In 1985, Colombia was going through one of its most terrible periods in all its history. On one side, Pablo Escobar was destabilizing the nation with his drug trade and violence, and the Cali Cartel was growing in power. On the other, only two years before, a terrible earthquake had destroyed the city of Popayán, scarring the memories of local citizens and bringing fear to those around the nation. But before the nation could recover, an even more horrific event struck – one that would be seared ...
Oct 10, 2023•31 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome back to the Learn Spanish with Stories podcast by Lingo Mastery! We’ve arrived once more, this time with Season 3, to bring you the best in Spanish learning. This time, we want to travel across the world, away from Latin America… all the way to the Philippines, where a very interesting Spanish-related development happened between the 1500s and late 1800s – the colonization of these enchanting islands by the Spanish Crown. In this episode, we want to tell you more about what consequences ...
Oct 03, 2023•28 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast We’ve reached the Season Finale of another wonderful season, and we want to thank you for your support all throughout the year, in which we became one of the biggest Spanish learning podcasts and reached thousands more than we ever had. And, to end Season 2, we want to take you on a journey like no other in this special DUAL-NARRATOR episode. Have you ever felt the threat of burnout, wanted to travel across Latin America and discover the hidden gems and beautiful locations that are nowhere near ...
Jun 06, 2023•30 min•Ep 36•Transcript available on Metacast When you think of the most impressive empires in the world, you cannot avoid thinking of the Aztec Empire, the powerful Mesoamerican civilization that conquered much of modern-day Mexico and was comprised of several million people. This is because, for a civilization that ruled over 500 years ago, the Aztecs accomplished many impressive feats in terms of medicine, society and technology, and were extremely skilled at the arts of diplomacy and war. However… this civilization also had a great lust...
May 30, 2023•27 min•Ep 35•Transcript available on Metacast In the history of Latin America, political extremes have caused great pain and suffering, especially to innocents throughout the rural areas of Central and South America. Communism has not been an exception to this rule. And in Peru, during the 70s, 80s and 90s, one particular Communist party made Peru an extremely dangerous and unwelcome place to live in. Led by a narcissistic leader who believed in using violence to further his goals, Sendero Luminoso is a fantastic example of terrorist groups...
May 23, 2023•27 min•Ep 34•Transcript available on Metacast Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez. You may love him, hate him, or wonder who we’re even talking about – but the truth is that Nayib Bukele has changed the direction of El Salvador’s history forever, simply by turning it from the world’s most dangerous nation to one of its safest, practically overnight. But we must ask the important question here: is he the Central American nation’s savior? Or is he a tyrant slowly controlling the population’s lives with an iron fist? In this episode of the Learn Spanis...
May 16, 2023•28 min•Ep 33•Transcript available on Metacast Did you know Panama has no army? Probably not, but it wasn’t an arbitrary or random decision. You see, it was all due to one man: a dictator, a tyrant, an enemy of the United States of America. Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno, who grew from low-ranking soldier in the Panamanian Army to the most powerful man in the country in just a few decades. And – while they initially loved him as a strong ally against Latin American communism – his relationship with the U.S. soon turned sour and brought about ...
May 09, 2023•29 min•Ep 32•Transcript available on Metacast So, by you now you know your Latin American beaches, your mountains and waterfalls - of which there are many, so congrats for that – but you probably haven’t yet heard of the lesser-known “bizarre” or even “haunted” places in Latin America. But what makes a place bizarre? Any number of things, starting from a worryingly high number of suicides having occurred there, or a horrific backstory of drowning or demonic possession… anything goes when it comes to the weirdest places in Latin America. Teq...
May 02, 2023•25 min•Ep 31•Transcript available on Metacast While today we may recognize Medellín as a beautiful city that is not only welcoming of tourists and digital nomads but also a safe place to live, it was not this way just a few decades ago… You see, in the 1980s and early 1990s, a wanted criminal known Pablo Escobar had made this city – as well as much of Colombia – his personal territory in which he would grow what was the biggest drug trade business in history. It didn’t only earn him much riches and recognition, even being named on the Forbe...
Apr 25, 2023•28 min•Ep 30•Transcript available on Metacast Diego Maradona. Lionel Messi. Cristiano Ronaldo. They have all been the greatest of their times at some point… but there is a player who is even greater than these footballing giants. The winner of 7 Ballons d’Or (you’ll understand in a minute), 3 World Cup trophies (sorry Cristiano), Player of the Century and so many more awards, O Rei Pelé was on a whole different level. Furthermore, having been born into extreme poverty was unable to destroy his self-belief or his willpower, and you’ll discov...
Apr 18, 2023•28 min•Ep 29•Transcript available on Metacast Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo Calderón. You may know her simply as Frida Kahlo… An artist with a tragic past. A woman who knew suffering and sadness. A wonderful warrior who fought like no other, both against the societal reality of her time, as well as the difficulties of disability and chronic pain. And yet, her story is not always well told, as it also seems to leave out some important events. You see, for all her strengths and virtues as an artist and a human, she had one massive weakness. A ...
Apr 11, 2023•28 min•Ep 28•Transcript available on Metacast South America is fascinating and has some incredibly remote areas, but what if you want to go even more south and even more remote? Well, good news for you, as you would find yourself in Antarctica, the land of the penguins and sea lions, the place where the coldest temperature in history has ever been recorded. But what is the link between Antarctica and Latin America, how do you get there, and what crazy story surrounds its discovery and exploration? Find out in this week’s episode of the Lear...
Apr 04, 2023•27 min•Ep 27•Transcript available on Metacast This is it. The episode you’ve been waiting for… the long-awaited What If? episode, in which we travel through realities and find out what could have happened in Latin American history. Join Anthony and Li as they make use of a time machine to move across realities and witness the greatest moments of Latin American past, present and future transformed into something very different, with quite surprising outcomes... This special edition episode of the Learn Spanish with Stories will blow your min...
Mar 28, 2023•41 min•Ep 26•Transcript available on Metacast Over time, more and more Latin Americans have left their nations and traveled across the world – sometimes out of necessity, other times out of the desire to triumph in a nation that offers them opportunities. However, this has sometimes brought conflict with the locals, who have disregarded them or their culture. In this episode of the Learn Spanish with Stories podcast, we want to remind the world of how special Latin Americans can be, whether in the arts, the sciences or any other fields wher...
Mar 21, 2023•26 min•Ep 25•Transcript available on Metacast In September 2017, life changed forever for Puerto Ricans and other inhabitants of the Caribbean. With an estimated cost in damages of over $91 billion dollars and causing the death of over 3,000 people, Hurricane Maria was a disaster that will never be forgotten. Whether affected directly through damages or indirectly due to the long-term loss of services in their nations, Caribbeans are still reeling from the memory of this disaster. But just how bad was it and how did the storm start? Find ou...
Mar 14, 2023•25 min•Ep 24•Transcript available on Metacast You know the Brazilian Carnival, but have you heard how incredible all of the other famous parties and celebrations across South America can be? They get really wild – there is nobody in the world that can party like Latin Americans, after all. But where to find the best ones? And we don't just mean ANY best ones... we mean those that will turn into life-changing experiences! In this episode of the Learn Spanish with Stories podcast, we travel all around the Latin American region to discove...
Mar 07, 2023•24 min•Ep 23•Transcript available on Metacast Let’s talk about Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll – better known as Shakira –but also known as the world’s top Latin American singer, an extremely successful businesswoman, and a dancing and songwriting icon. She is one of Latin America’s great figures and has become the face for Latin music, impressing us all with her hips that simply don’t lie. Whether surrounded by praise for her charity work or shrouded in controversy over her relationship and tax issues, this wonderful artist is rarely out of ...
Feb 28, 2023•26 min•Ep 22•Transcript available on Metacast Today, Colombia is one of the most wonderful tourist destinations for those looking to escape for a while to South America, and is considered a safer option than several other nations in Latin America… but a few decades ago, this was not the case. With kidnapping, bombing and assassinations taking place as daily events, Colombia was a total hellscape that led to a mass exodus of its inhabitants to other nations. But what actually was happening behind the scenes, and how did Colombia end up on th...
Feb 21, 2023•27 min•Ep 21•Transcript available on Metacast There is a famous historic figure who eclipses most others who have ever existed in Latin America, especially South America. His glorious cause led to the liberation of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Venezuela, with this latter nation being the country where he was born. We’re talking about Simón Bolívar, “el Libertador”. And the most interesting part about The Liberator is the fact that he was born into privilege – a young man with all of the wealth and support anyone could need –...
Feb 14, 2023•28 min•Ep 20•Transcript available on Metacast Shakira, Lionel Messi, Elton John… What do these and other high-profile celebrities have in common? That they have all been in the news lately is one feature they share, of course, but the other is the fact that they’ve all recently been caught evading taxes. But what is tax evasion, and what does this have to do with the Cayman Islands? The Cayman Islands is probably the world’s most famous tax haven and a place where a countless number of companies have been formed, and… that’s probably all yo...
Feb 07, 2023•25 min•Ep 19•Transcript available on Metacast Digital nomads - you may have heard of them. One of the coolest trends in the latest decade(s), we're talking about those freelancers, remote workers and entrepreneurs who travel the world while making money online, be it from long-term employment, freelance gigs, or their own businesses. An amazing thing about Latin America is the fact that it has its own fair share of digital nomads and DN destinations. From Mexico to Colombia, Costa Rica to... Paraguay? There are a ton of places to get t...
Jan 31, 2023•24 min•Ep 18•Transcript available on Metacast Have you ever witnessed a volcano eruption? It is one of the most terrifying forces of nature – pillars of thick, black smoke usually accompanied by sudden flashes of lightning; followed by the flowing rivers of lava pouring down its flanks… Now, imagine you were caught just several kilometers away from one, with no hope of escape. This is precisely what happened to a town in Martinique in 1902. In this episode, we travel to Saint-Pierre, or more precisely to the location of the Mount Pelée volc...
Jan 24, 2023•24 min•Ep 17•Transcript available on Metacast Every year, thousands of people – from Latin America and beyond – are losing their lives in hopes of accomplishing a dream: the American Dream. But how? Known as the Darien Gap, this hostile jungle located between Colombia and Panama has borne witness to some of the most horrific stories ever told by migrants, not to mention that it is a place where people are often kidnapped and forced to become slaves and soldiers for guerrilla movements in northern Colombia. However, people are choosing to ig...
Jan 17, 2023•27 min•Ep 16•Transcript available on Metacast Who is the best football (soccer) player in the world? You know the answer to this question: it’s Lionel Messi. For some, he’s even considered the best player in history. But one thing’s for sure – he’s a phenomenal talent in the world of sports. A boy who turned the misfortune of a growth deficiency at a young age into a drive that would lead him to crown himself as the greatest player of his generation; a man who is loved by millions and appreciated by billions; La Pulga, a legend who had alre...
Jan 10, 2023•25 min•Ep 15•Transcript available on Metacast Despite the wars in the Middle East and Europe that have occurred in the past decades, Latin America has been a relatively conflict-free region in modern times… but what if you go back further? Centuries ago, Latin America was a perpetual war zone, with soldiers fighting endlessly for scraps of land on which to plant their flag. 19th Century Mexico was one such place, with the newly-independent United States looking to capture an important extension of its territories before the Mexicans could r...
Jan 03, 2023•25 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast The beautiful region of Latin America has a darker side that not everyone is aware of, but certainly one that must be talked about. We are talking about the human trafficking and modern slavery that continue to affect the region and ruin the lives of men, women and children who are typically just looking to cross a border in search of a new life. As this situation is seemingly worsening with the great exodus taking place from Central and South America, it is time that the Learn Spanish with Stor...
Dec 27, 2022•26 min•Ep 13•Transcript available on Metacast On December 5, 1945, five General Motors TBM Avenger torpedo bombers disappeared from the face of the Earth during a training flight that took off from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. All 14 airmen were lost, never to be heard of again. A rescue plane with 13 crew members was sent to find them. It, too, was lost to oblivion. And to think that… these aren’t even the only disappearances that have taken place over or within the Bermuda Triangle. This region of the world, so full of mystery and the locati...
Dec 20, 2022•26 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast Maybe Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa aren’t real, but Blackbeard – or Edward Teach, as he was actually called – definitely did exist, and caused much pain and anguish to ships and their crew across the Caribbean. Likewise, Henry Morgan, Black Bart and Mary Read spread their tendrils across the sea, looting and pillaging when possible. But if you want find out more about these legend ’YARRR- y individuals, what they did and where they committed their crimes, you might want to listen to the late...
Dec 13, 2022•27 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast We may fear it, run from it, pretend it doesn’t exist or dedicate our lives to fixing it, but climate change is an absolutely real problem that the entire world is now facing. Scientists have found that – if we don’t act to stop the worst of the consequences – we may lose up to two-thirds of animal and plant species within the next 50 years, and hundreds of thousands of people could die from pollution-related causes. But how is Latin America reacting to this phenomenon? And what is happening in ...
Dec 06, 2022•26 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast One of the most interesting thing about sports in Latin America is how varied they can be, with most of them having been imported from Europe. However, there is one particular sport that Latin Americans haven’t simply adopted but actually mastered , playing it at a level that surpasses those who influenced them to play it in the first place. We’re talking about baseball. With countless athletes from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, and both Colombia and Venezuela holding some of the mo...
Nov 29, 2022•27 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast 
