Street Syntax
Funk on Trial: Brazil’s War Against Its Own Soundtrack
Politicians want to criminalize baile funk. Young Black artists say it’s not just about music—it’s about erasing an entire culture.
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Sonic Cartographies
Liniker Against the Noise: Brazil’s Black Trans Siren Shreds the Rules
She sings about love, but in Brazil love is political shrapnel — and Liniker’s voice makes the system bleed.
Diaspora Aesthetics
From Quilombo to the Stage: Lorena Pires is Breaking Opera Wide Open
A Black Brazilian voice just hacked the Paris Opera, and the canon will never sound the same.
Sonic Cartographies
OUT.FEST 2025: Earplugs Optional, Ego Death Guaranteed
From minimal electronics to extended bass lines, expect moments of stillness where music breathes, lingers, and reshapes time.
Street Syntax
From Brasília to the Amazon, the Coup Crowd Runs With the Cartel
Congress wants to pardon “innocent patriots.” But inside the mob were men taking orders from Brazil’s biggest criminal faction.
Ancestral Echoes
Against the Museum Glass: Why Indigenous Culture Defies Patrimonialism
For Ailton Krenak and a new generation of Indigenous artists, culture is not an object to preserve but a living force in constant motion.
Street Syntax
SpaceX Cocaine: Elon Musk’s Most On-Brand Launch Yet
When SpaceX joins Gucci, Ronaldo, and Hello Kitty in the narco-branding hall of fame, satire writes itself.
System Hacks
Whindersson vs. Brasília: Who Really Helps the People?
From donating oxygen in Manaus to raising funds for Indigenous communities, Whindersson Nunes embodies an inversion of roles: the clown gives life while the politician plays games.
Sonic Cartographies
How Gaby Amarantos and Pink Boto Are Making the Amazon's Wildest Genre Into Fashion
The Brazilian superstar just dropped a 22-minute fever dream that's part album, part film, part manifesto—and it comes with its own jersey.
Random Urgencies
Brazil’s Biggest Bank, Your Smallest Move: The Rise of Algorithmic Firing
When Brazil’s biggest bank posts record profits but sacks staff for “idle screens,” what does productivity even mean?
Random Urgencies
Jail is justice — but Brazil’s far right is far from finished.
To uproot Bolsonarismo, the left must dismantle the conditions that allowed authoritarianism to flourish.
Sonic Cartographies
Beyond the Tourist Snapshot: Bahia in Motion
A 1977 “field recording” tried to bottle Bahia as exotic ambience. The reality is a living current of capoeira, blocos afro, pagodão, and funk.