Audio: Brazil at 500

Click on the links below to listen to The Brazilian Dream, two radio programmes to mark the 500th anniversary of the arrival of the Portugeuse in Brazil.

The programmes were produced for BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service and presented by Jan Rocha.

 Programme one

Jan Rocha examines the Brazilian dream of racial democracy - the claim by some that Brazil is a model multi-racial society. She travels to Salvador in the north-east of the country to focus on the history of the majority black population and asks why race relations in Brazil have been - seemingly - unmarked by racial strife.

 Programme two

Jan unravels the Brazilian dream of modernity in the face of underdevelopment. She visits the futuristic capital of Brasilia and finds early plans to create an egalitarian utopia never made it to reality. But despite its inability to tackle poverty, Brazil remains an innovator in many fields, including aviation and technology.

Producer: Linda Pressly
Researcher: Louise Byrne
Editor: Maria Balinska