Despite being a U.S. colony, Puerto Rico competes in sports as its own country on the world stage. Since the 70s, Puerto Rico’s national basketball team has been a pride of the island, taking home trophy after trophy. But in the 2004 at the Ath

4. Vieques and the Promise To Build Back Better

Feb 24th, 2021 45m 46s

Weeks after Hurricane Maria, the Government of Puerto Rico accepted an emphatic suggestion from officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), put it in writing as if it were its own decision, and celebrated it would be used to re

7. The End Of The Promises

1 Feb 24th, 2021 47m 21s

Puerto Rico’s relationship with the United States has long been a subject of intense debate. In 1952, Puerto Rico adopted a new status that was meant to decolonize the island. In English, we call it a “Commonwealth.” In Spanish, it’s called “Es

3. An Encyclopedia of Betrayal

Feb 24th, 2021 40m 39s

Photographer Chris Gregory-Rivera examines the legacy of the surveillance files known in Puerto Rico as las carpetas — produced from a decades-long secret government program aimed at fracturing the pro-independence movement. Gregory-Rivera look

1. What Is La Brega?

Feb 24th, 2021 17m 44s

In this kick-off episode, host Alana Casanova-Burgess sets out to define la brega and examine what its ubiquity among boricuas really means. A brega implies a challenge we can’t really solve, so you have to hustle to get around it. In Puerto Ri

Bonus

La Brega Presents: Esmeralda Santiago on Language and History

Aug 23rd, 2023 19m 31s

The writer Esmeralda Santiago’s latest book, “Las Madres,” is an intergenerational story about Puerto Rico, our history, and what it means to remember it. She recently spoke with The New Yorker’s Vinson Cunningham in an episode for The New York

Bonus Track — Songs for the Future of Puerto Rico

Apr 13th, 2023 31m 12s

Una notita: This episode is in Spanglish.This season, we explored songs that tell the complicated, beautiful story of Puerto Rico. We wanted to bring that exploration into the present moment, so we called up some of the most innovative Puerto

8. “Olas y Arenas” — The Beaches Belong to the People

Mar 23rd, 2023 41m 16s

Puerto Rico’s beautiful beaches are an integral part of Puerto Rican life. They form a ring of pleasure that encircles the whole island — an escape valve. And they’re one of the few places that are truly public. At least, that’s what the law sa

8. “Olas y arenas” — las playas son del pueblo

Mar 23rd, 2023 44m 6s

Las hermosas playas de Puerto Rico son una parte integral de la vida puertorriqueña. Las costas forman un anillo de placer que rodea toda la isla, una válvula de escape. Y son uno de los pocos espacios que son verdaderamente públicos. Al menos,

7. "Vamos Pa’ Plaza" — The Center of Everything

Mar 16th, 2023 34m 38s

Plaza Las Americas is not any mall — going there, “Pa Plaza,” is a quintessential boricua experience. Young people experience first dates; old people gather and enjoy the air conditioning; you can renew your passport, get vaccinated, and buy an

7. "Vamos pa’ Plaza" — el centro de todo

Mar 16th, 2023 34m 17s

Plaza Las Américas no es un centro comercial cualquiera: ir allí, "pa’ Plaza", es una experiencia muy boricua l. Los jóvenes viven sus primeras citas; las personas mayores se reúnen y disfrutan del aire acondicionado; puedes renovar tu pasaport

6. “Boricua en la Luna” — The Moon’s Distance

Mar 9th, 2023 33m 18s

“Boricua En La Luna” is a classic anthem about a young man born outside Puerto Rico, who dreams of going back to his parents’ home but never does. Based on a poem written by Juan Antonio Corretjer, the song vividly evokes themes of displacement

6. “Boricua en la luna” — la distancia de la luna

Mar 9th, 2023 33m 44s

“Boricua en la luna” es un himno clásico sobre un joven nacido fuera de Puerto Rico, que sueña con volver a la casa de sus padres pero nunca lo hace. La canción, que está basada en un poema escrito por Juan Antonio Corretjer, evoca vívidamente

5. “Las Caras Lindas (De Mi Gente Negra)” — An Ode to Blackness

Mar 2nd, 2023 36m 47s

Catalino Curet Alonso (known as Don Tite) penned some 2,000 songs during his life — and around 200 were massive hits across Latin America. “Las Caras Lindas (De Mi Gente Negra)” is undeniably personal. Tite, who passed away in 2003, was proud t

5. “Las caras lindas (de mi gente negra)” — una oda a la negrura

Mar 2nd, 2023 37m 19s

Catalino Curet Alonso (a menudo llamado Don Tite) escribió unas 2000 canciones durante su vida, y alrededor de 200 fueron grandes éxitos en Latinoamérica. “Las caras lindas (de mi gente negra)” es innegablemente personal. Tite, que falleció en

4. "I Wonder if I Take You Home" — Freedom in Freestyle

Feb 16th, 2023 40m 48s

Created on the streets by young Nuyoricans in the mid-1980s, freestyle music became the soundtrack for the lives of second-generation Puerto Ricans. Hip-hop and pop, Latin Caribbean rhythms and instruments — it all came together in freestyle. T

4. “I Wonder if I Take You Home” — La libertad en el freestyle

Feb 16th, 2023 48m 43s

Creada en las calles por jóvenes nuyoricans en la mitad de los ochenta, la música freestyle se convirtió en el sonido y la historia de los puertorriqueños de segunda generación. La fusión entre el hip-hop y el pop con los ritmos e instrumentos

3. “Suavemente” — The Merengue War

Feb 9th, 2023 41m 16s

At the end of the 1990s merengue ruled supreme on the radio and television in Puerto Rico. Elvis Crespo’s “Suavemente” is perhaps the most famous example — a bonafide hit that helped popularize the genre all over the world.But how did this Pue

3. “Suavemente” — La guerra del merengue

Feb 9th, 2023 44m 15s

En Puerto Rico, a finales de los noventa el merengue reinaba en la radio y en la televisión. "Suavemente" de Elvis Crespo es quizás el ejemplo más famoso de ese momento — un verdadero éxito que ayudó a popularizar el género en todo el mundo.Pe

2. “El Gran Varón” — Who Was Simón?

Feb 2nd, 2023 42m 19s

Gabby Rivera was 7 or 8 years old when Willie Colón released “El Gran Varón” in 1989. She remembers her father playing it while she sat in the backseat of their white minivan in the Bronx. The cinematic arc of the song would stick with her: the

2. “El gran varón” — ¿Quién era Simón?

Feb 2nd, 2023 40m 59s

En 1989, Gabby Rivera tenía 7 o 8 años cuando Willie Colón lanzó "El gran varón". Recuerda a su padre poniendo el tema mientras ella estaba sentada en su minivan blanca en el Bronx. El argumento casi cinematográfico de la canción se quedaría co

1. "Preciosa" — The Other Anthem

Jan 26th, 2023 29m 35s

For over a century, Puerto Rican musicians have been influential across the hemisphere. From the Harlem Hellfighters of WWI who helped develop jazz to the reggaetoneros who dominate today’s charts, Puerto Rican music is everywhere. We start the

1. "Preciosa" — El otro himno

Jan 26th, 2023 31m 37s

Durante más de un siglo, los músicos puertorriqueños han sido influyentes en todo el hemisferio. Desde el regimiento de los Harlem Hellfighters de la Primera Guerra Mundial, que ayudaron a desarrollar el jazz, hasta los reguetoneros que dominan

Trailer

Season 2: The Puerto Rican Experience in 8 Songs

Jan 19th, 2023 1m 7s

As the island donde hasta la piedras cantan — “where even the rocks sing” — Puerto Rico is home to a dizzying breadth of musical expression. From the lyrical boleristas of the 1930s, to the electric salseros of the ’70s, to the reggaetoneros of

Trailer

2da Temporada: La experiencia boricua en 8 canciones

Jan 19th, 2023 1m 7s

Conocida como la isla donde hasta las piedras cantan, Puerto Rico alberga una vertiginosa amplitud de expresión musical. Desde los boleristas líricos de la década de 1930 hasta los salseros eléctricos de los '70 y los reggaetoneros de hoy que h