Professor Jorell Melendez-Badillo is a UW-Madison historian of Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and Latin America. World View was impressed with his latest book, Puerto Rico A National History, an honest and brave testament of the archipelago’s existence as a geographic place animated over time into nationhood by its people.
Little did we know when we scheduled the interview that Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny also liked the book and asked Professor Melendez-Badillo to collaborate on a project to combine tracks on his new album, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS or “I should have taken more photos” with YouTube “Visualizers” containing information about various times in Puerto Rican history.
Gil and Amit talked with the professor about Puerto Rican history, people and politics as well as about working with Bad Bunny, whose album is now number one in the world. And his YouTube Visualizers are being used in classrooms and by Puerto Ricans to learn about their history, thanks to Jorell Melendez Badillo, who couldn’t be more pleased.
You can read more about Professor Jorell Melendez-Badillo here: http://history.wisc.edu/people/melendez-badillo-jorell/
About his book: http://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691231273/puerto-rico?srsltid=AfmBOorAMKquxruiizmV1jHCeJav1bQU1Qdi1cjT6ECzf4qqM2cQUXwq
And about his Bad Bunny collaboration here: http://history.wisc.edu/2025/01/14/professor-jorell-melendez-badillo-collaborates-with-artist-bad-bunny-to-tell-puerto-ricos-history/
And check out the YouTube Visualizers here: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRW7iEDD9RDT_19SQk3uKFkJUCA_uGr7Y
