Brazilianisms: a podcast about Brazil: Recent Episodes
Kinsey
Andreh is an American married to a Brazilian. He lives in Brasilia and teaches English there. We discuss his experiences in Brazil, his thoughts on Brazilian customer service, and the current political situation. (Please note that this was recorded a few months ago, so his views on Dilma's impeachment are not based on current information.)
I chat with Zezinho about life in Rocinha, his favela tour company, the community center he's working on, and his cats. He's an old friend of the podcast. Last time we talked was back in episode 41.
Links:
- Favelatour.org — Zezinho's tour company
- Life in Rocinha — Zezinhos blog
- Spin Rocinha — Zezinho's DJ school
- Project Vida — the organization working to fund the community center (explanatory video)
- Zezinho's Contact Info: Facebook, Twitter, Email
Milton pops in to talk about his recent trip to Canada as well as his motorcycle trip adventures to some small towns in Brazil.
Coming out of a long hiatus, I talk about the 2014 World Cup, that was hosted in Brazil. Then I play clip of a neuroscientist's take on capoeira.
BRAZILIANISMS.COM
keywords: World Cup, Brazil, capoeira, podcast, soccer
Jake is an American musician with a love for all kinds of Brazilian music. He and his Forró band z'Bumba, create awesome authentic-sounding Brazilian music in Portland, Oregon.
Links:
- Batucada: the sound of the favelas and Bahia Black's Ritual Beating System were the two CDs that introduced Jake to Brazilian music.
- See a full two-hour rendition of Cavalo Marinho on YouTube.
- Read about the Rabeca Fiddle on Wikipedia.
- Listen to a previous interview with the hosts of the Caipirinha Appreciation Society podcast.
- Read about Forró on Wikipedia.
- Read about the Zabumba drum on Wikipedia.
- Watch a complete Baile do Menino Jesus, or check out an overview of the highlights.
- Jake recommended the book Hello, Hello Brazil.
- The two songs played during the podcast are Mousers of Moreland and Magalenha, which can be purchased digitally at cdbaby or on CD.
I chat with Mike again. When last we spoke in episode 69, he was in the U.S. planning to one day return to Brazil. Now he's living in São Paulo!
keywords: Brazil, travel, São Paulo, culture, interview
I chat with Kacie, an American who spent time in Joinville, Santa Catarina teaching English.
Transcript:
Recently, one Brazil's most renowned architects, Oscar Niemeyer, passed away. He died on December 5th, 2012, ten days before what would have been his 105th birthday. I learned of him on my very first visit to Brazil in the 80s when he was already an old man, and every time I returned to Brazil and saw him turn up in the news, I was always astonished to learn he was still alive. Now I'm just as surprised to hear of his passing.
He is most known as the great architect who designed the governmental buildings in Brazil's capital city of Brasilia under President Juscelino Kubitschek in the 1950s, as well helping to design the United Nations building in New York City. But back in the 40s when Kubitschek was the mayor of Belo Horizonte, Niemeyer was already known to him and was contracted by him to design buildings for a newly-created man-made lake in the Pampulha district of Belo Horizonte, the city where I now live. One of those buildings is the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi, which is today considered one of the most well-known icons of Belo Horizonte, as well as the most popular postcard image for visitors to that city.
But it wasn't always that way. Although construction of the church was completed in 1943, its unique architectural style was so reviled by the Catholic Church that it refused to consecrate it. In response to Niemeyer's remark that he had been was inspired by French Poet Paul Claudel's statement that "A church is God's hangar on earth," the archbishop of Belo Horizonte said it was more like the devil's bomb shelter and unfit for religious purposes. The church does, in fact, bear a striking resemblance to a miniature aircraft hangar, being the first architectural structure, besides actual hangars, to use a parabolic arch as a roof, making it radically different in appearance from traditional Catholic churches. The fact that Niemeyer was a professed atheist did nothing to help the situation.
The Church also took issue with some of the artwork, done by Brazilian Painter Cândido Portinari that was incorporated on both the exterior and interior of the building, such as this image, showing St. Francis with a dog. It is a reference to a story about him using the power of God to pacify a wolf that had been attacking villagers and their livestock. In gratitude, the people of the village agreed to feed and care for it, and it lived peacefully with them for many years thereafter until its death. It was a domesticated wolf, so the artist chose to portray it as a dog. Other images portrayal additional legends of St. Francis interacting with animals. Here he can be seen preaching to the birds. And here he is giving a sermon to the birds and the fish (although he appears to be stepping on one of the fish.)
The dog can be seen again on a large mural within the main part of the building. Smaller paintings signifying the Stations of the Cross hang at eye level on the cherry wood walls at either side. To the left is one of two confessionals. These were never used, since it was discovered after construction was completed that they do an excellent job of projecting the voice of a speaker within out to the entire room, making private conversations rather difficult.
Despite resistance by Church officials and an attempt by a later mayor to have the building demolished, it remained. As Niemeyer achieved greater fame for his architectural work in Brasilia, as well as the United Nations building in New York City, and as Portinari achieved ever greater recognition, eventually becoming one of the most renowned Brazilian painters, the artistic merit of the Church of Saint Francis became much harder to deny. In 1959, 16 years after construction, it was finally consecrated by Auxiliary Archbishop João Rezende Costa, who said, "Now we can feel the wonderful art created here in homage to the Creator."
Music:
--Meditation Impromptu 03 by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Photos:
--UN Complex: licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license from www.WorldIslandInfo.com
--Lake Panorama: licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license from Wikipedia user Andreborgeslopes
I chat with Rafucko, a Brazilian in Rio who blogs and produces YouTube videos in English about Brazil's social and political problems. (He also blogs and produces videos in Portuguese.) The tagline for his new show, entitled "Brazil Without Make-Up," is "An honest guide to my beautiful country. Unveiling Brazil's best kept secrets :)"
Links:
- White Couple's Black Child Kicked Out Of BMW Dealership In Brazil -- Forbes
- Renato Sorriso (the happy street sweeper) -- YouTube
- I pretended to be a garbage collector for 8 years and lived as an invisible being -- translated by Rafucko
- ‘Travelling with Nannies’ Proves Controversial in Brazil
- Brazil police order for indigenous eviction but squatters resist -- article about the possible forced eviction of the Indians living near Maracanã Stadium in Rio
Back in the 90s when I was a college student, Brazilian scholar Darcy Ribeiro visited Indiana University to give a lecture on his theories of race and culture in Latin America. (We discussed his ideas at length back in episode 15.) I attended his talk and recorded it with my trusty audio cassette recorder. The last time I was in the US, I managed to track down the tape and now offer it here as a digital download. This was recorded on September 19, 1992.
Highlights from Simone and Kinsey's Fourth Annual Road Trip in the US
You can also watch this video in full 720p on YouTube: http://youtu.be/YsdAhUYtL0U
As happened last year, I met up with Mark at DragonCon to record an episode. This time it was a success! Mark worked as a missionary in Rio Grande do Sul for two years in the late 90s. He talks about his experiences there, and then we chat about DragonCon.
I chat with Shelley from the blog Give us this day our daily mango. Shelley is an American who recently moved to Brazil with her husband and three children.
Milton stops by to chat about his childhood memories as well as his broken arm. Also, here's the China in Box commercial.
I chat with Kika and MdC Suingue from the Caipirinha Appreciation Society, an English language Brazilian music podcast.
Links:
- Rock Brasileiro: História em Imagens -- trailer for a documentary that Kika made about Brazilian Rock
- Os Irmãos Roberto -- trailer for a documentary that Kika made about Brazilian architects
- Passagem Para . . . -- a travel series that Kika worked on
- Kiko Dinucci -- a great up-and-coming musician recommended by MdC Suingue
- ½ dúzia de 3 ou 4 -- a great up-and-coming band recommended by MdCSuingue
Loren is an American married to Brazilian veterinarian Monike. I chat with them about how they met and the interesting misunderstandings and cultural differences they have encountered. Loren is learning Portuguese by reading Mônica comics and watching Zorra Total.
brazilianisms.com
Mike is an American who has visited Brazil three times over the past three years and hopes to eventually spend a year living there. He talks about his experiences (mostly in Rio) and why he considers Brazil his favorite place on earth.
Mike keeps up to date about Brazil on Twitter by following @10kjuan, @brazzil, @thebrazilbiz,@thebrazilshow, and of course @brazilianisms. He's currently reading The Masters and the Slaves by Gilberto Freyre. He has gotten to know and hang out with many cool Brazilians he met on CouchSurfing.
Mike blogs about Brazil at American Mind -- Espírito Brasileiro. You can also follow him on Twitter and friend him on Facebook.
I talk to 10kJuan, an Ecuadorian-Spanish-American from Queens, New York who currently resides in São Paulo.
Brandon revisits the show with an update on his experiences as his move to Brazil draws near.
We talk about some news stories and ideas for future show topics. Then we go off on a tangent and discuss Milton's crappy computer. This is a longer-than-usual episode, and for some reason the audio gets a bit crackly after 43 minutes. Sorry about that.
Links:
- Facebook Surpasses Orkut in Brazil
- Brazil's Plummeting Birthrate
- BRIC vs. BRICS
- Yet Another New Isolated Amazon Tribe
- 120-Year-Old Woman in Acre
Milton shaved off his beard! Besides feedback, we talk about Netflix in Brazil, the adorable Capivari currency, and people who can't tell time. Also, Brazil is one of the eight most complicated countries to visit.
This episode has been brought to you by the numbers 24, 171 and X9.
Highlights from Simone and Kinsey's Second Annual Road Trip in the US.
I know I put in quite a lot of Disney parade footage, but I really didn't have much other video from that trip.
I'm so late getting this posted that it's a bit out of date. I'm no longer preparing for a trip to the US but have actually been there and back. Still, the feedback is relevant.
We chat with listener Brandon in what is the longest episode of Brazilianisms to date. We couldn't stop talking. The conversation was just that good.
Milton discusses soccer in Brazil, and then we debate whether or not the traffic in Belo Horizonte has gotten worse over the years.
Milton tries to explain something about the curriculum where we teach English, and I become hopelessly confused. Don't expect to learn anything about Brazil in this slightly humorous mini episode.
This episode is mainly about my recent experiences being diagnosed and treated for kidney stones in Brazil. We also revisit the topic of green lasers being shot at airplanes, Milton tells about being nearly killed in a bicycle accident, and I talk about falling on some wet stairs.
I apologize for the ridiculous amount of background noises heard throughout the episode. Some crazy neighbor decided to hammer and use power tools as we were recording. Since opportunities to record with Milton are few and far between, I decided to go on with the show. In this episode, we compare healthcare in the US and Brazil. Then we discuss the Pirahã indians and their unique cultural and linguistic traits.
Milton is back! As always, it takes awhile to get back into the swing of things, but we muddle through.
Here at last is our long-awaited Brazilian music episode. I am by no means an expert on Brazilian music, but I hope that this sampling gives a general idea of the range of musical styles produced in Brazil. I would especially like to thank Israeli podcaster Guy David for making this episode possible. In Israel it is legal to include copyrighted music in a podcast with the only requirement being that it is properly sited. With that in mind, I asked Guy if he would mind hosting this episode in his Israeli podcasting account. He graciously agreed, and thanks to him, I am now able to share all these songs with my listeners. The links below take you to iTunes, where you download each individual song (assuming you are using the US iTunes store). If you want to see all the songs together, you can go to my iTunes playlist. Enjoy!
In this episode we're a bit more organized and actually manage to talk about Brazil. Milton insists on opening the window, so there's a lot of street noise in the background.
As happened last year, the first episode after I got back to Brazil is rather chaotic. We jump around a lot from topic to topic and somehow end up discussing the US more than Brazil. Also there's a lot of background noise from crinkly plastic bags. On the plus side, we're finally using a high-quality microphone.
Finally, here is the episode we recorded for the second year in a row at Dragon*Con's podcasting track.
Finally we come out with a new episode! This was recorded nearly six months ago, but it's still worth a listen, especially if you're a Milton fan.
Things get a little crazy as Milton and I enjoy the beer that Spanky brought us.
Word of the Day: Lúpulo
Spanky stays on. We talk about the Alta Vila Tower Mall, rock art in Gruta Rei do Mato (I gave the wrong name in the episode), and frustrating experiences with the Federal Police and at the airport. Also, I like Prawer chocolate.
Spanky drops by to record with us, bearing gifts. Meanwhile, a neighborhood dog barks and barks.
We took such a long hiatus that we forgot that our previous episode was already dedicated to feedback, so you get two feedback shows in a row!
I know this wasn't one of our stronger episodes, but don't give up on us quite yet. Next week's show has a special surprise guest.
We do a bit of feedback, speculate on Spanky, and talk about Milton's new motorcycle. Also, Milton is not gay.
(If anyone is having trouble accessing the site at www.brazilianismspodcast.com, you can also get to it through tvindy.typepad.com/brazilianisms .)
We interview Deejay Zezinho, whose company provides in-depth tours of Rocinha, Rio's largest favela.
George Hrab and Slau conduct a blind taste test at Dragon*Con to determine whether or not Brazilian oreos are in fact inferior to American ones.
This is our first recording after Simone's and my return from the US. Milton and I talk about the Brazilianisms live show at Dragon*Con and the road trip I took with Simone. Also, we finally have decent microphones. (Now if only Milton would learn to hold his properly.)
Milton and I talk about some unusual characteristics of Brazilian culture.
Website: http://www.brazilianismspodcast.com
Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Brazilianisms
Milton and I talk about Belo Horizonte, the city where we live. Be sure to visit the website for a complete list of links to just about everything we discuss: brazilianismspodcast.com
We're finally back. This is just a short mini-episode to get things started. The sound is very bad. Normally I'd just throw out the audio, but this is pretty short and is not something that could ever be recreated in a later episode. Future full-length episodes won't have stellar audio, but they'll definitely be better than this.
Finally we come out with a new episode! This was recorded back in December when I was still hoarse from my cold, so please excuse the rawness of my voice. Also, there's a break in the audio at the very beginning, but after that it's smooth sailing soundwise.
In this episode we basically talk about all the crap in Brazil and some of my frustrations living here. I sincerely hope this episode doesn't offend, as that was not our intent.
We tried to do a show about Brazilian holidays and ended up just talking about Christmas.
Website: http://www.brazilianismspodcast.com
Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Brazilianisms
In this episode we talk about some interesting Portuguese vocabulary and then move on to some of the major Brazilian news stories of the past several months.
Website: http://www.brazilianismspodcast.com
Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Brazilianisms
Prompted by a lively discussion in the comments, Milton and I discuss Rio and its favelas.
Milton has been pretty busy of late, so I tried doing a brief episode without him. Simone's cousin Fabíola takes his place.
We catch up on some of the feedback that's piled up in our absence.
Website: http://www.brazilianismspodcast.com
After a harrowing experience in the Toronto airport, I'm back in Brazil and ready to podcast. Milton's not so ready, but I finally convinced him to come over and record.
http://www.brazilianismspodcast.com
After a slight delay, we're back with a new episode. I, Milton and my brother Frank do a show from Abadiânia, where we went to see Brazilian healer John of God. (If only Milton had been cured of his insanely loud sniffles.)
Here are some highlights from my trip with Milton, showing a bit of Brasília and Abadiânia. We'll discuss the trip in detail in an upcoming episode.
Scotty J. stops by the show again, and we do an entire episode with him. Despite what we say at the beginning, this is actually episode 22 and not 21.
For our twentieth episode, I give Milton a tour of the Brazilianisms website and tell more amusing stories from my past in Brazil.
We got a lot of feedback from our series on race. Strangely, most of it was about electricity.
Bad sound quality strikes again. I think I've found the problem, so it won't happen again. (Of course, that's what I said last time.) In this episode, Milton and I talk a bit about the indigenous population of Brazil.
In the second part of our three-part look at race in Brazil, Milton and I continue our discussion on how blackness is regarded in Brazil and how it came to be that way.
This is the first of what will be at least a three-part series on race in Brazil. Unfortunately, gremlins once again attacked our sound equipment, and there seems to be no way to filter out the very annoying staticky crackle. Ordinarily, I wouldn't even publish this, but it's one of our best episodes. The next two race episodes (already recorded and without the crackle) really need the groundwork laid down in this one, so please give it a listen and accept my apologies. I'm taking measures to insure that nothing like this happens again.
I Skype Milton to talk about his recovery and tell a couple of amusing anecdotes about Simone's sister. This is clearly not our best episode, and if your main reason for listening is to learn about Brazil, you'll probably want to skip this one. Next week we get back into the swing of things with the first installment of a three-part (at least) series about race in Brazil.
Milton couldn't make it this week, so we don't have a regular episode. (We definitely will next week.) In the meantime, here's a short video showing the contents of my refrigerator.
In our unlucky 13th episode Milton and I go so far off-topic, that it's not even funny. (Well, actually I suppose it is.) To make matters worse, serious back pain has delayed me getting this out, and I didn't have a chance to record an intro, resulting in the episode beginning and ending rather abruptly. Next episode will be better. I promise.
http://www.brazilianismspodcast.com
The only thing between this episode and number 11 was a pizza. Ustream stopped working, so there's no video, but we managed to clear out a lot of feedback before getting distracted by old memories. There's still a bit remaining, though, and we'll finish it up next week on episode 13. Then we can get back to actual show topics.
http://www.brazilianismspodcast.com
Episode 11 was our first attempt at a live show. It is a collection of some of the more amusing visual moments. Since this is recorded from what we streamed overseas to Ustream, the quality is not ideal.
http://www.brazilianismspodcast.com
In Brazil there are no Easter baskets or dyed chicken eggs. Instead, people receive large hollow chocolate eggs with candy inside. This video features the egg I got for Simone.
http://www.brazilianismspodcast.com
Milton and I had a lot of fun with this episode, mostly because we did a live video feed on Ustream while we were recording. Unfortunately, all we got were lurkers, so our hopes for viewer feedback on listener feedback went unfulfilled. Still, I think this was one of our better shows, and I may someday edit together a few video clips to make a short movie.
http://www.brazilianismspodcast.com
This is the second episode of our three-part feedback extravaganza. After episode 11, we'll actually get back to having topics.
http://www.brazilianismspodcast.com
In this episode, Milton and I cover about a third of all the feedback we've accumulated over the past few weeks.
http://www.brazilianismspodcast.com
This promo was created for us by Danny and Ashley of Danny Does Duluth. Feel free to play it anywhere you like.
Website: http://www.braziliansismspodcast.com
Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Brazilianisms