The Modern Mexico Podcast

On this episode host Nathaniel Parish Flannery speaks to Guadalajara-based security analyst Stephen Woodman about the patterns of organized crime in Jalisco, Mexico. They discuss whether Guadalajara really is safe to visit during the 2026 World Cup.

On this episode of the podcast host Nathaniel Parish Flannery speaks to Andrew Paxman, a historian and a professor at Mexico’s CIDE university, who recently published a new book called MEXICAN WATCHDOGS: The Rise of a Critical Press since the 1980s. Right now media outlets and journalists in Mexico are facing unprecented challenges. During the 4T era of the presidencies of Mexico’s former Presiden...

On today’s episode of the podcast we talk about Mexican cycling phenomenon Isaac Del Toro, an athlete who captured the world’s attention with his achievements in 2025. We also look at how sports have helped shape and develop Modern Mexico’s identify, and how Mexico’s social and political context have impacted the country’s athletes. Within the world of sports, Isaac Del Toro is Mexico’s top star r...

On this episode of THE MODERN MEXICO PODCAST, host Nathaniel Parish Flannery speaks to BLOOMBERG journalist Maya Averbuch about the problem of cargo truck hijacking in Mexico. Mexico is now considered to be the world's worst hotspot for cargo truck hijacking with over 100,000 violent in-transit robberies occurring over the last five years. These incidents have resulted in billions of dollars of lo...

On this episode of THE MODERN MEXICO PODCAST host Nathaniel Parish Flannery talks to agave spirits expert and author David Suro about Mexico’s booming mezcal and tequila industry. Mezcal is an absolutely fascinating product. It connects some of the most isolated, rural, mountain communities in southern Mexico with consumers in the most sophisticated urban bars and restaurants in the world. There a...

Mexico’s tortilla industry is under threat from organized crime. In the state of Morelos, just outside Mexico City, tortilla-makers are complaining about local organized crime groups threatening and extorting them. More broadly, politicians and police are struggling to deal with a splintering roster of organized crime groups that are diversifying away from drug trafficking into a variety of new ra...

On this episode of the podcast, host Nathaniel Parish Flannery speaks to Will Freeman, a Latin America expert from the Council on Foreign Relations. Freeman says he would give President Claudia Sheinbaum's security plan a "C" or "D." He explains that he thinks Sheinbaum's policies are an improvement over the strategies implemented by former presidents Enrique Peña Nieto and Andres Manuel Lopez Obr...

An intelligent and in-depth discussion of Trump's 2025 tariff threats and what they mean for Mexico's economy. On this episode of the podcast, host Nathaniel Parish Flannery speaks to Diego Marroquin Bitar, a North America researcher at the Wilson Center, a Washington DC-based think tank. Diego says that Trump's 25% tariffs, implemented on March 4, 2025, represent a "red light" level of risk for f...

On this episode of THE MODERN MEXICO PODCAST, host Nathaniel Parish Flannery speaks to historian Benjamin Smith (author of the book THE DOPE: THE REAL HISTORY OF THE MEXICAN DRUG TRADE) about the impact of the arrest of Sinaloa Cartel kingpin Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada. “El Mayo has had a very long history of almost five decades in the drug business. He started in the 1970s. He became a major export...

On this episode of the MODERN MEXICO PODCAST, host Nathaniel Parish Flannery speaks to journalist Ioan Grillo about the evolving dynamics of organized crime in Chiapas, Mexico. Recent events in Chiapas raise questions about what the government can do as powerful organized crime groups move into the state and local criminals adopt increasingly violent tactics. Over 98% of the murders recorded in Ch...

On this episode of the podcast, host Nathaniel Parish Flannery talks to Katherine Corcoran, the former Associated Press Bureau Chief for Mexico, and the author of a fantastic new book called IN THE MOUTH OF THE WOLF: A MURDER, A COVER-UP, AND THE TRUE COST OF SILENCING THE PRESS. Corcoran’s engaging book delves into investigating the murder of Regina Martinez, a high-profile journalist who covered...

On this episode of THE MODERN MEXICO PODCAST host Nathaniel Parish Flannery talks to Noah Hurowitz, author of the book EL CHAPO: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE WORLD'S MOST INFAMOUS DRUG LORD. "El Chapo could operate without any true fear of being captured. This undercuts the way El Chapo is seen in popular media. He [is] often likened to outlaw figures [such as] Robin Hood. But, I don’t know how accurat...

On this episode of THE MODERN MEXICO PODCAST host Nathaniel Parish Flannery talks to Laura Calderon, the Executive Director of Justice in Mexico, a San Diego-based think tank. In spite of persistently high levels of organized crime-related violence, Tijuana has become one of Mexico’s success stories when it comes to "nearshoring" investment. The city has a thriving industrial sector that employs o...

On this episode of THE MODERN MEXICO PODCAST host Nathaniel Parish Flannery talks to James Frederich, a veteran Mexico correspondent who traveled to the beach city Acapulco to report on the storm damage caused by Hurricane Otis. While 200 mile per hour gusts of wind buffeted the city, residents and hotel guests cowered inside. Nearly 250,000 homes were damaged and many beachfront hotels were almos...

On this episode of the Modern Mexico Podcast host Nathaniel Parish Flannery talks to Laura Tillman about her new book, THE MIGRANT CHEF: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF LALO GARCIA. Lalo Garcia is one of Mexico's most celebrated chefs. His flagship restaurant Maximo Bistrot has helped to burnish Mexico's reputation as a culinary superpower. Laura gives a detailed overview of her work writing about Lalo's im...

On this episode of the MODERN MEXICO PODCAST, host Nathaniel Parish Flannery talks to Stephanie Brewer, a Mexico-focused security expert at the Washington Office on Latin America. When he was an aspiring presidential candidate, Mexico's current president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador demanded justice in the case of 43 missing students from Guerrero and criticized the rampant impunity that has long...

On the latest episode of the MODERN MEXICO PODCAST, host Nathaniel Parish Flannery talks to veteran BBC correspondent Will Grant about his new book, ¡POPULISTA! THE RISE OF LATIN AMERICA'S 21ST CENTURY STRONGMAN. During the conversation, Parish Flannery and Grant discuss the differences between populism and authoritarianism and compare and contrast Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (A...

On this episode of the MODERN MEXICO PODCAST, host Nathaniel Parish Flannery talks to Steve Woodman, a Mexico-based organized crime researcher at Advanced Intelligence Solutions, about the long history of vanilla production in the state of Veracruz, Mexico by Totonaco indigenous residents. Nathaniel talks about his recent visit to Veracruz where he met with indigenous vanilla growers and learned a...

On this episode of the MODERN MEXICO PODCAST, host Nathaniel Parish Flannery speaks to historian Peter Guardino about the Mexican American War, a conflict that saw U.S. soldiers invade Mexico City and force Mexico to sell the U.S. a significant chunk of its northern terrain. Today, border cities such as El Paso and Juarez, Tijuana and San Diego have emerged as major population hubs, home to millio...

On this episode of the MODERN MEXICO PODCAST, host Nathaniel Parish Flannery talks about Mexico's solar energy sector with Diego Rivera Rivota, a Research Associate at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. Mexico is one of the best potential locations for solar energy generation in the world—it has great sun with minimal seasonal variability. Overall, Mexico is well-positioned...

In this episode of the MODERN MEXICO PODCAST host Nathaniel Parish Flannery talks to Falko Ernst, a Mexico analyst at the International Crisis Group about the dynamics of organized crime in Michoacan, Mexico. The discussion examines the connections between Mexico's multi-billion dollar avocado sector and the violence that has killed over 10,000 people in Michoacan during the presidency of Andres M...

In this episode of the MODERN MEXICO PODCAST host Nathaniel Parish Flannery talks to Ryan Berg, the Americas Director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington D.C.-based think tank about the divergent narratives about Mexico's trajectory. Political analysts such as Ian Bremmer laud Mexico as an emerging industrial powerhouse, while many Republican politicians are calling...

In this episode of The Modern Mexico Podcast, host Nathaniel Parish Flannery talks to Douglas Coleman, the CEO of the Mexican Mining Center, about the risks affecting Mexico's mining sector. Coleman says that while companies are still exploring, new investment is slowing. He describes President Lopez Obrador's attitude towards the mining sector as "distrustful, antagonistic, and uninformed." Overa...

On this episode of th Modern Mexico Podcast host Nathaniel Parish Flannery talks to historian Edward Shawcross about his new book, THE LAST EMPEROR OF MEXICO. Shawcross's book tells the story of an ambitious and somewhat delusional Austrian archduke named Maximilian von Hapsburg who set sail for Mexico with plans to invade and install himself as an enlightened despot in the mid 1860s. The history...

Host Nathaniel Parish Flannery talks to David Lida, author of the book "First Stop In The New World: Mexico City, The Capital of The 21st Century," about the turkey's path from Mexico to Europe, and back to the U.S. Is Mexico given enough credit for being the country that introduced turkey to the world? Most people in the U.S. don't realize that the turkey they eat on Thanksgiving has its roots in...