Welcome to Latinx lit Audio Mag. I’m your host, Teresa Douglas. And today, we’re going to do something a little bit different. Normally on the mag we feature one story per episode. But I discovered in the course of producing these episodes that certain themes started recurring. Love, Death. Family. Grandparents.

It sounds like the Latinx version of The Princess Bride. Chases! Escapes! True Love! But the only way for you, dear listener, to really hear these themes is if you get to listen to these stories the way I do—in groups. Or pairings, if you will. So for the next three episodes I will bring you two pieces that share commonalities.

This week we’re going to listen to two stories that share the theme of hidden history. In Julieta Corpus’ otherworldly poem The Midwife, we travel back to Mexico in the 60’s, when midwives were an integral part of village life. In Camila Santos’ fictional short story It’s Just Dancing, we enter the world of the Taxi Dancer, a person paid to dance with you at a club.

Ready? Let’s begin.