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For this week\u2019s Latino USA, we\u2019re bringing you an episode from the newly released podcast series from WNYC Studios and Futuro Studios, La Brega, The Puerto Rican Experience in Eight Songs.

Gabby Rivera was 7 when Willie Col\xf3n released \u201cEl Gran Var\xf3n\u201d in 1989. She remembers her father playing in the Bronx. The cinematic arc of the song would stick with her: Sim\xf3n, depicted as a trans queer person, is shunned by their father and dies alone of what\u2019s assumed to be AIDS. \u201cEl Gran Var\xf3n\u201d was first banned by some radio stations but became an international hit anyway. Many call it one of the most well-known Latin songs of all time. Its songwriter explains that it was inspired by a rumor about a real-life friend. Only years later did he realize his lyrics contained an eerie prophecy.

You can subscribe to La Brega here.