A Martian invasion arrives in Quito, Ecuador. On February 1949, Radio Quito broadcasted an adaptation of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds. The story of the supposed Martian invasion turned the Ecuadorian city upside down, and would have tragic and unexpected results. You can read the Spanish transcript of the...
[Daniel Alarcón, host]: A little over three years ago, we published the first episodes of Radio Ambulante on NPR. We knew that being a part of American public radio would give us a big push. And we weren’t wrong. We’ve grown as a team —back...
Writer Gabriela Wiener never felt pretty. At different stages in her life her looks have tormented her, inspired her, enraged her, opened doors and closed others. How does a woman define her value in a Latin American country where her appearance can seem to be...
[Daniel Alarcón, host]: Before we start, a warning: this episode contains a very broad sampling of foul Argentinian language. Discretion is advised. Welcome to Radio Ambulante from NPR. I’m Daniel Alarcón. It all starts with a video: two women, about 60 years old, Argentinian, smiling, they’re sitting...
A few missteps and everything goes to hell. Claudia and Mónica López are a pair of inseparable sisters. They are retired and use their free time to travel and visit places that are different from their hometown of Buenos Aires. Last August they visited Tucumán, a...
[Daniel Alarcón, host]: We often get this question: What can we do to support the podcast? Well, we have a membership program, we have an app to learn Spanish, and, for Ambulantes in the US, you can also support NPR. If you like what we...
An island rises up. A secret chat, an anonymous source, a daring protest, and a barricade in the streets of Old San Juan that became a symbol of resistance. In this episode, we tell three short stories about the unprecedented protests that shook Puerto Rico during...
[Daniel Alarcón, host]: Welcome to Radio Ambulante from NPR. I’m Daniel Alarcón. (ARCHIVAL SOUNDBITE) [Alberto Fujimori]: We’re twenty kilometers from Lima, ten kilometers from Callao (laughs). Finally, we made it! [Daniel]: We’re listening to Alberto Fujimori, former president of Peru, in a video he recorded on November 6th,...
Alberto Fujimori thought he had the perfect plan to return to Peru. On November 6, 2005, an immigration agent in Santiago, Chile, came across a passport with a name that seemed vaguely familiar: Alberto Fujimori. It was the controversial former president of Peru, who had been...
To complement our previous episode — “Me Girl” — we spoke with Radio Ambulante listeners who don’t identify with the sex they were born with. They are the ones who can best describe how complex it is to be trans in Latin America. What are...
[Daniel Alarcón, host]: If you use Radio Ambulante to improve your Spanish, this message is for you. We know a lot of you rely on the transcriptions we have on our website. And, well, it works: you read, you pause, you read, you pause, etcetera,...
Ever since she was very little, Luana knew: she was different. Luana was just learning to speak when she decided to change her name. The consequences of such a personal decision would not only transform her identity and her family, but also shift the cultural discussion...
[Daniel Alarcón, host]: If you use Radio Ambulante to improve your Spanish, this message is for you. We know a lot of you rely on the transcriptions we have on our website. And, well, it works: you read, you pause, you read, you pause, etcetera,...
[Daniel Alarcón, host]: If you use Radio Ambulante to improve your Spanish, this message is for you. We know a lot of you rely on the transcriptions we have on our website. And, well, it works: you read, you pause, you read, you pause, etcetera,...
Salvador Alvarenga pulled off the impossible. You can read the Spanish transcript of the episode or an English translation. A version of this story was published in 2016. Subscribe to our newsletter! You will get new episodes every Tuesday and recommendations of things that inspire us every Friday. And request an invitation to our Online Podcast Club if...
A chain is not always a constraint. When ICE arrived in a neighborhood in Nashville to detain an immigrant, they never imagined who else they would encounter. What was supposed to be a routine arrest, would end in an image that was seen all across the...