La Vuelta Podcast: Press Censorship in Latin America, Elections in Chile

This month's episode of La Vuelta Podcast starts with a conversation about public support for press censorship in Latin America.  We spoke with Mariana Rodriguez, a political scientist at Vanderbilt University's Latin American Public Opinion Project, about her research on press censorship in Latin America and the ways in which Internet access affects Latin American attitudes toward censorship.  

Next, we turned to the most recent elections in Chile.  Kenneth Bunker's quantitative research on politics and elections makes him something like the Nate Silver of Chilean politics.  His website, tresquintos.com, is required reading in Chilean political circles.  We spoke to Bunker just after Michelle Bachelet had won the first round of voting in Chile's presidential election and that victory had left her as the presumptive favorite to win the second round of voting which took place this past weekend.  Bachelet won, of course, but as Bunker points out, getting her legislative agenda through the Chilean Congress will be no easy feat.

You can stream or download La Vuelta's most recent episode at https://soundcloud.com/lavueltablog/la-vuelta-episode-2

La Vuelta's success depends on its supporters and audience.  How can you help?  Here are some suggestions:

• Each episode of the show is available for streaming or download at https://soundcloud.com/lavueltablog.  Follow us on Soundcloud and share our episodes with your friends and colleagues.  And let us know what you think about our show, our guests, or share ideas for future interviews.

• Follow us on Twitter at @lavueltablog where we will be posting updates about guests and upcoming shows as well as regular commentary on Latin American and U.S. Latino affairs.

• Like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/LA-VUELTA/2154469806

• Have you read an article recently about Latin America or Latinos and the U.S. and would like to hear more from the author? Have you published a book or article recently in Latin American or Latino Studies?  Are you or a client working on project that impacts Latin America or Latinos in the U.S.?  Let us know.

Best,

John

La Vuelta Launches Inaugural Podcast

Today, we are happy to launch La Vuelta's inaugural podcast.  Each month, we'll be featuring conversations with writers, policymakers, artists, and others whose work focuses on some aspect of the history, politics or culture of Latin America or the Latino communities of the United States.  Our hope is that La Vuelta becomes a valuable resource for those who care about Latin America or the U.S. Latino experience.

This month's episode features a conversation with Prof. Andy Baker of the University of Colorado at Boulder about his recent research on the scope and nature of anti-Americanism in Latin America.  We also speak with Liliana Gamboa, coordinator for the Open Society Justice Initiative project on antidiscrimination in the Dominican Republic, about a recent ruling by the island's Constitutional Court that threatens to strip thousands of persons of Haitian descent of their Dominican citizenship.

Of course, La Vuelta's success will depend on its supporters and audience.  How can you help?  Here are some suggestions:

• Each episode of the show is available for streaming or download at https://soundcloud.com/lavueltablog.  Follow us on Soundcloud and share our episodes with your friends and colleagues.  And let us know what you think about our show, our guests, or share ideas for future interviews.
• Follow us on Twitter at @lavueltablog where we will be posting updates about guests and upcoming shows as well as regular commentary on Latin American and U.S. Latino affairs.
• Like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/LA-VUELTA/2154469806
• Have you read an article recently about Latin America or Latinos and the U.S. and would like to hear more from the author? Have you published a book or article recently in Latin American or Latino Studies?  Are you or a client working on project that impacts Latin America or Latinos in the U.S.?  Let us know.

We are very excited about the future of La Vuelta and hope that you'll join us and spread the word.

Thanks,

John

PS: La Vuelta is produced by Anoah Levine at the studios of John Jay College/CUNY in New York.

Lo Prometido es Deuda

I know, I know.  It's all about gun control and the debt ceiling right now.  But eventually, as this piece from NPR shows pretty clearly, people are going to tire of an administration that talks about immigration reform but does precious little to actually make it happen.  Hay que ponerse los pantalones, Mr. President.