Hey, everybody. It is Dylan. So if you've listened to enough episodes of this show, you've probably picked up on some of the places that are really essential to my life. I've talked about exploring the abandoned gold metal flower factory in Minneapolis, finding some creative community there as a teenager.

I've mentioned my old apartment in Budapest,

where I started working on the earliest iteration of Atlas of Sikira.

And throughout my life, place has been essential to the things I make,

which is why I am really excited to tell you about a new show. It's called Sound Influence,

the art and soul of Puerto Rico. It's all about this connection between place and creativity.

We'll hear stories from some of the most brilliant Borequa musicians, writers, and filmmakers, artists whose work and creative genius were shaped by the island of Puerto Rico.

The show is hosted by the one and only Luis Guzman, the award-winning Puerto Rican actor

that you know from Punch Drunk Love and the Netflix series Wednesday,

among tons of other projects.

And we'll hear from Rita Moreno, filmmaker Miguel Arteeta, writer Jaquira Diaz, and more.

It's immersive, it's fresh, it's beautiful.

I really believe it'll make you think about place in a new way.

We're going to bring you the first two episodes today and tomorrow.

And then next Thursday and Friday, you'll hear the final two.

In the meantime, if you like what you hear, the full series is out now.

You can find sound influence, the art and soul of Puerto Rico, anywhere you get your podcasts.

All right, here's the show.

Hello, I'm Luis Kuzman, and welcome to Puerto Rico.

I'm uniquely Puerto Rican, and what I mean by that is I'm a proud Boricua, whose idea

of heaven is chilling on Crashbow Beach in Aguadilla, listening to Hector Laol, a Grand

Combo, and Mark Anthony, and eating some of arrope with a little mojito on the side from one of the kiosko.

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