When the folks behind NPR’s “1A” show needed context for a story about what 2026 holds for Puerto Rico, they turned to CLS core faculty member Aurora Santiago Ortiz. In a wide-ranging conversation that aired on January 27th, Santiago Ortiz shared her thoughts with host Jenn White and fellow guest Alana Casanova-Burgess, the host of WNYC’s La Brega. Rep. Pablo José Hernández, Puerto Rico’s Resident Commissioner, was an earlier guest on the program. The three went into depth about the archipelago’s ongoing fiscal crisis and the failure of the U.S. government and Puerto Rican authorities to find ways out of the problem. The crisis has led to a deterioration of services and infrastructure, causing considerable hardship for residents of the archipelago. Santiago Ortiz also noted the growing strength of grassroots movements that are forming mutual aid networks and shaking up electoral politics. “People are looking to forge other futures that are not an anchored in colonialism, that are anchored in solidarity,” she noted. 1A is produced by WAMU at the American University in Washington, D.C.