Disaster Capitalism Makes Landfall in Puerto Rico
From Lawless Planet by Audible
March 30, 2026 · 41 min · Episode 38
About this episode
This episode discusses the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and the exploitation by disaster capitalists, featuring investigative insights from Carla Minet.
In 2017, Hurricane Maria, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded, battered the island of Puerto Rico. In the aftermath, big banks, crypto bros and other ‘disaster capitalists’ swooped in to take advantage of the crisis. No one realized the full scope of death and destruction until a scrappy team of journalists started to investigate. They exposed a corrupt system that continues to threaten Puerto Rico’s power grid, its people and the environment. Featured in this episode: Carla Minet Sources: The investigative journalism of Carla Minet and her team at the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo https://periodismoinvestigativo.com/ Naomi Klein’s book The Battle for Paradise: Puerto Rico Takes on the Disaster Capitalists and her Intercept article “There’s Nothing Natural About Puerto Rico’s Disaster” https://theintercept.com/2018/09/21/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-disaster-capitalism/ Yalixa Rivera and Jonathan Levin’s Bloomberg article “Can Crypto, Cannabis, and Nicolas Cage Boost Puerto Rico’s Economy?” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-10/can-crypto-cannabis-and-nicolas-cage-boost-puerto-rico-s-economy David Yaffe-Bellany and Laura N…
People in this episode
Guest: Carla Minet
Topics covered
- disaster capitalism
- Hurricane Maria
- Puerto Rico
- investigative journalism
- environmental impact
- corruption
Keywords
- Hurricane Maria
- disaster capitalism
- Puerto Rico
- investigative journalism
- corruption
- environmental impact
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Centro de Periodismo Investigativo, The Intercept, Bloomberg, New York Times
Books & works: The Battle for Paradise: Puerto Rico Takes on the Disaster Capitalists
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