The Colonial Department

Lio Mangubat · The Colonial Department

115 episodesEN-US

Show overview

The Colonial Department has been publishing since 2021, and across the 5 years since has built a catalogue of 115 episodes, alongside 7 trailers or bonus episodes. That works out to roughly 35 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a fortnightly cadence, with the show now in its 8th season.

Episodes typically run ten to twenty minutes — most land between 15 min and 18 min — and the run-time is fairly consistent across the catalogue. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-US-language History show.

The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 2 weeks ago, with 16 episodes already out so far this year.

Episodes

115

Running

2021–2026 · 5y

Median length

16 min

Cadence

Fortnightly

From the publisher

Lost stories from 🇵🇭 history 🔊 Narrative nonfiction pod 📖 Book version published by @factionpress 📻 Written, produced, engineered by @liomangubat

Latest Episodes

View all 115 episodes

S8 Ep 3INTERVIEW: Exploring the food history of the Philippines

<html>“There’s a message to it: It’s our responsibility to keep Filipino food popular!”At the launch for her book What Recipes Don’t Tell: Philippine Food History in Fifty Words, author and historian Felice Prudente Sta. Maria talked to a rapt audience at the Philippine Book Festival about a long career of writing about food. What new things can food tell us about our own history? How did we adapt techniques and ingredients from abroad… while still preserving our own? And how should we nurture this knowledge for future generations?Joining her in this panel were publisher and editor Karina Bolasco, graphic designer and fellow food scholar Ige Ramos, and printmaker Marz Aglipay. Through their shared history with Felice, they deepened the conversation with their own perspectives on creativity, design, and the space for food in the publishing landscape. Special thanks to the Ateneo de Manila University Press for inviting me to moderate this panel, and for letting me record this conversation.Support the podcast: <a href="https://patreon.com/thecolonialdept" target="_blank">patreon.com/thecolonialdept</a>Follow us on IG: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thecolonialdept/" target="_blank">@thecolonialdept</a>Follow us on TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thecolonialdept" target="_blank">@thecolonialdept</a>Email us: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]</a>The Colonial Dept. Interview is a series where I talk to researchers and authors shining a light on our past.</html>

Apr 4, 202637 min

S8 Ep 1S8E1: The Philippine Sour-chipelago

<html>Sourness, according to Doreen Fernandez, “is a favored Philippine flavor.” Just how sour is sour? “Sour enough to savor, to make the lips pucker and the eyes squint slightly, and yet not too sour—just at the point of perfection.”In the spectrum of sensation, sourness can be both sharp and sudden, an acetic shudder down the spine. Asim, the Tagalogs call it. From the earliest written records about the Philippines, it is this taste that has come to define our cooking. “Spanish colonials from the 1500s through the 1800s described indio food as primarily salty and sour,” writes food historian Felice Prudente Sta. Maria. “Both tastes can induce sweat in hot climates and remind the body to keep hydrated and its electrolytes balanced.” Let us trace the pathways of this taste as it evolved in three key dishes: sinigang, kinilaw, and adobo.Follow us on IG: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thecolonialdept/" target="_blank">@thecolonialdept</a>Follow us on TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thecolonialdept" target="_blank">@thecolonialdept</a>Email us: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]</a>References:Sta. Maria, Felice Prudente (2025). What Recipes Don't Tell: Philippine Food History in Fifty Words. Ateneo de Manila University Press.Fernandez, Doreen G. (1988). “Culture Ingested: Notes on the Indigenization of Philippine Food.” Philippine Studies, 36(2), pp. 219-232.Fernandez, Doreen G. (1994). Tikim: Essays on Philippine Food and Culture. Anvil Publishing.Frank, Hannah E. R.; Amato, Katie; Trautwein, Michelle; Maia, Paula; Liman, Emily R.; Nichols; Lauren M.; Schwenk, Kurt; Breslin, Paul A. S.; Dunn, Robert R. (2022) “The evolution of sour taste.” Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 289(1968). <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/289/1968/20211918/79292/The-evolution-of-sour-tasteEvolution-of-Sour-Taste" target="_blank">https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/289/1968/20211918/79292/The-evolution-of-sour-tasteEvolution-of-Sour-Taste</a>Shaw, Sterling V. Herrera (30 August 2024). “Adobo is ‘paksiw,’ and other terms in Filipino food history.” Philippine Daily Inquirer. Ladrido, R.C. (1 July 2022). “Tapayan, Gusi, or Martaban: Tales of Stoneware Jars in the Philippines.” VERA Files.Newman, Yasmin (11 May 2023). “Kinilaw, the age-old dish of the Philippines (and why it's not ceviche).” SBS Food. <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/kinilaw-the-age-old-dish-of-the-philippines-and-why-its-not-ceviche/4alb6pswa" target="_blank">https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/kinilaw-the-age-old-dish-of-the-philippines-and-why-its-not-ceviche/4alb6pswa</a>Trinidad, Bea. (16 August 2025). “Say ‘kilawin’ instead of ‘Filipino ceviche’, okay?” The Philippine Star. <a href="https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/2025/08/16/2465728/say-kilawin-instead-filipino-ceviche-okay" target="_blank">https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/2025/08/16/2465728/say-kilawin-instead-filipino-ceviche-okay</a>Banez, George (31 August 2025). “Sinigang Through Time: The Filipino Sour Soup with Many Faces, One Soul.” Pressenza PhilippinesPigafetta, Antonio (ca. 1525). “Primo viaggio intorno al mondo.” In Blair, Emma Helen, and Robertson, James Alexander (eds.), The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 (Vol. 33), Arthur H. Clark Company.Wertz, S.K. (2013). “The Elements of Taste: How Many Are There?” The Journal of Aesthetic Education,47(1), pp. 46-57 <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/jaesteduc.47.1.0046" target="_blank">https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/jaesteduc.47.1.0046</a>Ferguson, Priscilla Parkhurst (2011). “The Senses of Taste.” American Historical Review, 116(2), pp. 371-384. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23307701" target="_blank">https://www.jstor.org/stable/23307701</a></html>

Mar 21, 202617 min

S7 Ep 28An important announcement about the future of The Colonial Dept.

<html>Before we start Season 8, I have an important announcement about this little podcast. For more info, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DVPjYWmk3Nx" target="_blank">check out this Instagram post</a>.</html>

Feb 27, 20266 min

S7 Ep 27INTERVIEW: Twin timelines, entangled histories

<html>“What does it take for a culture that has caused a lot of pain and suffering to have any chance at redemption… or any sense of justice?”Tom Sykes’ riotous new book—a collision of a neon-powered 1980s Manila and a disaster-stricken barangay in the 1570s—attempts to answer the question… with many seedy side quests in between. How did he attempt to write his wild, genre-bending vision of the Philippines? And how does Back to the Future figure into it?The Colonial Dept. Interview is a bonus show where I talk to researchers and authors who are shining a light on our past.</html>

Feb 7, 202637 min

S7 Ep 26INTERVIEW: Sungka as a wargame?

<html>What a folk game can tell us about how a datu waged war. An interview with Micah Perez of the UP Diliman Department of History. The Colonial Dept. Interview is a bonus show where I talk to researchers and authors shining a light on our past. Know a historian or author I should talk to? Email me at [email protected].Thumbnail image: Usernameko/Wikimedia Commons</html>

Jan 28, 202645 min

S7 Ep 24S7E13: The War and the Weatherpriests

<html>Ever since its founding in the 1860s, the Manila Observatory had stood watch against the typhoons and hurricanes that threatened to strike the Philippines. But decades later, they were unprepared for a different kind of approaching storm: the Second World War!Cover photo from the Illustrated London News.Additional audio from British Pathe. Follow us on IG: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thecolonialdept/" target="_blank">@thecolonialdept</a>Follow us on TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thecolonialdept" target="_blank">@thecolonialdept</a>Email us: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]</a> References:Warren, James Francis (2024). Typhoons: Climate, Society, and History in the Philippines. Ateneo de Manila University Press.Hidalgo, Angel (1967). “Miguel Selga, 1879-1956: Priest and Scientist.” Philippine Studies, 15(2), pp. 307-347.Bocar, Efren Cyril (19 November 2024). “‘Signs of disaster’: How weather lore holds up against typhoons and science.” Rappler. Biolong, Fr. Raymundus Rede, SVD (1996). “The Ivatan Cultural Adaptation to Typhoons: A Portrait of a Self-Reliant Community from the Indigenous Development Perspective.” Ribera, Pedro; García-Herrera, Ricardo; Gimeno, Luis (2008). “Historical deadly typhoons in the Philippines.” Weather, 63(7), pp. 194-199.</html>

Dec 20, 202517 min

S7 Ep 22S7E12: Turbulent Times at Manila Bay

<html>In the late 1500s, sultans, kings, and outlaws alike all wanted a little slice of Manila. And over two turbulent decades, everyone from faraway Spain to neighboring Brunei asserted their claims over the rajahs and datus that lived there. This is the turbulent origin story of the city that we know today. Follow us on IG: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thecolonialdept/" target="_blank">@thecolonialdept</a>Follow us on TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thecolonialdept" target="_blank">@thecolonialdept</a>Email us: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]</a> Cover photo from “Ataque de Li-ma-hong a Manila en 1574” by Juan Caro y Mora References:Patanne, E.P. (1993-1996). “Old Tondo and the Lakandula Revolt of 1574.”Historic Manila: Commemorative Lectures. Manila Historical Commission.Majul, Cesar Adib (1999). Muslims in the Philippines (third edition). University of the Philippines Press.Elsa Clavé, Arlo Griffiths (2022). “The Laguna Copperplate Inscription: Tenth-Century Luzon, Java, and the Malay World.” Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints, 70(2), pp.167-242.Postma, Antoon (1992). “The Laguna Copper-Plate Inscription: Text and Commentary.”Philippine Studies, 40(2), pp. 183–203.“Paghinumdom: Retrospection of the Hindu-Buddhist Cultural Influences Based on Tangible Finds in the Caraga Region.” (2022) <a href="https://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/2022/09/30/paghinumdom-retrospection-of-the-hindu-buddhist-cultural-influences-based-on-tangible-finds-in-the-caraga-region/" target="_blank">https://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/2022/09/30/paghinumdom-retrospection-of-the-hindu-buddhist-cultural-influences-based-on-tangible-finds-in-the-caraga-region/</a>Velez, Genesis (2020). “Chinese Merchants in Late Pre-Hispanic Cebu: Context, Issues, and Possibilities.” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, 48(3/4), pp. 125-155.Shutz, J. Travis (2019). “Limahong’s Pirates, Ming Mariners, and Early Sino-Spanish Relations: The Pangasinan Campaign of 1575 and Global History From Below.” Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints, 67(3/4), pp. 315-342.</html>

Nov 29, 202516 min

S7 Ep 20S7E11: Paint Me By Your Name

<html>The nineteenth century—steamships, family names, world trade, foreign firms, liberal ideas. Great tides of change are roiling Manila. In the middle of the chaos, a new art trend captures the imagination of local elites. How are these letras y figuras holding a mirror to Philippine society? Cover Photo from the Ayala Corporation Collection. Follow us on IG: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thecolonialdept/" target="_blank">@thecolonialdept</a>Follow us on TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thecolonialdept" target="_blank">@thecolonialdept</a>Email us: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]</a> References:Blanco, John D. (2009). Frontier Constitutions: Christianity and Colonial Empire in the Nineteenth-Century Philippines. University of the Philippines Press.Santiago, Luciano P.R. (December 1991). “Damian Domingo and the First Philippine Art Academy.” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, 19(4), pp. 264-280. Flores, Patrick D. (17 November 2011). “Everyday, Elsewhere: Allegory in Philippine Art.” Contemporary Aesthetics, (0)3 (Special Issue). “Lot 46. Jose Honorato Lozano, c. 1815-1885.” (2021) Salcedo Auctions. Quirino, Carlos (1961) "Damian Domingo, Filipino Painter." Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints, 9(1), pp. 78-96.“Jose Honorato Lozano (c. 1815-c. 1885).” (undated) Christie’s.Sorilla IV, Franz (8 February 2021). “Letras y Figuras: The 19th Century Philippine Art Form’s Origins and Legacy.” Tatler Asia.Buenconsejo, Jose S. (2018). “Keyboards in the Nineteenth-Century Philippines.” In Tan, Arwin Q. (ed.), Saysay Himig: A Sourcebook on Philippine Music History, University of the Philippines Press, pp. 234-242.Navarro, Raul Casantusan. (2018). “Opera in the Philippines, 1860s-1940s.” In Tan, Arwin Q. (ed.), Saysay Himig: A Sourcebook on Philippine Music History, University of the Philippines Press, pp. 234-242.Mallat, Jean (1846). The Philippines: History, Geography, Customs, Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce of the Spanish Colonies in Oceania (Pura Santillan-Castrence, Trans.) (2021). National Historical Commission of the Philippines.</html>

Nov 15, 202517 min

S7 Ep 18S7E10: Abaca World War

<html>It was the Great War, the War to End All the Wars… and Philippine abaca merchants were raking in sky-high profits. The world’s most powerful navies relied on this plant—which is native to the Philippines—to keep their warships in battle-ready shape. But what the First World War giveth, the First World War also taketh away. Follow us on IG: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thecolonialdept/" target="_blank">@thecolonialdept</a>Follow us on TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thecolonialdept" target="_blank">@thecolonialdept</a>Email us: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]</a> References:Dacudao, Patricia Irene (2023). Abaca Frontier: The Socioeconomic and Cultural Transformation of Davao, 1898-1941. Ateneo de Manila University Press.Crapo, G.R. (February 1926). “The Philippine Fiber Industry.” Proceedings, 52(2). <a href="https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1926/february/philippine-fiber-industry" target="_blank">https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1926/february/philippine-fiber-industry</a>Layton, J. Kent (undated). “Lusitania 100 years later: never forget.” National Museums Liverpool. <a href="https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/stories/lusitania-100-years-later-never-forget" target="_blank">https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/stories/lusitania-100-years-later-never-forget</a>Jose, Ricardo Trota (1988). “The Philippine National Guard in World War I.” Philippine Studies, 36(3), pp. 275-299. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/42633097" target="_blank">https://www.jstor.org/stable/42633097</a>Nagano, Yoshiko (2012). “The Philippine National Bank and Credit Inflation after World War I.” Global COE Hi-Stat Discussion Paper Series gd11-216, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.Ybiernas, Vicente Angel (2012) "Philippine Financial Standing in 1921: The First World War Boom and Bust." Philippine Studies, 55(3), pp. 345-372.</html>

Nov 1, 202517 min

The Colonial Department

Show overview

From the publisher

Latest Episodes

S8E9 White-Hot Heat: Climate and Culture in the Late 1800s

INTERVIEW: What was it like to commute in Manila 100 years ago?

S8E8 Pacific Sick Ships: Medicine Aboard the Galleons

S8E7 The Fractured Plateau: Bukidnon in World War II

INTERVIEW: Making a Magellan Comedy Manga

S8E6: After the Black Ships Departed

S8E5: Rajio Taisō; Or, How to Get Fit in a Time of War

INTERVIEW: Restoring historical markers with Project Panandito

S8E4: Edison’s Cameras, Manila’s Trenches

S8E3: Nobody Expects the Philippine Inquisition!

S8E2: Riding a Tram in 1911 Manila

S8 Ep 3INTERVIEW: Exploring the food history of the Philippines

S8 Ep 1S8E1: The Philippine Sour-chipelago

S7 Ep 28An important announcement about the future of The Colonial Dept.

S7 Ep 27INTERVIEW: Twin timelines, entangled histories

S7 Ep 26INTERVIEW: Sungka as a wargame?

S7 Ep 24S7E13: The War and the Weatherpriests

S7 Ep 22S7E12: Turbulent Times at Manila Bay

S7 Ep 20S7E11: Paint Me By Your Name

S7 Ep 18S7E10: Abaca World War