Behold this electric performance, just a small moment from a woman who helped shape Cuban music. Her name is Celeste Mendoza. It seems the majority of Americans have had little exposure to this artist. During my time at Tropix Media in Havana, I had the good fortune of digging into the national archives for gold nuggets, delivering our new “Sneak Peeks”. A bit more about Celeste — in terms of the Cuban pantheon of female greats, if Celia Cruz was the Queen of Salsa, and La Lupe was the Queen of Latin Soul, then Celeste is unquestionably crowned the Queen of Guaguanco, a raw form of street rum ..read more

Behold this electric performance, just a small moment from a woman who helped shape Cuban music. Her name is Celeste Mendoza. It seems the majority of Americans have had little exposure to this artist. During my time at Tropix Media in Havana, I had the good fortune of digging into the national archives for gold nuggets, delivering our new “Sneak Peeks”. A bit more about Celeste — in terms of the Cuban pantheon of female greats, if Celia Cruz was the Queen of Salsa, and La Lupe was the Queen of Latin Soul, then Celeste is unquestionably crowned the Queen of Guaguanco, a raw form of street rum ..read more

Beth Harmon of Netflix’s The Queens Gambit. Cuba’s champion, Maria Teresa Mora Iturralde To be a girl in a sea of men. This is one of the themes in Netflix’ new series, The Queen’s Gambit. The show follows Beth Harmon (exquisitely played by actress Anya Taylor-Joy), a child who ends up parentless, and eventually gets mentored in chess by a janitor in the basement of an orphanage. The prodigy earns her way to the World Championship in order to work her way up to the best, a Russian named Borgov. All this is set against the backdrop of the Cold War, a fascinating parallel to explore between Capi ..read more

In the landscape of Cuban podcasts, there is not much of a selection of balanced shows to listen to. Just utter the word “Cuba” and see quickly how it polarises a room. Some will demonize the country, while others will speak of its utopia. The truth of the matter is that Cuba is a complicated place — a bit of ying, a bit of yang. It is rich with unique value, beauty, and culture, yet at the same time, it is buried in it’s own contradictions and challenges as it forges a path into the future, all while trying to stand up to its antagonistic superpower neighbor, the US. Among all the name-call ..read more

Beth Harmon of Netflix’s The Queens Gambit. Cuba’s champion, Maria Teresa Mora Iturralde To be a girl in a sea of men. This is one of the themes in Netflix’ new series, The Queen’s Gambit. The show follows Beth Harmon (exquisitely played by actress Anya Taylor-Joy), a child who ends up parentless, and eventually gets mentored in chess by a janitor in the basement of an orphanage. The prodigy earns her way to the World Championship in order to work her way up to the best, a Russian named Borgov. All this is set against the backdrop of the Cold War, a fascinating parallel to explore between Capi ..read more

In the landscape of Cuban podcasts, there is not much of a selection of balanced shows to listen to. Just utter the word “Cuba” and see quickly how it polarises a room. Some will demonize the country, while others will speak of its utopia. The truth of the matter is that Cuba is a complicated place — a bit of ying, a bit of yang. It is rich with unique value, beauty, and culture, yet at the same time, it is buried in it’s own contradictions and challenges as it forges a path into the future, all while trying to stand up to its antagonistic superpower neighbor, the US. Among all the name-call ..read more

Beth Harmon of Netflix’s The Queens Gambit. Cuba’s champion, Maria Teresa Mora Iturralde To be a girl in a sea of men. This is one of the themes in Netflix’ new series, The Queen’s Gambit. The show follows Beth Harmon, a child who ends up parentless, and eventually gets mentored in chess by a janitor in the basement of an orphanage. The prodigy earns her way to the World Championship in order to work her way up to the best, a Russian named Borgov. All this is set against the backdrop of the Cold War, a fascinating parallel to explore between Capitalist and Communist nations meeting in peace to ..read more

Beth Harmon of Netflix’s The Queens Gambit. Cuba’s champion, Maria Teresa Mora Iturralde To be a girl in a sea of men. This is one of the themes in Netflix’ new series, The Queen’s Gambit. The show follows Beth Harmon, a child who ends up parentless, and eventually gets mentored in chess by a janitor in the basement of an orphanage. The prodigy earns her way to the World Championship in order to work her way up to the best, a Russian named Borgov. All this is set against the backdrop of the Cold War, a fascinating parallel to explore between Capitalist and Communist nations meeting in peace to ..read more

In the landscape of Cuban podcasts, there is not much of a selection of balanced shows to listen to. Just utter the word “Cuba” and see quickly how it polarises a room. Some will demonize the country, while others will speak of its utopia. The truth of the matter is that Cuba is a complicated place — a bit of ying, a bit of yang. It is rich with unique value, beauty, and culture, yet at the same time, it is buried in it’s own contradictions and challenges as it forges a path into the future, all while trying to stand up to its antagonistic superpower neighbor, the US. Among all the name-callin ..read more

In the landscape of Cuban podcasts, there is not much of a selection of balanced shows to listen to. Just utter the word “Cuba” and see quickly how it polarises a room. Some will demonize the country, while others will speak of its utopia. The truth of the matter is that Cuba is a complicated place — a bit of ying, a bit of yang. It is rich with unique value, beauty, and culture, yet at the same time, it is buried in it’s own contradictions and challenges as it forges a path into the future, all while trying to stand up to its antagonistic superpower neighbor, the US. Among all the name-callin ..read more