Smut as Resistance: Writing Latinx Love Stories

Angelina M. Lopez, bestselling author of After Hours on Milagro Street, joins us to talk about the impact of “ferocious love stories”—her emotionally rich, deeply sexy romances that center Latina heroines, legacy, anger, and joy.In this conversation, we explore:How pleasure and resistance fuel each other in politically volatile timesWhat makes a sex scene actually hot (hint: it’s not the mechanics)How the dismissal of romance is rooted in the devaluing of women’s workWriting Latin American stories as an act of cultural preservation and humanizationThis episode is about how smut can be deeply subversive. Angelina's writing centers the intersection of joy and anger, escapism and resistance--and we get into all of it in this conversation.