Historias: The Spanish History Podcast

02/06/2024

Spanish football (soccer) teams like FC Barcelona and Real Madrid have become household names around the world.But how did Spanish sport become a global phenomenon? In this episode, Andrew McFarland, a professor of history at Indiana University Kokomo, explores the origins of sport as mass entertainment in Spain, from the influence of English footballers to the question of bullfighting as a modern sport. He also links these developments to political and intellectual trends of the time like regenerationism. Finally, we look at the origins of a few of Spain’s most popular football clubs, and even hear about a couple of McFarland’s own favorites.

02/05/2024

Whether Rioja, Ribera del Duero or Albariño, Spanish wine has become a major component of the country's image internationally, but this wasn't always the case. In this episode, Karl Trybus, a professor of history at Limestone University, traces the history behind Spain's wines from the nineteenth century to the present day, including the the effects of the oidium and phylloxera epidemics in the country and Spain's efforts to promote its wines abroad, with a special emphasis on its unique sherry and cava wines. Trybus even treats us to a few recommendations of some of his personal favorites to try.

02/04/2024

Todos saben de los famosos narcos de Colombia, pero quizás no se sepa que la región de Galicia en España también es un centro del narcotráfico en Europa. En este episodio, exploramos la historia de este comercio con Sabrina Laroussi, profesora titular de estudios hispánicos en el Instituto Militar de Virginia, y comparemos la literatura que ha surgido sobre el narco en Galicia con la del narco colombiano.

03/03/2024

The Historias podcast is back with a new episode on religious minorities in the medieval Crown of Aragon! In this episode, we begin by discussing the origins of the Crown of Aragon. Then, we transition into a conversation about the role and treatment of religious minorities in the Late Middle Ages not only in the Crown of Aragon, but across medieval Europe more broadly. Within this broad topic, we focus on the role of royal processions and what they can tell us about religious minorities and their place within medieval societies. Finally, we explore some of the sources, archives, and techniques that historians use to engage with the past, and we hypothesize about where the field might go in the future.

Episode 59 with Thomas Barton In this episode, we begin by discussing the origins of the Crown of Aragon. Then, we transition into a conversation about the role and treatment of religious minoritie…

02/11/2023

As part of our continuing series on Spain and Morocco, in this episode Eric Calderwood returns to the podcast to discuss his new book On Earth or in Poems: The Many Lives of Al-Andalus and the many ways in which the idea of al-Andalus, the medieval period of Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula, has been taken up by groups as varied as Arabs, Berber/Amazigh people, feminists and Palestinians. In the second half of the podcast, we’ll listen to clips from three musical works that illustrate how musicians have also been inspired by al-Andalus to imagine various connections across time and space.

Episode 58 with Eric Calderwood As part of our continuing series on Spain and Morocco, in this episode Eric Calderwood returns to the podcast to discuss his new book On Earth or in Poems: The …

09/10/2023

In this second part of our two-part series on Equatorial Guinea, we're joined by Michael Ugarte and Benita Sampedro Vizcaya to take a look at the literature of this West African nation, considering everything from European travel writers to European settlers, authors from Equatorial Guinea, and women writers. We pay special attention to the subject of exilic writing and highlight a few of the country's most well-known authors along the way, including Donato Ndongo Bidyogo and María Nsué Angüe.

Episode 57 with Michael Ugarte and Benita Sampedro Vizcaya In this second part of our two-part series on Equatorial Guinea, we’re joined by Michael Ugarte and Benita Sampedro Vizcaya to take …

02/09/2023

In this new episode, we explore the development of Jewish identities during the Medieval and Early Modern Periods. Amongst other topics, we discuss the origins of Jewish communities in Europe, the creation and impact of Judeoconversos in medieval Iberia, and the development of a unique Jewish civilization and identity during the Early Modern Period.

01/07/2023

Como parte de nuestra serie sobre España en África, en este primer episodio de dos episodios bilingües sobre Guinea Ecuatorial, hablamos con el profesor Gonzalo Álvarez Chillida sobre la colonización española en Guinea Ecuatorial. Empezamos con una revista de la geografía y la economía del país y de la historia de los principios de su colonización por varios poderes europeos. A continuación, examinamos los métodos de control colonial utilizados durante la dictadura franquista, el proceso de independencia y la formación de un nuevo régimen dictatorial allí bajo Francisco Macías Nguema.

01/06/2023

In this second part of our series on slavery in Spain’s colonies in North Africa, we speak with Ali Al Tuma about slavery in the Spanish Sahara. Al Tuma provides an overview of how slavery formed part of the social and economic structures in the Sahara and discusses the Spanish colonial policy towards slavery. He then shares some of the stories he has uncovered of slaves who navigated this complex and dangerous web of owners, traffickers, soldiers and policemen in search of a better life.

Episode 54 with Ali Al Tuma In this second part of our series on slavery in Spain’s colonies in North Africa, we speak with Ali Al Tuma about slavery in the Spanish Sahara. Al Tuma provides a…

01/05/2023

En este primero de dos episodios sobre la esclavitud en las colonias españolas en África, hablamos con el profesor Josep Lluís Mateo Dieste sobre la esclavitud en el protectorado español de Marruecos, enfocándonos en Tetuán, el capital. Discutimos las diferencias entre la esclavitud en el mundo árabe y en las Américas, la vida diaria de estas personas esclavizadas en Tetuán y su cultura única. Además, charleamos sobre los esfuerzos del profesor Mateo Dieste para recuperar la memoria de las esclavas domésticas (las tatas) de Tetuán, y incluso escucharemos a un poco de música de la tradición gnawa.

01/02/2023

As part of our Historias for BSPHS series, in this new episode we interview Katie Harris and Pamela Radcliff, the editors of a new special issue of the Bulletin for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies entitled New Currents in Iberian History, about the divisions that they noticed in the field of Iberian history when editing this issue and how recent work is attempting to bridge these gaps. We’ll explore the temporal and spatial boundaries within the field as well as the innovative new approaches that historians are taking to studying questions of race and gender in particular in the Iberian Peninsula and beyond.

02/01/2023

From streaming music to Tictok videos to podcasts, recorded sound is ubiquitous in our lives, but few of us give much thought to how it all started. In this episode, we’re joined by Eva Moreda Rodríguez, a reader in music at the University of Glasgow, to do just that. We follow the origins of the recording all the way back to Edison’s first phonograph, tracing its path in Spain through scientific demonstrations, traveling fairs and early recording studios. Along the way, we’ll have a chance to listen to some of these early recordings and discuss both the reactions people had to them at the time and our impressions of them today.

01/12/2022

The 50th episode of the Historias podcast is out! In this episode, we discuss the importance of the Biblical story of Cain and Abel on medieval Spanish literature. This story was told and retold throughout the ancient in medieval worlds. In medieval Iberia, it formed an important backdrop to the composition of historical narratives and often served as a model for their accounts of disputes between kings and members of the royal family.

Along with our exploration of the story of Cain and Abel, we will also explore some of the ways that digital tools can help us to better understand and think about some of the big topics in the study of medieval Iberia. In particular, we will discuss Dr. Peña Fernández’s new digital project focusing on Alfonso X’s General estoria and some of the new insights offered by the project.

Episode 50 with Francisco Peña Fernández Digital tools have revolutionized the study of medieval literature, allowing for projects that would have seemed inconceivable a few decades ago. These tool…

04/11/2022

Any visitor to Spain today will be familiar with the Cortes Inglés department store as the anchor of Spanish commercial cityscape. But how did department stores take hold in Spain and what there the political implications of their rise? In this episode, Alejandro Gómez del Moral tells their story in the context of Spain’s turbulent early-twentieth century and long Francoist dictatorship. In Part I, we examine how department stores thrived even within the restrictive culture of the dictatorship, while in Part II, we discuss to what extent the rise of consumer culture contributed to the undermining of the dictatorial regime.

02/10/2022

Between the removal of Franco’s remains from the Valley of the Fallen and the new Law of Democratic Memory, the legacies of Spain’s recent past have been in the news a lot recently. But how much of the Franco dictatorship survives in Spanish politics and society today and in what forms? How can those hold overs be addressed? In this episode, Prof. Sebastiaan Faber of Oberlin College explores the legacies of Francoism in Spanish business, courts, politics and more. In Part II, he discusses ideas about historical memory and how to address these legacies in a transnational context.

Episode 48 with Sebastiaan Faber Between the removal of Franco’s remains from the Valley of the Fallen and the new Law of Democratic Memory, the legacies of Spain’s recent past have been in the new…

01/09/2022

In this episode, we discuss the intersection of chivalry and violence with Dr. Sam Claussen, with a focus on the chaotic Trastámara period of Castilian history (1369-1516). In examining chivalry, we find ourselves immersed in the bloody history of late medieval knights, grappling to understand the purposes of chivalric violence, their meanings and consequences. The destruction wrought by knights and nobles in late medieval Castile was closely tied to the ideas broadcast in chivalric writings and helped shape the course of Castile as it approached the early modern world and stood on the precipice of a European and global empire.

Episode 47 with Sam Claussen Chivalry was the dominant worldview of the lay elite of medieval Europe, shaping understandings of politics, warfare, gender relations and prescribing ideal behaviors. …

01/08/2022

In this episode, Nicolás Buckley traces the rise and fall of ETA, as seen through the eyes of seven ETA activists he interviewed. Along the way, we discuss such topics as their motivations, the violence they experienced from the Spanish state and their experiences in prison. We also touch on larger questions such as Spain’s democratization process, Spanish and Basque identity, the line between victims and perpetrators, and oral history methodology.

Episode 46 with Nicolás Buckley Although it declared an end to its armed activities in 2011, ETA remains one of the most controversial phenomena in the historical memory of Spain’s recent past. Oft…

01/07/2022

In this episode of Historias, we discuss the origins of the Crown of Aragon, the rise of James I as a conqueror, and his impact on the legal system not only within his kingdom, but throughout medieval Iberia. In particular, we explore the impact of the Vidal Mayor—the law code composed during his rule by Vidal de Canellas—within the Crown of Aragon with particular attention on how the law code helped determine the redistribution of land in Valencia following its conquest. With Belen Vicens.

Episode 45 with Belen Vicens James I—one of the most famous and consequential rulers of medieval Iberia—played a fundamental role in shaping the Crown of Aragon. In particular, his thirteenth-centu…

01/06/2022

In this episode, we first discuss the development of different vernaculars as literary languages during the Middle Ages. Then, we look at Petrarch and his influence on contemporary and later medieval authors. Finally, we discuss some of the ways that Petrarch’s ideas about the Middle Ages and the Renaissance not only influenced his contemporaries, but may have also helped to shape modern conceptions of the period as well as the development of “Medievalism” in popular culture. With Leonardo Francalanci.

Episode 44 with Leonardo Francalanci Francesco Petrarch—one of the most important and influential figures of the Middle Ages—helped shape the idea of the Renaissance. Future authors, including many…

01/04/2022

When we think of Gibraltar we think of the British enclave at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, but the straits of the same name encompass much more than a British rock. Sasha D. Pack, a professor of history at SUNY Buffalo and author of the recent book The Deepest Border: The Strait of Gibraltar and the Making of the Modern Hispano-African Borderland, traces the rise and fall of this paradigmatic borderland through examining some of the colorful characters and political intrigues that defined it. After getting a sense of the complicated political status of the region, we discuss tourism in the international city of Tangier and look at some examples of “slipstream potentates,” from a Moroccan bandit to a Spanish gangster.

01/03/2022

Drawing on an interdisciplinary corpus that includes historical accounts, literary texts, legal treatises, and maps, Professor Mariana-Cecilia Velázquez joins the podcast to discuss the visual and narrative representations of the colorful and politically shrewd English Captain Francis Drake who serves as a case study to understand the wide spectrum of the usages of the terms “pirate” and “corsair” as well as the relation between the image of the pirate and larger concepts such as property, sovereignty, and power. The conversation also explores topics related to the Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean and specific individuals, such as Miguel Enríquez, who operated at the margins of the Spanish Iberian empire.

01/02/2022

Check out the latest episode of the Historias podcast: Despite being abolished decades earlier by some other European countries, the slave trade continued to the Spanish colony of Cuba until the mid-19th century. Yet efforts to end the trade in the Spanish Empire also have a long history influenced by the particularities of Spain’s political and economic situation. In this episode, Jesús Sanjurjo traces this history from the beginning of the 19th century, considering the influence of British diplomacy, liberal ideology and colonial economic conditions on the process.

Episode 41 with Jesús Sanjurjo Despite being abolished decades earlier by some other European countries, the slave trade continued to the Spanish colony of Cuba until the mid-19th century. Yet effo…

01/12/2021

Francisco Franco ruled Spain as dictator for almost 40 years from 1939-1975. He is thus one of modern European history’s most important, and most controversial, figures, and his long life spanned periods of colonial conflict, civil war, world war and post-war economic growth. Prof. Stanley Payne joins the podcast to discuss some of the insights he offers on Franco’s life and times in his recent biography of the dictator. Drawing on sources from Franco’s personal archive and interviews with family members, Payne weighs in on some of the debates surrounding the dictator such as how good of a general he was, how close he came to joining World War II and how much of a role he had in the rapid changes that took place in Spanish society late in his life.

Episode 40 with Stanley Payne Francisco Franco ruled Spain as dictator for almost 40 years from 1939-1975. He is thus one of modern European history’s most important, and most controversial, figure…

02/10/2021

In 1901, news that two women had married in the region of Galicia in Northwestern Spain made national headlines and still surprises us today. How did this “marriage without a man,” as it was known, occur and what was the reaction to it in the regional and national press? Profs. Joyce Tolliver and Sean McDaniel discuss what we can learn from this unusual case about passing, gender and being in early twentieth-century Spain. This episode accompanies their article on the subject in the latest issue of the Bulletin for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies.

Episode 39 with Joyce Tolliver and Sean McDaniel In 1901, news that two women had married in the region of Galicia in Northwestern Spain made national headlines and still surprises us today. How di…

29/07/2021

As the 2020 Summer Olympics, postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, take place in Tokyo, we take a look at another Olympics planned under difficult circumstances, one that was never able to take place. The July 1936 Popular Olympics were planned to take place in Barcelona as a counter to the games held in N**i Germany that year, but the Spanish Civil War broke out the day before the games were scheduled to begin. In this episode, James Stout, an investigative journalist with a PhD in modern European history and the author of the recent book The Popular Front and the Barcelona 1936 Popular Olympics: Playing as if the World Was Watching, joins us to tell the amazing story of these games and anti-fascist athletes involved.

Episode 38 with James Stout As the 2020 Summer Olympics, postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, take place in Tokyo, we take a look at another Olympics planned under difficult circumstances, o…

01/07/2021

In 1542, Spanish explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo’s galleon San Salvador sailed into San Diego Bay. In 2015, 473 years later, the San Diego Maritime Museum christened a reconstruction of the ship in the same harbor. How was a ship that sailed almost 500 years ago rebuilt in today’s world? In this episode, Prof. Carla Rahn Phillips, chair of the project’s historical design committee and an expert in early-modern Spanish maritime history, takes us through the amazing story of the project from historical research to naval design to construction, complete with anecdotes from her own experiences lending a hand in the building of the ship.

Episode 37 with Carla Rahn Phillips In 1542, Spanish explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo’s galleon San Salvador sailed into San Diego Bay. In 2015, 473 years later, the San Diego Maritime Museum chris…

01/06/2021

Flamenco is one of the most iconic symbols of Spain, but how did that come to be and how was flamenco perceived inside of Spain? Those are the questions Prof. Sandie Holguín considers in this episode through listening to several selections of flamenco music by Manolo Caracol, La Niña de los Peines and Enrique Morente. In so doing, we’ll discuss the origins of flamenco, how it was received by foreign travelers and how Spanish and regional nationalist thinkers reacted to it throughout modern Spanish history. This episode is part of our Historias for BSPHS collaboration, as a review Holguín’s book Flamenco Nation: The Construction of Spanish National Identity by Alejandro Quiroga appears in the latest issue of the Bulletin for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies.

Episode 35 with Sandie Holguín Flamenco is one of the most iconic symbols of Spain, but how did that come to be and how was flamenco perceived inside of Spain? Those are the questions Prof. Sandie …

05/03/2021

We're excited to announce that our first episode of our new collaboration with the Bulletin for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies is out! See the post below for more information on the episode as well as our "About" page for more on the project.

About the Project Historias is a Spanish history podcast. Each monthly episode is an interview with a historian on a particular topic in Spanish history. Topics vary widely from ancient to modern…

05/03/2021

The first episode of our new “Historias for BSPHS” collaboration with the Bulletin for Spanish and Portuguese Studies, in this roundtable three scholars studying Spain tell their stories of facing and overcoming the difficulties of doing research during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the journal’s ongoing forum on Doing Iberian Studies in Times of Crisis.

Episode 35 with Sara J. Brenneis, James D. Fernández and Charles Nicholas Saenz The first episode of our new “Historias for BSPHS” collaboration with the Bulletin for Spanish and Portuguese Studies…

05/02/2021

The Revolution of October 1934 in Asturias is the most famous episode of Spain’s Second Republic period, but it is more often the subject of legend and propaganda than historical study. In this episode, Matthew Kerry, a lecturer at the University of Stirling and the author of the recent book Unite, Proletarian Brothers!: Radicalism and Revolution in the Spanish Second Republic, discusses the history of the local mining communities behind the uprising and how they radicalized within the turbulent context of the 1930s in Europe. In so doing, he considers larger questions about the nature of ideas like community, radicalism and revolution.

Episode 34 with Matthew Kerry The Revolution of October 1934 in Asturias is the most famous episode of Spain’s Second Republic period, but it is more often the subject of legend and propaganda than…