We purchased a Peloton just a few weeks before we all went into quarantine last March. I must admit I was skeptical. I walk and shoot hoops when I can, but I have never regularly used any sort of exercise machine. The technology is what first piqued my interest in a Peloton. The more I read about the features and the way it worked, the more it appealed to me. I also knew that my Peloton couldn’t be in the garage or somewhere out of sight, it needed to be inside the house where I would pass by it several times a day. It took a little work to persuade my wife that it belonged in the music room, but I eventually prevailed. Our Peloton was delivered during the first week of the pandemic. The delivery people assembled it in our driveway and we had to bring it into the house ourselves. I looked at the Peloton app today, and saw that I have completed 141 workouts in a span of less than 10 months. That’s roughly a workout every other day. After being out of commission for about a month with COVID, I am back in my routine, and completed 5 workouts this week. They were short workouts, only 20 minutes each, but I will need a few weeks to build back up to where I was in early December doing 60-minute workouts. The high-intensity workouts are what I need the most. I recently read that people my age who do at least 3 high-intensity workouts per week have a much lower predisposition for serious illness like a stroke and cardiovascular problems. I think about those things more these days, as I should. Pelotons aren’t cheap, which is why I told Kathy if we get one it has to be in the house because that is the only way I can be certain I will use it. It has definitely been one of the things helping us get through the pandemic. Now I need to cut back on the wine.
There are qualities in our community that no data point can fully capture, but this episode is about one of the biggest: grit. I talk about why perseverance, resilience, family, and purpose have always been among the greatest strengths of Hispanics and Latinos, and why those strengths can be a powerful advantage in a world being reshaped by technology, wealth, and access. But grit alone is not enough. If we want to translate all of that talent and determination into lasting economic and political power, we also need stronger networks, better platforms, and more intentional leadership. The opportunity is real. The question is whether we are ready to organize around it.
For years, we’ve been told that mass deportations would mean more jobs and higher wages for U.S.-born workers. But this episode looks at why the opposite may actually be happening. I break down new research showing how immigrant and U.S.-born workers often play complementary roles in the labor market, why removing one group can hurt the other, and how these policies may be making labor shortages, housing challenges, and economic instability even worse. This is a conversation about jobs, economics, and the unintended consequences too many people still refuse to confront.
Something important is shifting, and this episode is about why it matters. For a young and fast-growing community like ours, the rise of AI may be opening doors that were previously harder to reach — not by eliminating every barrier, but by expanding access to knowledge, tools, and opportunity at a scale we’ve never seen before. But access alone won’t determine who wins. This moment calls for strategy, community, and a serious commitment to turning potential into power. The opening is real. What happens next depends on what we do with it.