América Latina Lado B [Latin America Side B]

I’ll admit, I approached *América Latina Lado B* skeptical of yet another ‘hidden history’ of the region—until Gualda’s voice kicked in, dry as a martini, and Palacios’ opening anecdote about a dictator’s bizarre obsession with Disneyland had me laughing out loud. This audiobook thrives on its contradictions: it’s meticulously researched but feels improvised, scathing yet affectionate, a masterclass in how to make geopolitics *funny* without trivializing it. Palacios’ strength is his ability to zoom in on the surreal details—like the time a president fled in a helicopter with a suitcase full of cash, or the diplomat who mistook a drug lord for a fellow ambassador—that most historians gloss over. These aren’t footnotes; they’re the main event. That said, the audiobook isn’t without flaws. At nearly 20 hours, the pacing drags in the middle during deeper dives into economic policy (though Palacios’ analogies—comparing inflation to a ‘zombie apocalypse’—help). And while Gualda’s delivery is mostly stellar, his cadence occasionally flattens during dense statistical stretches, making it hard to stay locked in. Still, the highs far outweigh the lows. If you’ve ever rolled your eyes at a stuffy documentary about Latin America, this is the antidote: messy, opinionated, and alive with the kind of stories that’ll make you pause the audiobook just to text a friend, ‘Wait, did you know *this* happened?’