84: Penelope Alvarez Is the Mother of a Queer Teenager

“Pride and Prejudice” (January 6, 2017)

The new One Day at a Time gets major points for focusing on a Latin family, for successfully re-inventing a Norman Lear classic and for giving us another reason to love Rita Moreno. Most important for this podcast’s purposes, however, is its nuanced handling of teenage Elena’s coming out. This week, Tony Rodriguez joins us to discuss how this story arc is more interesting for having put the spotlight not on Elena but on Penelope, her mom, who is liberal but is still having trouble accepting her daughter’s sexuality.

Listen to Drew’s new 80s music podcast, Deep Cuts and Superficial Wounds: Mixcloud •  iTunes •  Stitcher • Libsyn • Google Podcasts

Listen to the episodes of Tony’s podcast featuring Gloria Calderon Kellet, Isabella Gomez and Ariela Barer.

Watch the the episode of The Muppets Show that got Rita Moreno her first Emmy.

This episode’s outro track is “Cuba” by the Gibson Brothers: Apple Music • Amazon Music • Spotify