A series of conferences titled Educadoras y Feministas entre España y América (Educators and Feminists between Spain and America) is currently taking place here in Madrid, detailing the links forged between America and Spain in the twentieth century. It all began when American intellectuals came to Spain and opened the International Institute for Girls, following the footsteps of American colleges, and offered higher education to Spanish women who had no access to it. We visited the Institute to learn about the establishment's history and spoke with Pilar Piñon, the Institute's current Executive Director.We also recap the results of this year's edition of the Latin Grammys, which this year took place in Spain, outside of the US for the first time ever.

The Filmoteca española, or Spanish Cinemathéque, was founded in 1953 with the objective of preserving, restoring and investigating about Spanish film heritage. It was first integrated in the Ministry of Information and Tourism and later in the Ministry of Culture, until 1982 when it was transformed into an autonomous entity. This autonomy, however, only lasted a few years until 1985 when it was integrated in the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts.The Spanish Cinemateque has a very long history since its foundation and this year we are celebrating its 70th anniversary remembering the role of the institution during all these years. To tell us more about it, we speak with Valeria Camporesi, film historian, researcher, and director of the Spanish Cinematheque.

"A great civilization is not conquered from without, until it has destroyed itself from within."This is a quote from Anthony Mann's 1964 film, 'The Fall of the Roman Empire', and it is written on the final pages of the book we talk about on this broadcast, titled 'Why Empires fall: Rome, America, and the Future of the West'. This book was published in English earlier this year, but its Spanish translation ('¿Por qué caen los imperios?') made its way to the shelves this month. Authors Peter Heather and John Rapley join us in this broadcast to talk about the parallels and differences between ancient Rome and the Modern West.

On this broadcast we visit the exhibition Before America: original sources in modern culture with Manuel Fontán del Junco, one of its curators and Director of museums and exhibitions in the Juan March Foundation. The exhibition explores the influence of pre-Columbian and native American arts and culture in modern representations.

On today's broadcast we learn about the Silbo Gomero, the Gomero whistle, which is an articulated whistle language used in the island of La Gomera in the Canary Islands. To tell us about its origins, history and use we spoke with Eugenio Darias, from the Silbo Gomero Cultural association. After that, the British council in Spain tells us about the Spanish students who plan to study abroad, and how the landscape of international study has changed after Brexit and COVID-19.

A month has passed since Hamas militants lead their attack on Israel, and since Israel began its counterattack, through which it assures it wants to "make sure October 7th is never repeated". One month, thousands of lives lost... Health officials in Gaza report that more than 9,770 Palestinians have been killed in the war since Hamas killed 1,400 Israeli and seized more than 240 hostages on October 7th. On this broadcast we are joined by  George Emile Irani, Doctor in International Relations from the University of Southern California, and Professor of International Relations at the American University of Kuwait to analyse the factors which led to the escalation of the conflict, the implications and what the future holds.

Princess Leonor swore alliegance to the Spanish Constitution on the 31st of October, the day of her 18th birthday, and the forty-fifth anniversary of Spain's Constitution. She is the heir to the throne in a divided Spain, and in today's broadcast we recap the events of Tuesday.Also in today's broadcast: the National Park of Doñana in Andalucía, in the south of Spain, has been in Spanish headlines for some time now. The wetland lagoon in this park has been suffering from dry spells, in part due to the climate crisis and the droughts it causes. But the national park has also seen problems in the form of illegal wells. We talk to Danielle Dessi of the SEO Birdlife Organization about the state of the lagoon and the dangers it faces.

SA Cosby is an award-winning author from Southeastern Virginia, in Spain for the Getafe Negro Crime Fiction Festival, which this year had the United States as a guest country. Called the 'rising star' of the southern noir genre, his 2020 novel "Blacktop Wasteland" won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and was named book of the year by NPR, the Guardian. In 2021, "Razorblade Tears" was a New York Times Bestseller and on Barack Obama's summer reading list!Those two booksare the ones that have been published in Spain. What makes the south a good setting for crime fiction? What can we learn from crime fiction? What about his novels could appeal to a Spanish readership?

Fake news (or 'disinformation') has become an increasing concern over the past few years, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic. In the context of the current conflict in Palestine and Israel and the wider spread of misinformation (especially on social media) we talk to EU spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, Peter Stano. Where does it come from? How big is the threat?We also talk about Pedro Duque, the first Spanish astronaut, who first went to space on October 29th, 25 years ago.

Madrid's Crime Fiction fair, 'Getafe Negro', had it's 16th edition this week, and this year's guest country was the United States. The poet Anne Carson opened the festival, and American author Don Wislow was awarded the José Luis Sampedro prize. The festival's logo is a raven, as Edgar Allen Poe is understood by many to be at the roots of the 'crime ficiton' literary genre... Julia García, one of the festival's curators, tells us about its origins in the US and how it arrived in Spain, as well as the current popularity of the genre here.