Podcast Episodes
Back to Search
The Conquest of Guatemala: Alvarado's Maya War
Season 4 Episode 181
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the brutal campaign by Pedro de Alvarado to conquer the Maya highlands of Guatemala. They delve into the batt…
2 weeks, 5 days ago
The Encomienda System: How Conquest Became Labor
Season 4 Episode 180
After the fall of Tenochtitlan, Spanish conquistadors were granted encomiendas—rights to the labor and tribute of entire indigenous communities. In e…
2 weeks, 6 days ago
The Long Conquest of Yucatán: Montejo vs the Maya
Season 4 Episode 179
While the Aztec capital fell in two years, the Maya of the Yucatán Peninsula resisted Spanish conquest for nearly two decades. This episode follows F…
2 weeks, 6 days ago
The Tarascan Empire: The Aztecs' Only Rival
Season 4 Episode 178
While the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs dominates the story, another powerful empire held sway in western Mexico: the Purépecha (Tarascan) state. Th…
3 weeks ago
The Mixtón War: Caxcan Rebellion Against Spanish Rule
Season 4 Episode 177
In 1540, a massive indigenous uprising erupted in Nueva Galicia, led by a Caxcan leader named Tenamaxtli. This episode explores the Mixtón War—a desp…
3 weeks ago
How Smallpox Toppled the Aztec Empire
Season 4 Episode 176
In 1520, as Hernán Cortés and his allies fought to take Tenochtitlan, a far deadlier enemy arrived without a single sword drawn: smallpox. This episo…
3 weeks, 1 day ago
The Great Debate: Las Casas vs Sepúlveda on Indigenous Rights
Season 4 Episode 175
In 1550, at the Colegio de San Gregorio in Valladolid, Spain, two men clashed over the moral and legal status of the indigenous peoples of the Americ…
3 weeks, 1 day ago
The Huastec Rebellion: Cortés's Forgotten War in the North
Season 4 Episode 174
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the little-known Huastec rebellion of 1523-1524, a violent uprising against Spanish rule in the Pánuco region…
3 weeks, 2 days ago
The Noche Triste: Cortés's Night of Sorrows
Season 4 Episode 173
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Noche Triste — the night of June 30, 1520, when Hernán Cortés and his forces fled Tenochtitlan under a ha…
3 weeks, 3 days ago
Cortés's African Companions: The Unseen Conquistadors
Season 4 Episode 172
When we picture the Spanish conquest of Mexico, we tend to imagine armored Europeans and their Indigenous allies. But among Cortés's small army were …
3 weeks, 3 days ago