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Los Frikis

How a group of 80’s Cuban misfits found rock-and-roll and created a revolution within a revolution, going into exile without ever leaving home. Reporter Luis Trelles brings us the story of punk rock’s arrival in Cuba and a small band of outsiders who sentenced themselves to death and set themselves free. We originally released this episode back in 2015 in a collaboration with Radio Ambulante, but the story is so fascinating (and, in many ways, still relevant) that we haven’t stopped thinking about it. Special thanks to the bands VIH, Eskoria, Metamorfosis and Alio Die & Mariolina Zitta for the use of their music. Radio Ambulante launches their 15th season on September 30th!! Check it out, here!! (https://radioambulante.org/en) EPISODE CITATIONS: Audio - Find some of Radio Ambulante’s other stories about the Frikis here: The Survivors (https://zpr.io/Kh8KWWi6SqaF) When Havana was Friki (https://zpr.io/HrXsgibzvbJj) Please put any supporting materials you think our audience would find interesting or useful below in the appropriate broad categories. Signup for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today. Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected]. Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Duration
35m
Broadcast on
12 Sep 2025
Audio Format
other

How a group of 80’s Cuban misfits found rock-and-roll and created a revolution within a revolution, going into exile without ever leaving home.  Reporter Luis Trelles brings us the story of punk rock’s arrival in Cuba and a small band of outsiders who sentenced themselves to death and set themselves free. We originally released this episode back in 2015 in a collaboration with Radio Ambulante, but the story is so fascinating (and, in many ways, still relevant) that we haven’t stopped thinking about it. 

Special thanks to the bands VIH, Eskoria, Metamorfosis and Alio Die & Mariolina Zitta for the use of their music. 

Radio Ambulante launches their 15th season on September 30th!!
Check it out, here!! (https://radioambulante.org/en) 

EPISODE CITATIONS:

Find some of Radio Ambulante’s other stories about the Frikis here -
The Survivors (https://zpr.io/Kh8KWWi6SqaF)
When Havana was Friki (https://zpr.io/HrXsgibzvbJj)

Please put any supporting materials you think our audience would find interesting or useful below in the appropriate broad categories.

Signup for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!

Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.

Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.


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RIDILEB is supported by AT&T. We all love to connect via video calls or texts. Right now, at AT&T, you can get the new iPhone 18 Pro for $0 with iPhone trade-in. Any condition. It has the ultimate pro camera system and big leap in battery life, so you can turn this deal into a long-lasting connection. Learn how you can trade in your iPhone for the new iPhone 18 Pro requires trade-in of iPhone 14 or higher, excluding iPhone 16E, an eligible plan. Terms and restrictions apply, subject to change, visit an AT&T store for details. I'm lots of Nasser, this is Radio Lab, and today on the show we have a story from our archives. It's about a group of kids growing up in Cuba in the 90s, and these kids, who had great taste in music, by the way, they decided to do something extreme. They decided to escape the system by any means necessary. We wanted to play it for you now, in part because it's Hispanic Heritage Month, but also because of what's going on in Cuba. Now, in 2025, Cuba is facing a major economic crisis. There are power outages, food shortages, protests. The government is punishing dissent and public criticism, all of which is similar to the situation that was playing out in the 90s when our story begins, and that these kids were directly responding to. So, we're going to play you this episode, and then we have a quick update for you at the end. So, here you are, Las Friches. Hey, I'm Jad Abumra, this is Radio Lab, Robert's traveling today, so it's just me. And today we have a very different kind of story than we've ever done. It comes from a journalist and filmmaker named Louise Treyas, and an interesting thing kind of happened as we were reporting this. Sounds pretty clear. Yeah. It's got to be a landline. Louise and one of our producers, Tim Howard, had called up this guy, Vladimir Sabayos, who is a filmmaker himself, Cuban guy, exile. And the interview happened to be just a few hours after Obama had made that big announcement. Today, the United States of America is changing its relationship with the people of Cuba, and the most significant changes in our policy in more than 50 years. That happened just before the interview. Hello, is this Vladimir? Hey, we're recording. Yes, it's Vladimir. Vladimir, how you doing? This is Tim in New York, and we also have Louise. Hi, Vlad, it's, uh, it's Louise. How are you, Louise? Good, good, and you? About the news, huh? Yeah, amazing news, right? Man, I was crying, man. Really? Yeah, I was crying, man.

Transcription truncated.

How a group of 80’s Cuban misfits found rock-and-roll and created a revolution within a revolution, going into exile without ever leaving home. Reporter Luis Trelles brings us the story of punk rock’s arrival in Cuba and a small band of outsiders who sentenced themselves to death and set themselves free. We originally released this episode back in 2015 in a collaboration with Radio Ambulante, but the story is so fascinating (and, in many ways, still relevant) that we haven’t stopped thinking about it. Special thanks to the bands VIH, Eskoria, Metamorfosis and Alio Die & Mariolina Zitta for the use of their music. Radio Ambulante launches their 15th season on September 30th!! Check it out, here!! (https://radioambulante.org/en) EPISODE CITATIONS: Audio - Find some of Radio Ambulante’s other stories about the Frikis here: The Survivors (https://zpr.io/Kh8KWWi6SqaF) When Havana was Friki (https://zpr.io/HrXsgibzvbJj) Please put any supporting materials you think our audience would find interesting or useful below in the appropriate broad categories. Signup for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today. Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected]. Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.