Mary Beltrán, "Latino TV: A History" (NYU Press, 2022)

In this episode, our host Lucila Rozas discusses the book Latino TV: A History (2022) by Mary Beltrán. You’ll hear about: A brief trajectory of the book and the conversations on global studies of media and communication with which this book engages; The concept of cultural citizenship and its relevance to study Latino TV; How the author puts together the traces of the history of Latino TV, especially in the cases when it was difficult to find information about the series that were not preserved/archived; What has changed in the 2000s-2010s that led to the inclusion of more Latinx people in TV roles in front and behind the camera; How the diversification of latinidad identities in the TV shows is related to race, class, and gender through specific characters or forms of storytelling; The importance of Latino(a)(x) representation in the US TV industry and the potential limits of representation and visibility; The role of Latinx activism in the 1960s and 70s and the legacy of public television on today’s media landscape; Some recent developments on Latino TV after the publication of the book, particularly given the ongoing writers’ strike in streaming television. About the book The first-ever account of Latino/a participation and representation in US English-language television, Latino TV: A History offers a sweeping study of key moments of Chicano/a and Latino/a representation and authorship since the 1950s. Drawing on archival research, interviews with dozens of media professionals who worked on or performed in these series, textual analysis of episodes and promotional materials, and analysis of news media coverage, Mary Beltrán examines Latina/o representation in everything from children’s television Westerns of the 1950s, Chicana/o and Puerto Rican activist-led public affairs series of the 1970s, and sitcoms that spanned half a century, to Latina and Latino-led series in the 2000s and 2010s on broadcast, cable, and streaming outlets, including George Lopez, Ugly Betty, One Day at a Time, and Vida. You c