Episode 4: Cuba
December 18, 2025
In Episode 4, Ian and Justine travel to Cuba—a country now nearly impossible for U.S. citizens to visit due to strict travel restrictions. Despite the barriers, Our Looney Planet takes you there. Join Ian and Justine for a lively, intimate conversation with Cuban journalist Liz Oliva Fernández, whose stories and documentary footage lead us far off the beaten path and deep into one of the world’s most authentic, resilient, and remarkably preserved cultures.
Together, Liz, Ian, and Justine unpack what Cuba is really like today in a conversation that swings effortlessly from the serious to the giggle-inducing, enriched by striking archival footage from Ian’s Globe Trekker Cuba episode, filmed back in 1995.
And if Cuba ever needs a British ambassador, Ian Wright is clearly ready for the post. Barely able to stay seated, his enthusiasm for the island is utterly unbridled. Having traveled to Cuba many times for both work and pleasure, Ian joins Liz in transporting us from Cuba’s extraordinary history straight into its vibrant, complicated present.
Chapters
00:00 Ian loves Cuba
00:35 Meet Liz Oliva Fernandez
10:39 Fidel Castro and Cuba
11:53 Just what the dolphin ordered
13:39 “Che” lives
16:54 Tourism in Cuba
17:34 Swamped with crap
21:21 Tough travels
22:57 A Cuban’s first impression of the USA
26:48 Salsa, Cha-cha-chá, Mambo, the Rumba
31:19 The ingenuity of Cuban recycling
33:14 Cuba’s Classic Cars
34:32 Crime or No Crime, that is the question
35:30 Hitchhiking in Cuba
36:34 Ian’s hot take on Cuban food
39:52 Even the water tastes like rum
42:04 Hopes for Cuba
48:26 Like Japan
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Episode Cast & Crew
Hosts: Ian Wright and Justine Shapiro
Guest: Liz Oliva Fernández
Producer: Ken Schneider
Editor: Thomas Lorne
Sound Mix: Dan Olmsted
Kuku Studios, Berkeley, California USA
Haverhill Music Hub, Haverhill UK
News footage courtesy of Belly of the Beast
Major Funding
Season 1 was made possible thanks to a grant from The Khosravi Family Trust.
Our Loonies
Mrugesh Thaker
Joseph Tindle
Prateek Shrivastava
Rajeev
Mike Matera
John Miles
Nikhil Patel
Saurabh Chaudhary
Craig Richardson
Bhavika Gadhvi
Joe Guzman
Heather Munro
Robert Paul
Ignacio Gil
Abigail
Richard Logan
Era Orozco
James Wheaton
Melanie Rudzinski
Cliff Matheson
José Pizarro-Otero
Rob Furber
Season 1 Credits
With gratitude to those from Pilot Films and Television, UK who helped create Our Looney Planet
Ian Cross, founder of Pilot Productions and creator of the Lonely Planet / Globe Trekker TV series.
Deb Marrow Cox
Anne Bogart
Sarah Blinco
Sanyukta Shrestha
Helen Roberts
Richard Howard
Chris Hampson
Amanda Kramer
Ian Ritchie
Neville Farmer
Megan McCormick
Emma Cahusac
Angela Gourley
Rachael Heaton-Armstrong
Andy Margetson
Lucy Cooke
Bini Adams
David Tibballs
Saami Sabiti
Nick Robbins
Nigel Kinnings
Lynn Mitchell
Georgie Burrell
Neil Harvey
Simon Niblett
Ian sciacaluga
Rik Lander
Peter Boyd Maclean
Tim Knight
With gratitude
Rachel Mercy Simpson, Berkeley Community College
Interns: Seungjun Kim, Martin Mercy, Matan Ziv, Manny Cox
Betsy Rate, UC Berkeley School of Journalism
Interns: Negar Ajayebi, Alicia Chang, Zane Karram and Fuwad Ahamad
Rob Burchell, The Hall Media Facilities, UK
Honorbarre.com
Cardiowithcarah.com
The Center for Creative Exploration
Jeanette McDonald-Wright
Rie Aldous
Jackie Shroff
Tony & Chesney Mumford
Marvin and Mr. Monk
Paul Mourey & Karim Crippa
David Orelowitz & Lauren Heymann
Vicente Franco
Jim Capobianco
Lucy Kaplan
Mateo Evaristo Shapiro Bolado
y Carlos Bolado
Tony Cataldo
Carah Herring
Année Kim
Stephanie Mackley
Marcia and Paul Masse
Paul Zaentz
Chaz Blanc
Michael Wilson
Mick Erausquin
Elizabeth Gray
Catherine Girardeau
Jason Reinier
Roopa Ramamoorthi
Laura O'Brien Crisp
Guy Reingold
Esme Agilar
Sonia Mistry
Sherry Sly
Claudia Erzinger
With Gratitude To Those We’ve Lost
Jonathan Leffman, Sound Recordist
Stephen Luscombe, Composer
Paul Pierre Standifer, Fixer/Producer
Leslie Weiner, Producer
Roger Whitby, Sound Recordist
Nick Corey Wright, Director
Anthony Bourdain
For MATLANA
Executive Producer: Justine Shapiro
Series Producer: Liliana Cortés
Producer & Editor: Gregory Scharpen
Producer & Editor: Thomas Lorne
Producer: Stephen Lennhoff
Title Animation - Zazie Capobianco, Aerial Contrivance Workshop
Media Management & Website: Sage Brucia
Bookkeeper: Craig Paull
Fundraising Strategist: Bri Castellini
Legal: Richard J. Lee Law Group and Madison Karsenty, DCP Law
Produced by MATLANA a 501(c)3 organization
MATLANA Board Members
Deirdre English
Jocelyn Leroux
Jena Resner
Justine Shapiro