You open TikTok, you scroll and scroll, and then you suddenly stop at something created by Edison Lopez.
It starts as something cute or funny. Maybe he’s waving a Puerto Rican flag. Maybe it’s the tiny squeak of a coquí frog. Him dancing salsa. That second you stop, you’re in for a surprise.
Because you’re about to get a history lesson from Señor Edison.
Lopez uses TikTok as a way to transform entertainment into education. His almost 900,000 followers learn how Puerto Rico’s iconic coquí frog became an invasive species in Hawaii. How our famous royal poincianas are invasive themselves. He even teaches us the right way to hang the Puerto Rican flag.
Lopez found a specific niche in viral entertainment. He teaches little bites of Caribbean history, wrapped up in sabor.
He’s still a student at Florida Atlantic University. His videos are mostly shot in his bedroom. But he takes viewers on journeys, with the promise of discovery.
On the July 24 episode of Sundial, Lopez tells us how studying film in college is connected to the content he films, and gets paid for, in his free time.
On Sundial's previous episode, artist Sri Prabha shared how his career as a clinical psychologist changed how he designs his installations.
Listen to Sundial Monday through Thursday on WLRN, 91.3 FM, live at 1 p.m., rebroadcast at 8 p.m. Missed a show? Find every episode of Sundial on your favorite podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Spotify.
