From Havana to Yale: Carlos Eire on Cuba, Becoming an American—and Miracles | Peter Robinson | Uncommon Knowledge

In 1962 a bewildered little Cuban boy was sent to the United States by his parents to escape communism. Today that little boy is an esteemed historian, a chaired professor at Yale, and a best selling author. Carlos Eyre, on Uncommon Knowledge Now. Welcome to Uncommon Knowledge, recording today at Yale University. I'm Peter Robinson.

Born in Havana, Carlos Eyer moved to this country at age 11 as part of Operation Peter Pan, the program under which some 14,000 Cuban children were sent to the United States by their parents between 1960 and 1962 to escape the communist regime of Fidel Castro. Professor Eyre lived in a succession of temporary homes before settling in Chicago. Putting himself through school as a supermarket stockboy. and a hotel dishwasher, Professor Eyre earned his undergraduate degree at Loyola University in Chicago, then earned his doctorate here at Yale.

For almost 30 years now, Professor Eyre has taught here at Yale, where he is now the T. Lawrison Riggs Professor of History and Religious Studies. Professor Eyre is the author of more than half a dozen works of history and two volumes of memoirs, including this first volume of his memoirs, Waiting for Snow in Havana, and his second volume, Learning to Die in Miami. Carl Zier, thank you for joining us.

We already have this episode, so unlocking it is cheap and permanent: the full transcript (65 minutes, 8,471 words), segment and word-level timestamps, and .txt, .srt, .vtt and word-level JSON downloads, as many times as you like, forever.

No account needed, we create one from your checkout email. With credits it is 1 credit; packs start at 5 episodes for $3.49, and monthly plans are cheaper still.