Podcasts opening the door for more Utahns to tell their own communities' stories

SALT LAKE CITY — There's a cliche that "everybody has a podcast" — your friend who majored in communications, that guy next door who is obsessed with bitcoin, even your mother's dog's friend's owner.

But for Utahns of color, the growing accessibility and popularity of podcasting is a way to highlight their own communities in a media landscape where their stories and experiences have too often been ignored, or only explored on a surface level.

In fact, 2021 data shows that audio listenership is growing in Black, Latino and Asian audiences, with audience engagement coming from not only representation but also content that connects with those communities and comes from "trusted voices with similar backgrounds or that have similar interests."

"Our ancestors were storytellers, and it comes down to every one of us to tell these stories," said Michael Tan, co-host of the "Behind the Lavalava" podcast. "It's how we are going to keep educating our children and the next generations."

For Gonzalo Peña, the strength of his podcast, "InnoLatino," and a spinoff newsletter has been found in tapping into his own culture.

"That was a bit of a risk because I envisioned myself in the past as being very technical," he said. "But actually, what is attracting the readership is knowing more about me as a human being and my culture, as well and sharing about my own family in Venezuela."

'We'd like people to know who we really are'

"Behind the Lavalava" explores the beauty and complexity of Samoan culture and life from the perspectives of both homegrown Pacific Islanders and those with Samoan heritage who were raised in the U.S. The cast, a group of veterans, met each other through the Marine Corps. Long before they started recording, the group spent hours having informal discussions while online gaming together.

"We were already talking about topics like fatherhood and the Samoan community — topics that people don't like to talk about. I wanted to bring that to light instead of keeping it to ourselves," Tan said. "The podcast, for me, it's very real and authentic. At the end of the day, we go our own ways, but we're still ourselves. We're not going up there and creating an other, two-face persona of ourselves. We're still the same people: your average father, your average brother."

The Samoan term "lavalava" is both a rectangular piece of clothing that is worn like a skirt or kilt and an idiom that means "cut from the same cloth." Although "Behind the Lavalava" mainly caters to the Polynesian community, cast member Johnny Sualevai said the cast talks about a range of things: "Every controversial topic you can think of and every lighthearted topic."

The podcast has also been a good way for the cast to adjust back to civilian life and discuss topics that they haven't seen discussed in their communities. Sualevai and Tan said it's made them closer as a group and helped them form more connections in Utah's Polynesian community.

"Starting a podcast, you start to say things that make you vulnerable. It's not easy being vulnerable to the public, especially when your family and friends are listening," Tan said. "What we see on social media, there are actually people out there who say, 'Thank you for doing this. This is something that we're going through. We can relate to it.'"

The feedback hasn't all been positive, though, especially when the podcast touches on issues facing American Samoa. Some friends and relatives who still live on the island argue that the podcasters shouldn't be discussing those issues when they live in the U.S.

"But we've also had, like, 'Finally, somebody said it' because sometimes the way the culture is in American Samoa, they're more concerned about their outward appearance of the family as a whole, and a lot of things get swept under the rug," said Sualevai, who was born in American Samoa. "So us saying it openly, a lot more people are resonating with that."

He added that the podcast is also important because it presents authentic, first-hand experiences of Samoans and challenges a lot of the misconceptions or ignorance regarding his community.

"We have a stereotype in the media as being large, aggressive people or very friendly, very family-oriented. A lot of it is all true, but to get into the meat and potatoes of it, we'd like people to know who we really are from a more personal stance," he said.

'We're not alone'

Frengy Alvarado immigrated to Utah five years ago from Venezuela out of fear of political persecution. He and his family ended up in Utah by chance. He soon realized that there wasn't a type of mass media directed especially to Venezuelans in Utah and opted to create "Panas en Utah," a news platform tailored to Utah's Latino community. The term "Panas" translates to friends.

"We made it because we thought we were alone here," Alvarado said in Spanish. "We created the first (Venezuelan) Instagram account in Utah, and we grew to 3,000 followers in a month and a half. That's when we said, 'Oh we're not alone.'"

Alvarado launched "Panas en Utah," on Instagram, but it has grown to other social media platforms and a podcast, where Alvarado shares interviews with Latino leaders in Utah and tips for navigating life in the Beehive State.

"A lot of people believe in myths, and we try to break those myths," he said, pointing to misconceptions about certain immigration processes within the Latino community as an example. "What we say on our podcast is that we're trying to break communication barriers and ruin the business of misinformation. A lot of people know our community is not well-informed, and they take advantage of that and build businesses off it. Our job is to inform people so that this doesn't happen."

Alvarado said the growth and impact of the account have been bigger than he expected. Alvarado ran "Panas en Utah" for two years with money from his own pocket while he was working a full-time job. Today the account has 100,000 followers on Instagram alone and Alvarado says it's become a multifaceted business.

Although podcasts are a way for minority communities to share their own stories, Alvarado said they don't excuse mainstream media — where he said Latinos don't appear as often as they should — from telling stories from diverse communities.

"We need help," he said. "The Latino community in Utah has a very small presence — we're a minority — but it needs inspiring Latin media. We have a lot to give, but because people don't know us, we're not taken into consideration."

'So many good stories among our people and our culture'

Peña's "InnoLatino" podcast focuses on the trifecta of innovation, diversity and leadership — three topics he thought would be particularly relevant for the Latino community.

Peña said Latinos in Utah and across the country are having a "leadership crisis," referencing the fact that despite being the largest ethnic minority in Utah and the U.S., Latinos are largely absent from leadership circles in many industries. For example, Latinos hold only 4% of Fortune 500 board seats, and only a handful of Latinos serve on school boards across Utah.

That lack of representation has pushed Peña to feature over 50 highly successful guests on his podcast from a variety of fields, ranging from a former NASA engineer to one of the stars of Disney's "Encanto."

"There are so many good stories among our people and our culture," he added. "I think it's time for us, and society in general, to pay attention to these aspects of our culture instead of the social diseases that we have, which are not unique to our people. They are present in white society as well as any other type of culture."

Peña hopes that by highlighting these stories he can help the Latino community, especially younger generations, have a wider view of career possibilities.

"I wanted to let local Latinos see themselves more than what they see here, because, in my opinion, the examples of success and leadership in our big organizations are very few within the state, so I purposely look outside the state for that," he said. "Sometimes it takes someone that has some type of link with you to let you know about your own potential. ... If I can contribute to letting others see their potential, I think I did my job."

One of the most rewarding parts of running "InnoLatino" for Peña has been hearing from listeners who have been inspired by the podcast, including those who aren't Latino.

"I don't care if you come from Mongolia, Hungary, Germany, Cameroon, South Africa, Latin America, Mexico or Canada — you have a past that has become your heritage, that has given you many tools for you to be a great human," he said. "Let's look for those positive things in our communities and the communities around us And let's stop thinking about stereotypes and see the individuals as part of a positive whole."

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