History Goes To The Illustrators: 'A Contrarian History Of The United States'

On this week's episode of Alt.Latino, we feature two groundbreaking Latinos. Lalo Alcaraz is a Mexican-American cartoonist, best known for his work on the comic strip La Cucaracha; it's the first nationally syndicated, politically themed Latino daily comic strip. Ilan Stavans is a Mexican-American essayist and short-story author who writes about American, Hispanic and Jewish culture.

My co-host, Felix Contreras, and I were both thrilled when the two paired up to create a book about American history. A Most Imperfect Union: A Contrarian History Of The United States isn't just hilarious; it's also important. It ventures well beyond what you and I were taught in school, and like all good history books, it makes a point to say something important about the present and the future.

Alcaraz and Stavams join this week's show to serve up the most enjoyable (and perhaps the deepest) history lesson you've ever experienced. And, of course, they play some great records along the way.