Toad-ly Awesome: Bad Bunny's Halftime Show & the Puerto Rican Crested Toad

Join us as Coral and Natalie explore how Bad Bunny united the Americas through his historic halftime performance while shining a spotlight on an unlikely cultural icon: the Puerto Rican crested toad (known as coquí guajón or sapo concho). Bad Bunny features this endangered amphibian as a recurring symbol throughout his album DtMF (Debí Tirar Más Fotos), where animated versions of the toad appear in every song, transforming a threatened species into a powerful emblem of Puerto Rican identity and resistance. In an era when both Puerto Rican culture and ecosystems face mounting threats—from climate change to colonialism—this essential conversation celebrates how art, joy, and cultural pride become acts of resistance, and how one of the world's most prominent artists is using his platform to draw attention to a species on the brink of extinction.

A note from Coral and Natalie: After this episode, we'll be taking a break from our regular interview format as we focus our energy and efforts on producing an exciting short film project! Season two interviews will resume in the spring. You can find out more in the coming weeks leading up to Jane Goodall's birthday—stay tuned for the launch of our Seed and Spark crowdsourcing effort for our short film coming soon to you!

RAY OF HOPE:

In a time when Puerto Rico faces ongoing struggles with colonial status, economic exploitation, climate disasters, and threats to its biodiversity, Bad Bunny's celebration of the Puerto Rican crested toad in his music and halftime performance stands as a powerful ray of hope—demonstrating that global platforms can elevate local ecosystems, that joy and resistance are intertwined, and that cultural pride is inseparable from environmental stewardship.

This commitment to centering Puerto Rican identity and ecology represents hope because it shows us a pathway forward: artists using their massive platforms to spotlight endangered species, music creating emotional connections to ecosystems that desperately need protection, the recognition that resistance can be joyful and unifying rather than divisive, and a growing understanding that decolonization and ecological justice are interconnected struggles—ensuring that future generations inherit not just protected species but the cultural narratives that inspire us to fight for them.

FUN FACTS ABOUT THE PUERTO RICAN CRESTED TOAD:

The Rarest Toad in Puerto Rico: The Puerto Rican crested toad (Peltophryne lemur) is one of only two toad s