Does the idea of listening to political news freak you out? Well, don't sweat it. The NPR Politics

Podcast makes politics a breeze. Every episode will break down the day's headlines into totally

normal language and make sure that you walk away understanding what the day's news might mean for you.

Take a deep breath and give politics another chance with the NPR Politics Podcast,

available wherever you get your podcasts. From NPR Music, this is Alt Latino. I'm Felix Contreras.

Yes, we're still on hiatus. We're still rethinking the podcast, and while we do this, we thank you

for your patience. We'll have something for you very, very soon. Hang tight.

In the meantime, we're diving back into the archives. And this time, our newest intern,

Vita Dadu, spent some time digging around and came up with the theme for this week's show,

Mexican regional music. That's a catch-all term used by the record industry to cover a variety of folk forms, basically anything that's not pop music.

And this week, we're going to turn to the style that's associated with cowboy hats and accordions.

Corridos, rancheras, Conjunos, and Ahujas.

You know, I played drums for my uncle's Conjunto in Northern California when I was in high school,

and playing with those guys really opened my eyes to the musicality and history behind what I just considered older people's music.

Its history goes back most famously to the Mexican Revolution in 1910,

when Corridos were like musical newspaper reports

about what was going on in other parts of the country in that first great social upheaval of the 20th century.

There is, of course, lots more to the history, but you have enough background info now to take a listen

to these two archive shows. And to introduce them, let's throw it to Vita.

Take it away, Vita.

Thank you, Felix.

The ensemble music we know is Mexican regional

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