Launched in 1947 by the Colombian government, Radio Sutatenza was a publicly broadcast radio school that educated peasants living in the mountainous regions of the capital city, Bogota. (Perhaps fearing a political peasant rebellion), the cultural arm of the Colombian government hoped Radio Sutatenza (la “escuela radiophonica”) could teach peasants how to read and write Spanish. Over the next 40 years, Radio Sutatenza taught peasants how to “vivir mejor”-- or, have a better life broadcasting hundreds of shows on literacy, hygiene, catholicism, western medicine, gender roles, and family planning among others to communities at the edges of so-called “civilization.” Used as a tool for nation building, Radio Sutatenza was considered a great success for transitioning Colombia and its people into the modern era. 

Jenni(f)fer Tamayo's work VIVIR MEJOR- a brief, poetic history of Radio Sutatenza is a lyric radio essay that questions and critiques the colonial project that undergirds the central mission of Radio Sutatenza. Interspersed throughout the broadcast are lyric reflections and sonic collages that depict Tamayo's family’s personal connections to the radio show. How might Radio Sutatenza and its mission to “vivir mejor” influenced their family’s emigration from Colombia in the early 1980s? What does it really mean to “have a better life” under empire and capitalism? And, how are memories of colonial transmissions held and transformed across generations? 

 Acknowledgements:
-Thank you Hernan Mendoza y Flora Sanchez for their reflections & words; and Nancy Mendoza & Jimmy Mendoza for their support in gathering interviews. 

 -Select audio from: Radio Pachone's "Radio Carta: Radio sutatenza;" Son[i]a #282 Zenaida Osorio; interview with Zenaida Osorio; Banco de la República de Colombia & Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango Radio Sutatenza archives on Radio Sutatenza. -Select Readings: Professor of Global Media Diego Mauricio Cortes' "Community Oriented Radio Stations and Indigenous Inclusion in Cauca, Colombia." 

 -Select songs: Alharaca Radio Feministas's "Vecinas: Músicas populares de Bogotá;" Julián Conrado's "Vengo del Indio;" Teófilo Torres's "himno de colombia;" Manuel de la Patagonia's "Cumbia de la Tierra;" El Cuarteto Imperial''s "El Guere Guere." 

 -Select recordings & samples: recordings collected from Wave Farm, including Zach Poff's "Pond Station" and Quintron's "Weather Warlock;" select audio from the television shows: Barney & Friends, Full House, & El Chapulin Colorado; Bad Bunny's "Titi me Pregunto;" National Institute of Aging's "What is Dementia?...; " and recordings collected from the land of the Yesah Confederacy.