heritage

The “Reading Rainbow” is officially back, with internet-famous librarian Mychal Threets at the helm.

Following the reboot’s premiere last Saturday, the new host responded to the audience’s wishes for a Latino lead in a recent social media post. He wrote, “You’re not going to believe this… I am [Latino]! My dad is Black, my mom is Mexican and white. I’m a mixed kid, homeschool kid, library kid, PBS kid, and @readingrainbow kid!”

Threets, who got his start as a Bay Area librarian, tells The Times that because he was home-schooled, he was able to learn about his heritage mostly through books. He says he was raised to be proud of his heritage and looks up to both his grandfather and mother as examples of what it means to be Latino. Much of his childhood was also marked by the sounds of Selena Quintanilla, whom he recently got memorialized in a tattoo.

“My heritage and being Latino will hopefully be reflected in my appearance on the show,” said Threets in a statement. “I hope people will see me and see a happy, jovial person who has the same heritage as them.”

Threets started to gain online popularity in 2020. He started posting short-form videos of himself reading and sharing stories from working in a library. Many of those videos garnered more than a million views and earned him several hundred thousand followers.

The original “Reading Rainbow,” hosted by LeVar Burton, first launched on PBS in 1983. For over two decades, Burton taught literacy skills and helped instill a love for reading in children across the country. The show ended in 2006, having earned a handful of Emmy and Peabody Awards. It ran for a total of 155 episodes and is recognized as one of the longest-running children’s programs ever.

At the time, the show was funded in part by the Department of Education. The reboot comes at a time when public media, including television, has been subject to sizable budget cuts. The revitalization will instead appear on the kids’ YouTube channel, Kidzuko, which is owned by Sony Pictures Television, as well as the Reading Rainbow’s website.

The reboot, which premiered over the weekend, has mostly stayed true to its roots with a new rerecorded theme song and a trivia segment. Celebrity guests will include “Dancing With the Stars” performers Rylee Arnold and Ezra Sosa, “The Bear’s” actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach, John Legend, Chrissy Teigen and Gabrielle Union. New episodes air every Saturday, until Oct. 24.

“Reading Rainbow seeks to make reading fun for everyone, all races, all backgrounds, all levels of reading! The reactions have been out of this world,” said Threets. “I am overwhelmed in the best of ways.”

Smack-dab in the middle of Hispanic Heritage Month, PBS will air the 38th Hispanic Heritage Awards tonight.

The show took place on Sept. 4 at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C., and honored a collection of musicians, artists, actors, journalists and business leaders.

This year’s honorees, selected by the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, included NPR’s “Alt. Latino” journalist Felix Contreras, stoner comic and Chicano art collector Cheech Marin, Puerto Rican pop music visionary Rauw Alejandro, Oscar-nominated actor and dancer Rosie Perez, Rizos Curls Chief Executive Julissa Prado and “Mexican Queen of Pop” Gloria Trevi.

Honoree Felix Contreras accepts the Journalism Award onstage during the 38th Hispanic Heritage Awards in Washington, D.C.

(Paul Morigi / Getty Images for Hispanic Heritage Foundation)

Contreras is one of the few journalists to ever receive the esteemed honor, though he was initially reticent to accept. “We learn early on that [journalists] are not supposed to be the story,” Contreras told The Times earlier this year.

Recently, Marin has moved on from a successful career making stoner comedy films and is now best known for his work as a collector of Chicano art. After being a lifelong gatherer of art, the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum opened to the public in June 2022.

Rauw Alejandro, meanwhile, has innovated the Latin music scene with his experimental albums, such as 2022’s techno-infused psychedelic album, “Saturno”; his beachy follow-up, “Playa Saturno,” in 2023; and his 2024 ode to the 1970s New York City salsa scene, “Cosa Nuestra.”

Cheech Marin accepts the Arts Award onstage during the 38th Hispanic Heritage Awards.

(Paul Morigi / Getty Images for Hispanic Heritage Foundation)

Rosie Perez made a name for herself as a dancer on the TV show “In Living Color” and with starring roles in Spike Lee films before being nominated for an Oscar for 1993‘s “Fearless.”

Gloria Trevi is one of the most successful Latina artists of her time. She has garnered over 30 million sold albums and 7 billion combined streams, along with several top-selling albums and an induction into the Latin Music Songwriters Hall of Fame.

As the Rizos Curls co-founder and CEO, Prado is being honored, per the HHF, for “her personal journey of self-discovery into a nationally celebrated, multi-million-dollar business specializing in textured hair care.”

Gloria Trevi performs onstage at the 38th Hispanic Heritage Awards.

(Paul Morigi / Getty Images for Hispanic Heritage Foundation)

The ceremony was hosted by actor and writer Mayan Lopez, and viewers will be able to take in performances by Trevi, along with artists Daymé Arocena, DannyLux, Lisa Lisa and RaiNao.

The awards show was established in 1988 by the White House to honor cultural visionaries within the Latino community. Previous awardees include Bad Bunny, Anthony Quinn, Sonia Sotomayor, Linda Ronstadt, Los Tigres Del Norte, Gloria Estefan and Tito Puente, among others.