Tango usually evokes images of a very regal couple: a man in a suit and a woman in a tight red dress, embraced in sensual moves. But the reality of the quintessential Argentinian music genre is strikingly different. Tango, in fact, was born in the brothels and dance halls of Buenos Aires’ lower cast and is rooted in Argentina’s African and queer subcultures. In this episode, we’ll take you on a journey through tango’s history. It was first condemned by the elites and the Catholic church, threatened by the worldwide phenomenon of rock n’ roll, and buried by Argentina’s last military dictatorship. But then, in the 1980s and 1990s, it saw a revival. More recently, it’s being reclaimed by the very marginalized communities that first embraced it.

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Featured image by Jessica Pons.

This episode originally aired in 2022.