Episode 0: Introduction to 9 Minutes with 9 Millones

9 Minutos con 9 Millones is a podcast that offers a shot of hope that is fast but has a long-lasting effect. In 9 minutes, we summarize part of our reporting, so you can learn about the people who are designing solutions for the problems that Puerto Ricans are facing on the archipelago and abroad.

TRANSCRIPTION

[Music track]

CAMILLE: Welcome to 9 Minutes with 9 Millones: your shot of hope.

Camille Padilla Dalmau here, journalist and founder of this news outlet, and I’m here with Laura Quintero, and we’re super excited to tell you all about this podcast.

LAURA: I’m very excited as well to launch this initiative that will allow us to talk to you about the solutions and communities we report about in 9millones.com.

But before that, Camille, ¿why don’t we tell them what 9 Millones is?

CAMILLE: That’s a good idea [Laura laughs].

Well, 9 Millones is an independent media company that connects the nine million boricuas in the world and the people who seek structural changes through solutions stories.

¿Anything else you’d like to add?

LAURA: For sure.

At 9 Millones, we report on climate justice, community participation, social equity and Puerto Rican culture.

So, 9 Minutes with 9 Millones is a brief version of the reporting that we do on our website and social media.

CAMILLE: Yes, sometimes it may last a few minutes more or less, but we won’t go over 12 minutes, because the idea is that you can get your shot of inspiration and learn about the communities that are responding to social problems in Puerto Rico.

LAURA: In these first episodes, we’re going to present Madres de la Tierra.

¿And what is Madres de la Tierra? It’s a series about women leading environmental justice movements in Puerto Rico.

CAMILLE: Exactly. This series, conceptualized by the communications expert Frances Medina, is something we started working on in 2022, but that we had to postpone due to Hurricane Fiona.

So, it wasn’t until last year, 2023, that we were able to publish it, and the entire team at 9 Millones put their heart into the launch of madresdelatierrapr.com, where you can listen to the voices of these women, see the images that Mari B. Robles took, [which] are beautiful.

And what excites me the most, what I learned the most from this series, is that here, within a colony, we truly are self-governing, and it was a transformative experience.

So, I’m very excited for you to listen to an extended version of these stories.

LAURA: Say no more. Here’s a preview of the voices of the women that are featured in Madres de la Tierra.

[...]

DULCE DEL RÍO-PINEDA: When you gather a community, it’s like putting a match to gasoline, and  ¡fuaa! It lights up, and people start asking, talking, questioning, and proposing.

MARIOLGA REYES CRUZ: My dream is that we have fertile soil where we can lay our roots.

VANESSA URIARTE: The islands of the world, that aren’t only in the Caribbean, but also those in the Pacific, and every country that is an island, we are being excluded from the conversation.

MARISEL ROBLES GUTIÉRREZ: Colonization has taken away the power we had over our health, over our food.

HERNALIZ VÁZQUEZ TORRES: When I talk about sustaining about sustainability… It’s not just spaces to talk about the problems we’re facing, but also spaces to dream a different world.

[...]

CAMILLE: That was so beautiful, I loved it [Camille and Laura laugh together]. Every time I hear them, I get inspired. That’s the idea.  

LAURA: Inspiring, powerful women.

9 Minutes with 9 Millones is a podcast produced by Camille Padilla Dalmau and Laura M. Quintero. Camera work and editing is done by our beloved Evan Moreno Pérez. The music was composed by William Russel.

Follow our reporting at 9millones.com, and on our social media, @9millonespr.

‍CAMILLE: And if you want to support this podcast and the journalistic work at 9 Millones, visit our store to get these shirts [Camille points at the shirts that Laura and her are wearing, a white one and a gray one with the word boricua in the front, with the design of a dictionary entry], that tote bag [points to the 9 Millones tote bag in the background], and many other things that will support our journalism.