After discussing some of the old and new characters of the El Fili, we now focus on the main plot of the novel (Simoun's revenge) and its other story arcs and subplots, such as the story of Kabesang Tales, his quest for justice, and how the system was so rotten he decided to seek justice through other means. The Fili is a more political novel, and the story itself proves this. Listen up to find out more.

Rizal followed up the Noli with a sequel titled El Filibusterismo, an attempt to tie the loose ends he left in his earlier novel. In this episode, we introduce El Fili, its major plot points, and its new characters.

Del Pilar prodded Rizal to write a letter to a select group of women in Malolos, who, after some struggle and resistance, were able to establish a school so they could learn Spanish. Rizal happily obliged. The letter is now known as The Letter to the Women of Malolos, a lengthy reminder on many things, but most importantly, praise for the women's desire for education. Know more about this in this episode of #RizalOnAir.

This is PODKAS's 100th episode! And because of some great mystery, we deal with a Rizal writing that has to do something with 100: Filipinas dentro de cien años, or The Philippines a Century Hence. Rizal did not only write about the Philippine past (Annotations of Sucesos) and present (Sobre la Indolencia), but he also predicted the fate of the Philippines in the next hundred years. What did he get wrong, and more interestingly, what did he get right? And what does this say about Rizal? Listen to this episode to find out.

Rizal sought to elevate the Filipinos not only by championing their welfare within the colonial society but, more importantly, by arguing that their conditions were not entirely their fault. One particular accusation by the colonizers that Rizal abhorred was that the Filipinos had an inherent predisposition to laziness. In Sobre la Indolencia de los Filipinos, he admitted that laziness exists, but this was not inherently Filipino. Listen to this episode to find out more.

Instead of writing a history of the Philippines, Rizal chose to write a novel that exposed Philippine society's ills. But he just couldn't let go of history, so instead of writing a new one, he annotated Antonio de Morga's Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas. We talk about this work in this episode of #RizalOnAir.

We pick off from where we left off in the last episode when we talked about the context and the characters of Rizal's most important work, the Noli Me Tangere. This time around, we reveal some of the choicest plot points and the impact of the novel on our country's history. Join us!

From Rizal's early works, we proceed straight to one of his major ones: the Noli Me Tangere. We discussed the context of the publication and some of the characters that we liked in Rizal's magnum opus! Listen up.

#RizalOnAir comes back with a new episode! We mark the beginning of this season's third phase, focusing on Rizal's writings, by talking about his early writings from his Ateneo days until he left for Europe. It's an exciting mix of historical and nationalistic poems (most notably, A La Juventud Filipina), religious plays (El Consejo De Los Dioses and Junto Al Pasig), and some love writing too! We also talked about Rizal writing for kids, as he translated some of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales.

Cover Art Photo Credits: José Honorato Lozano, Quinta de los Generales en Malacañan a la rivera del Río Pasig, 1867

The memorialization of Rizal has spanned multiple media: movies, money, holidays, and other forms. But one form seems most enduring: the monument. In this episode, we talk about the different monuments of Rizal. From Luneta to the rest of the world, find out how Rizal has been depicted in stone in this new episode of #RizalOnAir. We’ll be away for a bit, and next month, we’ll return with a new episode, so watch out!