In this episode of Word Bomb, Pippa and Karina examine the myriad of modern ways to self-identify as Latin American. Joined by a Chicanx psycholinguist and a Venezuelanx performer, they dig into divisive debates and far-reaching colonial history to see why the gender-neutral term “Latinx”—and its many variations—is on the rise.

You can follow Megan’s academic and activist work on her website and follow her on Twitter @megandfigueroa. NB: She’s compiled a great database of marginalized scholars in the field of linguistics/language.

Augusto is a Venezuelan-born, Dora Award-winning performer, writer, and educator based in Toronto. Check out his website and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @augustobitter.

For further reading, we recommend checking out David Bowles’ excellent and informative blog post on the history of “Latinx”; he has a book on the topic forthcoming from Oxford University Press in 2021. Also consider picking up Ed Morales’ book Latinx: The New Force in American Politics and Culture.

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