In 2008, a long-lost map, dating back to the early 1600s, was discovered inside an Oxford library. On it was a depiction of the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the great sea that lay in between them. What mysteries did this map hold? Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecolonialdept/ References: Brook, Timothy (2013). Mr. Selden's Map of China: The Spice Trade, A Lost Chart, and the South China Sea. Profile Books Ltd.  Jacobs, J. Bruce (2014). China’s frail historical claims to the South China and East China Seas. American Enterprise Institute. Tomacruz Sofia (20 Sept 2019). "Ever heard of the 1734 Murillo Velarde map and why it should be renamed?" Rappler.

When first contact was made between the Spanish and the Filipinos, feasts followed, before the fighting. What food and drink did these seafarers encounter in their first meetings? Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/thecolonialdept/ References: Sta. Maria, Felice Prudente (2021). Pigafetta’s Philippine Picnic: Culinary Encounters During the First Circumnavigation, 1519-1522. The National Historical Commission of the Philippines. Alcina, Francisco Ignacio (2005). History of the Bisayan People in the Philippine Islands (Volume III. Cantius J. Kobak and Lucio Gutierrez, trans.). University of Santo Tomas Publishing House. 434-453. Chua, Xiao (28 May 2021). “Humabon: Quintessential Filipino ‘pulitiko’.” Manila Times. Ocampo, Ambeth (12 May 2021). “Massacre in Cebu.” Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Gazing out at the sweeping highlands of northern Luzon, architect Daniel Burnham conjures up an ambitious, audacious vision: a summer capital for America’s new prize. Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/thecolonialdept/ References: Hines, Thomas S. (1988). “No Little Plans: The Achievement of Daniel Burnham.” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, (13)2, 96-105. Kirsch, Scott (2017). “Aesthetic Regime Change The Burnham Plans and US Landscape Imperialism in the Philippines.” Philippine Studies: Historical & Ethnographic Viewpoints, 65(3), 315-356. Yeoh, Seng-Guan (2011). "Beyond The Commerce Of Man: Street Vending, Sidewalks, And Public Space In A Mountain City In The Philippines.” Urban Anthropology and Studies of Cultural Systems and World Economic Development. 40(3/4), 285-317. Wise, Edwin (2019). Manila, City of Islands. Ateneo de Manila University Press. Cimatu, Frank (20 September 2019). “Magalong prioritizes preservation of Baguio heirlooms.” Rappler. Comanda, Zaldy (11 May 2021). “Magalong to pursue P480M Burnham Park development.” Manila Bulletin. Santiago, Arline. “The Cordillera Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Land.” Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Let’s take to the wild blue yonder with the Aguilas Aztecas, a squadron of volunteer fighter pilots from Mexico who helped liberate the Philippines from the Japanese. References: Lozano, Gustavo Vazquez (2021). 201st Squadron: The Aztec Eagles—The History of the Mexican Pilots Who Fought In World War II. Libros de Mexico. Parker, Richard (27 May 2020). “When the Mexican Air Force Went To War Alongside America.” The New York Times Magazine. Guevara, Lucy (2000). "Interview with Reynaldo Perez Gallardo." Voces Oral History Center, The University of Texas at Austin. voces.lib.utexas.edu/collections/stories/reynaldo-perez-gallardo Albala, Paloma (2003). “Hispanic Words of Indoamerican Origin in the Philippines.” In Philippine Studies 51(1), 125 Charles, Ronald W. (1947). Troopships of World War II. The Army Transportation Association. history.army.mil/documents/WWII/wwii_Troopships.pdf Hutton, Ted (12 November 2005). “Veteran pilots remember P-47.” Orlando Sun-Sentinel. orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-2005-11-12-pilots12-story.html Lasco, Gideon (25 January 2022). “How Filipino Sailors—and Coconuts—Helped Create Mexico’s National Drink.” sapiens.org/column/entanglements/tequila-origins-tuba

The conclusion of our conversation with Albert Samaha, author of the critically acclaimed Concepcion: An Immigrant Family's Fortunes. What did he learn about writing a book that spans five centuries of Philippine and American history? 

Count a Maranao princess and an American spy among this author's ancestors. Albert Samaha, author of "Concepcion: An Immigrant Family's Fortunes", guests in this episode as he discusses his critically acclaimed book.

To combat an outbreak of bubonic plague in turn-of-the-century Manila, the American authorities assembled a crack force of ratcatchers and waged a war against rodents.

Over the course of the Galleon Trade, the Spanish bought silk from China for millions of silver pieces. But what if, some canny entrepreneurs thought, the Philippines made its own silk industry?

For centuries, the forbidding stone walls of Intramuros protected the forces occupying the archipelago. How were they built? How were they tested? And how did they eventually fall? 

In 1872, the year of the execution of Gomburza, a king visits the Philippines… and falls head over heels in love with a lady from Bulacan.