A wave of disease is spreading, leading to the implementation of a vaccination campaign. Some among the population are suspicious and take to the streets to make their opposition clear. This story did not take place during the recent pandemic however, this episode is about an obscure uprising which took place in 20th century Brazil.

This is just a quick message to give an update a few changes I am planning to make to the podcast.

In the second part of our look at Latin America's musical traditions we examine the role that music plays in some fascinating indigenous traditions. We also see how European waltz and even medieval troubadour culture came to influence the sound of the region. Finally I talk about some of my favourite Latin artists making music today.

To celebrate the 100th episode of the Latin American History Podcast, today we have a special episode (the first of two parts) on Latin American music.

In this one we look at the significant contribution made by Latin America's Afro-descended populations on many of the region's genres. We discuss some of the musical techniques used in genres such as Salsa, Son, Cumbia, Samba and Bachata, the anthropological reasons that these grew up, as well as the social history within which these genres were birthed.

It has been quite a while since we looked at what was happening in Spain and Portugal, and while they have not often been directly relevant to the story of Latin America, things are about to change.

In this episode we look at the contemporary kings of Iberia and why, although their reigns did saw huge growth in their New World empires, they generally considered them to be an afterthought.

In 1555 the Kingdom of France took the dramatic step of attempting to colonise Brazil. This was the first time that a non-Iberian nation had challenged Portuguese and Spanish hegemony on the continent and would set a precedent which would later be followed by other European powers.

Hugo Wong's book 'America's Lost Chinese' tells the fascinating - and often forgotten - story of a group of Chinese emigrees who made a home for themselves, first in California and then Mexico.

It is a story which spans the full spectrum of human experience – involved in it are meetings with presidents and successful business ventures, but also revolution, discrimination, and massacre.

The book has already been published and is available to buy now.

In the final part of our series on the conquest of Chile, the conquering stops and a long drawn-out war begins. This will begin a pattern which will continue to the present day, as the Mapuche people fiercely resist outside incursions.