Amanda Alcántara

Amanda Alcántara is a podcaster, journalist, and writer based in the Dominican Republic. In 2021, she launched Radio Místico, a Spanish-language narrative podcast and audio experience that explores the world of Latin American and Caribbean myths, legends, spiritual beliefs, and strange phenomena, with a specific focus on the Dominican Republic. To date, Alcántara has produced episodes on the Dominican Republic’s “La Ciguapa,” a woman with backwards feet that hunts men at night, among other topics. The CUNY DSI award p will enable her to undertake an oral history project titled, “Rescuing Dominican Myths and Legends from el Cibao to New York City.” The same will consist of oral interviews conducted in both locations as well as scholarly research conducted in CUNY DSI’s Dominican Library and Archives. The fruits of this project will be an open-source oral history archive and new episodes for Radio Místico, including one on the ubiquitous “El Cuco.” In Alcántara’s words, “Rescuing Dominican Myths and Legends from el Cibao to New York City” will also contribute to the preservation “of stories that inspire our collective curiosity because they speak to our community’s beliefs and fears.” Prior to becoming a podcaster and founding the project Librería Cosmos, Alcántara was Digital Media Editor for NPR’s Latino USA and co-founder and editor-in-chief of La Galería Magazine, the first magazine for Dominican millennials who live in outside of the Dominican Republic.