Happy 2021, Sugar Fans. This is Amory Sieverts, producer emeritus of the show, and I have a sweet

treat for you. So as a dear sugar listener, you know how we explore things like identity and belonging

and trying to make sense of things like love and loss, triumph, and tribulation. And now our home station, WBUR, has partnered with Futuro

studios on a brand new podcast that does just that. It's called Anything for Selena.

Host Maria Garcia takes listeners on a deeply personal journey into the life and legacy of

the Mexican-American pop star Selena Quintanilla.

She shares how Selena's music and unapologetic sense of identity helped her find her

own place in the world. And it explores how Selena's legacy continues to spark important

conversations around things like race, class, and body politics.

Today, we present to you the very first episode of Anything for Selena.

And let me just say, I am so excited for you.

So here it is. Enjoy.

Produced by the I-Lab at WBUR, Boston.

If I was somehow asked to say only one thing about the place I'm from, it would be that it has this unforgettable smell when it rains. It's slightly floral, but mostly it's this very specific,

cool, earthy desert aroma.

And there's usually a calm, clear breeze, which carries these concentrated little pockets of fragrance.

Oh my God, there it is.

The smell comes from the creosote bush, a resilient plant that thrives only in this particularly

arid landscape.

Especially after a thunderstorm, the creosote bush releases a bunch of these oil compounds

into the air, stuff found in citrus, rosemary, pines,

and it just smells like the earth exhales.

...