Radio Ambulante Is Back (2024)

With A Season Full Of Marvelous Stories --Even Hippos And Mermaids

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Ilustración de Sol Undurraga para el temporada 11 de Radio Ambulante Radio Ambulante hide caption

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Radio Ambulante

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Radio Ambulante: A wealth of Latin American stories

Ilustración de Sol Undurraga para el temporada 11 de Radio Ambulante

Radio Ambulante

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September 7, 2021, Washington, D.C. - NPR's only Spanish-language podcast Radio Ambulante returns for its eleventh season and sixth as part of NPR. Radio Ambulante has been telling stories about Latin America and the Latinx community that surprise and excite us for more than a decade. Their team has grown to twenty five journalists spread across Latin America, and their popular Listening Clubs (and Zoom rooms) are now in more than 70 cities around the world. New episodes will drop every Tuesday, starting September 14.

"This is our most ambitious season yet, with more episodes, feelings, and humor. More, more, more..." says Daniel Alarcón, executive producer of Radio Ambulante. "Like you, we spent a year in lockdown, now we want to go out into the streets, into the nooks and crannies of the region, and find stories that previously eluded us. We will look for new voices, we will try formats that we have never tried. I am truly very excited for you to hear these episodes. Lots of work and love went into them. "

This season, the award-winning team will release 30 episodes covering topics that stray further away from headline news and go into the intimate and whimsical, experimenting with formats in episodes that go from storytelling to deep personal reflection. There will be transcripts of each episode in Spanish and English on Radio Ambulante's website.

A glance of some of what you can expect in the eleventh season:

• From Colombia, a story about how vanity can have grave environmental consequences. When hippos from Pablo Escobar's personal zoo were set free, they found themselves in an optimal environment—lots of water and vegetation to feed themselves, with no natural predators.
• We discover how the same dish that transports a nostalgic Peruvian to his fondest memories can be someone's pet guinea pig.
• We will hear about race in Latin America through the story of Costa Rican children's book Cocorí the tension between those who think this book is harmful and those who believe that pulling the book out of schools would be censorship.
• On the topic of immigration, we learn what it's like for a refugee from Guatemala to live for almost four years in a sanctuary at an Episcopal Church in North Carolina.
• We learn about synesthesia with the story of Aemilia, a young Mexican woman who can taste words.er medical journey raises questions about how real our perception of the world is, and how much of what we see, feel, hear and touch happens in the mysterious connections of our brains.
• Because of her name, a journalist from Argentina meets people obsessed with finding Semordnilaps, words which can be read in reverse with a different meaning, and this leads her to reflect on the useless obsessions that in some ways give meaning to our lives.
• We will also meet a Colombian scientist who grows fond of his lab rat, hear about a famous Brazilian soccer player who never touched a ball, and learn of the 2008 battle of the punks and emos in Mexico City.

With the new season, Radio Ambulante's popular Listening Clubs return! These events are organized by listeners so they can listen together as a community and get to know each other. The activities have continued during the pandemic through virtual events, but hopefully will be back in person sometime soon.

About NPR

NPR, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, is widely known for its rigorous reporting and unsurpassed storytelling that connects with millions of Americans every day — on the air, online, and in-person. NPR strives to create a more informed public — one challenged and invigorated by a deeper understanding and appreciation of events, ideas, and cultures. With a nationwide network of award-winning journalists and 17 international bureaus, NPR and its Member Stations are never far from where a story is unfolding. Listeners can find NPR by tuning in to their local Member stations (npr.org/stations), and now it's easy to listen to our stories on smart speaker devices. Ask your smart speaker to, "Play NPR," and you'll be tuned into your local Member station's live stream. Your speaker can also access NPR podcasts, NPR One, NPR News Now, and the Visual Newscast is available for screened speakers. Get more information at npr.org/about and by following NPR Extra on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

About Radio Ambulante

Radio Ambulante's mission is to bring greater understanding of Latin American and U.S. Latinx communities through well-told, rigorously reported, and expertly produced audio journalism, offering audiences a nuanced portrait of a complex and vitally important region.

Since its launch in 2012, Radio Ambulante has produced more than 200 episodes from over 20 different countries. Radio Ambulante has been recognized with several awards, including the 2014 Gabriel García Márquez Award for Innovation in Journalism ― the most prestigious journalism prize in Latin America ― the 2017 Third Coast/Richard H. Driehaus Best Foreign Language Documentary Award for this episode (with English subtitles), and the 2020 iHeart Radio Award for Best Spanish Language Podcast. Its audience has grown to almost 6 million downloads a year.

Radio Ambulante comprises more than twenty five full-time journalists, editors, producers, fact-checkers, and sound designers representing more than ten different nationalities, with different gender identities, ethnicities, age ranges, creeds, and professional backgrounds. The team reports on Latin America from a place of knowledge and curiosity, for a global audience that is diverse, young, and sophisticated.

Press Contact:

NPR: Isabel Lara ilara@npr.org