Explaining Brazil

Carlos Nobre, head of the Planetary Science Pavilion at COP30 in the Amazon, talks to us about the conference’s results, the climate emergency we are living through, and what Brazil can still do.Send us your feedbackSupport the show

Five years ago, Brazil launched a public digital payment infrastructure — and its impact on the financial market and society has been immense.Send us your feedbackSupport the show

Over the past decade, Brazilian lawmakers have steadily built up procedures to expand their powers over the purse. That has included increasing the overall volume of congressional grants; making a large share of them mandatory spending; limiting the Executive’s discretion over when to release those funds, and creating ways to erase transparency and traceability from the process. A perfect recipe for corruption, which has now trickled down to state and municipal levels.But the Supreme Court has just ordered the three branches of government to run a nationwide awareness campaign — from December through March — to explain how congressional grants are executed. The idea: show the public where they can access information about these amendments, teach people how to track where the money goes, and encourage them to report irregularities or wrongdoing. Will that finally be enough?Send us your feedbackSupport the show

Each passing year, the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP) gains more urgency. More and more biomes around the world are approaching what scientists call tipping points — the Amazon chief among them. Hosting the 30th edition of COP in Belém, one of the Amazon’s biggest cities, therefore represents one of the most significant responsibilities Brazil’s diplomacy has taken on in recent times. This week, we are joined by experts with distinct and diverse backgrounds to discuss the climate challenges facing Brazil and the world ahead of COP30. They are:Adriana Ramos: Executive Secretary of the Socio-Environmental Institute, a civil society organization that monitors indigenous lands and other environmentally protected areas across Brazil, working both with governments and on the ground. She represented the Brazilian Forum of NGOs on the Amazon Fund Steering Committee from 2008 to 2013 and served on the Executive Board of the Brazilian Association of NGOs.Carlos Nobre: One of the world’s leading climatol

Justice Luís Roberto Barroso is retiring. We unpack how factors such as trust, political ties, and electoral considerations may guide President Lula’s next choice for the court. Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or on The Brazilian Report.Send us your feedbackSupport the show

President Lula’s popularity has risen. We examine how this might impact the political landscape ahead of the next presidential election. Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or on The Brazilian Report.Send us your feedbackSupport the show

Brazil’s Congress is discussing a proposal for income tax reform. Backed by the Lula administration, the bill seeks to make the country’s system more progressive. But just how unequal are taxes in Brazil? This week, we host economist Davi Bhering, who co-authored a Paris School of Economics study on Brazil’s tax income system. In our newly released episode of the Explaining Brazil podcast, he unpacks:  Why Brazil’s income inequality may be higher than previously estimated.How the Brazilian system’s regressivity compares to other countries.Why his findings may indicate that global inequality is higher than anticipated.Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or on The Brazilian Report.Send us your feedbackSupport the show

Crowds on Sunday fanned out across Brazil’s 27 state capitals to denounce two measures moving through Congress: a constitutional amendment proposal that would essentially shield lawmakers from prosecution, and a bill that could forgive or soften penalties for those convicted of a coup attempt masterminded by former President Jair Bolsonaro and his acolytes.The demonstrations, initially organized in a spontaneous, online fashion and later embraced by left-of-center parties, were notable not only for their scale but also for how they reframed Brazil’s political symbolism and fault lines.Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or on The Brazilian Report.Support the show

A massive police operation exposed how deep Brazil's largest criminal organization has penetrated the legitimate economy.Rafael Alcadipani, a professor at the FGV’s School of Public Administration and a member of the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety, unpacks: How the PCC evolved into a mafia-like organization, with multiple economic activities.The impacts of this expansion on democracy.Brazil’s federal and state-level capacity to combat organized crime.How the United States might play a role — and the risks. Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or on The Brazilian Report.Support the show

The Brazilian Supreme Court has reached a majority to convict former President Jair Bolsonaro of leading a conspiracy to overturn his 2022 electoral defeat. The trial is about to bring an end to a political career long marked by authoritarian views and practices. To review Bolsonaro's political path, the Explaining Brazil podcast invited journalist Juliana Dal Piva. She is the author of the book “O Negócio do Jair” (“The Business of Jair”), published in 2022 by Editora Zahar, and the host of the podcast series “A Vida Secreta de Jair” (“The Secret Life of Jair”), released in 2021 by the website UOL.Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts or on The Brazilian Report.Support the show

The final stage of Jair Bolsonaro’s coup trial kicked off on September 2 in Brasília. After months of evidence-gathering, arguments and testimonies, the justices are expected to deliver their ruling by September 12, in what is arguably the most consequential trial in Brazil’s recent history.At the center of the case are the riots that occurred on January 8, 2023. They looked eerily like January 6 in the United States — but worse: crowds stormed not only Congress, but also the presidential palace and the Supreme Court itself. But prosecutors say those riots were just the visible edge of something larger — a vast conspiracy to push the military into breaking democracy.So what happens now? How will the justices rule, and what will it mean for Brazil’s fragile democracy — and its powerful military? Our guest today is Davi Tangerino. He’s a criminal lawyer and a professor at State University of Rio de Janeiro. Tangerino also served on Brazil’s National Council for Criminal and Penitentiary Policy, and helped lead

At a time when US President Donald Trump is pressuring Brazil on both trade and military fronts, the country’s digital vulnerabilities have come into focus. The notion of sovereignty now extends beyond borders to the infrastructure, systems and data that underpin the digital world.How prepared is Brazil to secure its digital sovereignty?Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts or on The Brazilian Report.Support the show

A political drama has unfolded inside Congress. It started with a show of force: after former President Jair Bolsonaro was placed on house arrest, lawmakers loyal to him occupied both chambers, bringing the legislature to a halt. But beneath the theatrics, something more profound is unraveling — a leadership crisis. Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts or on The Brazilian Report.Support the show

In this edition of #InsiderTalks, we’ve invited experts on law, democracy and electoral trends to analyze the trial of Bolsonaro and his allies for an alleged coup plot. Subscribe to Explaining Brazil Plus on Apple Podcasts for the full episode or go to The Brazilian Report and subscribe to get all of our content.Support the show

Professor Felipe Campante of Johns Hopkins sees little room for success in negotiations between Brazil and the US, as only the former is following the rule of law. Subscribe to Explaining Brazil Plus on Apple Podcasts for the full episode or go to The Brazilian Report and subscribe to get all of our content. Support the show

In this episode of Explaining Brazil Plus, we analyzed Donald Trump’s threat of a 50% tariff on Brazil and its possible impacts on the country's economy and politics. Subscribe to Explaining Brazil Plus on Apple Podcasts for the full episode or go to The Brazilian Report and subscribe to get all of our content. Support the show

A major social security scandal causes a government headache. Brazil’s beef sector needs major changes to hit emissions goals. And Lula is off to Rome for the pope’s funeral, but who’s going with him?Support the show

In this Explaining Brazil Plus episode, Lise Tupiassu of the Federal University of Pará gives us her on-the-ground perspective on what should be in the spotlight regarding COP30 in the AmazonSupport the show

Rio’s mayor looks to El Salvador for inspiration on public security. Brazil’s agro jobs are less and less done on farms. And Bolsonaro goes under the knife again in a 12-hour surgery.Support the show

Trump and the US become less popular in Brazil. Embraer wades into the aerial arms race. And the pro-gun caucus wants to take firearms away from Lula’s security teamSupport the show