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Latina to Latina

Remix: Why Cristela Alonzo's Drive to Make It Is Deeply Personal, Part 1

Latina to Latina

LWC Studios

Latinas, Lantiguawilliams, 519788, Aliciamenendez, Society & Culture, Latinos, Entrepreneurship, News, Hispanics, Entertainment News, Business

4.7624 Ratings

🗓️ 11 August 2025

⏱️ 23 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

As a latchkey kid growing up in San Juan, Texas, comedian Cristela Alonzo dreamed of leaving her border town and seeing the world. In this emotional two-part episode, she tells Alicia how her childhood aspirations made her the black sheep of her family, and how she needed to put those dreams on hold, first to care for her sister’s children, and then, her ailing mother. Through it all, music and television – from the Backstreet Boys to the Golden Girls – was her "connection to the outside world." She writes about it all in her funny and moving new book, Music to My Years: A Mixtape Memoir of Growing Up and Standing Up. Follow Cristela on Twitter and IG @Cristela9. And buy her book, Music to My Years: A Mixtape Memoir of Growing Up and Standing Up. If you loved this episode, listen to Gina Brillón, and Sasha Merci and Dee Nasty for more on comedy. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

Transcript

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0:00.0

so happy to share another specially curated batch of episodes featuring some of the inspiring women we've had on the show.

0:12.1

And I had always been this good kid, and I always did what my mom told me, but I knew that I wasn't going to stay.

0:20.7

So the final moment, when she realized that I was going to leave,

0:24.1

she gets down on her knees. She begs me not to go. She's crying. Don't go. Don't go. Like,

0:30.8

you're breaking my heart. I remember telling her, I'm like, this thing is bigger than me. It's bigger than

0:35.7

all of this. It's like it's just bigger.

0:39.5

Her Netflix comedy special lower classy made us laugh, mostly at ourselves. And now,

0:45.3

Cristella Alonso is giving us an intimate look into her life with her memoir, Music to My Years.

0:51.6

We talked about so much, the conversation takes up two episodes. In this first part,

0:56.4

Christella tells me about the loneliness of her childhood and the heartbreak of caring for her mother.

1:01.4

In next week's episode, we'll talk about the come-up and finding herself through comedy.

1:05.5

I will admit, even though we are friends, there was still so much to learn about this funny woman I know and love.

1:16.0

Christella, congratulations on becoming the first Latino to Latina guest to earn a second episode.

1:23.2

Oh, is that right?

1:26.3

Man, add it to your list of accolades.

1:28.9

You know what?

1:29.9

I am tired of cleaning up the shards of glass from all the ceilings I keep breaking.

1:36.9

Oh, my God.

1:39.2

Oh, hashtag blessed.

1:40.8

Hashtag blessed.

1:43.7

Okay, but seriously, I loved the book. I loved it. I loved it. You know how much I loved it because I was annoyingly texting you throughout my first reading of it. And I love the way you structure it. Each chapter is about a song that captures a time in your life. Not to pigeonhole you, but I imagined we'd open, like, with Selena, and instead,

2:01.3

you give us Boston's More Than a Feeling as your opening chapter. What does that song mean to you?

...

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