Episode Details

What most Americans know about Puerto Rico is based on a colonial fantasy, says journalist and Columbia University professor, Ed Morales. This fantasy, and the reality it obscures, is the subject of his new book, Fantasy Island. In this episode, Laura interviews Morales and scholar/activist Rosa Clemente about the personal and political implications of the island's ongoing debt crisis, recovering from Hurricane Maria, and #RickyRenuncia, the intersectional protest movement that led to the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosselló in the summer of 2019. Exploitation, corruption, and neglect may be business as usual in the United States' relationship with Puerto Rico but Morales and Clemente suggest that new movements provide some hope for change.

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