Gaby Blanco: Growing Up in Communist Cuba

0:00 – Intro: Gaby Blanco of the Dissident Project
1:02 – Bringing dissidents into American high schools
3:29 – How Gaby left Cuba through family reunification
5:52 – Working in the Cayman Islands as a Cuban resident
6:59 – Cuba's medical missions and doctors' wages
9:14 – Misconceptions about Cuban healthcare and education
13:15 – Pushback from Americans who praise Cuba
16:59 – Growing up in a lower-middle-class Cuban family
19:25 – How Gaby's father saw through the revolution
23:13 – Internet access in Cuba then and now
25:18 – Starbucks, McDonald's, and glamorizing poverty
29:23 – Banned books, elections, and dissent in Cuba
32:20 – Influencers and the line you can't cross
35:02 – Is the US embargo to blame?
41:02 – Cuba's exports, from sugar to doctors
41:47 – The food ration system and hunger in Cuba
45:38 – A first trip to Costco and why Cubans can't fish
48:30 – Havana vs. Little Havana and family back home
51:10 – Lessons from China and the Obama-era thaw
54:01 – Visiting Cuba responsibly, and tourism's dark side
56:32 – How to bring the Dissident Project to your school