This week, we’re sharing an episode from our friends at Code Switch. 

President Donald Trump says he wants the U.S. to take back control of the Panama Canal. The Canal has been dubbed the greatest engineering feat in human history. It's also (perhaps less favorably) been called the greatest liberty mankind has ever taken with Mother Nature. So how did we get here?

Today on the show, we're talking to Cristina Henríquez, the author of the novel, "The Great Divide." Her book explores the making of the Canal. It took 50,000 people from 90 different countries to carve the land in two — and the consequences of that extraordinary, nature-defying act are still echoing through our present.

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Hoy les traemos un episodio especial desde Puerto Rico de nuestros amigos de Radio Ambulante, quienes se encuentran en plena publicación de su temporada 15. 

En marzo de 1975, el pequeño pueblo de Moca, en Puerto Rico, vio cómo se perturbaba su tranquilidad con la aparición de decenas de animales muertos. En un lugar así, sin secretos ni misterios, esa escena siniestra despertaría todo tipo de preguntas. 

Radio Ambulante lleva más de una década contando historias de América Latina y la comunidad latina en los Estados Unidos. Sus episodios buscan complejizar tu mirada de la región. Pueden encontrar más episodios, de Puerto Rico y el resto de países, en su página web.

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You’ve seen the Instagram posts and the headlines of Puerto Rican campeones in all kinds of arenas. For this special bonus episode we talk to Camila Lamerre Estevez, an athlete who competed on the Puerto Rican women’s ice hockey team. We share Camila’s story, how she turned into a young hockey star, and what she learned about Puerto Ricanness on the ice.

The Futuro Plus Team includes associate producer Liliana Ruiz, production managers Victoria Estrada and Jessica Ellis, marketing manager Luis Luna, and development manager Danetsy Len. Mixing by Multitude Productions.

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Los Young Lords surgieron en los 60 en Chicago como una ganga callejera, pero evolucionaron y se convirtieron en una organización política que llegó a otras ciudades, como Nueva York y Filadelfia. En su mayoría, eran jóvenes boricuas de la diáspora, que se organizaron y educaron a su comunidad sobre el colonialismo estadounidense. 

Iris Morales, dirigente del brazo educativo en Nueva York, habla con La Brega sobre el legado de la organización, y las tensiones que surgieron del deseo de acercarse a la patria.

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In the late 1960s, the Young Lords emerged from a Chicago gang and became a political organization mainly made up of Puerto Ricans in the diaspora. Some had never been to Puerto Rico, some spoke little Spanish – but they all claimed Puerto Rico. Many of these young Boricuas were hungry for stories about their history and tried to learn in any way they could. One of those was Iris Morales, who led TYL’s education mission in New York. Iris talks with us about what it means that TYL championed Puerto Rico, the tensions that arose from trying to get closer to their homeland, and solidarity today.

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El dominio de Puerto Rico en el beisbol es más que conocido, pero hay quienes piensan que la pelota boricua ya vio sus mejores días. Y algunos responsabilizan de su declive a una decisión de Major League Baseball de 1990, cuando obligó a los peloteros boricuas a pasar por el sorteo de novatos para llegar a la pelota profesional. Pero, 35 años después, las razones son mucho más complejas. 

En este episodio, exploramos cómo el beisbol refleja realidades como la migración forzosa, la desigualdad y la falta de soberanía política, y descubrimos formas en que la pelota sigue aportando a Puerto Rico.

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Puerto Rico has been a baseball powerhouse. For decades, we operated as our own country, under the same rules as nations like the Dominican Republic. Players could be signed to professional teams as young as 16. Then in 1990, Major League Baseball changed the rules to include Puerto Rico in its first-year player draft. Initially, it was seen as protecting young players. But today, there’s a sense that Puerto Rican baseball has lost its shine, and fewer players make it to the major leagues. In this episode, we examine how baseball reflects inequality and the lack of political sovereignty.

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Por décadas, políticos y activistas boricuas han depuesto ante el Comité de Descolonización de la ONU durante su vista anual sobre Puerto Rico. La mayoría de los deponentes favorece la independencia, pero, recientemente, los pro estadidad se han organizado para aumentar su presencia ante un foro que, en 50 años, no ha conseguido cambiar nada. Porque Puerto Rico sigue siendo una colonia de Estados Unidos. 

El equipo de La Brega visitó la sede de la ONU durante el verano de 2025 para acompañar a los peticionarios que, año tras año, comparecen para defender sus visiones de futuro para Puerto Rico.

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For decades, Puerto Ricans from different political persuasions have gone to the United Nations in New York to speak about the decolonization of Puerto Rico. Most have advocated for independence. But recently, statehood supporters have also spoken before the UN. And for decades, their advocacy has made no difference: Puerto Rico continues to be a colony of the United States. In 2025, La Brega went to the United Nations to spend a day with the advocates who continue to make the annual pilgrimage, and ask whether the yearly ritual really advances their vision for Puerto Rico’s future.

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En Puerto Rico, los concursos de belleza son una obsesión nacional que entusiasma al público como cualquier competencia deportiva. Y, en 2024, ocurrió algo que expandió la huella boricua en estos certámenes: Míster Puerto Rico ganó por primera vez Míster Mundo. Danny Mejía nunca había participado en un certamen de belleza, pero viajó a Vietnam para representar a su país y regresó de allí con el triunfo, uno más para Puerto Rico. 

En este episodio, exploramos qué significa que Míster Mundo sea boricua y cómo estos concursos —de mujeres y de hombres— ayudan a desarrollar ideas sobre la nación.

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