Society & Culture

Learning from Brazil

by Kurt Shaw

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Latest episodes

The Night of Iemanjá

October 15, 2026 · 12 min

In early February, the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood where I live in the south of Brazil, was transformed by thousands of people walking down the main shopping street until it opened onto the beach. Many sang in Yoruba, the Nigerian…
Elections in Brazil: History, polarization, and the far right

October 8, 2026 · 26 min

Last Sunday, we had elections here in Brazil. In spite of the fact that day-to-day life is better than it ever has been -- the lowest unemployment ever, reduced poverty, growing GDP, improving environmental conditions -- the far right…
History Hidden in a Toy

September 24, 2026 · 26 min

In the South of the island of Santa Catarina, nestled between steep hills and the blue bay, twenty small children prepared a performance for their parents and grandparents. Heads and torsos appeared above colorful costumes made of…
Learning to play and to live with little kids

September 15, 2026 · 26 min

When we look beyond the idea that the goal of the game is to win, we see that the game transforms the player; the relationship with the “opponent” transforms the player. When an escola de samba performs or during the Kuarup in Xingu, we…
Joy is not a limited resource

September 3, 2026 · 20 min

“When we play the drums and dance, my happiness grows together with yours,” says Ciany Castro, leader of a Tambor de Crioula. Unlike a material good — a pie, a chocolate bar, the stock of a corporation — joy is not a fixed, limited…

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Listening to Nature

August 26, 2026 · 7 min

With this podcast, I’ve been trying to show that Brazilian popular culture has much to teach the world. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned from indigenous people is to sit and listen to the nature around me. This morning, Rita…
The art of play

August 18, 2026 · 26 min

Everything in our culture is a type of art. A song is art for us. Dancing is art. A prayer is art. From the moment you start smoking the ritual pipe to speak with the deities, making that connection with Nhanderu—that's art. Body…
Music is a transpersonal feeling

August 11, 2026 · 28 min

The idea that politics is really about creating and defining enemies — and that identity only emerges from hate — is not inevitable. In this episode of Learning from Brazil, we look at how some children and indigenous thinkers show other…
Learning from Conflict in the Amazon and in Medellín

August 3, 2026 · 18 min

Conflict is inevitable. We live in a world of diverse interests, ideas, and perspectives. An unequal world, and unjust world. If you try to resolve a conflict, you’re saying that it is, somehow, false. That the situation where we live…
Making identity out of circles: afro-Brazilian ideas of being yourself

July 9, 2026 · 23 min

This circle, expressed in thought, story, and cultural practice, offers one Brazilian — and particularly afro-Brazilian — way to think outside of the logic of opposition and polarization. This strength of identity can come from the center…
What can Brazilian football teach us about political rage?

July 3, 2026 · 35 min

In the United States and Europe, identity construction based on opposition is often called “tribal,” with little self consciousness of the racist implication of the word. In Brazil, one is more likely to hear a phrase like, “the eternal…
Why do we need to learn from Brazil?

June 24, 2026 · 12 min

What can we learn form Brazil? Why should we listen to insights from a country where politics is an messed up as it is in the United States and Europe? Indigenous and afro-Brazilian thinkers can offer new insights about why people all…

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About the show

Over the last 35 years of living in South America, I’ve seen how people all over the continent — but especially people of indigenous and African descent — can turn the way we think upside down and challenge us to a life that’s about flourishing and joy… and not so much about stuff. Learning form Brazil uses the insights from one of the most extraordinary places on Earth as a way to make life better for everyone.