Bettye LaVette - The Great Lady of Soul

enFebruary 12, 2011

Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One

About this Episode

In 1961, as a teenager, Bettye LaVette recorded her first hit. But despite her initial success she spent four decades waiting for her moment in the spotlight. Now in her 60s, she has been crowned the "Comeback Queen" and is sharing the stage with megastars like Jon Bon Jovi (at Obama’s Inaugural Concert) and Paul McCartney. In this interview with Maria Hinojosa, “the great lady of soul” talks about her initial success and years of obscurity, the secret of her voice, and why age is not an issue.

Maria on her interview with Bettye LaVette:

"I wish I could grow up to be Bettye LaVette! She is known as the comeback queen because even though she had her first soul hit when she was just 16, she toiled in relative obscurity for years and years, sometimes making $50 a set to sing the blues in Detroit. Her audience grew to the milliosn when she sang at the Inauguration of President Obama and the Kennedy Center Awards. Bettye is happy now and I enjoyed hearing this strong woman's story of survival."

Visit our photo gallery on FACEBOOK.

Recent Episodes from Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One

Junot Diaz

Dominican-born novelist Junot Diaz is considered one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary fiction. Diaz is the author of the national bestseller Drown and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize. He is the fiction editor at the Boston Review and the Rudge (1948) and Nancy Allen professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Diaz talks with Maria Hinojosa about his immigrant experience, race and class in America, and how he deals with his writer's block.

Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One

enOctober 09, 2012

Journalist Alfredo Corchado

After Iraq, Mexico is one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists. Alfredo Corchado, the Mexican bureau chief for The Dallas Morning News, is one of the last journalists covering the increasingly violent drug war. Corchado received the Lovejoy Award for courage in journalism, bestowed annually by Colby College in Waterville, Maine.In this interview with María Hinojosa, he talks about why he risks his life every day to report the truth.

Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One

enMay 17, 2012

Mercedes Doretti

Host Maria Hinojosa talks with Mercedes Doretti, a world leader in using forensic anthropology and archeology to investigate human rights violations. Doretti is the co-founder of the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team. From Indonesia to Congo, from El Salvador to Croatia, Doretti's organization has worked at every known location of genocide and mass killings. Their findings are used by Amnesty International, the United Nations, and other human rights organizations in reporting crimes against humanity. Join this 2007 McArthur Fellow as she describes her challenging work.

Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One

enMay 06, 2012

human rights violations

forensic anthropology

argentine forensic anthropology team

forensic archeology

Franklin Chang Diaz

Franklin Chang-Díaz is a former NASA astronaut and the current chairman and CEO of Ad Astra Rocket Company. Chang has recently been in the headlines for his creation VASIMR, a new space propulsion system that is now entering its commercial phase. Born in Costa Rica, he moved to the United States to pursue his dream of becoming an astronaut. Along the way to achieving that goal, Chang-Díaz earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Connecticut, and a Sc.D. in plasma physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As an astronaut, he's flown on seven spaceflights—tying the record for most flights with Jerry L. Ross—and spent an impressive 1,601 hours away from Earth. For his work, Chang-Díaz has received many honors in his adopted land, the United States, and his motherland, Costa Rica. In this interview with María Hinojosa he talks about life in other planets, breaking barriers, and helping others to reach for the stars.

Visit our photo gallery on Facebook.

Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One

enMay 04, 2012

Legendary actor and comedian Cheech Marin

Comedian and actor Cheech Marin is best known as half of the iconic comedy act Cheech & Chong. He has appeared in dozens of TV, film, and stage productions, including Spy Kids, Nash Bridges, and The Lion King. In addition to his work as an actor, director, musician, and writer, Marin is one of the leading collectors of Chicano art in the US. He talks about his successful — and tumultuous — partnership with Chong, his multifaceted film and television career, and his passion for Chicano art.

Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One

enApril 11, 2012

chech marin actor comedian

Conceptual artist Krzysztof Wodiczko

Conceptual artist Krzysztof Wodiczko joins María Hinojosa to discuss his career as one of the most admired conceptual artists in the world. His work has ranged from large-scale slide and video projections on architectural façades worldwide to creating a vehicle for the homeless. In his latest exhibit for the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, Wodiczko focused on veterans engaged in active combat in Iraq, as well as Iraqi civilians.

Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One

enApril 06, 2012

Oscar nominated screenwriter Jose Rivera

Maria Hinojosa is joined by critically-acclaimed screenwriter Jose Rivera, whose 2004 film The Motorcycle Diaries earned an Oscar nomination for “Best Adapted Screenplay,” making him the first-ever Puerto Rican nominee in the category. Maria Hinojosa on her interview with Jose Rivera: "You think because someone is an award-winning screenwriter that they are somehow holier than thou....But that was SO not the case with Jose Rivera. He struck me as a real artist who is moved not by fame but by the nature of the writing. Besides Motorcyle Diaries his other big movie is Trade. I found both of them to be so powerful. And I especially appreciated Rivera's humility. I want that to inspire the next generation of Latino screenwriters in Hollywood. Jose is a gem and you get to see that side of him in our extensive and deep felt interview."

Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One

enMarch 31, 2012

oscar

che guevara

motorcycle diaries

Award-winning author Francisco Goldman

Francisco Goldman's first three novels, The Long Night of White Chickens, The Ordinary Seaman and The Divine Husband, received numerous awards. His fiction and journalism writing has appeared in The New Yorker and The New York Times. In his first non-fiction book, The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop, Goldman reconstructs and investigates the murder of Guatemalan’s human rights leader, Bishop Juan Gerardi - one of the most controversial murder cases in contemporary Latin America. In this interview with Maria Hinojosa, Francisco Goldman shares how he launched his career in journalism, the impact of his investigation on Guatemala’s future, and what he has done to honor his late wife, Aura Estrada.

Visit our photo gallery on FACEBOOK.

Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One

enMarch 15, 2012

civil war

guatemala

new yorker

the new york times magazine

francisco goldman

Melissa Harris-Perry talks about contemporary politics

Tulane University professor and MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry (at the time of our interview, Melissa Harris-Lacewell) joins Maria Hinojosa to discuss the state of African Americans in the Obama era. Winner of the W.E.B. DuBois book award for Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought, Harris-Perry is a professor of political science and founding director of the Anna Julia Cooper Project on Gender, Race, and Politics in the South.

Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One

enMarch 05, 2012

Former Rolling Stone Editor Ben Fong-Torres

Host María Hinojosa interviews the man with perhaps the greatest backstage pass of all time: former Rolling Stone editor Ben Fong-Torres. During his career at Rolling Stone, which spanned from 1968–81, he wrote cover stories on legends like Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Marvin Gaye, and the Grateful Dead. His interview with Ray Charles won the Deems Taylor Award for Magazine Writing in 1974. In his interview with Hinojosa, he discusses the highlights of his award-winning career; a career so unique that he was portrayed in the 2000 film Almost Famous by actor Terry Chen. Fong-Torres also discusses his father’s immigration to the United States, and growing up Chinese-American in the ‘50s and ‘60s.

Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One

enMarch 02, 2012

asian american rolling stones magazine

On this page

Bettye LaVette - The Great Lady of Soul

Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One

About this Episode

Recent Episodes from Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One

Junot Diaz

Journalist Alfredo Corchado

Mercedes Doretti

Franklin Chang Diaz

Legendary actor and comedian Cheech Marin

Conceptual artist Krzysztof Wodiczko

Oscar nominated screenwriter Jose Rivera

Award-winning author Francisco Goldman

Melissa Harris-Perry talks about contemporary politics

Former Rolling Stone Editor Ben Fong-Torres