The US-Mexico border is a constant fixture in today's 24 hour news cycle. But often lost amidst the noise of talking heads and pundits is any discussion of the rich culture and humanity that can be found there, and how turmoil on both sides has altered the region's social dynamics. Forgotten as well is that for decades Mexican borer towns were renowned for elegant, white tablecloth restaurants where jacketed waiters catered to a café society that transcended international boundaries. Among the most legendary was Nuevo Laredo's Cadillac Bar which famously served delicacies like frog legs and Ramos Gin Fizzes for more than eighty years until shifting dynamics forced its closure in 2010. In this episode, you're invited to join us on a trip to Laredo, where we'll retrace memories of the Cadillac through its founder's Granddaughter Wanda Garner Cash, and others who experienced it firsthand, while exploring how its influence persists on the American side through visits to such as establishments as The Border Foundry and Bar Nido. The result is a paean to the bonds that unite these cities in the face of evolving divisions.

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Pancho Villa's Saddle at the Cadillac Bar by Wanda Garner Cash

The Border Foundry

Bar Nido

La India Herbs and Spices

Southern Gothic

Susto

The author and folklorist J Frank Dobie once said, "The boundaries of culture and rainfall never follow survey lines." This is certainly true of Dobie's native south Texas, which is a place shaped by both the cultures of Mexico and the American West. In this episode host Evan Stern travels below the Nueces River, to the YY Ranch where he joins the Avila Family as they convene there to roast one of this region's prized delicacies- cabrito. Amidst the revelry, the history, ethics and future of this dish of milk fed baby goat are explored through conversations with chef and culinary scholar Adan Medrano, restaurant owner Sylvia Casares, and educators and musicians Rosa Canales and Joe Perez. The resulting piece is a celebration of cross-border connections, that reveals cabrito as a symbol of the shared landscape and practices that bond South Texas and Northern Mexico.

Adan Medrano

Sylvia's Enchilada Kitchen

The Texas Conjunto Music Hall of Fame

The third most spoken language in Texas behind English and Spanish is Vietnamese. This is especially evident in Houston, a metropolis that's home to more than 120,000 residents of Indo Chinese descent where restaurant menus tout such Texas-Asian dishes as Viet-Cajun crawfish, brisket pho and Vietnamese beef fajitas. Considering that prior to 1975 the city's population claimed fewer than 100 Vietnamese, this community's growth and visibility is remarkable. Yet the mass migration that followed the fall of Saigon not only reshaped the politics and foodscapes of urban centers like Houston, Dallas and New Orleans, but smaller towns along the Gulf Coast. In this episode, we'll explore this impact through a visit with the congregants of Saint Peter's Catholic Church, in the town of Rockport, Texas. Founded by Vietnamese arrivals in the early 1980s, they have long raised funds through a monthly Saturday cook off. While sampling egg rolls, bun and shrimp, we'll hear stories that reveal not only the history and challenges of resettlement, but hope of the American promise, and how coastal Texas and Vietnam share more in common than one might initially realize. Hu Dat, Corpus Hu Dat/Benchwarmers Hu Dat, Portland Diane Wilson

Diane Wilson’s successful lawsuit against Formosa Plastics violations of the Clean Water Act are at the center of the “Point Comfort” episode of the Netflix documentary series, Dirty Money. For more information on the ongoing campaign to clean the waters of Lavaca and San Antonio Bays near Seadrift, click here.