After taking you through the Elián González story, we’re sharing some reporting and interview content that didn’t make it into our narrative series.

This week, Peniley and producer, Tasha Sandoval, sit down to reflect on their experiences reporting on this project, particularly through their perspectives as Cubans: Peniley, a Cuban who grew up in Cuba, and Tasha, a second-generation Cuban-American.

During the Elian saga, the Cuban American community in Miami gained a negative reputation as “crazy,” something that came up in several interviews. We hear from writer Vanessa Garcia and former Executive Director of the Cuban American National foundation, Joe Garcia, to reflect on how this perception of “Crazy Cubans” and that the community lost the narrative, may have reverberations to this day.



This season's cover art by Ranfis Suárez Ramos.

After taking you through the Elián González story, we’re sharing some reporting and interview content that didn’t make it into our narrative series.
This week, Peniley and producer, Tasha Sandoval, sit down to reflect on their experiences reporting on this project, particularly through their perspectives as Cubans: Peniley, a Cuban who grew up in Cuba, and Tasha, a second-generation Cuban-American.
During the Elian saga, the Cuban American community in Miami gained a negative reputation as “crazy,” something that came up in several interviews. We hear from writer Vanessa Garcia and former Executive Director of the Cuban American National foundation, Joe Garcia, to reflect on how this perception of “Crazy Cubans” and that the community lost the narrative, may have reverberations to this day.
 
This season's cover art by Ranfis Suárez Ramos.

At the turn of the millennium, a five-year-old boy from Cuba found off the Florida coast on Thanksgiving became the most talked about child in America. Elián González had left Cuba with his mom and a dozen other migrants, trying to make it to the U.S. but on the way, the boat capsized. Elián’s mother drowned. Before she did, she tied her child to an inner tube, saving his life.

Relatives in Miami — Cuban exiles — took the boy in. His father in Cuba wanted him back. The ensuing international custody battle over Elián González became its own mini Cold War, pitting Cuban exiles in Miami against supporters of Castro’s regime on an island just 90 miles away. 

The fight over Elián’s future came down to neighbor against neighbor, family against family. Now, 25 years later — we revisit his story through the voices of people who lived it firsthand.



Episodes drop every Wednesday, starting 9/25/24.

At the turn of the millennium, a five-year-old boy from Cuba found off the Florida coast on Thanksgiving became the most talked about child in America. Elián González had left Cuba with his mom and a dozen other migrants, trying to make it to the U.S. but on the way, the boat capsized. Elián’s mother drowned. Before she did, she tied her child to an inner tube, saving his life.
Relatives in Miami — Cuban exiles — took the boy in. His father in Cuba wanted him back. The ensuing international custody battle over Elián González became its own mini Cold War, pitting Cuban exiles in Miami against supporters of Castro’s regime on an island just 90 miles away. 
The fight over Elián’s future came down to neighbor against neighbor, family against family. Now, 25 years later — we revisit his story through the voices of people who lived it firsthand.
 
Episodes drop every Wednesday, starting 9/25/24.

Chess Piece: The Elián González Story

"Crazy Cubans"

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/c2f42f30-1caa-4d7d-9582-b22900e86e70/transcript

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