Explaining Brazil

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. — Support the show

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. — Support the show

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. — Support the show

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. — Support the show

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. — Support the show

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. — Support the show

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. — Support the show

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

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. — Support the show

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. — Support the show

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

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. — Support the show

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. — Support the show

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. — Support the show

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/Support the show

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. — Support the show

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. — Support the show

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. — Support the show

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. — Support the show

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. — Support the show