Aftermath is a collection of episodes focusing on Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria through the lens of my family. It began days after the storm when I couldn’t make contact with anyone on the island. The series wrapped up with an interview with a comic book shop owner whose shop became an impromptu help center. All the episodes are featured below. Listen to Change Over Time on this site or wherever you get your podcasts.

 
 

A bonus episode of Change Over Time where I release my anxiety. I have family on Puerto Rico and haven't heard from them since Hurricane Maria hit. Because I'm freaking out, I've decided to do a podcast episode on it. Narciissistic? Maybe, but it helped.

Aftermath

The first episode in the Aftermath series. This was recorded September 2017. I have family on Puerto Rico and hadn’t heard from them for almost two weeks after Hurricane Maria hit.

Soy boricua

After the hurricane hit the island, people did what they always do: they helped each other.

How do you make sense of a disaster? What should we be looking for? Where can I get good mofongo in Atlanta? I found the answers to these questions by going to Buen Provecho restaurant and talking with Jacob Remes, a disaster historian.

Additional content about putting the aftermath of Hurricane Maria into historical context. This bonus of Change Over Time includes an interview with Vicki Daniel, a PhD candidate specializing in body identification in the wake of disasters. There are also interviews with volunteers at Buen Provecho, the Puerto Rican restaurant in Atlanta taking donations.

Other Voices, more voices

A lot of people had some great things to say, so here they are.

 

my mother

Where I have a talk with my mom, Doña Edna Garcia.

I start with my mother, Doña Edna Garcia. I had visited Puerto Rico at Thanksgiving last year to see my family and I shoved a microphone in their faces. I talk with my mom about what it was like after Maria hit but mostly about how the politics of the island could change. Originally I aired this as two episodes, but I've combined them here.

 

In a small, non-descript strip mall in the middle of a university neighborhood in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico is a comic book shop. The shop is loud, the tables small. The owner, Gilberto Lopez-Arroyo is neither. His is a stocky man whose voice carries over the cacophony in the store, Capitan Granuja Comics & Games.

capsule of geekdom

Gilberto Lopez-Arroyo owns a comic and games shop in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. After the hurricane, it became a place where students and relief workers could escape the chaos.

 

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