From Havana to Yale: Carlos Eire on Cuba, Becoming an American—and Miracles | Peter Robinson | Uncommon Knowledge

Uncommon Knowledge

Hoover Institution

Politics, History, News, News:politics, Science

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 2 October 2025

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Yale historian and memoirist Carlos Eire recounts his extraordinary journey from being an 11-year-old Cuban boy in Operation Peter Pan—sent to the United States to escape Fidel Castro’s regime—to becoming a National Book Award–winning author and chaired professor at Yale. Eire discusses the painful separation from his family, the challenges of assimilation, and the lifelong tension between his Cuban and American identities, themes he explores in his acclaimed memoirs Waiting for Snow in Havana and Learning to Die in Miami. The conversation also delves into Eire’s recent book They Flew: A History of the Impossible, which examines early modern testimonies of levitation, bilocation, and miracles, and how belief, culture, and skepticism shaped their reception. Eire also reflects on Cuban history, the failures of the Castro regime, the broader Hispanic experience in America, and the enduring clash between materialist skepticism and openness to mystery. Subscribe to Uncommon Knowledge at hoover.org/uk

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	In 1962, a bewildered little Cuban boy was sent to the United States by his parents to escape communism.
0:08.2	Today, that little boy is an esteemed historian, a chaired professor at Yale, and a best-selling author.
0:15.3	Carlos Air, on Uncommon Knowledge Now.
0:30.8	Welcome to Uncommon Knowledge.
0:33.9	Recording today at Yale University, I'm Peter Robinson.
0:39.3	Born in Havana, Carlos Ayer, moved to this country at age 11 as part of Operation Peter Pan, the program under which some 14,000 Cuban children were sent to the United States
0:45.6	by their parents between 1960 and 1962 to escape the communist regime of Fidel Castro.
0:53.2	Professor Eyre lived in a succession of temporary homes before
0:55.9	settling in Chicago. Putting himself through school as a supermarket stock boy and a hotel dishwasher,
1:03.4	Professor Eyre earned his undergraduate degree at Loyola University in Chicago, then earned his
1:08.8	doctorate here at Yale. For almost 30 years now, Professor Eyre has
1:13.5	taught here at Yale, where he is now the T. Lawreson-Riggs Professor of History and Religious
1:19.0	Studies. Professor Eyre is the author of more than half a dozen works of history and two volumes
1:25.4	of memoirs, including this first volume of his memoirs,
1:29.3	Waiting for Snow in Havana, and his second volume, Learning to Die in Miami.
1:35.3	Carl is here, thank you for joining us.
1:37.3	Oh, thank you for inviting me.
1:39.3	I may as well just say it. Full disclosure to our viewers. I'm married to a Cuban. Your books have
1:45.1	been read by every member of her family, all our children, mandatory reading in our household.
1:52.0	As I've just mentioned, you've composed more than half a dozen works of medieval and modern history
1:58.0	and two volumes of memoirs. These books have attracted prize after prize.
2:03.5	Here we have on this edition, National Book Award winner, and yet there is this on your
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Hoover Institution, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Hoover Institution and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.