Podcast Episodes
Back to Search
The Inca Road: How Qhapaq Ñan Built an Empire
Season 2 Episode 70
Before the Spanish ever set foot in the Andes, the Inca had already engineered one of the most extraordinary infrastructures in human history: the Qh…
2 weeks, 1 day ago
The Mixtón War: Indigenous Revolt in Nueva Galicia
Season 2 Episode 69
In 1540, just two decades after the fall of Tenochtitlan, a massive indigenous uprising erupted in western Mexico. The Mixtón War pitted Spanish forc…
2 weeks, 2 days ago
The First Conquistador: Alonso de Ojeda's Forgotten Voyage
Season 2 Episode 68
Before Cortés, before Pizarro, there was Alonso de Ojeda. A brash young hidalgo who sailed with Columbus on his second voyage, then led his own exped…
2 weeks, 2 days ago
The Encomienda System: Spanish Feudalism in the New World
Season 2 Episode 67
In this episode of The Conquistadors, Lucas and Luna explore the encomienda system, the brutal labor and tribute institution that underpinned Spanish…
2 weeks, 3 days ago
The Malinche: Interpreter, Strategist, and the Making of New Spain
Season 2 Episode 66
Malinche — known to the Spanish as Doña Marina and to the Nahua as Malintzin — was far more than a translator. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explor…
2 weeks, 3 days ago
Hernán Cortés and the Veracruz Letters: A Propaganda Masterclass
Season 2 Episode 65
In 1519, Hernán Cortés bypassed the authority of Diego Velázquez and wrote directly to King Charles V, crafting the Cartas de Relación — five letters…
2 weeks, 4 days ago
The Tarascan Empire: Purépecha Resistance to the Aztecs and Spanish
Season 2 Episode 64
While the Aztec Empire fell to Cortés in 1521, the Tarascans of Michoacán held out for decades. This episode explores how the Purépecha people built …
2 weeks, 4 days ago
Cuitláhuac: The Aztec Emperor Who Defeated Cortés
Season 2 Episode 63
In this episode of The Conquistadors, hosts Lucas and Luna explore the brief but pivotal reign of Cuitláhuac, the Aztec emperor who succeeded Moctezu…
2 weeks, 5 days ago
The Forgotten Conquistador: Pedro de Alvarado's Ruthless Campaign
Season 2 Episode 62
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the brutal career of Pedro de Alvarado, the conquistador who earned the nickname 'Tonatiuh' among the Nahua f…
2 weeks, 5 days ago
The Quetzalcoatl Myth and Cortés: How a Legend Shaped Conquest
Season 2 Episode 61
In this episode of The Conquistadors, Lucas and Luna explore the infamous legend that the Aztecs mistook Hernán Cortés for the god Quetzalcoatl. They…
2 weeks, 6 days ago