El Tucsonan

Self Media Productions

El Tucsonan is Tucson's video podcast. Every week, I sit down with the artists, entrepreneurs, community builders, and characters that make this city worth knowing. Real conversations. Real people. One city.

Episodes

  1. Jul 21 ·  Video

    He Sold His House to Teach Tucson’s Kids How to Cook | El Tucsonan

    Steven Cota-Robles was working a grocery job during the pandemic when he realized he wanted to spend his skills on Tucson instead. So he sold his house, quit, and started teaching kids how to cook. Today the Tucson Family Food Project sends 260 meal kits a week to middle-schoolers across five Tucson schools — real whole-food recipes, built to be made by a kid, at home, with what they've got. We talk about the teacher who told him not to just hand out food, the wife who upgraded the whole mission, regenerative farms on closed school campuses, and why he aims at the base of the flames. — Gregorio C., El Tucsonan CHAPTERS 0:00 Cold open 3:09 "You teach kids how to cook" 3:35 The COVID grocery-job epiphany + a note from 2019 5:26 The teachers' rule: you can't just hand out food 8:41 Selling the house — and meeting his wife on Bumble 11:49 Getting into the first school (just ask) 13:02 20 kids, one kitchen: the proof of concept 18:30 Brownies, salad & minimum-equipment recipes 26:06 From 20 to 100: the church kitchen 33:46 "That's not a bag of food. That's a bag of love." 37:07 What surprised him: kids finding their voice 41:39 The new kitchen, 1,000/week, and 17,000 someday 43:57 Regenerative farms on closed schools 57:50 Why Tucson is the hardest — and the perfect — place 63:55 The poverty and food-insecurity cycle 67:11 Aim at the base of the flames 76:33 Producer questions: pushback, morale, advice 83:29 Financial transparency & the first 990 85:35 The student who changed everything 90:38 Guest recommendations & where to find TFFP LINKS • Support El Tucsonan (membership): https://eltucsonan.com/supporters/sign_in • Sponsor El Tucsonan: https://eltucsonan.com/pages/sponsor • Tucson Family Food Project: https://www.thetucsonfamilyfoodproject.org • TFFP on YouTube — @thetucsonfamilyfoodproject3055 • TFFP on Instagram — @thetucsonfamilyfoodproject • El Tucsonan — IG @eltucsonan · TikTok @el.tucson NAMES & PLACES MENTIONED • Catalina United Methodist Church (Speedway) — donated kitchen space • Oatman Farms (Gila Bend) — first certified regenerative organic farm on the West Coast • Flowers & Bullets · Tucson Village Farm · Market on the Move — Tucson food/farm orgs • Heifer USA (Arkansas) — holistic land-management course • Marley Foundation (Phoenix) — $125K kitchen-equipment grant • Ardmore Institute of Health — $125K grant; "full plate living" 12-week pilot • Zuckerman College of Public Health & Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine (U of A) • "That Was Epic" (Juan, Phoenix) — positivity YouTuber referenced • Guest recs: Chef Pablo Valencia (Gastronomic Union of Tucson) · Jennifer Ekstrom (TUSD School Board) · Dr. David Garcia (U of A / Andrew Weil Center) Financial transparency: TFFP's Form 990 & IRS determination letter are public — look them up by name or EIN on the IRS site. The Tucson Family Food Project is a registered nonprofit. This episode is a production of Self Media Productions LLC.

  2. Jul 14 ·  Video

    The Sobriety Coach Entrepreneurs Call When Everything’s on the Line — mission-first, direct.

    This week I sat down with Mike Curry — a Tucson native who spent years lost to addiction, prison, and three years homeless on these streets, and who now works one-on-one as a sobriety and mindset coach for entrepreneurs and high-level executives. We talk about the moment everything turned — a walk away from a robbery, a $8 yard job, a sandwich from Safeway — and how he built a life and a business on the other side of it: engaged, reconciled with his daughter, and coaching founders through the belief that 90% of business is mindset, and that the business owner is usually the bottleneck. We get into his own influences (David Bayer, Zig Ziglar, Earl Nightingale), why he coaches from lived experience instead of theory, "hangxiety," and what it actually means to surrender. And we talk about Mount Lemmon, where his mom's ashes are, and Tucson — the city he loves enough to wish it grew more of its own businesses. Watch the full conversation now. — Gregorio C., El Tucsonan 🔔 New episodes every Tuesday — subscribe on YouTube. This episode includes sponsor/ad messages; timestamps above. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00 Cold open 1:59 Coaching men on sobriety & business 5:21 From car salesman to coach 8:44 Prison, pharmacies & the descent 10:19 Rock bottom: homeless on these streets 13:45 The day it turned: a yard, a sandwich 15:18 Who addiction really comes for 17:39 His brother, and "hangxiety" 25:15 Identity, your circle & resiliency 32:49 His mentors: Bayer, Ziglar & Nightingale 37:03 Faith & a spiritual awakening 49:38 Love, letting go & how she showed up 55:14 Becoming a coach & speaker 58:36 Why coaches need coaches too 64:25 Better humans, not just better businesses 71:04 Freedom, Mount Lemmon & loving Tucson 75:14 Tools to beat addiction (producer Qs) 79:30 The root of addiction: trauma & soul contracts 84:26 Guest picks & goodbye 🔗 LINKS El Tucsonan — eltucsonan.com Become a supporter (full uncut + early access): eltucsonan.com/supporters/sign_in Sponsor the show: eltucsonan.com/pages/sponsor Instagram: @eltucsonan · TikTok: @el.tucson Mike Curry — coaching: mikecurrycoaching.com · Instagram: @mikecurryofficial Episode 1 with Rey: https://youtu.be/D4L5OEVrY4M Episode 2 with Q — Part 1: https://youtu.be/XZUkSfR43T0 Episode 2 with Q — Part 2: https://youtu.be/Hx3Xx68CQ9E Epsiode 3 with KP: https://youtu.be/PHa9r1Uorj8 Episode 4 with Eva: https://youtu.be/IoTjFBDN8sI 📚 REFERENCED - Mind Hack — David Bayer - See You at the Top — Zig Ziglar - The Strangest Secret — Earl Nightingale 🎬 NAMES MENTIONED David Bayer — mindset coach, led the year-long program Mike went through Zig Ziglar — motivational author (See You at the Top) Earl Nightingale — "The Strangest Secret" Bob Marley — "Redemption Song," which Mike calls the ultimate redemption music El Tucsonan is a production of Self Media Productions LLC. Tucson, Arizona. © 2026 Self Media Productions LLC. All rights reserved.

  3. Jul 7 ·  Video

    Eva Sierra: The Poet Quietly Holding Tucson’s Open Mic Together | El Tucsonan EP04

    This week I sat down with Eva Sierra — poet, educator, and the person who's quietly kept a Tucson reading series alive for seven years, moving it from barrio courtyards to the south side to a house to Zoom and back. We go all the way back to a Douglas sophomore riding up to the Tucson Youth Poetry Slam once a month, and forward to the U of A Poetry Center, where she runs programs and teaches — without ever finishing the degree everyone around her has. We talk about how you actually teach poetry (good artists borrow, great artists steal), the kid in juvie who wouldn't hold a pencil until, one day, he wrote a whole poem. We get into her belief that poetry belongs to everyone — "it's just language," it's been called "flower and song," it can even live in a TikTok — and her push to break down the wall between academic and street writing: "it's ours, it's public, let us have this." And we talk about Douglas and the border, the novel she's writing about it, and a childhood spent talking to the ants in the backyard because she was already a poet and didn't know it. Underneath it is Isaac — the friend who told her "I'm not the one to do this, but I think you are," and helped plant the seeds of the reading series in his last months. Members have the full uncut conversation. — Gregorio C., El Tucsonan ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 1:41 From Douglas to the Youth Poetry Slam (2013) 3:11 What a slam actually is 6:22 From participant to organizer 8:26 Starting the reading series (Virgo season 2019) 10:22 Isaac: "I think you're the one to do this" 12:52 Why "nomadic" keeps it alive 16:24 Twelve locations (and 42 on Zoom) 19:26 Making every flyer herself 21:14 Still writing: the novel 24:28 The U of A Poetry Center — and no degree 28:04 Poetry, libraries & community ("a dragon school") 32:37 How do you actually teach poetry? 34:19 Teaching poetry in juvie 36:48 The student who wouldn't hold a pencil 39:29 Meeting Ada Limón & Tracy K. Smith 45:06 Why writing still doesn't come easy (The War of Art) 48:09 A quick word from the show 50:11 Should the reading series come to the university? 51:01 Academic vs. street poetry: "It's ours" 54:01 Poetry is just language ("flower and song," even TikTok) 57:17 Always a poet: the trees, the ants, the backyard 58:39 Her mom, Spanish literature & bedtime books 59:28 The novel: Douglas, the border & the space between 67:09 Douglas → Tucson: craving the big city 69:39 The delight of the Cochise County Fair 72:09 Why Tucson is home now 73:10 Redefining success: "I am an educator" 73:31 Three Tucsonans you should meet 76:23 Where to find the reading series 77:49 Outro 🎵 MUSIC 'minhas perras" - DJQ https://barriosounds.bandcamp.com/ 🔗 LINKS El Tucsonan — eltucsonan.com Become a supporter (full uncut + early access): eltucsonan.com/supporters/sign_in Sponsor the show: eltucsonan.com/pages/sponsor Instagram: @eltucsonan · TikTok: @el.tucson Eva — the reading series on Instagram: [ CONFIRM HANDLE ] U of A Poetry Center: poetry.arizona.edu Episode 1 with Rey: https://youtu.be/D4L5OEVrY4M Episode 2 with Q — Part 1: https://youtu.be/XZUkSfR43T0 Episode 3 with KP: [ add URL ] 📚 REFERENCED - The War of Art — Steven Pressfield - Ada Limón — U.S. Poet Laureate ("You Are Here"), the Saguaro NP bench - Ofelia Zepeda — Tohono O'odham poet, the bench poem - Tracy K. Smith — former U.S. Poet Laureate - Ana Castillo — border / Mexican-American writing - Octavio Paz — "poetry in any medium" - "Flower and song" / in xochitl in cuicatl — the Nahuatl idea of poetry - Spoken Futures / Tucson Youth Poetry Slam 🎬 NAMES MENTIONED Isaac — in memoriam. · Mariana Rivera ("Mari") · Paola Valenzuela · Tyler (digital media) · Mark (Borderlands) · Monique (Casa Clyde) · Herman (photographer, Douglas) · Tanya & Jen · Eli & Joe (JoJo's) · Paula & Fatima (Douglas reading). El Tucsonan is a production of Self Media Productions LLC. Tucson, Arizona. © 2026 Self Media Productions LLC. All rights reserved.

  4. Jun 29 ·  Video

    KP — ”We Lost It”: Tucson’s Melancholy, Music & Coming Home | El Tucsonan EP03

    Tucson, meet KP. He's a DJ and producer, an Army veteran who came home from Afghanistan, and the engine behind Soon Spins — Tucson's own internet radio station. But this conversation is really about a feeling: that somewhere after 2020, our city stopped smiling. KP came here from South Dallas and felt the culture shock — a place where strangers scowl instead of smile — and he's spent ten years trying to figure out why, and what it would take to bring the joy back. We get into the dance culture we lost, the grief under the surface, the people who quietly built something real, and why he believes Tucson already has everything it needs. It's fiery, it's tender, and it's a love letter to a city still deciding what it wants to be. If this resonates, the best thing you can do is watch, drop a comment about something specific he said, and share it with a Tucsonan who needs to hear it. — Gregorio C., El Tucsonan ⏱ CHAPTERS 0:00 — "We lost it" (cold open) 2:02 — Who is KP: DJ, producer & Soon Spins 3:51 — "Here, people scowl instead of smile": Tucson's melancholy 5:35 — A city unsure what it wants to be (transplants & development) 9:09 — Mountains, not high-rises 11:56 — Earth Day for the Hood & the TCE cancer story 14:42 — The Army, Afghanistan & coming home 21:16 — Finding music: the saxophone 23:06 — Debbie, the Dunbar & "let me be your intern" 32:36 — South Dallas to North Dallas: two worlds 34:38 — "Tucson was popping… and we lost it" 36:08 — Losing Isaac & the night COVID hit 39:34 — Power, complacency & who's really in the room 41:59 — What "not complacent" actually looks like 47:16 — Soon Spins: the dream & the mission 51:48 — George Floyd, walking out & starting over 56:34 — Bringing the dance culture back (El Tambor) 1:01:01 — DJing in Europe, paying artists & the end of the "American dream" 1:06:40 — On rap, Texas roots & Kendrick 1:13:50 — Teaching kids: Soon Spins in the schools 1:18:47 — Reagan took the instruments out of schools 1:24:23 — "Life starts right now": KP the mentor 1:29:57 — Last words & shout-outs 🎵 MUSIC & RELEASES (KP) • No Titles No Masters — KP's album • KPMADMAN — the "melancholy town" release • "The Devil Wears a Suit and a Tie" — single • Collaborations with Q (1202 / THEM&i) • Live mixes & sessions on Soon Spins (All linked below.) 🔗 LINKS Watch ad-free + full episodes / support the show → https://eltucsonan.com/supporters/sign_in Sponsor an episode → https://eltucsonan.com/pages/sponsor KP → Instagram @kpmadman · https://kpmadman.bandcamp.com · https://soonspins.com El Tucsonan → Instagram @eltucsonan · TikTok @el.tucson · Subscribe on YouTube ↑ 📚 BOOKS, WRITERS & IDEAS REFERENCED H. Rap Brown · The Last Poets · Patrice Lumumba · "critical regionalism" — the idea of making something rooted in where you actually are, instead of importing another city's identity. 🎬 NAMES & PLACES MENTIONED In loving memory of Isaac — a cultural bearer in Tucson's scene. People: Debbie (KP's OG at the Dunbar) · Q · Tim (built the Soon Spins site) · Ms. Sanders · Duke · the guest DJs who've spun on Soon Spins. Places: Soon Spins · KXCI 91.3 · Dunbar Pavilion · Hotel Congress · El Tambor · the Sonoran Room · Utterback Middle School · Davis Elementary's mariachi program. — This episode is a production of Self Media Productions LLC. Views expressed are the guest's own. Where on-screen text references a public event, it cites published news reporting. © 2026 Self Media Productions LLC. All rights reserved.

  5. Jun 24 ·  Video

    Q (Enrique Garcia Naranjo): The Man Behind ”Viva La Raza” — and What He Hid | El Tucsonan EP02 Pt.2

    El Tucsonan

  6. Jun 17 ·  Video

    Q on Tucson as a crossroads, cumbia & being king to a crumbling tower | E.T. EP02 (Part 1)

    Welcome to episode 2. This one's a long one — so long I had to break it in half. This is Part 1. My guest is Enrique "Q" Garcia Naranjo — DJ Q, poet, teacher, and co-founder of the 1202 collective. Q has been doing culture work in Tucson for 15 years. In this half, we get into Q's poetry origins, the Sin Ti show that pulled me into the Tucson scene in 2016, his run as DJ Q at Club Congress and the cumbia/El Tambo era, why Tucson has always been a crossroads, what COVID broke and what it rebuilt in him, and the only game he's willing to play with anybody: the millennium. Part 2 drops next. Members can already watch the full uncut version on the website. — Gregorio C., El Tucsonan — ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00 — Hook 00:14 — Welcome & episode intro 01:38 — Q introduces himself 03:11 — Poetry as a pillar 05:33 — How we met: Sin Ti, 2016 11:23 — DJ Q at Club Congress 12:12 — Cumbia across the borderlands 17:57 — Tucson as a crossroads forever 20:34 — SB 1070 & the shadow under the music 24:02 — Sponsor: Nina Flores 27:27 — Resurrecting the dance floor 34:04 — Hoko Fest 39:51 — How COVID hit 42:24 — Losing Isaac 44:27 — "King to a crumbling tower" 51:10 — Being serious about play 56:09 — Aimé Césaire & the millennium 1:11:17 — Nature's healing 1:16:18 — We're here now — 🎵 MUSIC CUES Music in this episode by Q — "07 FAT" "bruto" Find more of Q's music at Barrio Sounds: barriosounds.bandcamp.com — 🔗 LINKS Q & 1202 twelvotwo.com barriosounds.bandcamp.com El Tucsonan eltucsonan.com Become a supporter (full uncut episodes + early access): eltucsonan.com/supporters/sign_in Sponsor the show: eltucsonan.com/pages/sponsor Sponsor of this episode: Nina Flores, REALTOR® ninafloresrealty.com/en/rent-trap Episode 1 with Rey: https://youtu.be/D4L5OEVrY4M — 📚 BOOKS & WRITERS REFERENCED IN PART 1 - Notebook of a Return to the Native Land — Aimé Césaire - Parable of the Sower — Octavia Butler - Sin Ti: The Beat Tape — Q (cover by Milkweed) — 🎬 NAMES MENTIONED - Logan Phillips — Tucson Poet Laureate - Anna Flores — who put us onto Césaire - Gazal (DJ Zaytoon) — Q's partner - Ray — the other half of 1202 - Mike — first show with Q and Ray - Lando Chill — performed at the Sin Ti show - Milkweed — Sin Ti cover artist, Ohala Zine Press - KP — recurring presence - Eva Sierra — collaborator and educator - DJ Humble, Lioness, DJ Dirty Verbs — Sonidero Tambo crew - Isaac — in memoriam. This conversation lives because he taught us how to have it. — El Tucsonan is a production of Self Media Productions LLC. Tucson, Arizona. © 2026 Self Media Productions LLC. All rights reserved.

  7. Jun 10

    ET EP01 - REY

    El Tucsonan kicks off with REY — Tucson rapper, organizer, visual artist, and co-founder of the 1202 collective. We talk about coming up in the local music scene, what it actually takes to navigate venues and bad business in a city like Tucson, and why he's been going through his hard drives trying to die empty. We also get into the AI copyright problem eating the music industry, why "Everything Is a Remix" should be required watching, the 1202 house and what it meant to the community, pinta art and ballpoint pen as a creative practice, and what's coming — including his most personal project yet, Shut up Mijo, dropping this fall. (Note: we lost about 15–20 minutes of footage to a technical issue mid-episode. We recap what we can. It won't happen again.) — FIND REY @shutupmijo on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@whatup_rey 1202 → https://twelvotwo.com/rey FIND EL TUCSONAN Website → https://eltucsonan.com Become a member → https://eltucsonan.com/supporters/sign_in Sponsor the show → https://eltucsonan.com/pages/sponsor — CLIPS USED IN THIS VIDEO "Everything Is a Remix" by @KirbyFerguson →https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJPERZDfyWc Anderson .Paak on Club Shay Shay with Shannon Sharpe (@ClubShayShay) → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZRAvYVn-FU — El Tucsonan is a production of Self Media Productions LLC.

  8. Jun 10 ·  Video

    REY on making music in Tucson & dying empty | E.T. EP01

    El Tucsonan kicks off with REY — Tucson rapper, organizer, visual artist, and co-founder of the 1202 collective. We talk about coming up in the local music scene, what it actually takes to navigate venues and bad business in a city like Tucson, and why he's been going through his hard drives trying to die empty. We also get into the AI copyright problem eating the music industry, why "Everything Is a Remix" should be required watching, the 1202 house and what it meant to the community, pinta art and ballpoint pen as a creative practice, and what's coming — including his most personal project yet, Shut up Mijo, dropping this fall. (Note: we lost about 15–20 minutes of footage to a technical issue mid-episode. We recap what we can. It won't happen again.) — FIND REY @shutupmijo on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@shutupmijo 1202 → https://twelvotwo.com/rey FIND EL TUCSONAN Website → https://eltucsonan.com Become a member → https://eltucsonan.com/supporters/sign_in Sponsor the show → https://eltucsonan.com/pages/sponsor — CLIPS USED IN THIS VIDEO "Everything Is a Remix" by @KirbyFerguson → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJPERZDfyWc Anderson .Paak on Club Shay Shay with Shannon Sharpe (@ClubShayShay) → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZRAvYVn-FU — El Tucsonan is a production of Self Media Productions LLC.

  9. May 17 ·  Video

    Quick Test and Hello

    Yeah, it's a test video. No, I haven't disappeared. Episodes are recorded, more are scheduled, things are moving. I just needed to upload something to check on some technical stuff — you know how it is. If you've been supporting through Patreon, I see you and I appreciate you. For now, the best way to support is right here on YouTube. Apple Podcasts works too. Big conversations coming. Stay tuned. 🎙️ El Tucsonan | eltucsonan.com

  • 9 Episodes

About

El Tucsonan is Tucson's video podcast. Every week, I sit down with the artists, entrepreneurs, community builders, and characters that make this city worth knowing. Real conversations. Real people. One city.

Information

  • Creator
    Self Media Productions
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    9
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    El Tucsonan