Dr. Xabier Fole Varela is an Assistant Professor of Spanish at Rockford University. He specializes in Contemporary Spanish literature, history, and cinema. His main research interests include national identity, presidential power, literary journalism, film spectatorship, and horror studies. He works on issues related to cultural production as a mode of community building and political confrontation. His research on national narratives arises from a broader, longstanding interest in the representations of intellectuals in the public sphere and the intersection between arts and ideology. Additionally, he worked as a scriptwriter and producer in television news and as a fact-checker for The New York Times. He has also been an instructor of Spanish, Hispanic Cinema, and Modern Spain at Georgetown University. He has published a wide range of book reviews and essays in several academic journals, newspapers, and magazines, such as Fronterad and ABC Cultural. He also writes a weekly column for Faro de Vigo.