Episode 5: Future Topics

Possible Future Topics:

• soccer
• television
• history
• the household
• pets
• current events
• race
• girls
• flora and fauna
• geographical regions
• education
• careers
• economy
• culture
• means of transportation
• religion

Links:

• The World's Most-Delayed Airports
• The Collor Plan

Feedback:

• Scotty J.

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Comments

[Dan On Tap]

You guys had answered my previous question perfectly. Social dynamics affect everything. I think you guys should do an "almanac"/history of Brazil ep next, injecting the facts with any commentary you feel is appropriate.

[Kinsey]

Dan,

I'm glad we gave helpful answers to your question. We really fumbled for useful examples of how US culture has influenced Brazil.

The problem with a history episode is that Brazil has over 500 years (not counting Pre-Colombian times) of extremely eventful and interesting history, probably enough for ten episodes. The trick will be finding a way to divide it up.

[Dan On Tap]

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/02/flags-of-the-wo.html

Andrew Sullivan posted this on his blog. I know it's politics/economics based, but I just thought I'd throw it out there. Not that the US is anyone to talk.

[Kinsey]

Dan,

Thank you for the link. Andrew Sullivan posted the image on his blog without any context. Apparently, it was created by a Brazilian journalist in Portugal and refers to the world as a whole, not just Brazil. There is a huge amount of poverty here in Brazil, but the exchange rate against the dollar is not nearly so bad as in many other third-world countries. In Brazil, minimum wage is about $217 per month. Of course, not everyone has a job, and there is a lot of exploitation.

[Zebulon]

You ask for topics from listeners:

The Portuguese were the last to abandon slavery in the Americas, in 1888. The population of Brazil is mostly made up of intermarried people from native, African and Portuguese backgrounds. Do Brazilians now see Portugal as a mother country? Or is it more like Africa, where some countries revile their former colonisers? Or do they see the Old World as old-fashioned, as I believe some Argentinians regard Spain? Or somewhere in between?

Have you tried chewing sugar cane? Is it as nice as it sounds?

On the origin of the name 'Brazil':
When Portuguese explorers first found valuable trees with a deep red wood on the coast of South America, they used the name pau-brasil to describe them. Pau is Portuguese for wood, and brasil is said to have come from brasa, Portuguese for ember.

[Kinsey]

Zebulon,

Your first paragraph really merits an entire show, perhaps more than that. We will definitely cover all of this in depth in some future episode. The short answer is that Brazil is like Argentina. Brazilians view Portugal as a tiny country in Europe with a very small economy (compared to Brazil) whose only notable characteristic is that they talk funny. For the long answer, see this book.

I've tried sugar cane in both Africa and South America. For some reason, it tasted much better in Africa. It is pleasant to chew and suck it. Most Brazilians like to first extract the juice and then drink it from a cup.

[spanky]

Brazilians also find Portugal to be foder for some pretty good jokes.

spnki

[Kinsey]

spanky,

Yep. They're Brazil's version of Polack (or moron) jokes.

[zoe]

Kinsey and Dan On Tap, the image is out of context, but a little knowledge about brazil geopolithics gives the image a context.
In Brasil: 70% are miserable; 25% low middle class; 4,5% middle class; 0,5% are rich.

Kinsey, in the schools we are taught that the portugueses are our mother country. This don't mean that we love portugueses, we just respect they as the one that killed indios, explored the country before others countries, and exploited our resources. You will not find anyone that wants to be considered portuguese if he doesn't have direct portuguese relatives.
There is some new laws(some of 2001, but all newer) that oblidge the schools to explain the cultural influence of the african people that como as slaves here. Racism and discrimination towards negros(blacks) are a constant. The concentration of negros is diferent from region to region.
Portugueses are always target for jokes. like any foreign, but more than any other.
Chewing Sugar Cane is good, but no one do it everyday.

[Kinsey]

Hi Zoe,

Yes, it's interesting that Brazilians still see Portugal in terms of colonialism. The US long ago ceased to view Britain that way, but I think a big part of the change had to do with the fact that we were allies in WWII.