Start from Joaquin's world
Topics connect public issues with the culture, sports, humor, values, and concerns that shaped Joaquin's life.
Guac's Going On? Podcast
Joaquin's voice returns to the conversations America keeps avoiding.
Guac's Going On? is a short-form podcast from Change The Ref that uses AI to recreate Joaquin Oliver's voice, under his family's direction, for direct conversations about culture, power, public safety, politics, creativity, and gun violence.
LAUNCHED / ACTIVE
2026–present
2026
series launch
5
episodes published in the first run
Short-form
direct, rapid-response format
WHAT IT IS
The podcast extends a question that runs through much of Change The Ref's work: how can Joaquin keep participating in the future that gun violence denied him? With his family guiding the project, AI technology recreates his voice for tightly focused episodes grounded in his story, values, interests, and point of view.
The show is designed to be direct rather than ceremonial. Early episodes take on gun access and age, the idea that a gun in the home automatically creates safety, the theatrical work GUAC, the World Cup, and the creative interventions Change The Ref takes into public culture.
HOW THE IDEA WORKED
Attention is only useful
if it moves somewhere.
CTR initiatives are designed to do more than communicate. Each one creates a path from attention to participation, accountability, remembrance, or action.
Use AI with family direction
Technology recreates Joaquin's voice as part of a family-led project intended to continue his participation in the movement built in his name.
Keep it immediate
Short episodes allow the podcast to respond quickly to current campaigns, public debates, performances, and moments in culture.
IMPACT
A new format for the same refusal to let Joaquin be reduced to a statistic.
The podcast launched in 2026 and quickly established a compact format for connecting Change The Ref's campaigns with broader conversations about safety, culture, accountability, and the future young people should be allowed to have.
WHY IT STILL MATTERS
Like Unfinished Votes and #Posts Into Letters, Guac's Going On? treats technology as a tool for memory and action. The point is not simply to recreate a voice; it is to keep the conversation moving.
CREATED WITH
- Change The Ref
- The Oliver family
- Joaquin “Guac” Oliver
LATEST EPISODES
Keep the conversation going.
The newest Guac’s Going On? episodes are surfaced here from CTR’s main podcast page, with the full archive always one click away.
EPISODE 01
Joaquin’s 26th: A Birthday for Venezuela | Guac's Going On? - EP 06
Watch / Listen
EPISODE 02
These Aren't Campaigns, They're Interruptions | EP 05
Watch / Listen
EPISODE 03
The World Cup Gun Violence Stole | EP 04
Watch / Listen
EPISODE 04
Guac Returns to Culver City | EP 03
Watch / Listen
EPISODE 05
Does a Gun at Home Really Make You Safer? | EP 02
Watch / Listen
PERMANENT HOME
This initiative lives here now.
Original campaign sites may change or go offline over time. ChangeTheRef.org keeps the full story, purpose, and legacy of this initiative accessible in one permanent place.