Covering Us

podcastOPTalks
Written By Open Plaza

Rev. Dr. Tony Lin talks to New York Times National Correspondent Edgar Sandoval about his start in journalism, writing about Texas, and the nuances of the U.S. Latino experience

Robb Elementary School, where 18-year-old alum Salvador Ramos fatally shot nineteen students and two teachers on May 24, 2022. Uvalde, Texas, 10 August 2022. Photo: Michael Hogan

 
 

In this episode of OP Talks, sociologist Rev. Dr. Tony Lin talks to New York Times National Correspondent Edgar Sandoval about his start in journalism, writing about Texas, and the nuances of the U.S. Latino experience. In particular, Sandoval discusses his experience of reporting on the mass shooting that occurred on May 24, 2022 at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

Sandoval was born in California and spent part of his childhood in his parents' Mexican home state of Zacatecas, before settling in South Texas. While still in college, Sandoval got his start in journalism at The McAllen Monitor, his hometown newspaper, where his first job was writing obituaries. After graduation, he worked newsroom jobs that took him to California, Pennsylvania, Florida, and New York. He spent almost three years writing about the assimilation of Latino immigrants in Pennsylvania; the articles are anthologized in The New Face of Small-Town America: Snapshots of Latino Life in Allentown, Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2010), which captures "vivid portraits of the people and families behind the demographic statistics."

In New York, Sandoval worked for the New York Daily News for a decade before joining The New York Times in 2019, where he is now a National Correspondent based in Texas. Coming full circle, he currently writes about South Texas people and places for the NYT’s National Desk.

 

NOTABLE CLIPS
Edgar Sandoval for the New York Times

ROPA USADA

On the Border, Buying Clothes by the Pound at Ropa Usada Shops: Like thrift shops on steroids, giant used-clothing stores are part of the culture and economic life along the border with Mexico. NYT, 10 April 2022.

ABORTION CLINIC AT THE BORDER

‘I Can’t Have This Baby’: A Lone Abortion Clinic on the Border. In the Rio Grande Valley, women seeking abortions navigate the complex challenges of religion, culture and a new Texas law. NYT, 4 May 2022.

JOSECITO

A Son Was Lost, a Daughter Saved. In Uvalde, Texas, where many children were killed, one family grieves the death of a small boy and holds his sister close. NYT, 30 May 2022.

LITTLE LEAGUE

In a Town Crippled by Grief, the Healing Power of a Perfect Pitch. Uvalde, Texas, was set to cancel its Little League All-Star Championship after a school shooting left 21 people dead. Then, the decision was made: The games would go on. NYT, 20 June 2022.

SURVIVOR TEACHER

Inside a Uvalde Classroom: A Taunting Gunman and 78 Minutes of Terror. A teacher who survived the mass shooting recounts the harrowing attack and desperate wait for a rescue. NYT, 10 July 2022.

BACK TO SCHOOL

After a Summer of Grief, It’s Back to School in Uvalde. Classes resumed on Tuesday in the South Texas community where a mass shooting in May took the lives of 19 students and two teachers. NYT, 6 September 2022.

DAY OF THE DEAD

On Uvalde’s Day of the Dead, a Night to Remember. In memory of the 21 victims of a deadly school shooting, a night of candles, music and poignant mementos was a chance to set grieving aside and celebrate the short lives lost. NYT, 3 November 2022.

 
 

“The New Face of Small-Town America offers vivid portraits of the people and families behind the demographic statistics, revealing a little-known aspect of contemporary immigration: far from the big cities and the border towns, in small inland settlements often written off as victims of deindustrialization, Latinos are restoring public life, renewing entire communities, and working hard to build a new urban future for our pluralist democracy.”

Andrew K. Sandoval-Strausz
University of New Mexico

 
Featured
Tony Lin

Rev. Dr. Tony Tian-Ren Lin is a Research Professor at New York Theological Seminary. He is a cultural sociologist whose scholarship focuses on the intersection of religion, immigration, race, and ethnicity. He is the author of Prosperity Gospel Latinos and Their American Dream (University of North Carolina Press, 2020), which Publisher’s Weekly praises as a “well-reasoned,” “evocative debut” that “immerse[s] readers in the lives of his subjects.” He was previously a Research Scholar at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia where he held numerous academic and administrative positions. Rev. Dr. Lin was born in Taiwan and grew up in Argentina. He holds a bachelor degree from Boston University, a Master of Divinity and Master of Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a Master and Doctor of Philosophy in sociology from the University of Virginia. He is an ordained Presbyterian minister who has served churches in New Jersey and Virginia. His work has been featured in The Atlantic Monthly, The Washington Post, LatinoUSA, WNYC, and other venues.

Featured
Edgar Sandoval

Edgar Sandoval is a National Correspondent for The New York Times, writing about Texas and the nuances of the U.S. Latino experience. A graduate of the University of Texas Pan-American, he began his career in journalism at The McAllen Monitor, his hometown newspaper, where he wrote obituaries while still in college. He went on to complete a training program at The Los Angeles Times, then worked as a reporter for The Morning Call in Allentown, PA, and at The South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale. He spent almost three years writing about the assimilation of Latino immigrants in Pennsylvania; the articles are anthologized in The New Face of Small-Town America: Snapshots of Latino Life in Allentown, Pennsylvania (Penn State University Press, 2010). The Nieman Storyboard Notable Narrative blog, affiliated with Harvard University, featured his 2004 Sun-Sentinel story about mothers behind bars, “Learning Their Lessons.” Sandoval worked for the New York Daily News for a decade, before joining The New York Times in 2019.

Open Plaza
Previous

Sowing the Sacred
Next

Faith Arising