Alana Casanova-Burgess

Alana Casanova-Burgess Enlarge

(Tanya Barrett/Courtesy of the author)

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:

Hawaii, Puerto Rico and "Disaster Capitalism"

Thursday, August 17, 2023

A look at the disaster capitalism occurring in Maui in the wake of last week's wildfires, as well as the parallels between Maui, Puerto Rico, and other areas affected by tragedy.

Bonus Track — Songs for the Future of Puerto Rico

Thursday, April 13, 2023

Futuro Media Group
WNYC Studios
Introducing the La Brega album: a collection of classics featured in the series, covered by RaiNao, Xenia Rubinos, ÌFÉ, Ana Macho and more. Plus, a conversation with Balún.

Comment

'La Brega: El Álbum'

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

WNYC host Alana Casanova-Burgess discusses the new album spinoff from season two of our podcast, 'La Brega.'

Comment

8. “Olas y Arenas” — The Beaches Belong to the People

Thursday, March 23, 2023

Futuro Media Group
WNYC Studios
Puerto Rico’s beautiful beaches are an integral part of Puerto Rican life. They’re rapidly disappearing.

Comment

8. “Olas y arenas” — las playas son del pueblo

Thursday, March 23, 2023

Futuro Media Group
WNYC Studios
Las hermosas playas de Puerto Rico son una parte integral de la vida puertorriqueña. Están desapareciendo rápidamente.

Comment

Graphic of a ship with people on and around it

7. "Vamos Pa’ Plaza" — The Center of Everything

Thursday, March 16, 2023

Futuro Media Group
WNYC Studios
Because going to the mall isn’t just going to the mall.

Comment

Graphic of a ship with people on and around it

7. "Vamos pa’ Plaza" — el centro de todo

Thursday, March 16, 2023

Futuro Media Group
WNYC Studios
Porque ir al mall no es solo ir al mall.

Comment

Astronaut in space with Earth behind them and palm trees surrounding them

6. “Boricua en la Luna” — The Moon’s Distance

Thursday, March 09, 2023

Futuro Media Group
WNYC Studios
What if the first person born on the moon was Puerto Rican?

Comment

Astronaut in space with Earth behind them and palm trees surrounding them

6. “Boricua en la luna” — la distancia de la luna

Thursday, March 09, 2023

Futuro Media Group
WNYC Studios
¿Qué pasaría si la primera persona nacida en la luna fuera puertorriqueña?

Comment

5. “Las Caras Lindas (De Mi Gente Negra)” — An Ode to Blackness

Thursday, March 02, 2023

Futuro Media Group
WNYC Studios
One of the best-known salsas of all time, the song is a love letter to all Black people and Afro-descendants.

Comment

5. “Las caras lindas (de mi gente negra)” — una oda a la negrura

Thursday, March 02, 2023

Futuro Media Group
WNYC Studios
Una de las salsas más conocidas de todos los tiempos, la canción es una carta de amor para todas las personas de piel negra.

Comment

Introducing La Brega Season 2, the Puerto Rican Experience in Eight Songs

Monday, February 27, 2023

Anna talks with La Brega host Alana Casanova-Burgess about season two of her dual-language podcast that explores the culture, history and spirit of Puerto Rico through its iconic music.

Comment

4. "I Wonder if I Take You Home" — Freedom in Freestyle

Thursday, February 16, 2023

Futuro Media Group
WNYC Studios
When Lisa Lisa asked the question, she inspired an entire generation of young women to start talking.

Comment

3. “Suavemente” — The Merengue War

Thursday, February 09, 2023

Futuro Media Group
WNYC Studios
When two cultures — and two musical genres — collide, who wins?

Comment

3. “Suavemente” — La guerra del merengue

Thursday, February 09, 2023

Futuro Media Group
WNYC Studios
Cuando dos culturas — y dos géneros musicales — chocan, ¿quién gana?

Comment

2. “El Gran Varón” — Who Was Simón?

Thursday, February 02, 2023

Futuro Media Group
WNYC Studios
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?

Comment

2. “El gran varón” — ¿Quién era Simón?

Thursday, February 02, 2023

Futuro Media Group
WNYC Studios
Esta salsa épica relata la historia de un padre y su hije y sirve como un cuento con moraleja, pero ¿para quién?

Comment

Introducing La Brega: Season Two

Friday, January 27, 2023

An introduction to season two of the podcast "La Brega," which explores the music of Puerto Rico.

La Brega Is Back

Thursday, January 26, 2023

Season 2 of the podcast is out now. 

Comment

1. "Preciosa" — The Other Anthem

Thursday, January 26, 2023

Futuro Media Group
WNYC Studios
How Rafael Hernandez’s defiant ode to the island binds Puerto Ricans across the diaspora – and paved the way for Bad Bunny.

Comment

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