Summary

Art – Brazil’s largest metropolis, São Paulo City is a huge stage, boasting some 150 theaters that exhibit all kinds of shows, from the great Broadway musicals and classical drama to avant-garde plays with postmodern acting and language. The number of options offered by this theatrical structure is simply phenomenal.

Tourism – Estimates are that in 2013 Brazil has been visited by 6.2 million tourists from every part of the planet. Yet, when compared with the industry’s statistics, this apparently significant number of tourists does not look so bright; on the contrary, it is a rather meager result, which places the land discovered by Cabral in a discouraging position vis-à-vis the world leaders, France, China, the U.S., Spain, and Italy. The World Cup and the Rio Olympics might change this situation.

Modern life – The fitness industry is booming in Brazil. It is estimated that the 25,000 gyms operating in the country, and catering to 7 million practitioners, had revenues of US$ 2.4 billion in 2012, ranking second globally. The United States, with 30,500 gyms, 50 million users, and revenues of US$ 21.8 billion ranks first worldwide.

Environment – A 2012 study on São Paulo State’s capital city concluded that the ecological footprint of each of the city’s residents is 4.38 hectares (the area needed to produce everything the city’s average resident consumes). This is a very high rate. In Brazil the ecological footprint is, on average, 2.9 hectares (for a world average of 2.7 hectares).

Urbanism – Too long, riddled with problems, and with chaotic traffic – such is Avenida Brasil. Still, the life of Rio de Janeiro residents would be unimaginable without it, even for those who don’t usually take the avenue. On a regular weekday nearly 500,000 cars, buses, trucks, and motorcycles travel along the 58.5 kilometers of the country’s longest urban highway, as it has become known.

Science – A letter dated June 27, 1926, handwritten by Sigmund Freud himself, authorized São Paulo-based doctor Durval Bellegarde Marcondes, considered the pioneer of psychoanalytic practice in Brazil, to introduce Freud’s therapeutic method in the country and to use it with his patients.

Interview – In a chat with Problemas Brasileiros, Karine Pansa, a businesswoman in the book publishing industry, provides an overview of the Brazilian publishing market and analyzes the challenges of fostering the habit of reading and broadening access to books in Brazil. Owner of Girassol Brasil, which publishes children’s books, and chair of the Brazilian Book Chamber (CBL, in Portuguese), Ms. Pansa says that 75% of the population has never visited a library.

Health – The children’s wards of Brazil’s main hospitals are adhering to what has been termed “humanized treatment”, a method that uses the strength of comic book heroes like Superman, Batman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman in the fight against serious illnesses, such as cancer.

Culture – The Museum of Art of São Paulo, the Masp, one of São Paulo City landmarks, is located on Paulista Avenue. With its 11,000 square meters distributed on five floors, Masp holds a collection of about 8,000 items, good part of which of western art, from the 4th century B.C. to the present. Masp is also home to a library with 60,000 books, catalogues and reviews, one of the world’s most important of its kind.

Memory – Born exactly one hundred years ago, brown-skinned Italian-blooded Dorival Caymmi (1914-2008) made a unique contribution to Brazilian popular music that, together with the books of his state’s fellow citizen, friend, and partner Jorge Amado, catapulted Bahia into the world’s cultural map.

Books – The book Herança Compartilhada [“Shared Heritage”] shows that Brazil and the United States share many things in common: both are new, democratic, and multiethnic nations. Yet, their different histories – one country “founded” by Anglo-Saxons and the other “discovered” by Portuguese navigators – are also significant and have shaped civilizations with different lifestyles.

Thematic panel – Political scientist Glenda Mezarobba is a consultant to the Truth Commission, which is seeking to unveil the crimes perpetrated by the Brazilian State during the 1960s military regime. This was the subject she discussed with the members of the Economics, Sociology and Politics Council of the São Paulo Federation of Commerce, Sesc and Senac.