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

June 5, 2025

The Hour of Blood, La Matanza part one

The years from 1910 to 1920 were brutal, and are known by a couple names, La Matanza (the massacre) or La Hora de Sangre (the hour of blood). This violence was committed by state police, vigilantes and military, including the...
May 29, 2025

The Lynching of Josefa

The Lynching of Josefa took place on July 5, 1851 in Downieville, California in Sierra county. Throughout history, she has gone unnamed, her name has been changed or only a first name was ever provided. Her name was Josefa L...
May 22, 2025

a Brief History of Lynching Against Mexicans in the US

The Tuskegee Institure’s definition of lynching is as follows: There must be legal evidence that a person was killed. That person must have met death illegally. A group of three or more persons must have participated in the k...
May 15, 2025

Carmen Rodriguez and The Patient Bill of Rights

Carmen Rodriguez was treated at Lincoln hospital just a few days after the Young Lords occupied the building. The care she received directly led to the creation of the Patient Bill of rights.This is part two of last week's ep...
May 8, 2025

The Young Lords and the Lincoln Offensive

On July 14, 1970 the Young Lords occupied Lincoln hospital, in response to the treatment of Puerto Rican and Black patients. They had a list of demands and the offensive was just one piece of their public health activism. In part one, Cristina tells...
May 1, 2025

a Brief History of Mexicans in the Mississippi

Because of the movie Sinners, there has been a lot of talk about wy Mexicans were not in Mississippi in 1932. With many blaming Mexican repatriation, which took place from 1929 to 1939. But it seems the truth is more complicated than that. Cristina...

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.