Silver Podcast Network

Diego Dionisio de Peñalosa - count, conquistador, would-be king, and confidence man - is one of history’s great forgotten maverick adventurers. Born in Peru in the shadow of Pizarro’s conquest of the Inca Empire, Peñalosa imagined himself a latter-day Cortés, destined to carve out a new empire in the uncharted north. Through charm, cunning, and deception, he rose through the Spanish colonial bureaucracy to become provincial governor of New Mexico. There, he conceived an audacious plan: to discover and conquer Quivira and Gran Teguayo, mythical kingdoms of gold and silver hidden in the mountains of North America. Peñalosa’s life was a blend of ambition and illusion - a tale of imperial dreams, deception, and the thin line between conquest and con.

Out of all the creators who participated in our Winter 2025 Sonic Dash, we were only able to feature the top three winners so far. Now, we would love to showcase some of the incredible work from the rest of our talented contestants.

In this episode, we will be listening to and discussing a piece by Zak Rosen, Noa Rosen, Shira Heisler, and Ami Rosen entitled "Junior Resistance".

Credits:

Produced and engineered by Christian Cuciniello and Santiago Aramburu

Festival Directors: Mark Blumberg, Cory Choy, Emily Reeves

Centuries before Young John Gore, Captain James Cook’s cabin boy on his second voyage, supposedly climbed the mast and became the first to glimpse Antarctica, mapmakers in Europe were already charting a vast southern continent. But how did they imagine a land no one had seen — and what exactly were they mapping? This episode explores how early European cartographers, drawing on the writings of classical antiquity, constructed and populated the mythic realm of Terra Australis Incognita - a continent born not from discovery, but from belief, speculation, and imagination.

It's the quiet ones you really have to look out for. They don't have a cape around their neck, an "S" on their chest, and they don't come crashing in to save the day with catchy phrases like "I'm Batman."

No, they just go about their day quietly, using their superpower to keep us safe.

Hosted by James Brown-Orleans

Featuring Sam Anderson

Produced by Cory Choy, Christian Cuciniello, and Buru 

Sound by Silver Sound

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Out of all the creators who participated in our Winter 2025 Sonic Dash, we were only able to feature the top three winners so far. Now, we would love to showcase some of the incredible work from the rest of our talented contestants.

In this episode, we will be listening to and discussing Jacki Huntington and Victor Lopez piece, entitled "Springs Airs"

Credits:

Produced and engineered by Christian Cuciniello and Santiago Aramburu

Festival Directors: Mark Blumberg, Cory Choy, Emily Reeves

Time feels frozen as he drives the same streets, over and over, watching life pass by. The city moves, but he remains still, just observing from behind the wheel. Silver shorts presents Cab Ride

Written by: Buru and Bruno Aramburu 

Featuring: Jame Brown Orleans, Bruno Aramburu, Daniela Ravelo and Valeriia vovk

Produced by: Cory Choy, Christian Cuciniello and Buru 

Music By: Buru

Sound By: Silver Sound

Out of all the creators who participated in our Winter 2025 Sonic Dash, we were only able to feature the top three winners so far. Now, we would love to showcase some of the incredible work from the rest of our talented contestants.

In this episode, we will be listening to and discussing Laura Bachman and Shaan Merchant's piece, entitled "You've got to bee kidding me!"

Credits:

Produced and engineered by Christian Cuciniello and Santiago Aramburu

Festival Directors: Mark Blumberg, Cory Choy, Emily Reeves

The kind of drinks we like are the kind that bring all folks together, with a side of stories, laughter, tears, and most definitely a side of gratitude for each other.

Yuan Ji's Erstwhile Mezcal brings all of this to the table.

Check out her website here: erstwhilemezcal.com

Hosted by James Brown-Orleans

Featuring Yuan Ji from Erstwhile Mezcal

Produced by Cory Choy, Christian Cuciniello, and Buru

Music by Buru

Sound by Silver Sound

Out of all the creators who participated in our Winter 2025 Sonic Dash, we were only able to feature the top three winners so far. Now, we would love to showcase some of the incredible work from the rest of our talented contestants.

In this episode, we will be listening to and discussing Son Hanson's "Your Call Is Very Important To Us"

Credits:

Produced and engineered by Christian Cuciniello and Santiago Aramburu

Festival Directors: Mark Blumberg, Cory Choy, Emily Reeves

In the 18th century, Europe became enamored of a startling idea - that ancient Chinese explorers had reached North America more than a 1000 years before Columbus. Drawn from Chinese administrative records, historical chronicles, and classical poetry, the legend of Fusang ignited debate across the European intellectual world. Whether the tale held a grain of truth or not, it resonated deeply with the era's philosophical and moral values, challenging prevailing notions of discovery, civilization, and the origins of the American continent and its indigenous peoples.