? Like that's what was barking? Like we thought a big dog was there. And it's just like a little 14 pound,

three inches off the ground, big pawed little thing. She's Sabrina Carpenter. She's Ariana Grande. A little package big voice. Yes, exactly. So you're not wrong. Bowen.

I respect your choice. Well, we know that Checha is, I don't think so honeyying all the time. She absolutely. She's never letting me not know what's going on. It's time for you to, I don't think so, honey. This is a moment in time. Are you ready? I'm ready. I'm nervous. I don't know why, but I'm ready. Okay. This is Becca Ramos's. I don't think so, honey, her time starts now. I don't think so New York City apartment. Okay. I have lived in the city for six years and I don't know if the landlords are scared of Mondami and they're making it harder for you to get an apartment. But I have never in my life had such a hard time finding an apartment than I am this year in 2026. I've already applied for two apartments. and been declined. One of them said my guarantor didn't make a hundred times the rent, which is crazy. And then the second one,

they were like, you have two dogs, absolutely not. After I had put a deposit down, which meant they should not have shown an apartment to anybody else. They considered other people and let it go. And they told me I was a perfect candidate. One apartment told me that I was approved and then declined.

Like, it is insane out here. It's also crazy that, like, it's expected that in one month you're supposed to find an apartment. move, pack your shit, and like whatever. It's crazy because other places, they know. The landlords know three months in advance that you are leaving that place.

So they should put the market three months in advance. That's my own thing. You're overqualified. That's why. I'm overqualified. I can't believe they took a deposit and then. Two places have taken a deposit for me and declined the apartment. They did to give the deposit back.

But the second one, they're being a little shady about it. But luckily I put on my credit card so again like cancel the payment. That's real. Yeah. It's like, and they all these. these landlords are trying to be, or maybe not landlords, but the realtors are trying to be like, yeah, this is no, this is no, that great. And I'm like, no, that's the law now. That's the law. That's the law. Thanks, Chio said. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. It was insane. It was inhumane

beforehand that I had to have three times a rent just to put down on this apartment. Don't act like you're doing me a favor now that I don't have to do that, but then you're also not giving me apartments. Yeah. It's crazy. It's absolute fucking hell. I'm so sorry. I'm so, I will find a place. But, Yes, you will. It's insane because I have lived in Texas in an apartment and I've lived in Portland Oregon in an apartment. And obviously, I'm not even balking about the price point. Those are different cities.

We live in New York. We live in a New York price point. I don't even care about that. It's like I could find an apartment like sign a lease three months before my lease was over, you know? Because it's like, you have to tell the landlord, hey, I'm moving 90 day in advance. And they're like, okay, cool. Assuming that they would, they do with that information is put it on the market.

No. They know which apartments are going to be available in three months, and yet they will not release them until the month before. And it's crazy. It's crazy. Because it's like, how is it expected that I'm supposed to hopefully find an apartment by January 1st to move in on February 1st? Like, in that month, you have to then pack your stuff, get rid of stuff, move. Yeah.

It's insane. But you know what? As a result of this, I don't think so, honey. You're getting a mansion. Someone give me an apartment. Please in Brooklyn. We're moving you in. We're moving you into Gracie Mansion.

That'd be gorge. I'm like, I just need someone to let my two dachshunds in, please. One loud, one good. I know they're loud, but they're cute and they are good. And they will love you fiercely. Just let me let them in. As we love you fiercely. And we've so loved to this episode.

I mean, just like, I know that this is going to make the readers tickled pink. And February 3rd. February 3rd, welcome to a barrio stream on all platforms. And right now you can tune in on IG. You can find us at Welcome to El Barrio on TikTok. And you can find me at Bex-Ramos wherever you can find me. And the Tumblr is out there somewhere. And my Tumblr, if you find it, honestly, congrats.

If you find it, you deserve to read it. You deserve to read it. You deserve to read it if you can find it because it's not under my name. So I'd be shocked. I have Googled myself many times. It hasn't come up. So deals ironclad. Don't keep Googling yourself.

Stop that. Can I give you it? Like if you would trust. To trust. Because I was what, featured on Daily Zikeyes years ago, like when I first joined podcasting, and I had the audacity to look myself up on Reddit. And I made one comment about a pop star that I'm sure everyone can assume. And it wasn't even that bad.

I apologized immediately. It was like, don't come for me. And then it was like, she hates women. So I know better. I will not be Googling myself after this venture. now that I am a public personality, I will never Google myself again. Welcome to the fray.

You're just in time. Just in time. We end every episode with the song. My pussy tastes like Pepsi Cola. My eyes are like cherry pie. For more of that, listen to Lada Del Rey. You should have already. You should have already.

We've been, we've been, this is day ones. We've been day ones for Lana. Bye. Bye. Las Culture Rees is this is production by Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and I Heart Radio podcasts. Created and hosted by Matt Rogers and Bowen-Yang. Executive produced by Anna Hosnier and produced by Becker-Ramos. Edited and mixed by Doug Bain.

And our music is by Henry Kavirsky. Hey, it's Joel and Matt from How To Money. If your New Year's resolution is to finally get your finances in shape, we've got your back. Prices, they're still high and the economy is all over the place. But 2026 is the year for you to get intentional and make real progress. That's right. Yeah, each week we break down what's happening with your money, the most important issues to focus on,

and the small moves that make a big difference. Kick off the year with confidence. Listen to how to money on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What if mind control is real? If you could control the behavior of anybody around you, what kind of life would you have? Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car?

When you look at your car, You're going to become overwhelmed with such good feelings. Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you? I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. Mind Games, a new podcast exploring NLP, aka neurolinguistic programming. Is it a self-help miracle, a shady hypnosis scam, or both?

Listen to Mind Games on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Dr. Jesse Mills, host of the Mailroom podcast. Each January, men promise to get stronger, work harder, and fix what's broken. But what if the real work isn't physical at all? I sat down with psychologist Dr. Steve Poulter to unpack shame, anxiety, and the emotional pain men were never taught how to name. Part of the way through the Valley of Despair is realizing this has happened, and you have to make a choice whether you're going to stay in it or move forward.

Our two-part conversation is available now. Listen to the mailroom on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. A new year doesn't ask us to become someone new. It invites us back home to ourselves. I'm Mike Delo Rocha, a host of Sacred Lessons, a space for men to pause, reflect, and heal. This year, we're talking honestly about mental health, relationships, and the patterns we're ready to release. If you're looking for clarity, connection, and healthier ways to show up in your life, sacred lessons is here for you. Listen to Sacred Lessons with Mike Dellerooch

on the IHartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.