In the new episode of Writing Latinos, we talk with Jorell Meléndez-Badillo about his most recent book, Puerto Rico: A National History—out next month in paperback from Princeton University Press. Meléndez-Badillo offers a sweeping history of the island since Spanish colonization. Most provocatively, he chronicles a long tradition of thinking about Puerto Rico as an independent nation, even though it has been a territorial possession for the better part of five hundred years. In addition to the book, we talk with him about his collaboration with Bad Bunny on the historical narrative accompanying San Benito’s new album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos, which had him frantically writing dozens of history lessons, scrawled by hand, at the end of last year. Not exactly an everyday occurrence for a history professor! Puerto Rico: A National History is Meléndez-Badillo’s third book, following The Lettered Barriada: Workers, Archival Power, and the Politics of Knowledge in Puerto Rico (2021), and Voces libertarias: Los orígenes del anarquismo en Puerto Rico (2015).

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Credits:

Writing Latinos is a production of Public Books. The show’s host is Geraldo Cadava, co-editor-in-chief of the magazine, and show’s producer is Tasha Sandoval. Our theme music is “City of Mirrors” by Dos Santos.