Explaining Brazil - podcast cover

Explaining Brazil

The Brazilian Reportbrazilian.report

News from Brazil, by The Brazilian Report — an independent media outlet uniquely positioned to offer an insider’s view of current affairs in Brazil.

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Episodes

Green and yellow (nuclear) submarine

Back in 2008, Brazil formulated its National Defense Strategy, selecting the construction of a nuclear submarine as one of its priorities. To find out more about this mission, we spoke to Anne Bianchi, who oversees the construction of Brazil's first nuclear submarine. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

Oct 23, 201922 min

Oil, Brazil's underwater treasure

In just a couple of weeks, Brazil will hold the largest oil auction in its history. This week, we look back at how the country rose to become a key player in offshore drilling. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

Oct 16, 201921 min

Odebrecht's Peruvian wrecking ball

The Brazilian construction group admitted to paying USD 29 million in bribes over a decade in Peru. And it has caused the downfall of four former presidents—and potentially a fifth. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

Oct 02, 201917 min

Bolsonaro flips off the world

With references to God, socialism, and gender issues—not to mention skirting the blame for Amazon deforestation—Jair Bolsonaro's speech at the United Nations General Assembly made people all over the world cringe. Read show notes. — https://brazilian.report/videos/2019/09/25/explaining-brazil-podcast-79-bolsonaro-flips-off-the-world/ Send us your feedback Support the show...

Sep 25, 201922 min

How will Amazon Inc disrupt Brazilian retail?

The world's largest retailer has just improved its position in Brazil. What will be the impact on local players? Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

Sep 18, 201917 min

Rio's war on a gay kiss

Rio de Janeiro Mayor Marcelo Crivella is staged a homophobic crusade against an Avenger comic. It is part of a calculated move to get him re-elected. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

Sep 11, 201922 min

How Napoleon invented Brazil

Brazil celebrates its independence day on September 7. This week, we explain how former French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was influential to this process. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

Sep 04, 201921 min

WhatsApp-induced fires

Ranchers in Northern Brazil used WhatsApp to coordinate massive—and simultaneous—Amazon fires. The worst part? The government knew beforehand. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

Aug 28, 201919 min

Brazil's role on the global stage

Brazil has hit the headlines worldwide thanks to Jair Bolsonaro's inflammatory statements and lack of environmental policy, but there are deeper origins to Brazil's image problem abroad. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

Aug 21, 201927 min

Is Brazil capable of protecting the Amazon on its own?

A Harvard professor believes that international powers could start pressuring (and even threatening) Brazil due to its environmental shortfalls. Guest: Stephen M. Walt, professor of international affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

Aug 14, 201922 min

Can Brazil approve a tax reform?

After six months of constant power struggles with the government, what can we expect from Congress in the second half of 2019? Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

Aug 07, 201922 min

How Brazil's prisons became war zones

Since the turn of the year of 2016 to 2017, over 200 inmates were killed within government-run prisons. In other countries, this would spark outrage, protests, and public disgust. Not in Brazil, a country where more and more people believe that the only good criminals are dead criminals. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

Jul 31, 201922 min

In Brazil, new terms and conditions will apply

Brazils new data protection law will only come into force next year, but businesses should already start adapting to the new rules. The burden is expected to fall harder on small companies... and penalties can be quite hefty. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

Jul 24, 201918 min

Why Argentina's presidential election matters to Brazil

On October 27, Argentinians are heading to the polls to choose who will lead their nation for the next four years. And, based on what we have seen so far, the race to the Casa Rosada will be extremely hard-fought and polarized. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

Jul 17, 201920 min

Discovering Rio's Little Africa

Political scientist Maurício Santoro takes The Brazilian Report to discover Little Africa, the center of black resistance in Rio authorities tried to bury. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

Jul 10, 201926 min

The Mercosur-EU trade deal, explained

Economist Monica de Bolle (Johns Hopkins University) talks to The Brazilian Report, breaking down the blockbuster deal between Europe and South America's biggest economies. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

Jul 03, 201924 min

Being LGBT in Bolsonaro's Brazil

Brazil has elected an open and proud homophobe as president. As São Paulo hosted its first Pride Parade under his government, we take a look at what it means to be gay in Bolsonaro's Brazil. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

Jun 26, 201918 min

Faith is a profitable business in Brazil

A look into the billion-dollar gospel market. With sociologist Paul Freston and journalist Amin Guedara. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

Jun 19, 201925 min

You can't spell Car Wash without leaks

Operation Car Wash's weapon of choice has been used against its members. Thousands of messages exchanged between prosecutors and Sergio Moro—who is now Jair Bolsonaro's Minister of Justice—cast doubt on the legality of several convictions. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

Jun 12, 201927 min

Earth v. Bolsonaro

After five months of squabbles with Congress, President Jair Bolsonaro wanted to show his political strength. A massive crowd would corner lawmakers into bending to his will. A flop, however, could spell the ruin of his administration. Before Mr. Bolsonaro, Brazil wasn't exactly a perfect example of how to protect the rainforest. Now, it is on its way to becoming one of the world's biggest cautionary tales. Today is World Environment Day, but does Brazil have anything to celebrate? Read show not...

Jun 05, 201923 min

How to make a bad political climate worse

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's recent call to arms is a strategic bet on polarization. The pro-Bolsonaro protests gave him breathing room—but for how long? Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

May 29, 201925 min

Brazil's census controversy

The Brazilian government has suggested reducing the number of questions in the 2020 Census as a way of cutting public spending. Will this compromise the results? Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

May 22, 201920 min

Is privatization the answer for Brazil's economy?

Brazil has 138 federally-owned companies—and the government wants to privatize every single one of them. But only 17% of Brazilians support the idea. Guests: Sandro Cabral, head of the Master's Degree in Public Policies at São Paulo's Insper Business School; and former Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

May 15, 201920 min

The business of Brazilian football

Deemed the country's "national sport," Brazilian football remains amateur on the business side of it—which interferes with on-the-pitch action. Guest: Fernando Monteiro, managing director and partner in L.E.K. Consulting’s São Paulo office. He produced a study on Brazilian club's financial woes. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

May 08, 201922 min

A look into Brazil's super-complex tax system

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

May 02, 201919 min

How should Brazil deal with China?

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 show...

Apr 24, 201922 min

Why is the Brazil spying on Catholic priests?

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...

Apr 17, 201918 min

After 1 year in jail, what will become of Lula

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

Apr 10, 201920 min

How Brazil deals with its past of torture and repression

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...

Apr 03, 201921 min

The new face of Brazil's Operation Car Wash

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...

Mar 27, 201920 min
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