Alana Casanova-Burgess is host and producer for La Brega: Stories of the Puerto Rican Experience. She was previously a reporter and producer for the Peabody award-winning national public radio show On the Media from WNYC Studios and for The Brian Lehrer Show. She has been producing audio journalism for the past decade, and her work has also been featured in The Guardian, 99% Invisible, Throughline, The New Yorker Radio Hour, Latino USA, and elsewhere. In 2021, she was part of a team that won the Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award for Blindspot: Tulsa Burning. In 2018, she was a Livingston Awards finalist for her reporting from the island after Hurricane Maria. She has roots in the Caribbean, Brooklyn, and at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.
Shows:
Alana Casanova-Burgess appears in the following:
'La Brega' in Puerto Rico
Friday, February 25, 2022
How la brega illustrates the Puerto Rican experience.
The Meaning of La Brega
Friday, February 25, 2022
Defining la brega and what its ubiquity among boricuas really means.
The Good Life Begins In Levittown
Friday, February 25, 2022
How a suburb sits at the border between the American dream and a Puerto Rican one.
8. Snow In The Tropics
Thursday, January 06, 2022
Futuro Media Group
In this special holiday episode: during the early 1950s, the children of Puerto Rico were invited to an icy winter spectacle. What did it mean?
8. Nieve en el trópico
Thursday, January 06, 2022
Futuro Media Group
En este episodio navideño: durante cuatro años seguidos, los niños de Puerto Rico fueron invitados a un espectáculo de invierno. ¿Qué significaba?
Deferring Student Debt... Again
Wednesday, December 29, 2021
As the Biden administration again delays collection of student debt, progressive politicians and activists say he's ignoring the equitable economic benefits of cancelling student loans.
CDC Cuts Recommended Quarantine Time as US COVID Infections Reach an All-Time High
Wednesday, December 29, 2021
Is the policy change about jobs and the economy, or about public health?
CDC Cuts Recommended Quarantine Time as US COVID Infections Reach an All-Time High 2021-12-29
Wednesday, December 29, 2021
Is the policy change about jobs and the economy, or about public health?
The Whitewashing of Reggaeton And Why J. Balvin's Apology Falls Flat
Wednesday, December 29, 2021
Artist J. Balvin received a ton of backlash after he received the Afro-Latino artist of the year award from the African Entertainment Awards.
Favorite Movie Moments of 2021
Tuesday, December 28, 2021
We walk listeners through some of our favorite movies of the year with Rafer Guzman, film critic for Newsday and Kristen Meinzer, culture critic and author of How To Be Fine.
Petroleum Spill In Hawaii Contaminates Drinking Supply For Thousands 2021-12-28
Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Petroleum levels in the water are said to be 350 times above what could be considered safe for drinking.
Petroleum Spill In Hawaii Contaminates Drinking Supply For Thousands
Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Petroleum levels in the water are said to be 350 times above what could be considered safe for drinking.
A Trucker Faces 110 Years in Prison Because of Colorado's Mandatory-Minimum Sentencing
Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Truck drivers are threatening to boycott the state of Colorado over mandatory-minimum sentencing laws there. Rogel Aguilera-Mederos is facing 110 years in prison after a deadly crash.
Omicron Today: This Year in Pandemic Policy
Monday, December 27, 2021
What is the federal government doing to mitigate spread of the Omicron variant and the past year's policy choices that got us to this point?
Study Finds Women Denied Abortion Access Fare Worse in Life
Monday, December 27, 2021
The Turnaway Study by Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health found that women who were denied an abortion fared worse in numerous aspects of their lives.
The Toll of Fibroids on Black Women
Monday, December 27, 2021
Black women are more likely to have fibroids and experience painful symptoms from them than white women.
Omicron Today: This Year in Pandemic Policy 2021-12-27
Monday, December 27, 2021
What is the federal government doing to mitigate spread of the Omicron variant and the past year's policy choices that got us to this point?
What is With the Cult of Resilience?
Monday, December 27, 2021
As the pandemic continues, are we wrong to feel that there’s been a major failure by the systems meant to protect us?
When Snow Came to San Juan
Friday, December 17, 2021
How did children in Puerto Rico have a “white Christmas” – and why? WNYC’s Alana Casanova-Burgess reports on a delivery of snow to the Caribbean, and what it means to Puerto Ricans.
What the Census Revealed About Puerto Rico
Friday, April 30, 2021
Host of La Brega, Alana Casanova-Burgess, joins us to explain why so many people are leaving Puerto Rico.
