In Episode 4, Ian and Justine travel to Cuba—a country now nearly impossible for U.S. citizens to visit due to strict travel restrictions. Despite the barriers, Our Looney Planet takes you there. Join Ian and Justine for a lively, intimate conversation with Cuban journalist Liz Oliva Fernández, whose stories and documentary footage lead us far off the beaten path and deep into one of the world’s most authentic, resilient, and remarkably preserved cultures.

Together, Liz, Ian, and Justine unpack what Cuba is really like today in a conversation that swings effortlessly from the serious to the giggle-inducing, enriched by striking archival footage from Ian’s Globe Trekker Cuba episode, filmed back in 1995.

And if Cuba ever needs a British ambassador, Ian Wright is clearly ready for the post. Barely able to stay seated, his enthusiasm for the island is utterly unbridled. Having traveled to Cuba many times for both work and pleasure, Ian joins Liz in transporting us from Cuba’s extraordinary history straight into its vibrant, complicated present.

Liz Oliva Fernández is a Cuban producer and journalist, and the host of the award-winning documentary series Belly of the Beast: The War Against Cuba, for which she received a Gracie Award from the Alliance for Women in Media in Hollywood. She has also hosted the documentaries Uphill on the Hill and Hardliner on the Hudson.

Throughout her career, she has interviewed figures such as Pulitzer Prize–winning author Alice Walker, Colombian Vice President Francia Márquez, U.S. economist Jeffrey Sachs, U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern, and Elián González.

In addition, Liz has appeared on programs including Democracy Now!, CBS Miami, and BBC News. She has also conducted numerous speaking tours across the United States, delivering lectures and screening her documentaries at venues such as MIT, Stanford University, the University of Minnesota, Howard University, UCLA, Trinity Church in Chicago, and La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley, among others.

News Footage courtesy of Belly of the Beast

www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com

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