A podcast on all things Latin America and the Caribbean featuring leading scholars, researchers, and intellectuals.
In this episode, historians Aldo Marchesi, Amanda Waterhouse, and Thomas Field examine the role of U.S. aid in Latin America, helping us place this institution's history in context—particularly in light of Trump's recent move to restrict or cut foreign assistance to the region.
En este episodio, Edward Brudney y Carmen Soliz conversan con los historiadores Fabricio Prado y Alex Borucki sobre sus aportes a la historia del Río de la Plata. Discutimos cómo su trabajo desafió el nacionalismo metodológico y sus aportes a los estudios de redes sociales y comerciales transimperiales. Alex Borucki es autor de From Shipmates to Soldiers: Emerging Black Identities in the Río de la Plata. También editó el volumen From the Galleons to the Highlands: Slave Trade Routes in the Spanish Americas. Fabricio Prado es autor de Edge of Empire: Atlantic Networks and Revolution in Bourbon Río de la Plata. Junto con Alex Borucki, coeditó The Río de la Plata: From Colony to Nations, un volumen que explora las transformaciones políticas, sociales y económicas de la región en el tránsito del período colonial a la independencia.
Julia Sarreal conversa con Edward Brudney y Carmen Soliz sobre Yerba Mate: The Drink that Shaped a Nation, el primer libro que explora la historia de esta icónica bebida en Argentina desde la época precolonial hasta la actualidad. Sarreal narra cómo el mate pasó de ser una tradición indígena a un símbolo omnipresente en la colonia, su asociación con los sectores rurales y populares en el siglo XIX, y su resurgimiento en el siglo XX. Este libro revela el papel de la bebida en la construcción de la identidad nacional argentina, explorando raza, cultura y producción en su evolución.
Edward Brudney y Carmen Soliz entrevistan a la historiadora Margarita Fajardo para hablar sobre su innovador libro The World That Latin America Created: The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America in the Development Era. En su obra, Fajardo revela cómo un grupo de intelectuales transformaron la economía del desarrollo y redefinieron el papel de América Latina en el escenario global.
In this episode, historian Paulina Alberto joins us to talk about her award-winning book Black Legend, published by Cambridge University Press in 2022. Celebrated with the 2023 Bolton-Johnson Prize for Best Book in Latin American History and the 2023 Southern Cone Section Award for Best Book in the Social Sciences, Black Legend has quickly become a must-read. Tune in to discover the groundbreaking insights of Alberto's second monograph and learn more about her inspiring academic journey.
El Estado Rural estudia la política interna de una comunidad de la sierra central peruana, desde principios del siglo XX, cuando el estado peruano reconoció la legalidad de las comunidades indígenas, hasta finales del conflicto armado en la década de 1990. Este largo arco temporal permite al autor analizar un siglo de intervenciones estatales y mercantiles en el campo y sus repercusiones en la vida rural.
Several scholars, including Joanne Rappaport, Sinclair Thomson, Gavin O'Toole, and Bret Gustafson, have praised Brooke Larson's book as a monumental, meticulously documented history of Indigenous education in twentieth-century Bolivia.
Los historiadores Lina Britto y Ricardo López Pedreros -editores de dos volúmenes, Historias de soledad e Historias de perplejidad- reflexionan sobre las trayectorias personales y académicas que impulsaron la producción de esta obra, las condiciones de producción de conocimiento en Estados Unidos y América Latina, y la importancia de utilizar Colombia como lente para mirar a las Américas y al mundo.
Rafael Archondo and Isabel Siles' Sobre un barril de pólvora, is a comprehensive review of the former president's life, Hernan Siles Zuazo (1913-1996). He was one of the founding members of the nationalist revolutionary party (MNR) in 1942. He was elected two times as president (1956-1960 and 1982-1985), and his role was vital to consolidate revolutionary achievements like Agrarian Reform or social participation and pluralistic democracy. The authors highlight Siles Zuazo's commitment to human rights and civil liberties. During his tenure, power was peacefully transferred to the next elected president. Siles was a kind of tragic hero because of his conviction in using peaceful means in political struggles.
Dr. Sarah Hines explores residents of Cochabamba struggle for access to water that is linked to broader historical processes such as the dispossession and dismantling of indigenous communities in the 19th century, the Bolivian revolution of 1952, and the dictatorships of the 1960s and 1970s. Her book argues that the Cochabambinos defeated privatization in the Water War in 2000 because they defended something they had fought for and won decades earlier, especially in the context of the 1952 revolution.
Dr. Nicole Pacino is an associate professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Nicole has studied the effects of the policies of the 1952 Revolution on rural health, particularly on indigenous women. Her work shows how maternity was a central axis of the nationalist policies of the MNR that strived to create/consolidate the nation.
Elizabeth Shesko argues that conscription evolved into a pact between the state and society. It was not only imposed from above but also embraced from below because it provided a space for Bolivians across divides of education, ethnicity, and social class to negotiate their relationships with each other and the state. Shesko contends that state formation built around military service has been characterized in Bolivia by multiple layers of negotiation and accommodation. The resulting nation-state was and is still hierarchical and divided by profound differences, but it never was simply an assimilatory project. It instead reflected a dialectical process to define the state and its relationships.
Kevin Young traces the history of Bolivian struggles over mineral and hydrocarbon resources, highlighting the complex legacies of Bolivia's 1952 revolution. His work also revolves around the various economic projects that party officials, political party leaders, activists, urban factory workers, university students, and mine workers proposed to address a key question for Bolivians: How to overcome economic dependency and underdevelopment? To make sense of these debates, Young uses the term resource nationalism, which he will explain in detail in this interview.
Dr. Natalie Kimball analyzes the politics of abortion and reproductive rights in Bolivia from the mid-twentieth century to the present. They focus on the cities of La Paz and El Alto, exploring this open secret that brings to light the complex relationship of Bolivian nationalist, military, neoliberal, and leftist governments with women's reproductive rights.
Elena McGrath explores how culture and material conditions create revolutionary conditions. In this interview, Elena helps us understand how the lives of mine workers and their families changed after the revolution. Elena demonstrates that the revolution brought the mine workers and their families an unprecedented sense of citizenship that did not limit to the right to vote but also to the right to education, health, and social security linked to their work in the mines. In this way, Elena shows us the concrete ways in which the revolution transformed the lives of the mine workers.
Dr. Thomas Field, author of *From Development to Dictatorship: Bolivia and the Alliance for Progress in the Kennedy Era,* discusses the fall of the Revolution in 1964 and the accession to power of General René Barrientos. He argues that, unlike other military regimes, Barrientos did not reverse the most prominent conquests of the Revolution. His interpretation of the Barrientos regime challenges previous understandings of the rise of the military in Bolivia. He also discusses the deep legacies of the Bolivian revolution in today's politics.
Dr. José Gordillo studies the role of the peasants in the 1952 Bolivian Revolution. His book is an ethnography of local political struggle, adding to an increasingly rich literature on the revolution that seeks to understand revolutionary political dynamics from below.
En este episodio escuchamos al politólogo Rafael Britto quien fue además parte de la campaña del ahora presidente de Colombia, Gustavo Petro. Britto nos habla de las condiciones, de las oportunidades, y de los desafíos que enfrentará este nuevo gobierno de izquierda en América Latina.
La Dra. Sarah T. Hines habla con Carmen de la lucha social por el acceso al agua y la ingeniería hidráulica en Bolivia desde finales del siglo XIX hasta principios del XXI. book - https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520381643/water-for-all website - https://www.ou.edu/cas/history/people/faculty/sarah-hines
Dr. Michael Bustamante joined Steven to discuss his book *Cuban Memory Wars: Retrospective Politics in Revolution and Exile*. Michael J. Bustamante is Associate Professor of History and the Emilio Bacardí Moreau Chair in Cuban and Cuban-American Studies. https://people.miami.edu/profile/m.bustamante@miami.edu https://uncpress.org/book/9781469662039/cuban-memory-wars/
En este episodio tenemos el placer de escuchar al etnohistoriador Amos Megged quien nos habla desde la Universidad de Haifa (Israel) para hablar sobre su ultimo libro *Rituals and Sisterhoods* que explora las historias de mujeres solteras, plebeyas, y jefas de hogar en el Mexico Colonial.
Today Dustin welcomes Dr. Elizabeth Schwall to the podcast to talk about the relationship between dance and politics in Cuba. An interdisciplinary scholar of Latin American history and dance, Schwall is the author of Dancing with the Revolution: Power, Politics, and Privilege in Cuba (University of North Carolina Press, 2021). She explains the various ways that staged dance was infused with political significance by a variety of Cuban actors. Schwall's story intersects with the social politics of race and, ultimately, the broader Cuban revolutionary project. Enjoy the listen!
Dr. Lina Britto joins Steven to discuss her book *Marijuana Boom: The Rise and Fall of Colombia's First Drug Paradise*.
En un episodio especial, la Dra. Lina Britto recibe a la Dra. Carmen Soliz de Historias. Hablan del nuevo libro de Carmen *Fields of Revolution: Agrarian Reform and Rural State Formation in Bolivia, 1935-1964.* Que disfruten. Book: https://upittpress.org/books/9780822946656/ Carmen: https://history.charlotte.edu/people/dr-carmen-soliz
La antropologa Ana Ramos-Zayas habla de su nuevo libro *Parenting Empires: Whiteness, Class, and the Moral Economy of Privilege in Latin America * con Carmen. https://americanstudies.yale.edu/people/ana-ramos-zayas https://www.dukeupress.edu/parenting-empires
Dr. Rafael Ocasio, the Charles A. Dana Professor of Spanish at Agnes Scott University, joined Steven to discuss his new anthology *Folk Stories from the Hills of Puerto Rico*. https://www.agnesscott.edu/directory/faculty/ocasio-rafael.html https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/folk-stories-from-the-hills-of-puerto-rico-cuentos-folkloricos-de-las-montanas-de-puerto-rico/9781978822986
Dr. Sharika Crawford of the US Naval Academy joins Steven to discuss her book *The Last Turtlemen of the Caribbean: Waterscapes of Labor, Conservation, and Boundary Making*. https://www.usna.edu/History/Faculty/Crawford.php https://uncpress.org/book/9781469660219/the-last-turtlemen-of-the-caribbean/ Intro: https://youtu.be/fDrJPM9m_Ss
Dr. Joshua Frens-String habla de su libro *Hungry for Revolution: The Politics of Food and the Making of Modern Chile* con Carmen. https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520343375/hungry-for-revolution
Our Fall season finale has arrived! Today, Steven and Dustin welcome Dr. Jenny Pribble to the program to explain Chile's presidential election. Dr. Pribble is Associate Professor of Political Science and Global Studies at the University of Richmond, and the author of Welfare and Party Politics in Latin America. Join us for a wonderful conversation to learn more about the significance of Gabriel Boric's victory, and the state of Chilean democracy!
The end of 2021 brings with us a busy season of elections in Latin America. In today's episode, Dr. Christine Wade walks Dustin through November's presidential election in Honduras, which saw the triumph of Xiomara Castro. Join us for a fascinating and informative conversation!
Today's episode features an entertaining and illuminating conversation about Mexico, the United States, and drugs, between Steven and Dr. Benjamin T. Smith of the University of Warwick. Smith is the author of the new book, The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade, which analyzes a series of issues surrounding the drug trade going back more than a century. In addition to political corruption on both sides of the border, violence, the state of the cartels, and the United States' seemingly insatiable demand for drugs, the two also talk about the need for better physical and psychological healthcare in the United States. Antonio Gramsci also makes a brief appearance. Join us for the ride!
Gabriel Thoumi CFA, FRM, Director of Financial Markets and Head of the Plastics Programme at Planet Tracker, joined Steven to discuss his work in aligning capital markets with planetary boundaries. They discuss the urgency of tackling climate change, the environmental and health challenges caused by the production and use of plastics, and the importance of marshaling resources and collaborators to achieve sustainable outcomes. Connect with Gabriel on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielthoumi/ Conferences: ESG and Plastics - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECZjvnlNKKg History of Investing in Plastics - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr3KTulu1iU Papers and Reports: https://planet-tracker.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Dirty-Thirty.pdf https://planet-tracker.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Policing-the-Plastic-Producers-1-1.pdf https://planet-tracker.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Stormy-Outlook-Final-v2.pdf https://planet-tracker.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Unwrapping-Investor-Risk.pdf Blog - https://planet-tracker.org/heading-towards-a-global-plastic-treaty/
On November 7, 2021, Daniel Ortega won his fourth consecutive term as president of Nicaragua in an election roundly assailed as both unfree and unfair. Prior to election day, the Nicaraguan state incarcerated presidential candidates from opposition parties and leaders and activists from a variety of social movements and civil society organizations. Steven spoke with Dr. Eline Van Ommen to better understand how to understand the results and what it means for democracy in Nicaragua. https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/history/staff/3345/dr-eline-van-ommen
Our ongoing series on Latin America's Cold War continues, returning to Chile. Dustin sat down with Dr. James Lockhart, Assistant Professor of History at Zayed University, to talk about his book, Chile, the CIA and the Cold War: A Transatlantic Perspective (Edinburgh University Press, 2019). Lockhart explains the importance of situating Latin America's Cold War into the story of the Global Cold War. The two also discuss the challenges of studying the history of covert action. Enjoy!
Steven welcomed Dr. John French to the program to talk about his new book, Lula and His Politics of Cunning: From Metalworker to President of Brazil. Their highly engaging conversation touched on themes of labor, gender, social movements, and politics. The pair also discussed the opportunities that exist for well-constructed biographies, and Eric Hobsbawn's interest in Latin America. Have a listen!
Dr. Irina Popescu joins Steven to discuss her latest article entitled "Memorialization and Escraches: Ni una Menos and the documentation of Feminicidio in Argentina," published recently in The Latin Americanist. More about Irina - https://www.bowdoin.edu/profiles/faculty/ipopescu/index.html Her article - https://muse.jhu.edu/article/805479
Dustin welcomed Dr. Alan Shane Dillingham onto the podcast to talk about his new book, Oaxaca Resurgent: Indigeneity, Development, and Inequality in Twentieth-Century Mexico. He was treated to a wide-ranging conversation touching on numerous themes in indigenous, Mexican, and modern Latin American history. Enjoy!
La historiadora Dra. Lina Britto habla de su libro nuevo que se llama *Marijuana Boom The Rise and Fall of Colombia's First Drug Paradise* con Carmen Soliz. Que disfruten. https://history.northwestern.edu/people/faculty/core-faculty/lina-britto.html https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520325470/marijuana-boom Intro: Diomedes Díaz - Lluvia De Verano - https://youtu.be/BiM3c2Dh78k Outro: Los Hermanos Zuleta - Soy Parrandero Y Que - https://youtu.be/UiJBA5dYAz0
In today's episode, Steven welcomed Dr. Bill Cohoon to the podcast to talk about his article, “Los caminos borbónicos y el esfuerzo por mejorar la infraestructura de comunicaciones en el Perú, 1718-1809.” Along the way, they discuss the opportunities that come with teaching at the secondary level in a preparatory school with a Ph.D., and maintaining an active research agenda. Enjoy!
Dr. Frederico Freitas joined Carlos to discuss his book *Nationalizing Nature: Iguazu Falls and National Parks at the Brazil-Argentina Border*.
Dr. Sarah Osten and Dr. Jurgen Buchenau joined Steven to discuss the first three years of Mexico's Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's presidency and the recent midterm elections.
Las historiadoras Carmen Soliz y Anna Cant comparan los procesos agrarios que tuvieron lugar en Bolivia y Perú en la segunda mitad del siglo XX. Un diálogo que nos ayuda a entender el rol de los campesinos así como de dos gobiernos progresistas en su intento por reestructurar la estructura de la propiedad. El libro de Carmen - https://upittpress.org/books/9780822946656/ El libro de Anna - https://utpress.utexas.edu/books/cant-land-without-masters
Dr. Joshua Frens-String discusses with Dustin his new book *Hungry for Revolution: The Politics of Food and the Making of Modern Chile*. Book link: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520343375/hungry-for-revolution
Dr. Mauro Caraccioli of Virginia Tech joined Steven to discuss his book entitled *Writing the New World: The Politics of Natural History in the Early Spanish Empire*, which examines the interplay of faith, nature, and empire in Colonial Spanish America and the natural histories produced by early modern Spanish missionaries to the New World. In so doing, Dr. Caraccioli documents how philosophical wonder was used to broaden empirical knowledge of the New World as well as guide conquest and colonization. link to Mauro's book - https://upf.com/book.asp?id=9781683401681
Dr. Michele McArdle Stephens joined Steven to discuss her book *In the Lands of Fire and Sun: Resistance and Accommodation in the Huichol Sierra, 1723–1930*. Link to her book: https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9780803288584/ Link to Intro / Outro: Huichol Musical - https://youtu.be/ABL1xc_oEtE
Smith College's Dr. Javier Puente joined Steven to discuss the Peru's presidential runoff election between Pedro Castillo and Keiko Fujimori this past Sunday. Check out Javier's article on Pedro Castillo from April - https://nacla.org/peru-elections-pedro-castillo Intro and Outro - Martina Portocarrero - Flor de la retama - Musica Ayacuchana - https://youtu.be/9k1QEZm3fw0
24 March 2021 marked the 45th anniversary of the coup that launched Argentina’s most violent period of military rule. From 1976-1983, the armed forces and their civilian allies ruled through terror. The dictatorship became notorious for its gross violations of human rights and the economic and social crises it provoked. When democracy was restored in 1983, Argentines began the process of not only addressing the crimes of the dictatorship, but also redefining what democracy could mean. Historians Natalia Milanesio and Sebastián Carrasai joined Jen Adair and Steven Hyland to discuss the legacies and the scholarship on this period.
Dustin welcomed Dr. Thea Riofrancos, Associate Professor of Political Science at Providence College, onto the podcast to talk about her book, Resource Radicals: From Petro-Nationalism to Post-Extractivism in Ecuador. The two discuss social movements and the politics of resource extraction, especially on the left. They also consider the ongoing significance of dependency theory in Latin America, and the relationship between resource extraction and green technologies. Check it out!
Dr. Lina Britto of Northwestern University and Dr. Steven Taylor of Troy University joined Steven to discuss the ongoing social mobilizations and street protests across Colombia. Intro - Métricas Frías & Deejohend - Su Propia Medicina - https://youtu.be/xC7Sj06Ha6E Outro - Edson Velandia & Adriana Lizcano - Todo Regalao -https://youtu.be/0LLIkGUwIr4 Photo Caption: "Avenida San Juan en las manifestaciones del 28 de abril de 2021, Medellín" Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/humanosalvajefotografia/51147405944/
In this week’s episode, Steven welcomes back to the program Dr. Juan José Ponce Vázquez, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Alabama and the winner of the 2021 Alfred B. Thomas Book Award from SECOLAS. The duo talk about the book, Islanders and Empire: Smuggling and Political Defiance in Hispaniola, 1580-1690, and the challenges and opportunities of studying Hispaniola during the long seventeenth century. Enjoy!
Dr. William Booth, the author of “Rethinking Latin America’s Cold War” published in The Historical Journal, joined Steven and Dustin to, well, rethink Latin America’s Cold War. They examine the historiography of the Cold War in Latin America before discussing the long and layered history of conflict in the region. Dr. Booth also gives us a preview of his forthcoming book with Verso, A Prehistory of Revolution: Latin American Lefts in the Early Cold War. Not content end the conversation when the episode ostensibly wraps, the trio goes into extra time and talks more about Booth’s scholarship, and about Austin BBQ, Powell’s Books, and New York Mets fandom. Stick around!
© 2020-2025 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
