Tales From Aztlantis Kurly Tlapoyawa & Ruben Arellano Tlakatekatl

The peopling of the Americas is a touchy subject among many Indigenous people. In this episode of Throwback Thursday, we revisit our discussion with Dr. Jennifer Raff, author of the fantastic book "“Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas" from episode 25.Peopling the Americas with Dr. Jennifer Raff! Today we are joined by geneticist Dr. Jennifer Raff to talk about genetic research, what it can tell us about the peopling of the Americas, and how it can be misused by pseudohistorians and psu...

Dr. Herrán Ávila is a historian of the Cold War in Latin America, with an emphasis on conservative, anticommunist, and extreme right movements. After researching the comparative history of anticommunism in Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia, his current book project seeks to unveil the national and Latin American dimensions of right wing activism in Cold War Mexico. The book project examines the history and Cold War transformations of right wing dissidence to the Mexican postrevolutionary state,...

In this Dispatch, Tlakatekatl reads and discusses a recent Washington Post article on the troubled legacy of the Texas Rangers along the border communities of South Texas. The article explores the story of ethnic Mexican men on their way down to a to wedding on the Mexican side of the river. State agents allege that they were smugglers who shot at them first, but their families have always maintained that they were targeted for being ethnic Mexicans. In the aftermath, 3 of the traveling men d...

Subscriber-only episodeMy name is Kurly Tlapoyawa, and I LOVE movies. I spent a good chunk of my childhood being snuck into the drive-in by my parents, where I took in double and triple features of cinematic greatness. And when movies became available on home video in the 1980s, all bets were off. It’s no exaggeration to say that my life was shaped by movies. In 2004 I opened Burning Paradise Video, where I offered a carefully curated selection of independent, foreign, underground, and cult f...

Ever hear about the Mexican reporter who smuggled a codex back into Mexico? In this edition of Throwback Thursday, we revisit this story from way back in Episode 14!Rescuing the Tonalamatl Aubin A couple of years back, I visited the British National Museum in London, England, with my wife. As we stood in front of the many Mesoamerican artifacts on display, objects that the hands of our ancestors had meticulously crafted, I was reminded of a scene from the Marvel film "Black Panther." If you h...

We here at Tales From Aztlantis would like to issue the following public service announcement: PLEASE DO NOT rely on social media posts as your sole source of historical and archaeological information. This should not be a controversial statement. Yet every day, social media feeds are inundated with well-meaning individuals uncritically sharing and reposting pseudohistory without bothering to check the sources or seek outside information.Tik Tok, in particular is easily the worst offender whe...