e69. So, let’s talk about Puerto Rico…

A couple of weeks ago, many Americans were surprised to turn on the news and learn that protests had seemingly suddenly erupted on the island of Puerto Rico demanding the resignation of the governor. This went on for several days until the governor relented and stepped down and then the story all but vanished from American airwaves. Of course this wasn’t actually the beginning of the story… or the end. It’s just that the United States (and by extension much of the rest of the world) often seems to care little if anything about an island that many of its citizens don’t even realize is part of the country. Well, this week we want to fix that. Katya and Hannah are joined by Caribbean history scholar, Tony Rossodivito to discuss the history of Puerto Rico, its politics and culture, why it’s not a state, government corruption, the United States history of colonialism and empire, where this protest came from and why it is important to the rest of the nation and the world at large. Join us for what we hope is a very informative episode and let us know your thoughts! Citations and Links: * This episode’s Call for Comments* The Puerto Rico syllabus* “Are Puerto Ricans really American citizens?” by Charles R. Venator-Santiago* Foreign in a Domestic Sense: Puerto Rico, American Expansion, and the Constitution by Christina Duffy Burnett and Burke Marshall, * Thank you to Maximilian’s thoughtForm Music for our theme* Follow Hannah on Twitter: @hannahleerogers* Follow Katya on Instagram: @justthatnerdkid * Follow us on Twitter: @voxpopcast* Follow us on Instagram: @voxpopcast* Follow us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/voxpopcast* Make sure you subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever podcasts are found and please leave us a review!

Om Podcasten

Vox Populorum is a blog and podcast devoted to pop culture criticism. We believe that the best way to understand culture is to discuss it. But we also believe that it's a lot more fun to have these conversations throwing back a couple beers at the bar rather than in a classroom. Please join our weekly round table of media critics, academics, creators, artists, professors, students and fans for an engaging discussion about movies, novels, comic books, television, video games, music or whatever else we happen to think of! Nec audiendi qui solent dicere, Vox populi, vox Dei, quum tumultuositas vulgi semper insaniae proxima sit.