Central Valley Daily

March 25: A Biographer On Cesar E. Chavez’s Fall From Grace

By Elizabeth Arakelian,

Published March 25, 2026 at 4:45 AM PDT

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Public outrage was palpable after allegations of sexual abuse against Cesar E. Chavez were published in the New York Times last week. His public image was virtually erased in mere hours. On today’s episode, we discuss the downfall of a civil rights icon with writer Miriam Pawel, who published the 2014 biography “The Crusades of Cesar Chavez.”

Plus, the latest news headlines: Republican lawmakers push for menstrual products for farmworkers, and the son of a Filipino farmworker activist speaks out on Cesar E. Chavez.

Central Valley Daily

Elizabeth Arakelian

A Valley native, Elizabeth earned her bachelor's degree in English Language Literatures from the University of California, Santa Cruz and her master's degree in journalism from New York University. She has covered a range of beats. Her agriculture reporting for the Turlock Journal earned her a first place award from the California Newspaper Publishers Association.

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Jonathan Linden

Jonathan Linden is a podcast producer at KVPR. Born and raised in Riverside, he's a Southern California native. Jonathan's passion for public radio began at a young age when his brother would play NPR while driving him home from middle school. He earned his B.A. in journalism from Biola University in 2019.

See stories by Jonathan Linden