Hola Amigos! We’re thrilled to share a special episode from My Cultura and WV Sound, Starring: Desi Arnaz & Wilmer Valderrama. Before Ricky Ricardo became a household name, Desi Arnaz was just a Cuban immigrant with a dream—and the odds stacked against him.

As Wilmer Valderrama’s family hits rock bottom in 1997 Los Angeles, a pilot audition forces him to confront the “accent barrier.” In Desi Arnaz’s parallel story, a $39-a-week rumba gig explodes into a full-blown craze: La Conga. The Miami hustle jumps to Times Square, debutantes line up, and soon Rodgers & Hart (with director George Abbott) tap Desi for their new Broadway musical Too Many Girls. Along the way: a green-card run, a star-making nightclub residency, a whirlwind romance with “Freckles,” and a near-fatal run-in with her jealous husband. It’s the episode where Desi becomes a NYC phenomenon—and the road to Hollywood opens.

Featuring: Wilmer Valderrama (That ’70s Show, NCIS, Encanto)
Topics: Desi Arnaz, La Conga nightclub, conga line craze, Rodgers & Hart, George Abbott, Too Many Girls (Broadway), New York nightlife, immigrant hustle, green card era, 1930s Latin music, accent in Hollywood casting, representation in media.

Starring: Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderrama is produced by WV Sound in partnership with iHeart’s My Cultura Podcast Network.
Starring: Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderrama is written by Erick Galindo and narrated by Wilmer Valderrama. It is produced by Sophie Spencer-Zavos and Leo Klemm, with special help from Angel Lopez Galindo.

Executive producers are Wilmer Valderrama and Erick Galindo.

This episode was edited and engineered by Sean Tracy and features original music by Halo Boy and Madison Davenport. Cover art illustration by Lindsey Mound.

For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hola Amigos! We’re thrilled to share a special episode from My Cultura and WV Sound, Starring: Desi Arnaz & Wilmer Valderrama. Before Ricky Ricardo became a household name, Desi Arnaz was just a Cuban immigrant with a dream—and the odds stacked against him.

Before Hollywood, there was a ratty Miami warehouse, a $15-a-week canary-cage job, and a teenage Cuban exile who refused to quit. In this episode, Wilmer Valderrama tracks how Desi Arnaz hustled from cleaning bird poop to playing rumba at the Roney Plaza, navigated U.S. immigration by leaving and re-entering for his green card, and caught the eye of bandleader Xavier Cugat—opening the door to New York’s Waldorf Astoria. When a chaotic first gig nearly gets him fired, Desi invents a show-saving spectacle: “La Conga.” One drum, one beat, one line—and a star is born.

Featuring: Wilmer Valderrama (That ’70s Show, NCIS, Encanto)
Topics: Desi Arnaz, Miami exile, Xavier Cugat, Roney Plaza, green card/asylum, rumba music, conga line origin, immigrant hustle, 1930s Latin music, Desilu origins, Hollywood history, Latinx representation.

Starring: Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderrama is produced by WV Sound in partnership with iHeart’s My Cultura Podcast Network.
Starring: Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderrama is written by Erick Galindo and narrated by Wilmer Valderrama. It is produced by Sophie Spencer-Zavos and Leo Klemm, with special help from Angel Lopez Galindo.

Executive producers are Wilmer Valderrama and Erick Galindo.

This episode was edited and engineered by Sean Tracy and features original music by Halo Boy and Madison Davenport. Cover art illustration by Lindsey Mound. Voice acting by Eddie Mujica and Andy Vargas.

For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hola Amigos! We’re thrilled to share a special episode from My Cultura and WV Sound, Starring: Desi Arnaz & Wilmer Valderrama. Before Ricky Ricardo became a household name, Desi Arnaz was just a Cuban immigrant with a dream—and the odds stacked against him.

A lone biplane drops homemade bombs over Havana as the 1933 revolution upends Cuba—and the Arnaz family. Desi’s father is jailed, stripped of wealth, and exiled, forcing teenage Desi to start over in Miami with no English, no money, and no roadmap. Wilmer Valderrama traces Desi’s survival sprint: faking English at dinner, getting pummeled in a surprise “yes-okay” boxing exhibition at Saint Leo’s, and cleaning canary cages for $15 a week—where a lesson in American salesmanship (package the experience, not just the product) sparks the mindset that will one day power Desilu. It’s the raw prelude to showbiz: resilience, reinvention, and the immigrant grind.

Featuring: Wilmer Valderrama (That ’70s Show, NCIS, Encanto)
Topics: Desi Arnaz, 1933 Cuban Revolution, Gerardo Machado, Fulgencio Batista, exile to Miami, Saint Leo College Prep, immigrant English learning, boxing exhibition, canary cage business, American salesmanship, Desilu origins, Hollywood history, Latinx representation.

Starring: Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderrama is produced by WV Sound in partnership with iHeart’s My Cultura Podcast Network.
Starring: Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderrama is written by Erick Galindo and narrated by Wilmer Valderrama. It is produced by Sophie Spencer-Zavos and Leo Klemm, with special help from Angel Lopez Galindo.

Executive producers are Wilmer Valderrama and Erick Galindo.

This episode was edited and engineered by Sean Tracy and features original music by Halo Boy and Madison Davenport. Cover art illustration by Lindsey Mound. Voice acting by Eddie Mujica, Luke Barr, and Ally Maldonado

For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hola Amigos! We’re thrilled to share a special episode from My Cultura and WV Sound, Starring: Desi Arnaz & Wilmer Valderrama. Before Ricky Ricardo became a household name, Desi Arnaz was just a Cuban immigrant with a dream—and the odds stacked against him.

A childhood stage mishap teaches Wilmer Valderrama the mantra that will define this episode—and Desi Arnaz’s life: just keep going. Wilmer draws a parallel between his family’s flight from Venezuela and the night Havana turned on the Arnaz household in 1933. As President Gerardo Machado falls and mobs ransack the family estate, teenaged Desi loses his home, heirlooms, and innocence—but gains the hard-won resilience that will later fuel I Love Lucy and Desilu. It’s the origin of a showman forged by revolution—and a reminder that the show must go on.

Featuring: Wilmer Valderrama (That ’70s Show, NCIS, Encanto)
Topics: Desi Arnaz, 1933 Cuban Revolution, Gerardo Machado, Fulgencio Batista, Havana, immigrant journeys, resilience, Wilmer Valderrama, Venezuela/Hugo Chávez, I Love Lucy origins, Latinx representation, Hollywood history.

Starring: Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderrama is produced by WV Sound in partnership with iHeart’s My Cultura Podcast Network.
Starring: Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderrama is written by Erick Galindo and narrated by Wilmer Valderrama. It is produced by Sophie Spencer-Zavos and Leo Klemm, with special help from Angel Lopez Galindo.

Executive producers are Wilmer Valderrama and Erick Galindo.

This episode was edited and engineered by Sean Tracy and features original music by Halo Boy and Madison Davenport. Cover art illustration by Lindsey Mound.

Voice Acting by Eddie Mujica, Danielle Koenig, Asher Muldoon, Alejandro Maciel, Jose Leon, Lorena Russi, Jesus Hernandez Blanco, Andy Vargas, Christian Valderrama, and Miguel Salinas

For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hola Amigos! We’re thrilled to share a special episode from My Cultura and WV Sound, Starring: Desi Arnaz & Wilmer Valderrama. Before Ricky Ricardo became a household name, Desi Arnaz was just a Cuban immigrant with a dream—and the odds stacked against him.

Before Desi Arnaz reengineered television, he learned a family lesson in Cuba: if you make something great, bottle it—then share it again and again. In this episode, Wilmer Valderrama traces Desi’s roots from Santiago high society and the Bacardí legacy to the brilliant idea that turned I Love Lucy into the blueprint for syndication (and today’s streaming). From filming on 35mm to owning the negatives at Desilu, Desi transformed one-and-done TV into a business that lives forever in reruns. Along the way, Wilmer weaves in his own childhood Zorro dreams, immigrant journey, and why Desi’s vision still powers hits like NCIS.

Featuring: Wilmer Valderrama (That ’70s Show, NCIS, Encanto)
Topics: Desi Arnaz, Bacardí, Cuba, TV history, I Love Lucy, Desilu, syndication/streaming, immigrant success stories, representation in media, Hollywood business. Starring: Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderrama is produced by WV Sound in partnership with iHeart’s My Cultura Podcast Network.

Starring: Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderrama is produced by WV Sound in partnership with iHeart’s My Cultura Podcast Network.
Starring: Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderrama is written by Erick Galindo and narrated by Wilmer Valderrama. It is produced by Sophie Spencer-Zavos and Leo Klemm, with special help from Angel Lopez Galindo.

Executive producers are Wilmer Valderrama and Erick Galindo.

This episode was edited and engineered by Sean Tracy and features original music by Halo Boy and Madison Davenport. Cover art illustration by Lindsey Mound.

For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hola Amigos! We’re thrilled to share a special episode from My Cultura and WV Sound, Starring: Desi Arnaz & Wilmer Valderrama. Before Ricky Ricardo became a household name, Desi Arnaz was just a Cuban immigrant with a dream—and the odds stacked against him.

In this premiere episode, Wilmer Valderrama dives into the untold story of how Desi went from cleaning bird cages to revolutionizing American television. From I Love Lucy to Star Trek, Desi built the blueprint for modern Hollywood—and opened the door for generations of Latinos to follow.Through rare archival recreations, personal stories, and a powerful connection between Wilmer and Desi’s shared immigrant journeys, this episode redefines what it means to “make it” in America.

Featuring: Wilmer Valderrama (That ’70s Show, NCIS, Encanto)
Topics: Desi Arnaz, TV History, Hollywood, I Love Lucy, Ed Sullivan Show, immigrant success stories, movie history, representation in media. Starring: Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderrama is produced by WV Sound in partnership with iHeart’s My Cultura Podcast Network.

Starring: Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderrama is produced by WV Sound in partnership with iHeart’s My Cultura Podcast Network.
Starring: Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderrama is written by Erick Galindo and narrated by Wilmer Valderrama. It is produced by Sophie Spencer-Zavos and Leo Klemm, with special help from Angel Lopez Galindo.

Executive producers are Wilmer Valderrama and Erick Galindo.

This episode was edited and engineered by Sean Tracy and features original music by Halo Boy and Madison Davenport. Cover art illustration by Lindsey Mound.

For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Freddy and Wilmer wrap things up the only way they know how: stories, laughs, recaping their favorite guests and a heartfelt cheers to friendship. One last round (for now!), on us!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.