Learn Spanish with Stories is the number one podcast for upper beginner to intermediate Spanish learners. The main objective of this podcast is to give students fun and interesting stories from Latin America to help students with Spanish immersion. You can read while you listen if you head over to podcast.lingomastery.com to find the transcript.
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Bad Bunny. A name, a personality, a legend (maybe)? Everyone knows him, everybody feels something towards him, whether it's love, admiration, or pure rejection. He's the face for Latin American music right now, and he seems to be skyrocketing towards more and more success as the years pass. But what's the story behind this singer, this "Conejo Malo" whose real name is Benito Antonio? It's about time somebody told the story behind his nickname, his origins, the timeline that took him from school ...
Living in Latin America, you'll hear the following nostalgic phrase at least once in your lifetime (especially if somebody is complaining about laziness or bad habits): "If only we had been colonized by the Brits..." This belief, shared by a certain portion of the Latin American region and often used when looking north at the vastly superior technological development achieved in the United States, is an expression of the infamous frustrations toward everything that is wrong with Latin America an...
Let's do an exercise - since we've already explored how Latin America has been changed by Spanish colonization, by the influence of the United States, and other nations... why don't we spin it around for once, and ask how Latin America has influenced the rest of the world? After all, Italy wouldn't have its beloved tomatoes if not for the Aztecs and Andeans cultivating it; we would not be able to eat fried potatoes if not for Peru and Bolivia; and we have Mexico to thank for corn (which we enjoy...
On January 3, 2026, Venezuela's dictator, Nicolás Maduro, was removed from power. Plenty of us already know this headline, and many are already aware of how this looked from the outside - Donald Trump's government prepared the attack meticulously before executing, and Maduro ended up in chains, headed to New York aboard the USS Iwo Jima. However, very few have wondered what it felt like for Venezuelans - who, either inside or outside the country, had to deal with the information blackout and the...
We like to highlight the beauty and magic of Latin America in as many episodes as we can... but sometimes, there is "another" truth that is not as pretty: Latin America, for all its magic, can be a very dangerous place. In today's episode of the Learn Spanish with Stories podcast, we're heading to the region's most dangerous neighborhoods (places commonly known as barrios or favelas, depending on the country), where being alert is the default status, and life is typically shorter. These are plac...
Where do names come from, and most importantly, where do country names come from? Usually, they have some sort of historic link with tribes who already lived there, with a great historic figure, or simply as a description of something that explorers saw. But in Latin America, quite a few names were given due to transcription or translation errors, such as "Costa Rica" being literally from the explorers noting "this coast looks rich, let's come back and plunder it". Yes, country names can carry q...
Do you remember the first lullabies that were sung to you as a baby? Probably not, but there definitely is a song in your mind that brings you back to your earliest, most innocent days. Latin America, a cultural mix, has plenty of lullabies with interesting origins. Some came to arrive all the way from Africa, with the slaves that crossed the oceans and worked tirelessly under colonial rule; others were passed down from the ancestral peoples who called Latin America their home (and certainly did...
Unless you've missed a lot of the recent news, you'll probably have heard about María Corina Machado's Nobel Peace Prize award, and how US President Donald Trump soon became the recipient of her winning medal... but what is the backstory behind all of this? Too much has been spoken about Venezuela from sides that are extremely politically driven (on both sides of the spectrum), but who really is María Corina Machado? And what did she do to earn her Nobel Prize? In this week's episode of the Lear...
There are some really amazing stories regarding independence and freedom in Latin America, but what if I told you that the episode you're about to listen to is about the first settlement to gain freedom in ALL of the Americas (North AND South America): San Basilio de Palenque. Located on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, Cartagena was one of the main slave hubs of the continent, and a place where thousands of African men and women disembarked every year to be sold to colonists that needed manpowe...
Latin America has suffered under fascism throughout its history, and right-wing dictators have made a strong negative impact on the region throughout several decades of the region's existence. These, perhaps, have been the more bloodthirsty of past and present dictators, willing to harm citizens to effectively further their goals. One of the most terrible dictators Latin America ever had was Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, who we featured in a past season of the Learn Spanish with Stories podcast, but...
Este episodio narra el fascinante origen de las banderas latinoamericanas, nacidas durante las luchas por la independencia para simbolizar la libertad. Explora cómo países como Argentina, Venezuela y México crearon sus primeros emblemas, y cómo otros como Brasil, Uruguay y Paraguay desarrollaron diseños únicos. A través de similitudes y controversias, las banderas se consolidaron como poderosos símbolos nacionales, reflejando la identidad y las aspiraciones de un continente diverso.
Manuela Sáenz, nacida en Quito en 1797, fue una figura crucial en la independencia sudamericana. Desde joven desafió las normas sociales, involucrándose activamente en los movimientos libertarios y estableciendo una profunda relación con Simón Bolívar, a quien salvó la vida, ganándose el título de 'La Libertadora del Libertador'. A pesar del exilio y la pobreza tras la muerte de Bolívar, su valentía y compromiso han sido finalmente reconocidos, destacando su papel como estratega y guerrera.
One of the most exciting plans you can have for traveling across Latin America is by road trip. After all, it is one of the most biologically, climatologically, and socially diverse regions in the world, with over 670 million people spread across 20+ countries, and there is so much to see. In today's episode of the Learn Spanish with Stories podcast, our protagonist Daniel finally embarks on the trip of a lifetime: going from the east of Mexico all around Latin America, and returning to the west...
Latin America has produced some of the most amazing artists, and today's star of our podcast is no exception. Rubén Blades, born to two musicians in a humble neighborhood, grew rapidly to become one of the world's household names when it comes to salsa and other tropical music. However, he didn't stay limited to being recognized as a world-class "salsero", oh no... he studied at Harvard, also became a movie and series star, featuring in massive Hollywood hits (Predator 2, Fear the Walking Dead),...
El podcast detalla cómo la huella estadounidense en América Latina ha evolucionado desde el siglo XIX, impactando la democracia, la tecnología con ferrocarriles y telégrafos, y la cultura a través del cine y la música. Con la llegada de la era digital, la influencia se profundizó mediante ordenadores, internet y redes sociales, transformando la comunicación y el consumo de entretenimiento. Actualmente, plataformas de streaming y la inteligencia artificial continúan moldeando la región, generando un debate crucial sobre cómo equilibrar la integración global con la preservación de la identidad latinoamericana.
Hybrid languages - have you ever heard of them? Spanish has at least two main hybrid languages: Spanglish (which you've probably come in contact with at some point) and Portuñol, which features heavily in the border areas between Brazil and other South American nations. But I'm sure you've never heard of Llanito, and other variations of the Spanish language. In this fun episode of the Learn Spanish with Stories podcast, we go back to our roots, which is language learning, and explore Spanglish (...
One of the scariest and most controversial places on the planet is located in Cuba, in a city of the same name: Guantánamo Bay detention camp. Established by President George W. Bush in 2002, following the Islamist attacks of September 11, it was created to house terrorism suspects and "illegal enemy combatants". However, the reality is that this prison has held many an innocent, those simply falsely accused of belonging to a terrorist organization by others who decided to 'sell' them in exchang...
Latin America is a melting pot of cultures, as you'll already know - Spanish culture mixing with Amerindian tradition, and with African rituals combining with Aztec, Mayan, British and... Dutch(?) influences, somehow - so you already know that there's going to be very bold and unique ways of perceiving life, death, religion and belief systems in general. So, it comes as no surprise that the occult features so heavily in Latin American culture, especially in the daily lives of certain sectors of ...
They say that crisis and pain create great men and women, but life really went a bit too far with Juana Azurduy - first, she lost her parents, and then she would go on to lose her children... but it's what happened in the middle of these things that would mark her remarkable story as a heroine in the fight for Bolivia's independence. A curious girl during her infancy, she developed a courageous and free-spirited personality that would lead her to great things and make her challenge the preconcep...
As a soldier in Latin America, what happens when you retire? One could think that each state would have a great retirement plan for each soldier who has risked their life for their nation: a decent home, a dignified compensation, health benefits... but this couldn't be further from reality. The reality is that soldiers are practically discarded - thrown aside, left to fend for themselves in a job market that has no interest in hiring men and women who were trained for violence... and this is whe...
Despite the traditionally sketchy leaders we've had in Latin America in the past century, one of the most memorable and internationally loved Latin American presidents in recent times has been José Alberto "Pepe" Mujica. Even though he was quite unconventional in his origins, the way he spoke, and especially the fact that he was jailed for his participation as a guerrilla fighter (among the ranks of the Tupamaros), Pepe Mujica managed to convince even some of the most conservative citizens to vo...
Spanish is just like English - everyone speaks it in the same way. I'm kidding: we know that English has tons of dialects, and Spanish is just the same in this aspect. Even more complicated is the fact that Spanish is an official language in 21 countries and is spoken widely across 6 continents (with Oceania, not Antarctica being the one where it isn't ). So, what I'm getting at here is that there's bound to be confusion at some point when a Spaniard speaks with a Chilean, or a Mexican travels t...
There have been some wonderful female heroes throughout history, and South America is no exception. Policarpa Salavarrieta (La Pola) is one of the most famous cases of them all: a woman who defied a massive colonizing force to wake the people of Colombia to the desire for freedom and independence, and whose story ended in an ambiguous (positive) way. In this episode of the Learn Spanish with Stories podcast, we are going to explore the life of La Pola, what drove her to fight the Spanish coloniz...
The US and other international powers have been meddling in Latin America for as long as we can remember, but one of the worst cases of foreign intervention (ever) occurred in Nicaragua, in the mid-19th Century (and may explain Nicaragua's strong apprehension towards the US today). William Walker. Manifest Destiny. Have you ever heard of these terms? William Walker was a military man with ambitions to rule, who took advantage of a civil war in Nicaragua to offer his help and show up as the heroi...
The FIFA World Cup is probably the world's biggest sport event, viewed by over 1 BILLION people worldwide, but how did it begin, and why did a tiny South American country, Uruguay, get the honor of hosting its first ever edition? In this episode of the Learn Spanish with Stories Podcast, we travel all the way back to the late 1920s, when preparations were just starting for the first ever FIFA World Cup, and discover why the United Kingdom (and England, especially) ended up feeling bitter about t...
Though controversial, it would be plausible to say that Venezuela has always had controversial leaders, with some bringing glory to the nation, and others bringing sorrow and pain. In the case of José Antonio Páez, both things were simultaneously true, and this strongman and farmer-turned-soldier is an often discussed individual in the history not only of Venezuela, but all nations belonging to "La Gran Colombia" (Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela). Famously credited for one of the most i...
What makes somebody "Latin American?" (or Latino*?) Is it being born in Latin America? Is it being born to Latino parents? Or is it adopting the culture and actually feeling Latino? In this special DUAL NARRATOR episode, we go over this frustration that so many Latinos and non-Latinos can go through, especially those who have been born to Latino parents outside of Latin America, or who have left Latin America at a young age. Starring Elisa, a young Dominican Lady who left DR at a very young age,...
There is a country in South America that is particularly "different" from its neighbors in many ways, but the most interesting is its language and culture: I'm talking about Paraguay. Not only is the only nation where the most-spoken language is an indigenous language (Guaraní), but it also has a very strong "mestizo" presence (over 93%), making it one of the most homogeneous demographies in Latin America. But who are the Guaraní, and what makes them so special - and more importantly, what does ...
Economic crises are nothing new to us, especially in these times of unpredictability and instability, but Latin America took it to a WHOLE new level in the 1970s. During a particularly wealthy economic period, banks in the US and other rich nations began to lend billions in cash with few conditions (really, all they asked was "pay it later"), with Latin American governments siphoning it all up to modernize their nations and invest in the future... sadly, the prices of raw materials that these co...
Latin America, a region of almost 700 million people, speaks mostly one language (Brazil will have to forgive us for this generalization), but we're not talking of one single Spanish language that everyone understands. In fact, each country has its own dialects, sayings, and differences that can be as crucial as they can be careful - after all, some completely normal words in one nation could sound rude or weird in others. So how do you, as a Spanish learner, avoid making a mistake and/or seemin...
