Alana Casanova-Burgess is the co-creator, host and producer of WNYC Studios’ La Brega: Stories of the Puerto Rican Experience, hailed as one of the “Best Podcasts of 2021” by The New Yorker and The New York Times.
Previously, Casanova-Burgess was a reporter and producer for WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show and the Peabody award-winning national public radio show and podcast On the Media. In 2018, her extensive reporting from Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria led to her being named a Livingston Awards finalist for the On the Media special “After the Storm,” which looked at recovery and media coverage. .
In 2021, she received an Exceptional Journalism Award from the Women’s Media Center for her work on La Brega. She was also part of a team that won the Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award for Blindspot: Tulsa Burning, a six-part podcast co-produced with The HISTORY Channel about the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 and history of racial violence in America.
Casanova-Burgess’ audio journalism work has been featured in The Guardian, 99% Invisible, Throughline, The New Yorker Radio Hour, and Latino USA, among other radio shows and podcasts. She is an alumna of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, where she now serves as an adjunct. She has roots in the Caribbean and Brooklyn.
Shows:
Alana Casanova-Burgess appears in the following:
Thursday, February 02, 2023
This epic salsa tells the story of a father and his child as they face questions of gender and identity, serving as a cautionary tale — but for whom?
Thursday, February 02, 2023
Esta salsa épica relata la historia de un padre y su hije y sirve como un cuento con moraleja, pero ¿para quién?
Friday, January 27, 2023
An introduction to season two of the podcast "La Brega," which explores the music of Puerto Rico.
Thursday, January 26, 2023
Season 2 of the podcast is out now.
Thursday, January 26, 2023
How Rafael Hernandez’s defiant ode to the island binds Puerto Ricans across the diaspora – and paved the way for Bad Bunny.
Thursday, January 26, 2023
Cómo la desafiante oda a la isla de Rafael Hernández une a los puertorriqueños en toda la diáspora y abrió el camino para Bad Bunny.
Thursday, January 19, 2023
Introducing a new season!
Thursday, January 19, 2023
¡Presentando una nueva temporada!
Friday, September 09, 2022
By
Alana Casanova-Burgess /
Jessica Gould : Reporter, WNYC News /
Jenny Lawton : Managing Editor, WNYC Studios /
Emily Botein : Vice President for Original Programming, WNYC Studios
By some measures, New York City has the most segregated school system in the country. Four high schools in Brooklyn are focussing their hopes for change on an unlikely target: sports.
Friday, September 09, 2022
By some measures, New York City has the most segregated school system in the country. Four high schools in Brooklyn are focussing their hopes for change on an unlikely target: sports.
Friday, July 15, 2022
The new HBO Max documentary “Menudo: Forever Young,” traces the rise of the group while also delving into the darker history of how its young members were treated by their managers.
Friday, July 15, 2022
Last weekend, 31 year old Elijah Muhammad was found dead in his cell at Rikers Island jail in New York City. It's the 8th death at the facility this year.
Friday, July 15, 2022
Americans are moving abroad to places like Bali, Mexico and Vietnam in search of lower costs of living. But what is that doing to the costs of living for people already living there?
Thursday, July 14, 2022
The federally mandated hotline is set to go live on July 16, but is it ready? We hear about its potential, and the challenges facing it.
Thursday, July 14, 2022
Poor water management and a growing population is drying up Utah's Great Salt Lake, which could have health impacts on the local area as toxic dust is kicked up from the dried lake bed.
Thursday, June 30, 2022
After the Jaguars compete in the city championship, students and coaches ask: was it all worth it?
Friday, June 24, 2022
In 1970, Captain Susan Struck challenged an Air Force rule banning pregnant women, or women with children, from serving. Her story has important lessons for reproductive freedom today.
Thursday, June 23, 2022
What does it mean to lead a team in an anti-racist way?
Thursday, June 16, 2022
How did the schools in the John Jay building become divided in the first place?
Thursday, June 09, 2022
How things went when the athletic programs in one large school building in Park Slope, Brooklyn merged, and issues of equity were brought to the surface.