Leslie Hurtado
Leslie Hurtado is an award-winning multimedia journalist and Environmental Reporter for Cicero Independiente, covering environmental injustices in Cicero and Berwyn. She co-founded Rabiosa Medina Radio in 2020, exploring femininity, pop culture and global crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, with guests like Maria Hinojosa and the Lebanese Red Cross. Her reporting with WBEZ's Curious City on Pilsen earned a regional Edward R. Murrow Award and a Peter Lisagor Award nomination.
A lifelong horror fan, she’s drawn to the ways the genre reflects real-life struggles, especially for women of color. She spends her nights watching horror double features with her husband, Antonio, dissecting the ways fear shapes power. Now, she’s merging investigative storytelling and horror with Not In Distress — a podcast where femme-horror meets reality, proving that the scariest monsters aren’t just on-screen.