Rodrigo Pacheco worked in some of the world's best restaurants, but he never truly felt like the chef he aspired to be until he found himself far from the culinary scene on the Ecuadorian coast. That's where his quest to build a 100% sustainable restaurant began. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/34q8iw8 .
Working as a nurse in Venezuela during the worst economic crisis in the country's history, Fabiola Molero is used to seeing hardship. But when she and her team saw a photo of a girl suffering from extreme malnutrition on a nearby island, they knew the crisis had reached a tipping point. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3AV3iMc ....
Eréndira Sánchez is a young skydiving apprentice in Mexico when a world-famous skydiver offers her a chance to train at his facility in the U.S. But after a tragic accident, Eréndira is forced to choose between a life of freedom in the sky or one of safety on the ground. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3LaQZ39 ....
In 1980s Quibdó, a rural, Afro Colombian city, homophobia was a part of everyday life. But when Erlin Mena found the courage to put on heels and dance in drag, he helped create a thriving queer community that endures to this day. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/32MCbWZ .
Growing up as the daughter of a mariachi, Mireya Ramos learned early on that mariachi was a male-dominated world. But after moving to New York City, Mireya decided to challenge tradition and create an all-female mariachi group, opening doors for other musicians and redefining the genre. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3s98VCg ....
The Duolingo Spanish Podcast is back with new episodes starting Thursday, December 12. Listen to the trailer now!
It took Vincenzo Bruno years to fully embrace his trans identity. But the moment he did, he became a fierce advocate for other LGBTIQ Costa Ricans, helping to launch a campaign that would end up altering the course of Costa Rican history. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3gcN9Il .
In May 2019, twenty Paraguayan soccer players traveled from their hometown to Asunción, the nation’s capital, to play the most important game of their lives. Led by their captain, José Elías Argaña, they were the first indigenous team to qualify to Paraguay’s national soccer league. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3AOyCMg .
In 1970, in a country polarized by cold-war politics, Jorge Gómez organized an outdoor music festival. But what he expected to be a peaceful gathering turned into a life-defining moment that would become an enduring myth in his country. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3s8KogC .
Mexican tenor Javier Camarena discovered he wanted to sing Opera the first time he heard it. His passion for singing Opera lead him to test his strengths and determination over and over. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3oel0Fd .
All her life, Cirle Tatis Ariza had been taught to think her curly hair was something to hide. But after years of harsh chemical treatments, Cirle learned to love her hair, and taught other women to do the same. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3reXj1m .
Ever since she was a little girl, Carmen Félix knew she wanted to work on something related to space. So she defied cultural expectations, became one of the first Mexican scientists to work for NASA, and helped create and participate in some of the first simulations of missions to Mars. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/35tJ5Bi .
Fernando Laposse is a Mexican designer with a particular obsession: corn. It’s an obsession that began in his childhood and would lead him to create a project that would not only help save the diversity of native corn in Mexico, but also revive a small farming town that was about to disappear. Aa transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3IN0D9O .
Tatiana Calderón is the only female driver in Formula 2 racing, and she’s poised to make it to the top: Formula 1. In her career, she’s had to overcome many obstacles of a sport built by and for men–but now, she’s leading a revolution to go even further, and adapt racing cars’ design to the female body. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3HiUhyQ ....
The Duolingo Spanish Podcast is back with new episodes starting Thursday, August 15. Listen to the trailer now!
Since he was a kid, Tito Vargas has dreamt of having his own coffee plantation. It’s a dream his parents tried very hard to dissuade him from pursuing because they knew first-hand the uncertainty and hardship of the coffee trade. But Tito persisted, and he too would learn of the ups and downs of life as a coffee farmer, until he found a solution that had been right under his nose that whole time. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3ufzl85 ....
When Danilo Manzano came out to his family, they didn't accept his sexuality and asked him to hide it from the world. But a key friendship would inspire Danilo to not only embrace his identity publicly, but to become an outspoken activist for LGBTQ rights in Ecuador. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3GiRRPn .
Andrés Ruzo grew up listening to his grandfather tell a story about a river with boiling waters in the Amazon. When he later became a scientist specializing in geothermal energy, he set a goal for himself: to go deep into the jungle and find that river. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3rer8Px .
Carlos Marroquín has always been an inventor. But he wasn’t putting that talent to much use in his native Guatemala until he saw a rare sight on the road that stopped him in his tracks: bicycles. That turning point led Carlos to transform the lives of many farmers and towns through his bicycle-inspired inventions, or as he calls them, bicimáquinas . A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3GdeQeB ....
Héctor Vergara escaped dictatorship in Chile in the 1970s and fled to Europe, where he landed in the restaurant industry. There he discovered a passion and talent for wine that led him to become the first Master Sommelier from Latin America. But his biggest impact on the world wouldn’t take place until he found his way back home, where no one even knew what a sommelier was. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3s4e9PK ....
The giant Galápagos tortoise is one of the most endangered animals in the world, and Lonesome George was the last of his particular species when he met conservationist Washington Tapia. They would go on to develop a bond that would inspire Washington to dedicate his life to protecting the tortoises of the Galápagos. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3GafQ3e ....
Laura Ortiz thought she could change the lives of children in Colombia’s most remote region by giving them books. But a trip there teaches her that she was the one who had much to learn from those communities. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3gcU5p2 .
Would you build a company based on trust? That’s what social entrepreneur Marcela Torres set out to do when she launched her Mexico City-based startup that paid young people to learn to code. No one believed she could do it, until she did. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3repZYi .
The Duolingo Spanish Podcast is back with new episodes starting Thursday, May 2nd. Listen to the trailer now!
Cristian Gorbea had been running long-distance races for 20 years when he decided to enter his first ultramarathon. The race would begin at the base of a mountain in Argentina and last 24 hours — at least, in theory. For Cristian, the experience would last much longer, and test much more than his physical endurance. He’d test his faith, patience, and capacity to cede his fate to someone other than himself. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3AU1l2r ....
Ana María grew up without a father. All she knew about him was his name, but when she set out to find him she discovered that even his name led her astray. Ana María’s endeavor to fill in the blanks her father left in her life story leads her to surprising places, as she learns startling details about her mother’s past and finds guidance where she least expects it. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3KZ2BWI ....
When David Martínez was four years old, he and h is parents took a bus to the north of Colombia to visit extended family for Christmas. They had many gifts with them, including a ham for the family dinner. But what should have been an uneventful trip turned into a dangerous journey that David would never forget. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/33Zb3oo ....
After the September 11th attacks in 2001, Juan Pablo Villarino was dismayed to see how people were starting to lose trust in the ultimate good of humanity. So he figured the best way to prove he was still right to trust total strangers was to hitchhike through the epicenter of the war on terror. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3rfirV8 ....
When she was growing up in Santiago, Chile, Yasna Mussa says it was common for her friend’s families to employ nannies. Even though these workers, mostly women, spent most of their days caring for these families, Yasna remembers them being somewhat invisible. She didn’t take notice of this until she became a nanny herself in a foreign country. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/35F0jfe ....
Federico Bianchini had always dreamt of traveling to Antarctica from his native Argentina. But little did he know that the great white continent had a plan of its own for him once he got there. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3GiS6df .
