The Cilantro Diaries Podcast
by Lorenzo Gomez, Dax Moreno
Hosted by Lorenzo Gomez III, The Cilantro Diaries Podcast is a fresh, unfiltered look at the future of San Antonio—and the stories shaping it. Join Lorenzo as he sits down with city leaders, changemakers, creatives, and everyday doers to explore what’s next for the Alamo City. From bold ideas in urbanism to the art of storytelling and the craft of writing, this show dives deep into the people and perspectives moving San Antonio forward. Part city guide, part writer’s room, part leadership lab—The Cilantro Diaries is where culture meets change.
Episodes
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"We've Always Done It This Way" — Trish DeBerry & Terrin Fuhrmann | Ep. 15
San Antonio development has one villain, and it's a sentence: we've always done it this way. What do a 1924 puppet show, a fluoride campaign that failed twice, a bank that wanted its name on a building, and the word Austin have in common? They all come up in this live conversation about the...
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San Antonio Is a City of Bubbles — Michael Hill & Jake Molak | Ep. 14
San Antonio is a city of bubbles. Every neighborhood has one, and the bubble turns out to be a mentality, not a zip code. What do Gruene Hall, a West Side middle school, Mount Kilimanjaro and a parking lot on Government Hill have in common? They all come up in my conversation with Michael Hill…
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Constraints, Categories, & Curry Boys BBQ — Sean Wen | Ep. 13
Curry Boys BBQ started as a pandemic pop up where three friends sold 100 family packs of food they had never tasted together. That night, they all heated up the leftovers and texted each other the same thing: have you tried what we just sold these people? That is one of a dozen great stories in…
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Learn From Austin, Don't Become Austin — David Adelman | Ep. 12
San Antonio vs Austin is the wrong fight. The better question is what to learn from Austin, and what never to copy. That is the heart of my conversation with David Adelman, founder of AREA Real Estate. David went to school in Austin, watched it go all in on downtown, and then spent nearly two...
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The Transparency Tour: Why Project Marvel Money Cannot Fix Your Sidewalk — Sukh Kaur | Part 5
San Antonio has $489 million for Project Marvel and cannot spend one dollar of it on your sidewalk. That is not a dodge, it is the law. Councilwoman Sukh Kaur represents District 1, the district holding the new baseball stadium, half the sports and entertainment district, and the sharpest…
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The Transparency Tour: Inside SA's Police & Fire Budget — Chief Salame & Deputy Chief Casanova | Part 4
Eight out of ten San Antonio fire calls are not fires. That is the first surprise in the biggest slice of your city budget. Police and fire together are the largest single expense the City of San Antonio has, and most people have never seen what is inside it. In this episode of The Transparency...
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The Transparency Tour: Why Your Street Has Been Torn Up for Months — Mike Shannon | Part 3
A leaking water pipe. An 18 wheeler. Santa Anna's left boot. All of them are reasons a San Antonio street is still bad. I sat down with Mike Shannon, the City of San Antonio's Director of Capital Delivery, the man whose department is running about 180 construction projects at this moment…
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The Transparency Tour: San Antonio's City Budget, From the City Manager — Erik Walsh | Part 2
Highway mowing, the county jail, your school district, your CPS bill. None of them are in San Antonio's city budget. So what is? I asked the man who runs it. Erik Walsh is the City Manager of San Antonio, which as Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito puts it in this episode makes him the CEO of…
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The Transparency Tour: San Antonio's $4.4 Billion Budget, Explained — Marina Alderete Gavito | Part 1
What do stray dogs, playground shade, potholes, and your CPS bill have in common? They are all in San Antonio's city budget. I have lived in this city my whole life and I could not have told you how the budget actually works. That is exactly the point. Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito…
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Empty Stomach Is a Gang — Chad Carey | Ep. 11
What do a pig head croquette, a punk rock music hall, and a floor drain that took five months to permit have in common? In San Antonio, they are all part of Chad Carey's war against boring.Chad came to San Antonio in 2001 as a real estate guy, opened one tiny 24 seat restaurant called The…
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10 Districts, $10 Billion, 10 Years — Andres Andujar | Ep. 10
What if the next decade isn't defined by one transformational project...but by ten? In this episode of the Cilantro Diaries Podcast, Lorenzo Gomez sits down with Andrés Andújar, former CEO of Hemisfair and one of San Antonio's most influential urban planners, to explore his bold vision for the...
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Preparing for Q-Day — Jeff Prevost | Ep. 9
What happens when today's encryption is no longer enough? In this episode of the Cilantro Diaries Podcast, Lorenzo Gomez sits down with Dr. Jeff Provost, Cloud Technology Endowed Professor in Computer Engineering at UTSA's College of AI, Cyber, and Computing, to unpack one of the biggest...
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The Future of Downtown West — J.R. Hernandez & Mark Jensen | Ep. 8
What does it take to transform a city - and create a downtown people actually want to live in? In this special collaboration between the Clutch Podcast and Cilantro Diaries, JR Hernandez and Lorenzo Gomez sit down with Mark Jensen, Vice President of Weston Urban, inside San Antonio's newest...
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River North: San Antonio's Newest District — Terrin Fuhrmann & Jenine Cournoyer | Ep. 7
In this episode of The Cilantro Diaries, host Lorenzo Gomez III sits down with Terrin Fuhrmann (Elsewhere Garden Bar & Kitchen) and Jenine Cournoyer (Make Ready Market). They break down what’s really happening in River North, and why it might be the most important urban district in San Antonio...
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UT San Antonio's Transformation Era — Taylor Eighmy | Ep. 6
In this episode of The Cilantro Diaries, host Lorenzo Gomez III teams up with special guest co-host Beto Altamirano for a high-energy, big-vision conversation with the President of UTSA, Taylor Eighmy. This episode is packed with bold ideas and Eighmy shares why he’s all-in on downtown, what it...
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City vs County Government, Explained — Ron Nirenberg | Ep. 5
Big growth. Big bets. Big stakes for Bexar County. In this episode, Lorenzo sits down with former San Antonio Mayor and Bexar County Judge candidate Ron Nirenberg for a candid conversation about the region's future. From breaking cycles of generational poverty to reimagining downtown, this isn’t...
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UT San Antonio's Talent Gold Mine — Mario Vela | Ep. 4
In this conversation, Lorenzo welcomes Mario Vela to discuss the evolving landscape of talent acquisition in San Antonio, particularly through the lens of UT San Antonio's role in workforce development. They explore the importance of supporting first-generation students, the impact of recent...
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Prop A and the Rodeo District — Cody Davenport | Ep. 3
Join host Lorenzo Gomez III as he sits down with Cody Davenport, CEO of the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, about the rodeo’s history, its role as a nonprofit supporting Texas youth, and its vision for the future. Cody shares how he went from volunteer to CEO, the rodeo’s $12 million in annual...
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Prop B and the New Spurs Arena — Bobby Perez | Ep. 2
In this episode of The Cilantro Diaries Podcast, Lorenzo sits down with Bobby Perez, General Counsel of the San Antonio Spurs and former District 1 Councilman, for a candid conversation about one of the most talked-about projects in San Antonio, the proposed new downtown arena and community...
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Running for Mayor of San Antonio — Beto Altamirano | Ep. 1 (Part 1)
Lorenzo kicks off Cilantro Diaries with longtime friend and civic innovator Beto Altomirano. From growing up in the Valley to starting a tech company that connects citizens to city hall, Beto shares raw, hilarious, and powerful stories—including how his father's deportation shaped his mission.…
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Running for Mayor of San Antonio — Beto Altamirano | Ep. 1 (Part 2)
In part 2 of our first episode of Cilantro Diaries, Lorenzo Gomez and guest Beto Altamirano dive deep into the soul of San Antonio—its challenges, its promise, and its unique civic spirit. They explore why the city inspires people to give back, the importance of walkability and public...
About this show
Hosted by Lorenzo Gomez III, The Cilantro Diaries Podcast is a fresh, unfiltered look at the future of San Antonio—and the stories shaping it. Join Lorenzo as he sits down with city leaders, changemakers, creatives, and everyday doers to explore what’s next for the Alamo City. From bold ideas in urbanism to the art of storytelling and the craft of writing, this show dives deep into the people and perspectives moving San Antonio forward. Part city guide, part writer’s room, part leadership lab—The Cilantro Diaries is where culture meets change.
Hosted by
Lorenzo Gomez, Dax Moreno