Violeta Parra: Chile’s Folk Revolutionary, Cold-War Exile & Mother of Nueva Canción

***PLEASE LISTEN TO THE END***

Chilean folk icon Violeta Parra (1917-1967) was far more than the singer of “Gracias a la Vida.” In this episode, Erica Verba—Director of Latin American Studies at Cal State LA—reveals how Parra transformed from teenage street-busker and RCA-Victor recording artist into the archivist, painter and political catalyst who ignited Latin America’s Nueva Canción movement.

We trace her itinerant childhood with the “Circo Pobre,” her reinvention as a self-taught ethnomusicologist, and her two eye-opening trips behind the Iron Curtain as a delegate to Soviet-sponsored youth festivals. Along the way we explore why folk revivals exploded across the globe in the 1950s-60s, how Cold-War cultural diplomacy shaped her career, and what her legacy means for today’s Los Angeles—where immigrant communities now confront escalating ICE raids and militarised parks.

Erica’s new book,

Thanks to Life: Violeta Parra and the Chilean Folk Revival (UNC Press), is available now and linked below with an exclusive playlist.

*****STOP PRESS*****

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