Miradas

Megan McDowell has translated some of Latin America's most important and influential contemporary writers, including Argentine authors Samanta Schweblin and Mariana Enriquez and Chilean writer Alejandro Zambra. Her translations have won the English PEN award and the Premio Valle-Inclán, and she has been nominated three times for the International Booker Prize.

Megan and John spoke about the visibility of translators in the creative process, her role opening up Latin American literature to English-speaking audiences, the unique contexts and vocabulary of Chile and Argentina, and how more women than ever are seeing their work published and translated.

You can follow Megan on Instagram: @meganamcdowell

Read this conversation in The Paris Review: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/07/24/the-uncanny-double-an-interview-with-megan-mcdowell/#more-112553

Read this review of Megan's translation of Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin, long listed for the Man Booker international prize: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/24/fever-dream-by-samanta-schweblin-review

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It’s sometimes a tough gig being Her Majesty’s man in Buenos Aires, but Mark Kent has charmed many Argentines with his light-hearted brand of digital diplomacy. In this episode the ambassador discusses the challenges of evacuating Brits on horseback from across the country during the pandemic, whether post-Brexit Britain can find new opportunities in Latin America, and his efforts to help heal historic wounds over the Falkland Islands, claimed by Argentina as Las Malvinas.

Follow Mark on Twitter: @kentargentina

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A generation of populist leaders with strong personalities has defined Latin American politics in the 21st century. BBC correspondent Will Grant has been working in the region since 2007, based in Venezuela, Mexico and Cuba, in which time he has borne witness to the political movements collectively painted as the ‘Pink Tide’. In his new book, Populista: The Rise of Latin America’s 21st Century Strongman, he pieces together the stories of Hugo Chávez’s Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela, Luis Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva in Brazil, Bolivia’s Movimiento al Socialismo under Evo Morales, Rafael Correa over in Ecuador, Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua and the Cuban regime of Fidel Castro. In this interview, Will and John discuss Chávez’s rambling cadenas on state television, caudillismo in the 21st century, how commodity prices underpinned progress under Pink Tide governments and the countries these leaders ultimately left behind.

Follow Will on Twitter: @will__grant

Buy ¡Populista! here: https://headofzeus.com/books/9781789543957

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Microbial ecologist Cristina Dorador is one of Chile’s leading scientists, known for her pioneering research demonstrating how the Atacama Desert, its rivers, harsh salt lakes and nearby Andean plateaus are teeming with microscopic life. In this episode she dials in from Antofagasta to discuss how the Atacama’s salt flats hold clues to the origins of life and even extra-terrestrial lifeforms, how lithium and copper mining are impacting this fragile environment and the indigenous peoples that depend on it, and why she wants to help rewrite Chile’s Pinochet-era constitution in order to return resources and autonomy to the long-neglected north.

Follow Cristina on Twitter: @criordor

Read one of Cristina’s articles: La consagración del desierto La Tercera, October 28, 2020 (https://www.latercera.com/opinion/noticia/la-consagracion-del-desierto/QDMIHSPL7RFUZBFAC3RXOSP66U/)

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Our guest this week is Scottish journalist and author Andrew Downie, who has written on sport and politics from Mexico, Haiti and Brazil across nearly 30 years in Latin America.

Andrew's work has appeared in the Economist, the New York Times, the Financial Times and the Guardian, and he is the author of the critically-acclaimed 'Doctor Socrates: Footballer, Philosopher and Legend.' His next book, 'The Greatest Show on Earth,' is an oral history of the iconic Mexico World Cup in 1970 and will be out in September.

In this episode, recorded 50 years after the final took place in Mexico City, Andrew shares his experiences covering football across the region – as well as the inevitable crossover between sport and politics.

Buy 'Doctor Socrates: Footballer, Philosopher and Legend' here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Socrates-Footballer-Philosopher-Legend/dp/1471154076

Pre-order 'The Greatest Show on Earth' here: https://birlinn.co.uk/product/the-greatest-show-on-earth/

You can follow Andrew on Twitter @adowniebrazil

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Peruvian writer and journalist Marco Avilés joins Laurie from Maine, US. The author of several books, including De dónde venimos los cholos (Seix Barral, 2016) and No soy tu cholo (Debate, 2017), Marco discusses his reporting on the heightened impact of coronavirus on the US Latino community, and shares some reflections on how racism and inequality operate in similar ways in the US and Peru.

Interview transcript:

https://medium.com/@info_27440/episode-12-marco-avil%C3%A9s-on-race-in-peru-and-the-us-ffc3527eb50a

Marco’s website: marcoaviles.com

Marco’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarcoAvilesH

Desde Estados Unidos: un virus no distingue estatus migratorios | Salud con Lupa, April 7

https://saludconlupa.com/noticias/desde-estados-unidos-un-virus-no-distingue-estatus-migratorios/

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John spoke to journalist and writer Vincent Bevins about his new book, The Jakarta Method (out now), a whirlwind narrative tour through the history of communism and the US’ covert operations undertaken to challenge its popularity.

The Jakarta Method links the massacre of one million Indonesian civilians in 1965 to events in Latin America and across the world, and Vincent discusses the fate of communism in Cuba, Venezuela, Brazil, Chile and Guatemala.

Vincent worked for the Financial Times in London, spent six years as Brazil correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, and most recently covered Southeast Asia for the Washington Post. The Jakarta Method connects Vincent’s main fields of reporting, and was his way of exploring and explaining why the world looks as it does today.

You can buy The Jakarta Method here:

https://vincentbevins.com/book/

Publisher Hachette:

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/vincent-bevins/the-jakarta-method/9781541742406/

Can Brazil’s Democracy Withstand Jair Bolsonaro? | The Atlantic

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/10/brazil-democracy-jair-bolsonaro/574258/

Indonesia’s Democracy Is Becoming More Conservative | The Atlantic

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/04/indonesia-democracy-elections-conservative/587341/

Follow Vincent on Twitter @Vinncent

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Dialling in from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Andrés Pertierra, a historian of Latin America, joins Laurie to discuss the humanitarian, political and financial motives behind Cuba’s overseas medical missions. A former student at the University of Havana, Andrés shares insights into the Cuban health system, the recent history of US-Cuba relations, and why the revival of US sanctions are unlikely to bring about democracy on the island.

By sending doctors to Italy, Cuba continues its long campaign of medical diplomacy | The Conversation, March 26

https://theconversation.com/by-sending-doctors-to-italy-cuba-continues-its-long-campaign-of-medical-diplomacy-134429

Follow Andrés on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/ASPertierra

Orígines: A Cuban History Podcast

http://originesacubanhistorypodcast.libsyn.com/

The Mystery of the Havana Syndrome | The New Yorker, November 2018

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/11/19/the-mystery-of-the-havana-syndrome

Interview Transcript

https://medium.com/@info_27440/episode-10-andrés-pertierra-on-cubas-medical-missions-b812d6143621

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John speaks to Chilean political scientist Dr Camila Vergara (@Camila_Vergara) about constitutions, populism and systemic corruption. Her first book, República Plebeya, meshes her research interests, and an adaptation will be published in English by Princeton University Press later this year.

On 25 October 2020, Chile will vote in a constitutional referendum to decide whether the Pinochet-era 1980 document will be replaced. In this interview, Camila gave some fascinating insights into how the provisions enshrined by a constitution are manifested in societies, how the Chilean people could be incorporated into the process, and how the demands of a social movement that has rocked Chile since October last year are rooted in the current constitution.

Camila's first book, República Plebeya (in Spanish): https://www.lakomuna.cl/tienda/product/1435_republica-plebeya

An English adaptation (forthcoming): https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691207537/systemic-corruption

The Meaning of Chile’s Explosion (Jacobin): https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/10/chile-protests-sebastian-pinera-constitution-neoliberalism

Yendo de la calle al cabildo: vías para un proceso constituyente popular (CIPER): (https://ciperchile.cl/2020/01/29/yendo-de-la-calle-al-cabildo-vias-para-un-proceso-constituyente-popular/)

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Laurie is joined from Quito by Yolanda Kakabadse, a leading conservationist and former president of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF, 2010-17) and environment minister in Ecuador (1998-2000). They discuss the toll of coronavirus on Ecuador, whether a more sustainable world can be built from the wreckage of the current crisis, and how environmentalists can better convey their urgent message.

Deaths and desperation mount in Ecuador, epicenter of coronavirus pandemic in Latin America | The Conversation, April 24

https://theconversation.com/deaths-and-desperation-mount-in-ecuador-epicenter-of-coronavirus-pandemic-in-latin-america-137015

Ecuador battles the coronavirus - and fake news | Miami Herald, April 8

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/article241853291.html

Yolanda Kakabadse on the power of dialogue and sustainability | WWF, Spring 2019

https://www.worldwildlife.org/magazine/issues/spring-2019/articles/yolanda-kakabadse-on-the-power-of-dialogue-and-sustainability

Follow us on social media: @MiradasPod

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Visit our website: www.miradaspodcast.com