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

Lifting the lid on a Brazil divided by race

As anti-racist protests break out around the world, we pick apart at the deep racial divides in Brazilian society and take a look at our own heritage. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

Jun 10, 202019 min

Has the opposition to Jair Bolsonaro come to life?

Brazil saw anti-Bolsonaro protests this weekend. Does it mean that opposition to the far-right leader has finally come out of hibernation? Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

Jun 03, 202024 min

Bolsonaro's "miracle" cure for Covid-19

The world has abandoned chloroquine as a possible cure against the coronavirus. But Brazil's Bolsonaro is doubling down on his bet. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

May 27, 202022 min

The price of a human life

If Covid-19 is a war, then heads of state must choose the fighting lanes that will cause the least casualties. Which is best? Enacting a lockdown, or reopening the economy? These economists believe they know the answer. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

May 20, 202025 min

All the president's Covid tests

Jair Bolsonaro fought tooth and nail to keep his Covid-19 tests a secret. Johns Hopkins professor Filipe Campante explains what was at stake in this case. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

May 13, 202027 min

Why is support for Bolsonaro so resilient?

Links to paramilitary mafias, poor economic results, controversial cabinet firings … and a botched pandemic response. None of this has dented Jair Bolsonaro's core group of supporters. Until now. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

May 06, 202023 min

Moro puts Jair in the corner

Sergio Moro's resignation has left the Bolsonaro government in a delicate situation: it has lost its anti-corruption poster boy, and Moro's revelations could lead to a presidential indictment. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

Apr 29, 202028 min

Pandemic power plays in Brazil and the U.S.

While not a perfect nickname, Bolsonaro has often been referred to as the “Trump of the Tropics”, a comparison that he's always welcomed and fueled himself. And Covid-19 has made the two far-right leaders even more alike. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

Apr 22, 202025 min

Do Brazil's coronavirus numbers even mean anything?

Despite Brazil releasing updated figures on Covid-19 cases and deaths every day, inconsistencies in the data have left policymakers in the dark over the real spread of the virus. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

Apr 15, 202015 min

Shopping for a new Health Minister

Amid the worst pandemic in a lifetime, President Jair Bolsonaro has gone after his own Health minister, stopping just shy of sacking him. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

Apr 08, 202013 min

Brazil facing a job apocalypse

Brazil's employment rates will be decimated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

Apr 02, 202016 min

Brazil's public health enemy #1

While the world goes into self-isolation and governments pass stimulus packages to save their economies from collapse, the Brazilian president resists such moves, and wants "business as usual." Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

Mar 27, 202026 min

20 rough weeks ahead

Brazil has recorded its first Covid-19 death, and cases are growing exponentially. Authorities warn it will get much worse before it gets any better. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

Mar 18, 202013 min

Is recession inescapable?

The coronavirus outbreak is cooling off the global economy—but the Brazilian government resists the use of stimulus packages. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

Mar 11, 202026 min

Should Congress impeach Jair Bolsonaro?

By asking supporters to take to the streets and ask for the shutdown of Congress and "the end of the Supreme Court," Jair Bolsonaro may finally have gone too far. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

Mar 04, 202022 min

For Brazil, 5G can mean more than just fast internet

The implementation of 5G in Brazil still has many obstacles in its way, not least pressure from the country's two leading trading partners. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

Feb 26, 202019 min

Human rights abuses, powered by CIA technology

New revelations show the CIA sold encryption tools which allowed them to spy on South American dictatorships during some of the most brutal and deadly periods of the continent's recent history. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

Feb 19, 202025 min

Brazil’s climate crisis has already begun

Heavy rains and other extreme weather events have become the norm in Brazil, with much of the blame lying with climate change and poor urban planning. Read show notes. — https://brazilian.report/podcast/2020/02/12/explaining-brazil-podcast-95-brazil-climate-crisis-already-begun/ Send us your feedback Support the show

Feb 12, 202020 min

Bolsonaro, season 2 begins

The start of the legislative year kicks off the political calendar in 2020. And President Bolsonaro has plenty on his plate: pressing reforms, a Supreme Court vacancy, and much intrigue. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

Feb 05, 202025 min

Coronavirus: the real risks for Brazil

The risks of a coronavirus outbreak in Brazil are less substantial for the country's public health, and more for its struggling economy. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

Jan 29, 202018 min

PCC, Brazil's uber-powerful criminal brotherhood

The PCC has just staged a Hollywood-esque prison escape in the Brazil-Paraguay border. We explain how a union of prisoners founded by eight men has become Brazil's (and South America's) biggest drugs gang. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

Jan 22, 202027 min

Antarctica, Brazil's icy Amazon

Brazil is inaugurating a new research base in Antarctica. The country's top researcher in the field explains to us why the South Pole is as important for Brazil's climate as the Amazon rainforest. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

Jan 15, 202020 min

One year of Jair Bolsonaro, explained

Taking stock of the first 12 months of the Jair Bolsonaro government, we speak to two experts to break down what has gone right, and what has gone wrong. Guests: Carlos Goes (Ph.D. researcher at UCSD, formerly at IMF) and Claudio Couto (Fundação Getulio Vargas). Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

Dec 18, 201926 min

Some humans still own other humans

Slavery was abolished in Brazil in 1888, but there are still thousands of modern slaves working around the country. Guests: Camilla Costa (BBC), and Augusto de Arruda Botelho (Human Rights Watch). Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

Dec 11, 201920 min

Latin America's dangerous game

Recent crises in Latin America show how the Armed Forces remain key power brokers in the democratic game. But using the Army as a legitimizing force brings back old demons from Latin America's not-so-distant past—when most of the region was ruled by military dictatorships. And this puts civilian leaders in an immensely fragile position. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

Dec 04, 201924 min

Brazil's age of extreme politics

President Jair Bolsonaro has broken away and launched the only overtly far-right party in Brazilian politics. This week we look at the rise of extremism and polarization in Brazil's political arena. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

Nov 27, 201924 min

The turbulent path of Brazil's republic

The Brazilian Republic is 130 years old. The democratic dream remains not entirely fulfilled, but Brazil has made many strides. So we ask: what is the state of our union? Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

Nov 20, 201926 min

How Lula's story explains Brazil

Love him or hate him, there's one thing you can't take away from Brazilian former President Lula: his story epitomizes Brazil more than any other politician. Guest: André Pagliarini, a lecturer at Dartmouth College. Read show notes. — https://brazilian.report/videos/2019/11/18/explaining-brazil-85-how-lulas-story-explains-brazil/ Send us your feedback Support the show...

Nov 13, 201923 min

Can blockchain fix Brazil's bureaucracy?

Brazil is known for its mammoth bureaucratic system. But blockchain could help business in Latin America's top economy. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show

Nov 06, 201918 min

Latin America's veins are wide open

From Chile to Catalunya, Lebanon to Hong Kong … it seems like we're seeing protests erupt everywhere. But one region seems to have been hit harder than others by this massive wave of disgruntlement: Latin America. It seems that Latin America's veins are as wide open as they've ever been. Read show notes. — Send us your feedback Support the show...

Oct 30, 201924 min
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