The next era of Macondo is marked by the townspeople's perplexity following the arrival of the train. New neighbors and modern artifacts appear, adding to a series of marvelous occurrences that make them lose their grasp on reality. In this episode, Maria Rueda and Ryan Kovarovics join Nadia Celis to explore how bewilderment obscures the town's invasion by foreign powers and plays into García Márquez’s “magical realism". They also examine the leadership embodied by the Buendía family, and their failure to protect their people from the dangers hidden beneath technological progress.

The bloodiest era of One Hundred Years of Solitude begins in the sixth chapter with a summary of the dozens of armed uprisings led by Colonel Aureliano Buendía, including the one that will bring him before the firing squad. In this episode, Nadia Celis and Allen Wells, a historian of the Caribbean and Latin America, guide us through the real wars that inspired García Márquez and the many mutations of that monster throughout the century the novel synthesizes. They also discuss the degenerative effects of power and its violence on Aureliano, the people of Macondo, and their heirs, both within and beyond fiction.

The path opened by Úrsula, Macondo’s new leader, triggers an irreversible change, further fueled by the town’s first business—her candy animal industry. But before Macondo fully succumbs to the seduction of capital and its "machines of well-being," visitors from other times bring the plague of insomnia to the town. Nadia Celis and her guests, Chrissy Arce and David George, explore the collective amnesia of the Macondians, the town’s incorporation into the nation, as well as the political struggles that will lead the first generation of Macondo’s men to war. They also address the intimate drama of the Buendía sisters, Amaranta and Rebeca, and of Aureliano, whose battles with desire and love pave the way for the rise of the brutal Colonel Aureliano Buendía.

In the iconic opening lines of One Hundred Years of Solitude, Macondo—the town founded by the Buendía family in the heart of the Colombian Caribbean—becomes the seed of the world. In this episode, Nadia Celis sits down with historian Kristen Block to explore how the Caribbean emerged as the “navel of the world.” Together, they uncover the historical currents that shaped this region and dive into the origins of the Buendía family, tackling their most enduring struggles: violence and solitude.

In this opening episode, Nadia Celis and her guests situate us in Macondo, the imaginary town where García Márquez located the saga of the Buendía family. But Macondo is not only a fictional town. Silvana Paternostro, a Colombian journalist in London, and Hector Hoyos, a Colombian professor at Stanford University, discuss their own experiences coming in and out of Macondo, and grappling with the ambivalent legacy of "magical realism". Nadia also welcomes the audience to the way we'll read the novel, together.

For over fifty years, the characters of One Hundred Years of Solitude have lived freely in the imaginations of readers around the world. But with the upcoming Netflix adaptation, this iconic story is about to take on a whole new dimension, transforming how we experience García Márquez’s extraordinary metaphor of humanity’s history.

One Hundred Years of Solitude Together is a podcast series for both longtime fans of this literary masterpiece and for those who have always wanted to dive into its magical world. It’s also perfect for viewers eagerly anticipating the new Netflix series. Through eight episodes, Nadia Celis and her guests will guide you on a journey through Macondo, offering fresh insights that reveal why this novel is more relevant now than ever before.