Hi, it's Terry Gross. Somehow, we're almost at the end of 2025. It's been a rough year for a lot of people

and for NPR and all public radio stations because of the elimination of all federal funding for public media.

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much. This is fresh air. I'm Terry Gross. Today we continue our end of the year series featuring some of our favorite interviews of 2025. This is an interview I recorded last September.

If you're not familiar with the comedy of my guest, Christella Alonzo, I think the best way of introducing her is with a clip. But first, I should set it up.

Christella is Mexican-American,

the daughter of Mexican immigrants. Her mother was living in Texas, undocumented, and pregnant

with Christella, her fourth child, when she left her abusive husband and raised her four

children on her own. Christella grew up in a Texas border town. This clip, like much of

...