Explaining Brazil

It is no wonder Brazilians call their tax authority the "Lion," due to its ferocious pursuit of tax dodgers. Guests: Fundação Getulio Vargas professors Linneu de Albuquerque Mello and Antonio Carlos Porto Gonçalves. Read show notes. —  Send us your feedback Support the show

Jair Bolsonaro has been ambivalent towards China, the Asian juggernaut that is—by far—Brazil's top trading partner. But that could change soon. Guests: Charles Tang (head of the Brazil-China Chamber of Commerce and Industry), and Mauricio Santoro (Head of the Department of International Relations at the State University of Rio de Janeiro). Read show notes. —  Send us your feedback Support the...

The Church's efforts to protect the Amazon and indigenous people led Brazil's intelligence agency to spy on Catholic priests. Guests: journalists Rubens Valente, Mauricio Savarese, Paula Schmitt (and voice-over of Alex Hochuli). Read show notes. —  Send us your feedback Support the show

After a year in jail, how does Lula still fit into the Brazilian political landscape? What does the future hold for him, or his Workers' Party—and for the Brazilian left? Read show notes. —  Send us your feedback Support the show

For decades, political elites and the military have tried to sweep Brazil's recent authoritarian past under the rug. It was a time in which kidnappings, torture, and rape became state policy. Now, Brazil's ultra-right wing is trying to rewrite history. Read show notes. —  Send us your feedback Support the show

After five years, Operation Car Wash's gravitational center has shifted from Curitiba to Rio, where investigators have opened up a sordid bottomless pit of corruption in that state. How will the anti-corruption probe look like moving forward? Read show notes. —  Send us your feedback Support the show

For the first time, we were able to witness the bromance between Jair Bolsonaro and Donald Trump on full display. Has the Brazilian president come out strong from his visit to Washington? Read show notes. —  Send us your feedback Support the show

Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman Marielle Franco was assassinated in March 2018. Investigations stalled and were filled with missteps by the police. One year later, though, a breakthrough appears to have happened. Read show notes. —  Send us your feedback Support the show

Carnival is such a focal point of the Brazilian calendar that often locals say nothing gets done in the new year until Ash Wednesday. But, in actual fact, a huge amount of work goes into producing Carnival, and that's what we are going to take a look at this week. Read show notes. — https://brazilian.report/podcast/2019/03/06/50-business-carnival-rio/ Send us your feedback Support the show

The Jair Bolsonaro administration has submitted a reform proposal of its own. And it is the most ambitious we've seen — or the harshest, depending on how you see it. Will his administration be able to succeed where so many others failed? Read show notes. —  Send us your feedback Support the show

In politics, we usually say a new head of state enjoys a sort of grace period of 100 days. Popular support is still fresh from the campaign, the opposition still doesn't have much ammo against the new administration, and there hasn't been enough time for internal disputes to create unsolvable problems for the government. But, boy, the start of the Jair Bolsonaro administration has been a...

In 2018, law enforcement agents in Rio de Janeiro admitted to killing over 1,400 people — mostly in drug-related incidents. That's more than the number for the entire USA. That cannot be considered a success by any standard. Read show notes. —  Send us your feedback Support the show

On February 4, Justice Minister Sergio Moro presented his first bill after taking office. His anticrime plan, as the set of proposals was called, includes several measures against organized crime. And, for the first time, it singles out urban militias as one of the targets of the state. It may seem ludicrous, but urban armed militias were once well-regarded in Rio de Janeiro. Many politicians defe...

On January 25, an iron tailings dam near the town of Brumadinho, in the Southeastern state of Minas Gerais, spilled the equivalent of at least 12 hundred Olympic-sized pools of mud onto the surrounding region. - How did this happen? - Who is to blame? - What will be the lasting environmental consequences? - And, most importantly, how can we prevent this from happening again? Read show notes. —  Se...

If you live in or have even been to São Paulo, it is likely that you’ve walked over a waterway without even noticing it. There are between 300 and 500 of them in Brazil’s biggest city, running through pipes extending from 1,500km to 4,000km. And the fate of the city’s main rivers doesn’t have a happy ending. They’ve become ugly and polluted – not at all fit for a São Paulo postcard. Read show note...

Imagine you are a Brazilian soybean producer located in the state of Mato Grosso, deep in midwestern Brazil, neighboring Bolivia. And you have clients waiting for your products in China. So, how do you get your soybeans to your Chinese customers? What would you say if I told you that the drive between your silos and Santos will be more expensive than the ship taking your grains all the way to the...

When he left office, Michel Temer's administration was evaluated as good or great by only 7 percent of Brazilians. 62 percent thought his government was either bad or terrible. While these are far from positive figures, they actually represent an improvement. At one point, only 3 percent approved Temer, while 73 percent didn't care for him. Was he as bad as most Brazilians seem to think?...

Reporter Raphael Ferreira was at the Ministries Esplanade and covered Jair Bolsonaro's inauguration up close for The Brazilian Report. Find out what it was like at the ceremony. Read show notes.  Send us your feedback Support the show

At the end of November, Brazil's Ministry of Health signed an agreement with leaders of the food and drink industry to reduce the amount of sugar in their products by 144 thousand tonnes by 2022. But is it enough? Read show notes.   Send us your feedback Support the show

To discuss the successes and shortcomings of the Brazilian version of the consumerism fest that is Black Friday, we spoke to Nilton Kleina, editor at Tecmundo, one of Brazil's main tech news websites. This week's podcast is supported by Voom, an Airbus company. Voom is an on-demand helicopter booking platform that allows its passengers to fly between nine different helipads in the city o...

One arena where racism is still apparent today is football, Brazil's national sport and so often a reflection of society as a whole. Despite the majority of players being non-white, they are often treated in stereotypes. While the white players of European origin are strong-willed leaders, black players are seen as tricky, inventive, but ultimately unintelligent and untrustworthy. Read show n...

Political turmoil seems to be the rule rather the exception in Brazil. In 2010 Lula became the only democratically elected president who was handed power by another democratically elected president, and who then passed the torch to a third consecutive democratically elected president - without any coups, deaths, impeachments, or resignations getting in the way. Read show notes.   Send us your feed...

To discuss the environmental challenges facing Brazil's soon-to-be president, we spoke with Gustavo Faleiros, coordinator of the organization Info Amazônia, a network of organizations and journalists which deliver updates from the nine countries of the Amazon rainforest. Read show notes.   Send us your feedback Support the show

President-elect Jair Bolsonaro's future administration has started to take shape. What will be the main issues that the president-elect will have to tackle? Read show notes.   Send us your feedback Support the show

Jair Bolsonaro will, on January 1st, become Brazil's 38th president. What does his victory mean? And how will his presidency be like? That's what Gustavo Ribeiro, Euan Marshall, and Alana Rizzo (Albright Stonebridge Group) debate. Read show notes.   Send us your feedback Support the show