Benztown President Dave “Chachi” Denes has dropped two new episodes of Chachi Loves Everybody, featuring interviews with Gracie Award winner and groundbreaking syndicated host Dana Cortez and CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Mo Rocca.
Cortez traces her path from Big Spring, TX, where she navigated racism and poverty as a second-generation Mexican American, to the national stage. The episode covers her early development as a programmer and on-air talent, the career-altering moment at KMRK in Odessa, TX, and the mentorship of John Candelaria, who took a chance on her in mornings at a time when that daypart was almost exclusively male territory.
Cortez also addresses embracing digital platforms, managing a social media presence, balancing on-air duties with podcasting and charity work, and what a Gracie Award means for visibility and industry recognition.
Rocca’s episode takes a different but equally compelling turn. The veteran broadcaster, whose career has touched children’s television, national hosting gigs, and a regular correspondent’s chair at CBS, reflects on what he absorbed from Jon Stewart and Larry King, and what he’d tell young creatives now trying to find their footing in a media landscape being reshaped by AI.
Chachi Loves Everybody is available on all major podcast platforms.
