“What does it take for a culture that has caused a lot of pain and suffering to have any chance at redemption… or any sense of justice?”

Tom Sykes’ riotous new book—a collision of a neon-powered 1980s Manila and a disaster-stricken barangay in the 1570s—attempts to answer the question… with many seedy side quests in between. How did he attempt to write his wild, genre-bending vision of the Philippines? And how does Back to the Future figure into it?

The Colonial Dept. Interview is a bonus show where I talk to researchers and authors who are shining a light on our past.