Podcast Summary: "Work in Progress: Cristela Alonzo"

Podcast: Work in Progress with Sophia Bush
Host: Sophia Bush
Guest: Cristela Alonzo
Air Date: September 18, 2025

Episode Overview

In this inspiring and heartfelt episode, actress and activist Sophia Bush sits down with comedian, writer, actress, and trailblazer Cristela Alonzo. Together, they dive deep into Cristela’s journey from a challenging childhood in a Texas border town to making Hollywood history as the first Latina to create, write, produce, and star in her own primetime sitcom. The conversation balances humor with vulnerability as the two discuss identity, class, representation, mental health, activism, the joy of childhood passions (yes, including LEGOs!), and how laughter fuels social change.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Childhood and Creative Identity

• Nurturing Joy Through Nostalgia

  • Cristela and Sophia instantly bond over their shared love of LEGO and nerdy TV idols (“mid century Pee Wee’s Playhouse” - Cristela, 07:10).

  • Cristela explains how returning to childhood joys—like playing video games or building LEGO sets—helps her manage anxiety and depression, serving as a “reset” for happiness (Cristela, 19:47).

    “Every time I get sad or stressed out, I have always gone back to do something that I did when I was a little kid because it reminds me of how happy I was.”
    —Cristela (18:51)

• Influence of Television and Journalism

  • Both women credit TV shows like Murphy Brown and Mary Tyler Moore for shaping their storytelling and activist impulses (12:02–13:08).
  • Cristela discusses translating the news for her mother as a child, blending journalism and theater from a young age and nurturing her sense of social justice (13:08–16:13).

Breaking Barriers in Comedy and Representation

• Hollywood Firsts and the Power of Specific Storytelling

  • Sophia praises Cristela for being “the first Latina ever to create, write, produce, and star in your own primetime sitcom” (28:59).

  • Cristela explains the surprising universality of ultra-specific stories: her jokes about blue-collar life and “expiration dates as suggestions” deeply resonated with diverse audiences across Wisconsin and more (29:58–32:04).

    “By being specific, you’re actually being very universal. Great storytelling makes everybody feel like they had the same life or similar experience.”
    —Cristela (31:09)

• Challenging Industry Norms About Age and Women

  • The conversation highlights the lack of nuanced TV roles for women over 40 and the diversity of ages on beloved shows from their childhoods (26:09–27:56).

    “I want to see shows about us. We’re so fun in our 40s. Where are our TV shows?”
    —Sophia (26:10)

Poverty, Class, and Family

• Growing Up With Joy Amid Hardship

  • Cristela movingly relates her family’s experience squatting in an abandoned diner, using extension cords for power and singing around a radio at night. Despite their poverty, her childhood was defined by laughter, not by lack (32:50–34:35).

• Realizing Socioeconomic Differences as an Adult

  • Only in her 20s, when relating stories to others, did Cristela recognize the extent of her family’s poverty—and how much it’s misunderstood by those who haven’t experienced it (35:27–37:53).

    “You think your life is like everybody else’s life, and then when you go out into the real world... you realize everybody has a different life.”
    —Cristela (37:24)

Activism Rooted in Laughter and Community

• Activism Inspired by Family and History

  • Growing up in a border town and witnessing ICE raids as a child, Cristela feels unable to ignore injustice: “For me, there is no way that I couldn’t be active.” (48:13)

  • Her activism is fueled by a strong sense of responsibility, shaped further by mentorship from labor legend Dolores Huerta.

    “Dolores was like, ‘This is the first time your country's broken your heart? It’s not going to be the last time... you cry, you feel furious... then the next day, you wake up and you fight.’”
    —Cristela (54:28)

• Room Temperature Shows & Collective Power

  • Cristela details her “Room Temperature Shows,” stand-up events that raise money for the Immigrant Defenders Law Center—$30 tickets, $30,000+ raised so far (58:55–60:11).

  • She uses these events as living proof of the power of small individual contributions to create significant change, comparing the effect to a choir:

    “One voice is needed with another voice and together you make beautiful music. And that’s what we can do with change.”
    —Cristela (60:19)

• Using Joy as Resistance

  • The new special centers on finding joy in struggle: “When we lose the joy, they win... The problem isn’t that you don’t work hard enough. The problem is you work too much and you don’t allow yourself the chance to enjoy happiness.”
    —Cristela (57:43–58:13)
  • Sophia underscores this theme: “Joy is the light... whatever thing brings you hope... Laughing anyway.” (58:27)

Representation, Solidarity, and the Illusion of Hollywood Glamor

• Hollywood Reality Check

  • Both women call out the “illusion” that TV success means wealth and ease, emphasizing how most actors struggle and rely on unions for basic benefits (66:00–68:13).

• Social Media and “Realness”

  • The two deconstruct the superficiality of social media, especially beauty standards, advocating instead for vulnerability and authenticity as acts of resistance (69:09–70:27).

    “Everybody’s cosplaying everyone... Can we be vulnerable? Is it okay to show people what we really look like, what we really do?”
    —Cristela (70:18)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Comedy and Anxiety:
  “It, like, took me a little while to figure out my particular brand of just, like, neuro spiciness... gives me crippling anxiety, but also can make me sort of funny... anxiety comics, yes, yes.”
  —Sophia (11:10)

• On the Experience of Growing Up Poor: “We used to have this little radio from Radio Shack... we would pick up stations from, like, Mexico that she knew. And on a clear night, we would just sit around in the dark, just singing... it almost seems so scripted, this family moment... but it was so happy that I didn’t realize we had no electricity.”
  —Cristela (33:14)

• Dolores Huerta’s Wisdom:
  “This is the first time your country’s broken your heart? This is not going to be the last time… you feel angry, you feel furious, live with those moments. And then the next day, you wake up and you fight. Every time that you think, every time it gets hard, you remember those moments that you were sad and furious and use it to continue the fight. Because change is possible.”
  —Dolores Huerta (as recounted by Cristela, 54:26)

• On Joy as Defiance:
  “When we lose the joy, they win…The problem isn’t that you don’t work hard enough. The problem is you work too much… and you don’t allow yourself the chance to enjoy happiness.”
  —Cristela (57:43–58:13)

• On Aging and Happiness:
  “Turns out happiness looks good on people.”
  —Sophia (71:06)

• On the Power of Collective Small Actions:
  “That just shows you your $30 raised $12,000... change can happen at very small increments.”
  —Cristela (60:11)

Major Timestamps

• 00:00–06:59: [Skipped Adverts, Show Intro]
• 07:10–12:44: Comedy bonding, LEGOs, and old TV hero worship
• 13:08–16:11: Theater and news, child of immigrants, activism roots
• 17:03–21:27: Childhood passions, reset rituals, challenging cultural expectations
• 25:10–27:56: The power of aging, missing authentic 40s+ representation on TV
• 29:58–32:04: Storytelling, specificity, blue-collar jokes as universal connection
• 32:16–38:29: Childhood poverty, joy in hardship, growing awareness of systemic class issues
• 47:03–51:41: Room Temperature Shows, activism with comedy, immigrant rights
• 54:26–57:43: Election heartbreak, mentorship from Dolores Huerta, using pain as fuel
• 58:55–60:37: Collective power, $30 tickets, choir metaphor for change
• 62:19–63:05: Open to running for office, commitment to service and inclusion
• 69:09–72:39: Social media illusions & beauty standards, vulnerability, joy in aging
• 72:39–73:41: (Outro, Ads - skipped)

Final Reflection: Work in Progress

The episode closes with Sophia asking Cristela what her “work in progress” is. Cristela answers that she’s increasingly called to be of service to others and is open to evolving her advocacy, possibly even through political office:

“The older I get, I realized I really do feel that I want to be in service to others... I would be open to running for office in the future if it was something that was good for the community.”
—Cristela (62:19)

But for now, the focus remains on finding joy, deepening solidarity, and using every tool—especially laughter—to build a kinder, more just world. As Sophia puts it:

“Maybe the work in progress is just to get more gorgeous as we age because we get happier.”
—Sophia (71:22)

A warm, wise, and laughter-filled episode full of practical activism, sisterhood, and hope.