Podcast Summary

Podcast: New Books Network – “This is the Place” series
Episode: Cush Rodríguez Moz, “Future Remains” (The Common Magazine, Fall 2025)
Host: Emily Everett
Guest: Cush Rodríguez Moz
Date: January 30, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode features host Emily Everett in conversation with journalist, writer, and photographer Cush Rodríguez Moz about his essay “Future Remains: The Mysterious Allure of a Town in Ruins,” published in The Common Magazine (Issue 30). The discussion centers on the haunting ruins of Villa Epecuén, Argentina, exploring historical, environmental, personal, and philosophical dimensions of disaster, memory, and the fascination with ruins.

1. Setting the Scene

• Location: Rodríguez Moz speaks from Madrid, specifically from the basement of Espaciolade—a cooperative cafe/bookstore for journalists.
• Atmosphere: Surrounded by nonfiction books and coffee, setting an environment that mirrors the reflective and investigative nature of the discussion.
• (02:16)

“I am in the basement of Espaciolade, which is a cafe bookstore that forms part of a cooperative of journalists to which I belong. …above me, this Nonfiction Books Only and Coffee.”
— Cush Rodríguez Moz

2. Essay Introduction & Reading

Rodríguez Moz reads the opening of “Future Remains,” immersing listeners in Villa Epecuén—a once-thriving lakeside Argentine tourist town, submerged in a catastrophic flood, later reemerging as a strange, salt-rusted landscape and a modern ruin.
(02:49–05:01)

“The vintage record players boast a thick icing of sodium chloride and iron oxide, the granularity of which almost perfectly emulates the breading of a recently fried chicken finger. …Today, visitors keep coming, but they no longer bathe in the lake. Rather, they bask in the ruins.”
— Cush Rodríguez Moz, essay excerpt

3. Key Discussion Points

A. The Story of Villa Epecuén

(05:11–09:58)

• History: Founded in the 1920s during Argentina’s “golden age” as a spa resort for the elite, later becoming more accessible to the working class.
• Disaster: In 1985, Lake Epecuén’s waters rose 15–20 feet, submerging and destroying the town; only 800 permanent residents, with 25,000 annual visitors, all forced to leave.
• Legacy: Ruins now attract as many tourists as before the flood, but for a very different experience: “We find this allure in ruins and sort of observing the destroyed past, even when it’s not that far in the past.” (08:14)

B. Ruins and the Allure of Destruction

• Comparison to Pompeii: The draw isn’t only the ancient, but also the recently catastrophic—ruins as windows onto collective and personal histories.
• Personal Layer: Rodríguez Moz visited Epecuén while recovering from a leg injury, paralleling his own “brokenness” with the broken landscape.

“It was sort of interesting to visit a. A broken place when I too myself was… feeling a little bit broken. So it made for an interesting way to experience, I guess, that little spot along the map.”
— Cush Rodríguez Moz (05:33)

C. From Travelogue to Personal Essay

(11:11–17:18)

• Genesis: Inspired by both academic curiosity (as a geography student) and personal interest in ruins; first learned about Epecuén via a music video.
• Writing Process: Original draft was a conventional, externally-focused travel chronicle; editor at The Common, Sam Spratford, encouraged more personal reflection.
• Personal Shift: Integrating his own experience into the essay gave the piece greater creative depth and resonance.

“Introducing this personal element really gives a lot more dimension and even perhaps validity to a piece that highlights a trip. …The spatial dimension becomes a door that opens up and allows you to expand the piece a lot more.”
— Cush Rodríguez Moz (16:05)

D. Writing for International Audiences

(19:30–22:58)

• Complexities of Argentina: Rodríguez Moz is deliberate in contextualizing Argentine history and politics for readers who may not be familiar.
• Tone: Strives for informed criticism without being overly pessimistic or oversimplifying, mindful not to paint a negative or reductive picture.
• Criticism as Care: He argues that “criticism can be in a certain way, in a certain context, a sign of affection.” (21:10)

E. The Photographs: Haunting Impressions

(22:58–28:57)

• Process: The photos accompanying the essay were shot on expired 35mm film with an old, faulty camera—producing haunting, imperfect effects.
• Content: Images feature decayed trees, ruined mausoleums, and the eerily petrified cemetery—visually echoing the surreal transformation of the town.
• Notable Detail: The tops of mausoleums broken off by townspeople after coffins began floating during the flood—a vivid, unsettling story behind the images.

“I think some of the film I used was actually past its expiration date. So the colors are bizarre… this combination of all these imperfect factors produced a handful of images that I think, luckily, accompany the piece quite well.”
— Cush Rodríguez Moz (24:11)

F. Themes That Endure in His Work

(29:37–31:29)

• Environmental Journalism: Currently focuses on environmental investigations due to the availability of grants and deep interest in place.
• Ruins as a Throughline: Continues to return to abandoned or destroyed places—currently working on a piece about Gibellina, a Sicilian town ruined by earthquake and memorialized through land art.

G. Ruins, Memory, and Palimpsest

(31:29–34:13)

• Philosophy of Ruins: Discusses other sites (e.g., Lisbon’s ruined cathedral) and the palpable intimacy ruins give us with the past.
• Palimpsest: Ruins as layered spaces where time is felt tangibly—in the act of “writing and erasing and writing over again.”

“When you come into contact with ruins… it’s a way of feeling time, but in a spatial way, I guess, that I find kind of enticing.”
— Cush Rodríguez Moz (32:47)

H. Contemporary South American Politics

(34:13–39:20)

• Venezuela’s Regime Change: Reflects on recent events, regional instability, and the pattern of foreign intervention in Latin America.
• Perspective: Laments that democracy is so weakened that intervention becomes the only way to remove despots, and the dangerous precedent this sets.

“I think it definitely injects a very high level of instability to a region sort of already unstable politically and economically. …Authoritarianism seems to be the only thing that’s really shaking things up.”
— Cush Rodríguez Moz (34:37, 38:38)

4. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Ruins and Emotional Connection:

  “You can walk into homes and just, you know, access space. …Because of its abandonment, it’s a lot more open, I suppose.”
  (09:15)

• On Bringing the Personal to Journalism:

  “It definitely took me some time going back and forth…to find, how would you say, sort of destroy a little bit from maybe my, you know, reporter voice, but not too far and narrate…maybe a little more of opinion.”
  (18:46)

• On Argentina’s Fluctuating Fortunes:

  “Argentina is a wonderful place. I love it very much. It’s a beautiful place. …But it can be tricky. I think we’re in an era where audiences…there’s a version. Maybe the gut instinct isn’t to take the time to sort of unravel the complexity…”
  (20:39)

• On the Cemetery in Epecuén:

  “They destroyed the tops of the coffins. It bothered them to see them floating above the surface of the lake. So then eventually all the water went away. So you go back and you just have these empty tombs that have been destroyed. It’s also quite eerie.”
  (27:05)

• On Criticism as a Sign of Care:

  “Usually if you don’t care about something, if you’re indifferent, you don’t take the time and energy and effort to formulate informed or original or crafted criticism.”
  (21:10)

5. Looking Forward: Current & Future Projects

• New Work: Rodríguez Moz is working on a piece about Gibellina, Sicily, incorporating lessons from the Epecuén essay about blending personal narrative with reportage.
• Language: While he primarily writes in Spanish, he occasionally drafts in English; initial versions of “Future Remains” were in Spanish.

“Having worked on this piece for the Common with Sam, I’m sort of questioning what is the level of personal narrative I want to inject here. …Veering a little bit towards that essay format… Might be a good decision to tweak it.”
— Cush Rodríguez Moz (39:31)

6. Closing Thoughts

Emily Everett concludes by praising the essay and encouraging listeners to read “Future Remains” and view its haunting photographs in The Common (online or print).

Recommended Listening Timestamps

• Essay Reading: 02:49–05:01
• History & Impact of Epecuén: 05:11–09:58
• Process: From Travelogue to Personal Essay: 11:11–17:18
• Photos & Haunting Details: 22:58–28:57
• Philosophy of Ruins: 31:29–34:13
• On South American Politics: 34:13–39:20
• Future Work: 39:31–41:45

For full impact, read the essay and view the accompanying photographs at thecommononline.org.