Every spring, for the past five or so years, we\u2019ve partnered with Florida Gulf Coast University and the Naples Discussion Group to bring conversations with speakers they\u2019ve brought to town to our listeners on this show. This has created a sort of grab bag of expertise and the ability to highlight various dimensions of the world around us on the show. <\/p>\n
Last week, the speaker was Dr. Luis Mart\u00ednez-Fern\u00e1ndez<\/a>. He\u2019s a distinguished historian, author, and is Pegasus Professor of History at the University of Central Florida<\/a> where he specializes in Caribbean, Latin American, and Latino\/Hispanic history. He has taught at UCF since 2004 and is a recognized expert on Cuban history. He was born on the island in 1960 and lived there briefly before his parents left the country during the early years of the revolution.<\/p>\n Dr. Mart\u00ednez-Fern\u00e1ndez has published at least eight books, including \u201cKey to the New World: A History of Early Colonial Cuba\u201d<\/a> in 2019, and \u201cRevolutionary Cuba: A History\u201d<\/a> in 2014. He was also a nationally syndicated columnist for Creators Syndicate<\/a> \u2014 it\u2019s an independent media and syndication company.<\/p>\n The talk Dr. Mart\u00ednez-Fern\u00e1ndez was giving at FGCU last week was titled \u201cChiseled out of stone and cast out of bronze: a history of the Caribbean as told by its statues.\u201d But, because of recent events in South & Central America and the Caribbean \u2014 and in Iran and the Middle East and other parts of the world and how it\u2019s all connected \u2014 we didn\u2019t talk about statues, but instead began our wide-ranging conversation with his most recent book, \u201cWhen the World Turned Upside Down: Politics, Culture, and the Unimaginable Events of 2019-2022.”<\/a><\/p>\n