CUBA

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Episode 3 – “Opening, Closing, and Trump” examines Cuba after the Cold War, a nation caught between reform and retrenchment. The episode opens with the historic reopening of the U.S. embassy in Havana and the brief optimism of renewed ties, travel, and economic possibility. It then explores Cuba’s post-Soviet hardship, limited market reforms, and generational change within the Communist Party. The narrative turns to the Trump administration’s policy reversals, tightening restrictions and reviving a hard-line stance. The episode closes on a central question: whether decades of confrontation have trapped Cuba in permanent stasis—or whether another transformation still lies ahead.Click here to browse handpicked Amazon finds inspired by this podcast series!https://amzn.to/42YoQGIThis content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI

Episode 2 – “Missiles, Embargoes, and Exiles” places Cuba at the center of the Cold War. Beginning with the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, the episode captures the moment the world stood on the brink of nuclear war and Cuba became a global flashpoint. It then revisits the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, showing how it cemented Fidel Castro’s power and deepened ties with the Soviet Union. The episode explores the long U.S. embargo, decades of isolation, and waves of exile that reshaped Cuban society and American politics. It reveals how confrontation hardened on both sides, turning Cuba into a frozen conflict that outlasted the Cold War itself.Click here to browse handpicked Amazon finds inspired by this podcast series!https://amzn.to/42YoQGIThis content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI

Episode 1 – “Revolution on the Island” traces Cuba’s transformation from a U.S.-dominated playground to the heart of a socialist revolution. The episode opens in pre-revolutionary Havana, where glamour masked corruption, inequality, and the brutal rule of Fulgencio Batista. It then moves through Cuba’s colonial past, independence struggles, and growing resentment toward foreign influence. The story centers on Fidel Castro’s rise—from the failed Moncada Barracks attack to guerrilla war in the Sierra Maestra—ending with Batista’s collapse in 1959. The episode closes by examining how a revolution promised as liberation quickly consolidated into a new authoritarian state.Click here to browse handpicked Amazon finds inspired by this podcast series!https://amzn.to/42YoQGIThis content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI