Today’s story is not about a specific event, but rather an overview of a place which might have been about as far from the forefront of the big events in Latin American history as it is possible to get, yet which saw a succession of bizarre occurrences across its history.

Despite being uninhabited for most of human history, this remote atoll has drawn in everyone from pirates to presidents on fishing trips, would-be tyrants and people hoping to make their fortune collecting animal dung.

Several nations have claimed it, and its story has been shaped by the first circumnavigation of the globe, the Mexican revolution, world war 2, and an international arbitration overseen by a pope.

Today we have a special interview episode with Marcos Colón about his new book The Amazon in Times of War.

The book is a collection of essays which detail Marcos' work in the Amazon rainforest, and chronicle the threats which the region, its people, and its non-human inhabitants face.

In the interview we talk about how Brazil's recent political history, the pandemic, its colonial legacy, and how popular and scientific conceptions have impacted the Amazon and its prospects for the future.

More information about the book can be found here: https://practicalactionpublishing.com/book/2997/the-amazon-in-times-of-war

Marcos' website Amazonia Latitude can be found here: https://www.amazonialatitude.com/

In the final part of our mini-series on Juan de Onate's time in New Mexico we follow him on his third journey, westwards in search of the Pacific Ocean, and then look at his fate and that of his colony.

Onate faces the first real resistance to his colony, and takes it badly. The Acoma massacre is probably the event of his conquests for which he is most well known.

Today we start a three part series on the conquest of New Mexico. In this first episode we introduce Juan de Onate - the conquistador tasked with incorporating the territory into the Spanish empire, and follow him through the deserts of northern Mexico.

In the second and final part of our mini-series on Mesoamerican food, we look at how West Africa, the USA, and the rest of Latin America have influenced the region's cuisine.

Then, we look at drinks. Everyone and everything from protectionist tax laws and Filipino immigrants to Russian religious sects and smuggler-priests have played a role in the liquids consumed in Mesoamerica.

The food of Mesoamerica (Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras) is perhaps the best in all of Latin America. In part one of two on the history of the region's cuisine, we look at how indigenous and European influences combined to create such a deep food culture.

Today we look at a concept known as the black legend. There is no question that the Spanish conquests of Latin America were bloody affairs, and that conquest as a whole is not exactly pleasant. There is however a school a thought which argues that the Spanish were vilified for geo-political reasons, often hypocritically by those doing the vilifying.

In this episode we examine the varied peoples who have had political reasons to perpetuate what some call the black legend, and discuss the problems inherent in creating truly neutral history.

In this second and final part about the kingdom of the Itza, we tell the story of how it was conquered. Involved is an ambitious Spanish governor, some unauthorized diplomacy, and a recreation of the assault on Tenochtitlan

In remote northern Guatemala is a beautiful old city built onto an island. The shores of the lake which surrounds it are peppered with unexcavated Maya ruins.

Almost two centuries after the fall of the Aztec, a transplanted Maya kingdom ruled from this island, unmolested by the Spanish empire which had taken over most of the rest of the continent.

In this episode we look at the Itzá - the builders of the famous Chichén Itzá in Mexico, how they relocated to retain their independence, and the kingdom they built once they had done so.

In 1695 Scotland decided to have a go at the new world colonisation which seemed to be benefiting its neighbours so much. They settled on Panama as they place to do it and almost the whole country was involved in funding the scheme. The story of the Darien colony would have a profound impact on the country - one which continues to define Scotland to this day.