Was he a Mexican Robin Hood or a ruthless warlord? In this episode of pplpod, we track the explosive life of José Doroteo Arango Arámbula, better known to the world as Pancho Villa,. Born into poverty as a sharecropper, Villa transformed from a local bandit into the commander of the feared División del Norte, becoming a decisive force in ousting the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz,,.

We explore Villa’s complex legacy, including his brief, radical tenure as the provisional Governor of Chihuahua, where he seized hacienda land and printed his own currency to fund the revolution,. We also dive into the international incident that made him a household name in the United States: his 1916 raid on Columbus, New Mexico, which provoked a massive, futile manhunt led by U.S. General John Pershing,,.

Finally, we di ...