Today we’re going to talk about Pedro I’s successor, his son, Pedro II. He will rule the Empire of Brazil for 58 years, until its demise in 1889—makin...

A brief update on the on-going corruption investigations and current political situation in Brazil. Thousands, sometimes millions of people have prote...

In this episode we explore the period from 1808 to 1831: how Brazil fared with the royal family in residence, the oblique path it took to independence...

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. A few years ago, Brazil was the darling of the BRICS countries: host of the World Cup and Olympics, 7% annual growth, ...

 Wars and revolutions wrack the Americas and Europe. Colonies are becoming nations and monarchies are falling. And it's all because of the French. (Ok...

The 18th century brings unforeseen prosperity to the Portuguese Empire and Brazil in particular. People, political power, economic power and attitudes...

We cover the rest of the 17th century in this episode. The Dutch recover from their initial failures to conquer Portugal's Atlantic colonies and conqu...

Three national holidays - Good Friday, Easter and Tiradentes - in one weekend? What craziness is this? Spend a few minutes learning about Easter in Br...

As I mentioned in the show, this doesn't cover nearly as much as I had naively planned when first setting the podcast up. I suspect this is a trend th...

A short, impromptu episode about Carnaval that grew longer than I intended. It covers the origins of the holiday and its history in Brazil including t...