Historias Unknown

Historias Unknown

Obscure Latin American history, capitalism and corruption. Each week, your hosts, Carmen and Cristina, will tell each other a story about Latino/Latine history, capitalism or corruption and sometimes all three. Episodes every Thursday.

Recent Episodes

July 31, 2025

The Shady History of Nestle in Latin America Part Two

In the 1970s, the Nestle infant formula controversy came to light. In this episode, Cristina tells Carmen about the infant formula "scandal" (as in babies died), due to shady marketing practices. A lot of these infant deaths ...
July 24, 2025

The Shady History of Nestle in Latin America (and the global south) Part One

In the 1970s, the Nestle infant formula controversy came to light. In this episode, Cristina tells Carmen about the infant formula "scandal" (as in babies died), due to shady marketing practices. A lot of these infant deaths ...
July 17, 2025

A Brief History of Los Chicago Boys in Chile (and Latin America)

On September 11, 1973, a coup overthrew the democratically elected Chilean president, Salvador Allende. This marked the beginning of the Pinochet dictatorship and up to that date, Los Chicago Boys wrote out the 500 page plan ...
July 10, 2025

Lorena Borjas: La Madre de La Comunidad Trans en Queens

Lorena Borjas fue conocida como la madre de la comunidad trans latina en Queens, Nueva York. Tras una vida dedicada al activismo, falleció en 2020 a causa de la COVID-19, pero su legado sigue vivo. En este capitulo, Carmen le...
July 3, 2025

Chico Cano

Before company B of the Texas Rangers executed 15 Mexican men and boys in Porvenir, Texas, they asked each one, “are you Chico Cano?”. But who was Chico Cano? It depends who you ask. If you ask the Texas rangers, he was a der...
June 26, 2025

The National Synarchist Union

The National Synarchist Union was a fascist organization in Mexico, and was most popular from 1940 to around 1943. It sought the unity of the Catholic church and government, and for the church to rule; although it never gaine...

Recent Blog Posts

Jan. 4, 2023

Sylvia Rivera

Sylvia Rivera was born on July 2,1951 in New York City. She is often remembered for the stonewall uprising, but she was much more than that. She identified as a drag queen, she was a trans rights activist, an advocate for unhoused people and a membe…

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July 16, 2022

The Battle of Chavez Ravine

Before it was Dodger Stadium, this part of Los Angeles was a Mexican community known as Chavez Ravine.  These neighborhoods were La Loma, Bishop and Palo Verde. By their own standards, these three neighborhoods were thriving, but the rest of…

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July 15, 2022

The History of Coffee in Guatemala and El Salvador

Coffee has a long history in the Americas. Over 60 percent of the world’s coffee is supplied by Latin America and the majority from Brazil. How did it arrive in the Americas? In 1720, a French Naval officer brought seedlings to Martinique, …

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About the Hosts

Carmen Profile Photo

Carmen

Host

Carmen is the cohost of Espooky Tales and Historias Unknown. She is also a busy social worker that cannot work without her cup of cafecito. She loves to read when she has time, but never has it! She and Carmen also used to do Novelas con Cafecito, a telenovela rewatch podcast (mostly about Teresa) with Cristina.

Cristina Profile Photo

Cristina

Podcast Editor/Producer/Host

Cristina is a freelance podcast editor/producer. She cohosts Espooky Tales and Historias Unknown with Carmen! She loves history, podcasts, spooky things and coffee. You can also contact her if you need a podcast editor.