Historias Podcast: Recent Episodes
SECOLAS
The Historias podcast is a weekly program featuring scholars, journalists, and activists discussing cutting edge research and offering perceptive observations on current events associated with Latin American and Caribbean societies. If you are looking for smart and inviting conversation on a wide variety of issues and more, this show is for you.
Historias is a digital media project from the Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies (SECOLAS).
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.
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!
Steven welcomes Dr. Jennifer Adair back to the program to talk about her book, In Search of the Lost Decade: Everyday Rights in Post-Dictatorship Argentina. In addition to considering the experience of transitioning from an era of state terror to one of neoliberalism, the two discuss the study of memory, globalization, and authoritarianism. They also ruminate about the importance of study abroad opportunities.
Dustin talked about some of his favorite subjects – including economic development, supranational institutions, and global governance – with one of the sharpest minds in the field, Dr. Christy Thornton. Thornton takes us through the key arguments in her new book, Revolution in Development: Mexico and the Governance of the Global Economy. The two also talk about interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching, and how to craft the most probing questions. Check it out!
Anthropologist Dr. Liliana Duica joined Steven to discuss her research on landmines and their removal in Colombia. In her studies, she developed the concept of the 'regularization of irregularity' to explore how these artifacts were and are understood. They also discuss ethnographic methods and her surprising find of weaponry handbooks produced and circulated by the guerrillas.
La historiadora Dra. Michelle Chase habla de su libro Revolution within the Revolution: Women and Gender Politics in Cuba, 1952-1962 con Carmen Soliz.
Steven welcomes Alyssa Bowen, a Ph.D. candidate in Global History at the University of North Carolina to the program to talk about her research into the Chile transnational solidarity movements of the 1970s and 1980s. The two chat about Bowen’s article, “”Taking in the Broad Spectrum’: Human Rights and Anti-Politics in the Chile Solidarity Campaign (UK) of the 1970s” in the Journal of Social History. They also touch on a viral Tweet and explore in some depth the concept of anti-politics. Have a listen!
Our State of the Field series returns – this time focusing on tourism! Join Carlos as he chats with Drs. Anadelia Romo, Elizabeth Manley, and Andrew Grant Wood about their recent anthology, The Business of Leisure: Tourism History in Latin America and the Caribbean. The group surveys a wide variety of important themes, including the business of tourism, sex tourism, the myriad ways that race and gender interplay in the enterprise, the privileged role of international visitors, and the environmental effects of leisure travel. The group also asks what alternative versions of tourism might look like. Check it out!
Dr. Joaquín Chávez habla de su libro Poets and Prophets of the Resistance: Intellectuals and the Origins of El Salvador's Civil War con Carmen. El libro analiza la movilización urbana y rural previa a la guerra civil en el Salvador.
Que disfruten.
Dr. Chad Black sat down with Steven for an enlightening conversation about his research. The two take us to colonial Quito with tales of neighbors denouncing neighbors, and courts prosecuting supposedly deviant sexual behavior. They discuss the ways court records can be used to explore social norms. Enjoy!
Have a listen to Steven and Dustin’s conversation with Molly Avery, a doctoral candidate in International History at the London School of Economics. The group talks about Ms. Avery’s new article, “Promoting a ‘Pinochetazo’: The Chilean Dictatorship’s Foreign Policy in El Salvador during the Carter Years, 1977-81,” as well as her broader research agenda. Settle in to learn more about the transnational right and the significance of human rights in inter-American relations.
Nuestra presentadora Carmen Soliz habla con Dr. Pablo Ospina de la Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar de la elección presidencial ecuatoriana.
Que disfruten.
https://www.uasb.edu.ec/web/area-de-estudios-sociales-y-globales/docente?pablo-ospina
Ecuador’s presidential election took place on 7 February. Spoiler alert – it’s heading to a runoff. Dr. Marc Becker talked with Steven and Dustin about the election, Ecuadorian politics, the importance of social movements, and the meaning of neoliberalism in the 2020s. Have a listen!k
El historiador y periodista Ben Dangl habla de su libro The Five Hundred Year Rebellion: Indigenous Movements and the Decolonization of History in Bolivia.
Carlos Dimas returns to the mic to talk with Dr. Ashley Kerr about her new book, Sex, Skulls, and Citizens: Gender and Racial Science in Argentina, 1860-1910. Sit back and listen to disturbing but significant stories about displays of indigenous peoples in late-nineteenth and early twentieth-century Argentina. Dr. Kerr also previews her new book project, centering on the Buenos Aires zoo.
Dr. Carmen Soliz brought together an outstanding panel of scholars to discuss present day Bolivia. The panel explores such critical actors and elements as the military, miners, cruceño elites, and public health contemporary Bolivia by placing them in broader historical arcs to present a complex picture of this Andean nation.
Panel:
Dr. Liz Shesko [https://www.oakland.edu/history/faculty-staff/elizabeth-shesko/] Dr. Ben Nobbs-Thiessen [https://www.uwinnipeg.ca/history/faculty-staff/ben-nobbs-thiessen.html] Dr. Elena McGrath [https://www.union.edu/history/faculty-staff/elena-mcgrath] Dr. Nicole Pacino [https://www.uah.edu/ahs/departments/history/faculty-staff/nicole-pacino]
Photo: "Bolivia" by szeke is licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/
Steven sat down with Dr. Rafael Ocasio to talk about his new book, A Bristol Rhode Island and Matanzas Cuba, Slavery Connection: The Diary of George Howe. The conversation takes us from Rhode Island to Matanzas – from the U.S. Capital to plantation fields. Using George Howe as a window into the era, Ocasio paints a vivid picture of a challenging world.
La dra. Christine Arce habla de su libro Mexico's Nobodies: The Cultural Legacy of the Soldadera and Afro-Mexican Women con Carmen Soliz.
Dr. Mark Healey of UConn and Dr. Ernesto Semán of the University of Bergen (Norway) joined Steven to assess the first year in office of Argentine president Alberto Fernández.
Dra. Ángela Vergara habla de su nuevo libro Fighting Unemployment in Twentieth-Century Chile con Carmen y Giovanni.
Dr. Javier Puente of Smith College joined Steven to discuss the current crisis in Peru and what it means for democracy, accountability, and the aspirations for a participatory and dynamic democracy.
Drs. Ángela Vergara and Joshua Frens-String spoke with Dustin about Chile’s recent constitutional plebiscite. They talked about the nuts-and-bolts issues involved, and put the movement for constitutional change in a broader historical perspective. Enjoy!
Esta semana hablamos con el antropólogo Lurgio Gavilan quien de niño fue miembro de Sendero Luminoso, reclutado, más tarde, por el ejército Peruano, sacerdote en la iglesia católica, y ahora docente universitario en la universidad de Huamanga. Lurgio nos habla de su libro Memorias de un soldado desconocido: autobiografía y antropología de la violencia y del impacto que este fascinante trabajo ha tenido en el Perú.
https://www.dukeupress.edu/when-rains-became-floods
Dustin spoke with Drs. Tanya Harmer and Tiffany Sippial about their new biographies on Beatriz Allende and Celia Sánchez Manduley. They discussed the significance of gender and the ways in which their subjects’ stories add to our collective understanding of politics and revolution during the mid-twentieth century. They also consider questions of leadership, legacies, and lessons today’s political activists can learn. Check it out!
On Sunday, October 18, 2020, Bolivians went to the polls for the first time since last year’s controversial election and subsequent deposing of longtime president Evo Morales. Evo and many members of the government and political party MAS, the Movement towards Socialism, fled into exile as an interim government seized the reigns of power and used the military and security services to violently put down resistance.
The results from Sunday proved a decisive victory for MAS and its candidate for president, former economy minister Luis Arce. Was the result a referendum on the fourteen years of MAS rule? Was it a referendum on the legitimacy of the interim government? Was does the result mean for Bolivia and the region?
To explore these questions and more, Dustin and I spoke with Dr. Thomas C. Field Jr, an associate professor of Global Security and Intelligence at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Dr. Field is the author of From Development to Dictatorship: Bolivia and the Alliance for Progress in the Kennedy Era and most recently a co-editor of Latin America and the Global Cold War.
En esta entrevista hacemos un recorrido por la carrera de la historiadora Gabrielle Kuenzli quien nos habla de su libro Acting Inca: National Belonging in Early Twentieth-Century Bolivia en el analiza la re-construcción de la memoria Aymara y su representación en la imagen política nacional y, su próximo proyecto, centrado en el rol de los latinos en Estados Unidos en las carreras de caballos. Su nueva investigación revela el protagonismo de los jinetes latinos dentro del hipismo, un deporte que genera 215 billones de dolares en Estados Unidos.
https://www.sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/artsandsciences/history/our_people/directory/kuenzli_gabrielle.php
https://upittpress.org/books/9780822962328/
Dr. Sarah Osten joined Steven to discuss the complex story of state consolidation in Mexico following the cessation of revolutionary violence and nationwide fighting.
The Mexican Revolution's Wake -https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/mexican-revolutions-wake/A7E101384E1EE07D5D773479153EF16F
Dr. Yuko Miki de Fordham University habla de su libro "Frontiers of Citizenship: A Black and Indigenous History of Postcolonial Brazil" con Carmen Soliz y Gionvanni Bello.
podcast home: https://historiaspodcast.com/
book link: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/frontiers-of-citizenship/D6D8DED62259DA179669030296AC7043
Join Steven and Dustin as they go on a deep dive into contemporary Venezuela with Dr. Alejandro Velasco. Alejandro talks about the country’s political crisis, including the increasingly fractured state of the opposition. They also discuss U.S. and international efforts to isolate the Maduro government, the ways that COVID has affected Venezuela, and the state of the country’s oil industry. Be sure to stick around for the episode’s postscript covering the recent United Nations report on political repression and state-directed violence in Venezuela.
Dustin spoke with an outstanding panel about the Donald Trump administration’s policies toward Latin America. Settle in for a wide-ranging conversation with Dr. Margaret Commins, Dr. Mary Rose Kubal, Dr. Jeffrey Taffet, and Dr. Gregory Weeks covering Cuba, Venezuela, immigration, race, COVID, and much more.
El destape fue un movimiento social y cultural vital para ampliar la definición de democracia y la creación de una sociedad pluralista después del periodo dictatorial de los años setenta. El destape que se constituyo en una explosión de imágenes sobre sexualidad en Argentina, marcó en palabras de la historiadora Natalia Milanesio, "el mayor y más explosivo fenómeno sociocultural después de la caída de la dictadura militar".
Para discutir su nuevo libro, Destape: Sexo, Democracia y Libertad en la Argentina post-dictatorial, Dra Natalia Milanesio habla con Carmen.
Dr. Pablo Palomino joined Steven to discuss his new book The Invention of Latin American Music: A Transnational History.
Book link: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-invention-of-latin-american-music-9780190687403?cc=us⟨=en&
El Manisero - https://youtu.be/sj7NfrrnaKE
Sarah spoke with Dr. Alma Rosa Alvarez, Professor of English at Southern Oregon University, about the development of Chicanx studies. They discussed the evolution of Chicanx literature, the intersection of modernization and Liberation Theology, and issues surrounding homophobia and sexism in the canon. The two also probed the particular challenges surrounding teaching Chicanx literature at a relatively small school in rural Oregon. Have a listen!
Dr. Jake Blanc spoke with Carlos about his new book Before the Flood: the Itaipu Dam and the Visibility of Rural Brazil.
Land and the control of it lay at the core of Latin American economic inequality, social unrest, and political violence. It animates the scholarship on the region.
In such countries with large indigenous communities as Bolivia, Mexico, and Honduras, the systematic dispossession of land remains an unresolved and contentious issue as these communities seek restitution while simultaneously defending current holdings.
In Honduras, the acclaimed indigenous activist Berta Cáceres was a central figure in the defense of land from so-called economic development and infrastructure projects, in particular the successful campaign to stop the building of the Agua Zarca Dam on the Río Gualcarque on Lenca land.
What is remarkable about Berta Cáceres is that much of her activism was done in the shadow of threats against her life, which only intensified during this campaign.
In early March 2016, armed intruders assassinated Honduran indigenous activist in her home.
Steven spoke with Nina Lakhani, environmental justice correspondent for The Guardian newspaper, about her new book entitled Who Killed Berta Cáceres: Dams, Death Squads, and an Indigenous Defender’s Battle for the Planet.
https://www.versobooks.com/books/3180-who-killed-berta-caceres
La historiadora Natalie Kimball discute son nosotros su trabajo Un secreto a voces: La historia del embarazo no deseado y el aborto en Bolivia. El libro acaba de salir impreso por la universidad de Rutgers. Kimball investiga las experiencias personales e íntimas que las mujeres bolivianas han tenido con la sexualidad y la reproducción. Estas experiencias revelan las actitudes contradictorias y ambivalentes que los sectores dominantes han tenido sobre la mujer y el sujeto indígena.
https://www.csi.cuny.edu/campus-directory/natalie-l-kimball
https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/an-open-secret/9780813590738
Intro / Outro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwvYxSMHsW8
Dr. David Dalton joined Steven to discuss his book entitled Mestizo Modernity: Race, Technology, and the Body in Postrevolutionary Mexico.
After the end of the Mexican Revolution in 1917, postrevolutionary leaders hoped to assimilate the country’s racially diverse population into one official mixed-race identity—the mestizo. This book shows that as part of this vision, the Mexican government believed it could modernize “primitive” indigenous peoples through technology in the form of education, modern medicine, industrial agriculture, and factory work. David Dalton takes a close look at how authors, artists, and thinkers—some state-funded, some independent—engaged with official views of Mexican racial identity from the 1920s to the 1970s.
https://pages.uncc.edu/ddalto14/
https://upf.com/book.asp?id=9781683400394
Cecilia Tossounian reconstruye diferentes representaciones de la feminidad moderna de la Argentina de los años 20 y 30, un período complejo en el que el Argentina vio la prosperidad y la crisis económica, una población cosmopolita creciente, el surgimiento de la cultura de consumo y el desarrollo del nacionalismo. Tossounian analiza cómo estas imágenes populares de la chica moderna ayudaron a dar forma a la identidad nacional de Argentina.
https://conicet.academia.edu/CeciliaTossounian
https://upf.com/book.asp?id=9781683401162
Dr. Matthew Pettway joined Steven to discuss his new book Cuban Literature in the Age of Black Insurrection: Manzano, Plácido, and Afro-Latino Religion. By focusing on the Afro-Cuban poets Juan Francisco Manzano and Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés, known as Plácido, Pettway explores how they intertwined Spanish and African bodies of knowledge to create a narrative of emancipation in nineteenth-century Cuba.
http://www.matthewpettway.com/
https://www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/C/Cuban-Literature-in-the-Age-of-Black-Insurrection
Intro/Outro: https://youtu.be/2NqzePPhp7E
El historiador peruano Gianncarlo Muschi nos habla de su investigación de doctorado que analiza la historia de migración peruana a Paterson, New Jersey en Estados Unidos. Su trabajo de muestra cómo las estrategias peruanas para sobrevivir a la economía informal en el Perú como el “recurseo,” fueron también instrumentos que ayudaron a los migrantes peruanos a consolidar redes económicas exitosas en Estados Unidos.
One of the more consequential and least studied outcomes of Bolivia's 1952 national revolution was settling and transformation of the country's tropical eastern frontier. Ben Nobbs-Thiessen explains how Mennonites from Mexico, Okinawans, and highland Bolivian indigenous moved into the region, forever transforming the environment and the trajectory of the city of Santa Cruz.
https://uncpress.org/book/9781469656106/landscape-of-migration/
https://history.wsu.edu/rci/ben-nobbs-theissen/
La historiadora Rossana Barragan discute con nosotros su mas reciente trabajo sobre el rol de las mujeres en las minas de Potosi en el periodo colonial como trabajadoras pero tambien como dueñas de trapiches. Una charla fascinante que nos ayuda a entender cómo ha cambiado la investigación sobre la historia colonial Andina de las ultimas tres décadas
Rossana Barragán Romano, "Women in the Silver Mines of Potosí: Rethinking the History of 'Informality' and 'Precarity' (Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries)," International Review of Social History (24 October 2019), pp.1-26
Rossana Barragán Romano & Leda Papastefanaki, “Women and Gender in the Mines: Challenging Masculinity Through History: An Introduction”, International Review of Social History (12 February 2020), pp. 1-40
La historiadora venezolana Cristina Soriano autora del libro Tides of Revolution: Information, Insurgencies, and the Crisis of Colonial Rule in Venezuela nos habla de los medios formales e informales de circulación de información, y en particular de ideas revolucionarias, durante el periodo de la independencia. Una fascinante y exhaustiva exploración de fuentes escritas: libros, panfletos, pasquines y fuentes orales: denuncias, y rumores en el medio de la crisis régimen colonial.
https://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/artsci/culturalstudies/faculty/biodetail.html?mail=cristina.soriano@villanova.edu&xsl=bio_long
https://unmpress.com/books/tides-revolution/9780826359865
In this episode we report on the state of the SECOLAS journal, The Latin Americanist. Steven chatted with editor Greg Weeks, and annals issue co-editors Gregory Crider and Jürgen Buchenau. Together they explored the world of journal publishing, endorsed good citizenship to the academe, and tried their best to convince us that the Mexican Revolution explains absolutely everything! Take a listen.
Dr. Fernanda Bretones Lane spoke with Steven about her article “The Congress of Vienna and the Making of Second Slavery,” which won the 2020 Sturgis Leavitt Award for Best Article.
Bretones Lane, who co-authored the article with Guilherme de Paula Costa Santos and Alain El Youssef, also discussed her current book project examining Spanish religious sanctuary laws that enslaved Africans in the Atlantic World utilized to achieve emancipation from the late 17th century to the early 19th century.
https://brill.com/view/journals/jgs/4/2/article-p162_3.xml?language=en
https://history.ufl.edu/directory/current-faculty/fernanda-bretones-lane/
https://twitter.com/f_bretones
Esta semana en Historias en español tuvimos el grato placer de tener en el programa al historiador argentino Ernesto Semán para dialogar sobre su libro Ambassadors of the Working Class. Este libro, concentrado en la historia de los agregados obreros durante el gobierno de Perón, constituye un invaluable aporte a la historial social, política, y trasnacional.
https://www.uib.no/en/persons/Martin.Ernesto.Sem%C3%A1n
https://twitter.com/ErnestoSeman
https://www.dukeupress.edu/ambassadors-of-the-working-class
Dr. Natalia Milanesio joined Steven to discuss her new book ¡Destape!: Sex, Democracy, and Freedom in Postdictatorial Argentina. For Milanesio, the Destape was "the biggest and most explosive sociocultural phenomenon after the fall of the military dictatorship... that made sexual culture into a powerful metaphor for democracy and the reconstruction of Argentine society.”
¡Destape! earned Honorable Mention in the 2020 Alfred B. Thomas Award competition from the Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies.
Happy listening.
https://upittpress.org/books/9780822945840/
https://www.uh.edu/class/history/faculty-and-staff/milanesio_n/
Xun Betan poeta y activista Tzotzil nos habla de su carrera como miembro y estudioso de las comunidades tzotziles en la frontera México-Guatemala.
https://www.galeriamuy.org/esp/xun-betan-2/
Camino a San Cristobal (Intro) - https://youtu.be/wDk05gNL1CI
La Maruchita (Outro) - https://youtu.be/OfUAkpia7Wk
https://www.gob.mx/inpi/es/articulos/etnografia-de-los-pueblos-tzotzil-batsil-winik-otik-y-tzeltal-winik-atel?idiom=es
https://www.gob.mx/cms/uploads/attachment/file/12595/tzotziles.pdf
Renata and Dustin spoke with Dr. Patrick Iber about his academic roots, and the origins of his book, Neither Peace Nor Freedom: The Cultural Cold War in Latin America. But our hosts were especially interested in Iber’s extensive record of publishing for popular audiences. They explore the question: what is a public intellectual, anyway?
El historiador uruguayo Aldo Marchesi analiza los procesos guerrilleros de los años 60 en Sudamerica. Aunque cada uno de estos procesos ha recibido algún grado de atención por parte de los historiadores en sus respectivos países, Marchesi rescata el carácter trasnacional de estos movimientos y la emergencia de una identidad colectiva que se fue forjando no solo a partir de la circulación de ideas que viajaban de un país a otro, sino también a partir también de los numerosos exilios de los que fueron objeto estos guerrilleros en las décadas de los sesenta y setenta.
http://www.geipar.udelar.edu.uy/index.php/2016/07/04/aldo-marchesi/
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/latin-americas-radical-left/D5ED018659A107F6FCDF48183C511853
Escuchar a la música inspirado por los tupamaros - https://soundcloud.com/alfonso-mijares/sets/versos-y-canciones-tupamaras
Three historians of epidemic disease - Nicole Pacino, Glen Kuecker, and Carlos Dimas - joined Steven to talk about the history of pandemics in Latin America and the Caribbean and how it can help us understand this particular moment we are living in.
For further information:
Carlos - https://www.unlv.edu/people/carlos-dimas
Glen - https://www.depauw.edu/academics/college-of-liberal-arts/history/faculty-staff/detail/1112592582468/
Nicole - https://www.uah.edu/ahs/departments/history/faculty-staff/nicole-pacino
En historias 82, la historiadora Jennifer Adair nos presenta su libro In Search of the Lost Decade: Everyday Rights in Post-Dictatorship Argentina publicado en enero del 2020. El libro retrata las luchas cotidianas de los ciudadanos argentinos en el periodo de la postdictadura. Adair subraya que las demandas por democracia, además de una dimensión política, albergaban una profunda demanda económica y social.
https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520305182/in-search-of-the-lost-decade
Dustin chatted with Dr. Christoph Rosenmüller about his book, Corruption and Justice in Colonial Mexico, winner of this year's Alfred B. Thomas Book Prize. In addition to diving into colonial Mexican jurisprudence, the two talked about the insights that book offers for the classroom.
Dr. Alvis Dunn, SECOLAS' incoming president, joined Steven to talk about his intellectual journey mixed with twenty-five years of bartending. They also discussed his road trip to Guatemala in the 1980s and his vision for the organization.
This week we are pleased to welcome Dr. Brenda Elsey onto the program. Dr. Elsey is Associate Professor of History at Hofstra University, and most recently the author of Futbolera: A History of Women and Sports in Latin America (University of Texas Press, 2019), with Joshua Nadel. Steven spoke with Dr. Elsey about the importance of the history of sport, and especially its intersection with women’s history. The two also talk public scholarship and podcasting. Speaking of which, check out Dr. Elsey’s podcast, Burn it all Down!
Dr. Erika Edwards joined Steven to discuss her new book Hiding in Plain Sight: Black Women, the Law, and the Making of a White Argentine Republic. They also discussed the challenges of "life happens" and Dr. Edwards' role as Executive Secretary of the Conference on Latin American History.
Dr. Amy Offner sat down with Lily for an insightful conversation centering on her book, Sorting Out the Mixed Economy: The Rise and Fall of Welfare and Developmental States in the Americas. The two discussed Colombia’s importance as a site of mid-twentieth century capitalist development, and the impact that varieties of capitalism had on a wide range of people – from public and private elites to campesinos. Offner offers a refreshing analysis of the evolution of capitalism over the course of the second half of the twentieth century, contextualizing the ascent of neoliberalism.
In a Historias episode featuring two Texans, David McKenzie joined Steven for a wide-ranging conversation about working in public history, his research on U.S. citizens in Mexico during the mid-nineteenth century, commercial power, and balancing the demands of writing a doctoral dissertation with those of a day job.
Originally aired January 22, 2020
Award-winning educator, novelist, and historian Suzanne Litrel joined Steven to discuss her research on Dutch Brazil and its place in the Portuguese Atlantic and World History. They also discuss her high school teaching career, her decision to write historical fiction, and the challenges of returning to graduate school as a non-traditional student. Happy listening.
Check out Suzanne’s historical novel series Jackie Tempo.
Originally aired January 16, 2020
Dr. Marysol Quevedo and Dr. Elizabeth Schwall joined Steven to discuss the cultural projects of the Cuban Revolution, arguably its most successful initiative.
In this wide ranging discussion, Marysol and Elizabeth detail the evolution of these art forms from the 1930s through first decades of revolutionary Cuba, highlighting the efforts of Alicia Alonso, Fernando Alonso, Juan Blanco, Leo Bouwer, and Harold Gramatges.
This episode is the last in a series marking the 60th anniversary of the revolution’s triumph.
Originally aired December 19, 2019
Dr. Jennifer Lambe and Dr. Michael Bustamante joined Renata Keller to discuss the Cuban Revolution, an increasing appreciation for the plural experiences of revolution, and the continued politicization of writing on it. In this lively conversation, Jenny and Mike also talk about archives and methods and why the Cuban Revolution and its continued study still matter.
Amelia Frank-Vitale and John Doering-White joined Lily Pearl Balloffet to discuss their research and public engagement on Central American migration.
Originally aired December 4, 2019
In the third installment in our occasional series on the Maya, Steven Hyland talked with Dr. Sarah West and Sarah Williams. In their wide-ranging conversation, our guests highlighted the importance of the local, and of socio-cultural constructions, when analyzing anything related to the Maya. From the politics of birthing to Apocalypto, this episode has it all!
Originally aired November 29, 2019
The recent social unrest in Chile, the estallido social, has provided a reckoning for the political order that the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship brought into being. Dr. Marian Schlotterbeck joined Lily Balloffet to talk about the current crisis and her own work on everyday social revolutionaries in Chile. Check out her book, Beyond the Vanguard: Everyday Revolutionaries in Allende’s Chile (University of California Press, 2018).
Originally aired November 20, 2019
Drs. Thomas Field and Carmen Soliz walk Steven Hyland and Dustin Walcher through the unfolding political crisis in Bolivia.
Originally aired November 13, 2019
Dr. Khristin Landry Montes, assistant professor of Art History at Cornell College, and Paula Karger, doctoral candidate in comparative literature at the University of Toronto, join Steven Hyland for the first of two deep dives on the Maya. The discussion centers on Mayan cultural forms, including cosmology and origin stories, and sociopolitical organization and trade prior to the arrival of the Spanish and into the colonial era.
Originally aired November 7, 2019
Drs. Mark Healey and Ernesto Semán joined Steven to discuss this past Sunday’s presidential and gubernatorial elections in Argentina. The discussion features a deep dive on the evolution of political culture over the past four decades and the emergence of a consolidated, radicalized center-right political movement.
Originally aired October 31, 2019
Dr. Thomas Field Jr., an associate professor of Global Security and Intelligence at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, joined Renata to discuss this past Sunday’s presidential election.
Originally aired October 23, 2019
Dr. Javier Pabón of Methodist University joined Steven to talk about his scholarship and about filmmaking. They also chatted about membership in national communities for diverse groups of people. As an added bonus, Dr. Pabón read us some poetry.
Dr. Casey Lurtz of Johns Hopkins University joined Jackie and Carlos to talk about her book From the Grounds Up: Building an Export Economy in Southern Mexico.
Originally aired October 9, 2019
Dr. Corinna Zeltsman of Georgia Southern University talked with Jackie Sumner about print culture in nineteenth century Mexico, the joys of teaching, paths for graduate students, and paper.
Originally aired October 2, 2019
Dr. Alan McPherson of Temple University sat down with Dustin Walcher to discuss his career working in U.S.-Latin American relations, and his new book, Ghosts of Sheridan Circle: How a Washington Assassination Brought Pinochet’s Terror State to Justice. They chatted about anti-Americanism, nationalism, archives, and historical detective work.
Originally aired September 25, 2019
Dr. Elena Schneider, an associate professor in the Department of History at the University of California, Berkeley, spoke with Steven about her award-winning book The Occupation of Havana: War, Trade, and Slavery in the Atlantic World.
And our heartiest congratulations to Elena for just learning that The Occupation of Havana won the Murdo J. Macleod Book Prize from the Latin American & Caribbean Section (LACS) of the Southern Historical Association.
Originally aired September 11, 2019
Jayson Porter joins Carlos to discuss his research on the intersection of political economy and agricultural sciences that led to the Green Revolution in Mexico. They also discuss the utility and opportunities of social media and the wide variety of maps and the information they communicate.
Originally aired September 4, 2019
Dr. Francesca Lessa, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at the Latin American Centre at the University of Oxford, joined Steven to talk about Operation Condor and the pursuit of justice and accountability for the states and actors responsible for transnational human rights crimes in the 1970s.
See Francesca’s recent article in the Journal of Latin American Studies – “Operation Condor on Trial: Justice for Transnational Human Rights Crimes in South America“
See also her 2011 monograph Memory and Transitional Justice in Argentina and Uruguay: Against Impunity
“There are no colonial legacies in Spanish America. Yet, this book is about them.”
And so begins Dr. Lina Del Castillo‘s fascinating book Crafting a Republic for the World: Scientific, Geographic, and Historiographical Inventions of Colombia that traces the efforts to build a republican nation in a hostile world of monarchies and empires.
Renata caught up with Lina to explore it further.
Originally aired June 26, 2019
Dr. Erin Beck, an associate professor of political science at the University of Oregon and an award-winning author, spoke with Steven about the recent general election in Guatemala.
She is the author of How Development Projects Persist: Everyday Negotiations with Guatemalan NGOs (Duke University Press, 2017)
Originally aired June 19, 2019
Drs. Rita Palacios and Paul Worley joined Steven to discuss their new book entitled Unwriting Maya Literature: Ts’íib as Recorded Knowledge.
This episode is the first in an occasional series on the Maya.
Originally aired June 13, 2019
Dr. Stephen Neufeld joined Renata and Steven to discuss his award-winning book The Blood Contingent: The Military and the Making of Modern Mexico.
Originally aired June 5, 2019
Dr. Marixa Lasso of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia joined Steven to discuss her new book Erased: The Untold Story of the Panama Canal.
Originally aired May 29, 2019
In this state of the field episode, Matt Childs, Elena Schneider, and Alex Wisnoski joined Steven to discuss the history of slavery in Latin American and Caribbean societies.
Dr. Orlando Perez of Millersville University joined Steven to discuss the results and consequences of Sunday’s legislative and presidential elections in Panama.
Originally aired May 7, 2019
In the latest installment of our Luminaries series, Dr. Donna Guy, Professor Emeritus from both the Ohio State University and the University of Arizona, joined Steven and Dustin for a wide-ranging conversation. They discussed her career, her scholarship, the challenges that women have faced in academia, and the importance of mentorship and peer connections in the profession.
Originally aired April 30, 2019
Dr. Alison Bruey, an associate professor in the Department of History at the University of North Florida, joined Steven to discuss her book Bread, Justice, and Liberty: Grassroots Activism and Human Rights in Pinochet’s Chile, published by the University of Wisconsin Press in 2018, which won the 2019 Alfred B. Thomas Book Award.
The Thomas Book Award is given annually for the best book on a Latin American subject published by a SECOLAS member.
Originally aired April 23, 2019
Dr. Lily Balloffet joined Steven to discuss her article entitled “Argentine and Egyptian History Entangled: From Perón to Nasser,” which won the 2019 Sturgis Leavitt Award for Best Article from SECOLAS.
Originally aired April 15, 2019
Dr. Renata Keller joined Dustin and Steven to discuss her research on the Latin American response to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Originally aired April 8, 2019
Dr. Reginald Bess, the incoming President of SECOLAS, spoke with Steven about his lifelong love for languages and the humanities and his dedication to teaching at HBCUs. They also discuss the enduring importance of language study for young Americans and what universities can do to innovate language programs.
Originally aired March 26, 2019
Dr. Mark Healey, associate professor in the Department of History at the University of Connecticut, spoke with Carlos about his research on the environment and governance in the Argentine Andes. They also talk wine, earthquakes, drum machines, concrete and a host of other things.
Originally aired March 18, 2019
Dr. Jane Mangan, the Mary Reynolds Babcock Professor of History and Latin American Studies at Davidson College, spoke with Steven about her research on non-elite women in Potosí and her work on how ideas of familial obligations crisscrossed the Atlantic in the colonial era. They also discuss her use of 3-D printing to bring to life material culture for her students.
Originally aired March 11, 2019
Dr. Aaron Coy Moulton of Stephen F. Austin State University sat down with Steven and Dustin to talk about the activities of right-wing dictators in the Caribbean basin during the 1950s and 1960s. They also chatted about archives and the importance of serendipity in academic careers.
In this ‘State of the Field’ edition, Dr. Michelle Chase and Dr. Devyn Spence Benson spoke with Dustin and Steven about the historiography and current status of scholarship on the Cuban Revolution.
The conversation explores the evolution of the scholarship of Cuban Revolution 60 years on and how many scholars today are less interested in the leadership. Instead, researchers are increasingly interested in how the revolutionary period has been experienced by ordinary Cubans.
Originally aired February 25, 2019
Steven spoke with historians Luis Herrán Ávila and Randal Sheppard about the history of revolutionary nationalism in Mexico, its enduring place in political life, and its importance to AMLO. Luis and Randal also discuss the immediate challenges facing the Mexican president, including huachicoleo, insecurity, impunity, and Mexico’s relationship with the United States.
Originally aired February 18, 2019
James Mestaz, a post-doctoral fellow at Claremont-McKenna College, joined Carlos to discuss his research on water, the indigenous Mayo communities in northwestern Mexico, and revolutionary state between the 1920s and 1970s.
Originally aired February 11, 2019
In this episode, professor of political science Michael Allison discusses the February 3, 2019 presidential election in El Salvador. With Nayib Bukele from the GANA party emerging as the victor, Bukele is the first candidate since the end of the Civil War not from the two dominant political parties. Allison offers what this election means for not only El Salvador and Latin America, but the Americas as a whole.
Originally aired February 6, 2019
Carlos spoke with Dr. Bianca Premo, Professor in the Department of History at Florida International University, to discuss her past and current research and time in the archives.
Dr. Premo is scholar with a wide range of research interests in Latin American history, including childhood and youth, the law, intellectual history, gender, slavery and ethnohistory.
Her original regional expertise was in the colonial Andes and Lima, Peru, but in recent years Dr. Premo has explored the history of Mexico City, Oaxaca, and the rural region around the city of Toledo.
Current research projects are bringing her back to Lima and sending her off to the twentieth century.
Originally aired January 28, 2019
In the inaugural episode of our Luminaries series, Steven spoke with Dr. Lyman Johnson, professor emeritus of history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Lyman’s impact on Latin American history is broad and deep. Along with Mark Burkholder, he is author of Colonial Latin America and is the founding editor of the Diálogos series from the University of New Mexico Press.
Lyman’s research agenda has earned him three NEH awards and three Fulbrights. His Workshop of Revolution: Plebeian Buenos Aires and the Atlantic World, 1776–1810 is the culmination of decades of research on the lives of non-elite in one of the most transformative epochs in the Americas.
Finally, his peers have recognized Lyman’s commitment to the field by awarding him the Distinguished Service Award from the Conference on Latin American History in 2015 and the Nason-Sadler Distinguished Service Award from Rocky Mountain Council of Latin American Studies in 2013.
Originally aired January 14, 2019
Dr. Micah Oelze joined Steven to discuss his research on the politics of urban planning in 1940s Colombia, his current book project on cultural politics in 1930s Brazil, and how his embrace of technology has influenced his pedagogy.
Originally aired December 4, 2018
Dr. Christina Bueno, an associate professor in the department of history at Northeastern Illinois University, joined Steven to discuss her award-winning book, The Pursuit of Ruins: Archaeology, History, and the Making of Modern Mexico, which was published by University of New Mexico Press in 2016.
Originally aired November 26, 2018
Dr. Raul Pacheco-Vega joined Carlos and Dustin to discuss his research on water, waste, resource management, and the importance of research having a positive impact on communities, especially its most marginal members. They also discuss his use of social media to offer mentorship and guidance for graduate students and early career academics.
Dr. Eunice Rojas, an associate professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Furman University, joined Steven to discuss her work on Argentine authors’ use of madness and the insane asylum. She also talks about her current project on protest music in Chile and the opportunities and tough choices in making a mid-career move.
Originally aired November 13, 2018
In our inaugural state of the field episode, Drs. Tanya Harmer and Renata Keller talk with Dustin about Latin America’s Cold War. They discuss the meaning of the Cold War in Latin America, questions of chronology and areas of scholarly emphasis, and their own work highlighting voices long overlooked in the historiography.
Originally aired November 5, 2018
Colin Snider, Courtney Campbell, and Gray Kidd joined Steven to discuss yesterday’s runoff presidential election in Brazil. They discuss the evolution of democracy, the importance of regional history, and what may lay ahead.
Originally aired October 29, 2018
Dr. Javier Puente sits down to chat with Carlos for the first episode of The Environmental Series. They discuss Environmental History and Historical Climatology, the importance of being interdisciplinary, future work, and current events in Peru.
Originally aired October 22, 2018
Dr. Abbey Steele joined Dave and Steven to discuss her book Democracy and Displacement in Colombia’s Civil War, published in 2017 by Cornell University Press. In this important work, Abbey explores the idea of collective violence, in which a particular group of people – not based on race or ethnicity – are targeted in an attempt to cleanse them from an area. The Colombian example is a cautionary tale of the unintended consequences of an earnest attempt to transition to democracy after the end of violent civil conflict.
Be sure to check out the extra time conversation with Abbey as she talks social science methods and conducting research using surveys in Colombia.
Originally aired October 15, 2018
Yesterday, Sunday, October 7, 2018, well over 100 million Brazilians cast their votes in presidential and congressional elections, with a sizable number voting en blanco or destroying their ballots. Of the presidential aspirants, the top two vote-getters were Congressman Jair Bolsonaro of the Social Liberal Party and former education minister and Sao Paulo mayor Fernando Haddad of the Workers Party. Bolsonaro’s rise also led to an impressive display for his party in the congressional elections, earning a projected 51 seats in the lower Chamber of Deputies. Previously, his party had fewer than 10 seats.
Dr. Amy Erica Smith, an associate professor of political science at Iowa State University, joined Steven to make sense of yesterday’s election. Dr. Smith said that the Brazilian electorate made a clear statement to the political class.
Originally aired October 8, 2018
Dr. Miguel Tinker Salas of Pomona College joined Dustin and Steven to discuss the various problems afflicting Venezuela today. Tinker Salas reminds us that to fully understand the economic, political, and humanitarian crises, one must understand the historical evolution of the oil industry, the myth of the país privilegiado, and such state institutions as the military.
Notum bonum: There’s a special treat for this episode’s intro and outro music, which features the song Tierra sin culpa by Ali Primera (source: archive.org). Our thanks to Miguel for the suggestion.
Card sharks. Bigamists. Kidnappers. Brawlers. Drunks. Imposters. Assassins for hire. These are the people that played critical roles in the establishment of imperial Spanish rule in the 16th century Americas.
Dr. Martin Nesvig of the University of Miami spoke with Steven about his new book Promiscuous Power: An Unorthodox History of New Spain and the everyday practices of making and unmaking of empire.
Be sure to check out the extra time conversation with Martin.
Dr. Lisa Munro spoke with Carlos about her research on the emergence of negative stereotypes of indigenous populations in Guatemala in the 1930s. They also discuss life #withaPhD, building community through social media, and her work leading writing workshops aimed at helping scholars and authors achieve their writing and publishing goals.
Dr. Charles St-Georges of Denison University sat down with Dave McLaughlin to discuss his recent book Haunted Families and Temporal Normativity in Hispanic Horror Films – Troubling Timelines and its exploration of “three recent horror films from the Spanish-speaking world that, rather than explicitly referencing recent political violence, speak to the societal conditions and everyday normative violence that serve as preconditions for political violence.” They also discuss writing strategies, audience, and what’s next on Charly’s research agenda.
Originally aired September 10, 2018
Dr. Juan José Ponce-Vázquez joined Carlos and Steven to discuss his research on smuggling in the 17th century Spanish Caribbean. They also discuss writing strategies for finishing the first book, the value of social media, work-life balance, and what lay on Juanjo’s research horizon.
Originally September 4, 2018
Historias is back!
In this episode, Drs. Erika Edwards, Jackie Sumner, and Dave McLaughlin join Steven to discuss such challenges of academia for junior faculty as experiencing the pressures of insecure employment, navigating tenure requirements, and building lives off campus.
Originally aired August 27, 2018
Dr. Jürgen Buchenau joined Steven at the Cervecería Untertürkheim in Buenos Aires to discuss the convincing victory of Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Sunday’s Mexican presidential election. Jürgen also talks AMLO’s roots, his course as a politician over the past quarter century, and what his presidency may mean for Mexico and its future.
Originally aired July 6, 2018
Since mid-April, Nicaragua has been in the midst of a severe and sustained political crisis that also features intense political violence. Various sectors of civil society are now in dialogue with the government of Daniel Ortega in search of a path to diminish the violence and return to democratic rule.
Tim Rogers, Latin America editor for Fusion, speaks with Steven Hyland to unpack what is going on and why.
In an extra time conversation, Steven also talks to Steven Bunker, associate professor of history at the University of Alabama and SECOLAS member who is currently in Nicaragua, about what he is experiencing on the ground.
Originally aired June 25, 2018.
HOT TAKE!
In this hot take edition of Historias, Dr. Steven Taylor of Troy University talks with Steven to unpack Ivan Duque’s win in Colombia’s presidential runoff election this past Sunday. They also talk about its impact on the peace process and the challenge of the humanitarian crisis and political instability in Venezuela.
Originally aired June 19, 2018.
What do heroes and superheroes tell us about Latino and Latina social reality, identity, and belonging in the United States?
Dr. Mauricio Espinoza joined Dave McLaughlin to discuss how the figures of the Latino and Latina hero and superhero are used within multiple genres (film, graphic novel, Netflix, etc) to trouble notions of legality and illegality within the U.S. imaginary. Mauricio’s current book project discusses the process and offers vignettes from his research that illuminate how Latina and Latino identities have often been erased or downplayed at the expense of highlighting other characteristics that perpetuate certain myths about what it means to be and look “American.” He also discusses his work as a poet and editor and an upcoming bilingual edited volume he is organizing of selected works by Ohio poets writing in Spanish.
Originally aired June 4, 2018.
What do the results of yesterday’s presidential elections in Colombia reveal about this country attempting to exit decades of civil war?
Dr. Abbey Steele, an assistant professor in the department of political science at the University of Amsterdam, joined Dave and Steven to discuss the results in this hot take edition of Historias. Dr. Steele’s book Democracy and Displacement in Colombia’s Civil War (Cornell, 2017) explores the violent, tragic consequences of democratic elections and the forced migration of folk in the countryside.
Originally aired May 28, 2018.
Migration is a signature feature of the contemporary world that preoccupies still the attention of scholars and the concern of policymakers and the broader public.
Dr. Lily Balloffet sits down with Steven to discuss her research on eastern Mediterranean migrants to Argentina, her public outreach, and her interaction with the Museo de la Inmigración in Buenos Aires. In addition, Dr. Balloffet explains her introduction to Digital Humanities and its impact on her work and her pedagogy.
Originally aired
What does the development of the tourist industry in San Miguel de Allende teach us about the history of Mexico and the contemporary world?
Dr. Lisa Covert joins Carlos and Steven to discuss her new book San Miguel de Allende: Mexicans, Foreigners, and the Making of a World Heritage Site and the importance of understanding local historical memory in the construction of national history.
Originally aired May 14, 2018
What can convicts and sailors in the far off Philippines teach us about Spanish imperial history?
Dr. Eva Mehl discusses her book Forced Migration in the Spanish Pacific World: From Mexico to the Philippines, 1765-1811 that examines the importance of convicts and sailors in the development of a Spanish Pacific World. Dr. Mehl also talks about some of the methodological challenges and the importance of social history for better understanding the Spanish Philippines.
Originally aired on May 7, 2018.
How did Nelson Rockefeller attempt to cultivate positive relationships with Latin America during World War II and what are the legacies of this initiative for inter-American relations?
Dr. Monica Rankin speaks with Steven about her forthcoming book on the Office for the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs. In addition, she speaks about her role as the Director for the Center for U.S.-Latin American Initiatives and what brings her to Buenos Aires.
The podcast was recorded at the historic El Hipopótamo in the San Telmo neighborhood of Buenos Aires, which provides the background soundtrack.
Originally published on April 30, 2018.
What might the rise of Miguel Díaz-Canel to the Cuban presidency mean for Cuban-U.S. relations and for Cuba itself?
In this Historias hot take edition complete with a B side, Dr. Gregory Weeks speaks with Carlos and Steven about the uses of soft and hard power, the transition in Cuba, and how none of us should try to predict the future.
On the B-side, Greg discusses SECOLAS’ peer-reviewed journal The Latin Americanist and Steven learns about Peruvian ants.
Originally published on April 23, 2018
What explains the endurance of Porfirio Díaz’s rule from 1876 to 1910 in Mexico?
Dr. Jaclyn Sumner joins Carlos and Steven to discuss her research on the Porfiriato and how Tlaxcala’s indigenous governor Próspero Cahuantzi (r. 1885-1911) provides important clues to its longevity. As SECOLAS’ current president, she also describes her goals for the organization and why Latin Americanists of all stripes should join us in Oaxaca next March.
Originally published on April 16, 2018.
How do nationalist ideas emerge, evolve, and spread? How do urban spaces and the migration of people factor in?
Dr. Michael Goebel joins Steven to discuss the arc of his research, ranging from nationalism in twentieth-century Argentina, to anti-imperialist activism in interwar Paris, to comparing urban inequality in specific global port cities between 1850 and 1950. He also comments on his interest in putting into dialogue discrete fields of history, the benefits of this engagement, and the impetus for co-creating the Global Urban History Network.
Originally aired on April 9, 2018.
What are the digital humanities and how can it help one’s research project?
Dr. Aiala Levy of the University of Scranton speaks with Carlos Dimas about the field and the many tools available in the digital humanities. Dr. Levy also shares how she came to her research project on the imagining and creation of a mass urban public in a rapidly expanding turn-of-century São Paulo and how her personal experience and interest in digital humanities have shaped the study.
Originally published on April 2, 2018.
How will the recent congressional elections in Colombia influence the ongoing peace process? Political scientist Steven Taylor speaks with Carlos and Steven about FARC’s participation in the elections, the looming presidential elections, and what challenges remain for fully implementing the peace deal championed by outgoing president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Juan Manuel Santos.
Originally publishedMarch 26, 2018.
Steven speaks with Erika Edwards, assistant professor of Latin American history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, about her upcoming book on people of African-descent in Córdoba, Argentina, her role and goals as co-Executive Secretary of the Conference on Latin American History, and her community advocacy for Latinos in Charlotte.
Steven Hyland speaks with Jonathan Brown, professor of history at the University of Texas, about his recent book on the Cuban Revolution and the research behind it. They also discuss intellectual itinerancy and the state and direction of Latin American history.
Originally published March 12, 2018
Comenzamos el primer podcast de Historias en español con una entrevista al historiador especialista en historia brasileña Oscar de la Torre. El historiador de origen catalán nos habla de su libro The People of the River: Nature and Identity in Black Amazonia, 1835-1945. En este arco temporal de cien años De la Torre estudia el periodo de la esclavitud y la post-esclavitud en las comunidades negras de la Amazonía Brasileña. Su trabajo demuestra, entre otros aspectos, la importancia de estudiar la historia ambiental para comprender la identidad de estas comunidades negras campesinas.
Intro: Raihna de Congo
Outro: Vamos Embora
Las selecciones para el Intro y el Outro son del IAP (Instituto de Artes do Pará). Se grabaron en el festival Marambiré de la comunidad negra de Alenquer. Es un tipo de baile del Rey del Congo.
Dr. Oscar de la Torre of the University of North Carolina, Charlotte talked with Steven about the Amazon’s Black peasantry. Their engaging conversation takes us into Amazonian archives that include childcare, and ultimately to Cuba. Check out Professor de la Torre’s book, The People of the River: Nature and Identity in Black Amazonia, 1835-1945!
Jeffrey Shumway and Steven sat down and talked about Argentine history – especially the early nineteenth century. Shumway discussed his passion for histories of love, the family, and gender, and how that led to his first book, The Case of the Ugly Suitor and Other Histories of Love, Gender, & Nation in Buenos Aires, 1776-1870. The two then transitioned to explore Shumway’s latest book, A Woman, a Man, a Nation: Mariquita Sánchez, Juan Manuel de Rosas, and the Beginnings of Argentina. They also search for the best possible writing conditions – concluding that escaping to the middle of the Pacific for long stretches of time isn’t a bad strategy.
In the inaugural edition of Historias – the SECOLAS podcast, Steven Hyland sits down with Jürgen Buchenau and Gregory Crider, co-editors of the Annals edition of The Latin Americanist, to discuss their experiences with Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies and the organization’s importance for graduate students and professionals.
Originally published on March 6, 2018