Quick description

Hi, everyone! Today's episode is a bit of a treat: we got our friend, Isaac Goff-Mitchell, from The Youth Vote podcast to play a game with us, pinning our very own Gareth Davies against him!

So stay tuned for a high stakes match of the Brazil Nuts Quiz (we should totally trademark that)!

As always, we'd like to thank Uoster Zielinski for our graphic design and the essential workers out there, keeping us safe. And Isaac, for being such a good sport!

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Show notes

Since we did the amazing Brazil Nuts Quiz, today's show notes will feature the questions and answers with sources!

1. True or false: a variety tv host ran for president with the slogan “who wants money”?

This was, kinda false. Yes, Larissa fumbled this one! Sílvio Santos didn't just threaten to run, he did actually run for president, for a few days, in 1989. His name never made it onto the ballot and the Electoral Supreme Court found that it was illegal for him to run, since he owned a television company. Below you can see him asking people if "they want money". Classic Brazil.

2. On which tree did Damares Alves, Bolsonaro’s minister for Women, Family, and Human Rights see Jesus sitting on:

During a session at her church, Damares claimed to have seen Jesus atop a guava tree, before she tried to commit suicide. To be fair, this is a woman who suffered a lot as a child and has obviously long-standing issues from it. She's definitely not fit for public office and has tried to implement insane and abusive policies, such as paying women who were raped not to have an abortion.


These are red guavas, there are white guavas as well.	This is a guava tree.

3. True or false: the military changed the official date of the 1964 coup from April 1st to March 31st so it wouldn’t be recorded as April Fool’s.

This one is very much true. The military started their actions already after midnight on April 1st and it wasn't until later that day that President João Goulart was removed from power. The military were just trying to avoid the connection to April Fools.

4. What are Bolsonaro’s pet names for his kids?

Just listen to previous episodes for this answer! Larissa does mention it a lot, it was odd that Gareth was unsure. Hum.

5. True or false: President Fernando Collor de Mello said his thing was red.

This was a trick question, as the actual saying is that it was purple. In 1991, already facing backlash, Collor says this in a rally in Juazeiro do Norte (Ceará), to claim virility and that "he wasn't scared of anything". What Larissa didn't know it's that it is a relatively common saying and it actually refers to the scrotum, not penis and it's said of boys who are born with it purple. Still.

6. President/dictator Figueiredo said the people smelt of:

Another small fumble on the part of Larissa - he actually said he preferred the smell of horses to the smell of people! Not that much better is it? To be fair to our resident political scientist, similarly to Collor's. this has just become something people kinda know. We wonder if horses liked how Figueirdo smelt. Probably not.

On the nose (and mouth) – reading your horse's expressions Your Horse Magazine

7. True or false: politician Adhemar de Barros defended himself from being called corrupt by saying he “stole, but he also got things done”.

This one was true, and was actually an informal campaign slogan for the man. What we can't figure out if it's spelt Ademar or Adhemar.

8. Which of these didn’t happen:

a. The first president post-dictatorship died before taking office very much happened. Tancredo Neves was indirectly elected after designing a coalition that would elect him president and transition Brazil from military dictatorship to democracy. Before taking the oath of office, he died, leaving the very incapable Sarney in charge.


The picture Larissa mentioned in the episode, taken a couple of days before Neves's death.	The cover for Estado de São Paulo, one of the largest newspapers in the country.

b. The first directly elected president post-dictatorship resigned to avoid impeachment also happened. Fernando Collor de Melo, the one with the purple balls, was caught in a corruption scandal of trafficking influence.

Bye, Felicia!

c. His vice-president was caught in a sex scandal was the false one in the bunch. But only sort of. You can't make this stuff up. Now President Itamar Franco, was enjoying Carnaval and was caught unawares next to a model without any underwear. While there was some moralist outcry, and concerns within government elites, mostly due to what they perceived to Franco's left-leaning positions, no one really cared.

Governo cogitou impeachement de Itamar Franco no caso Lilian Ramos

A demure photo of the couple.

9. Which symbol was NOT used in a campaign against corruption:

a. A broom

b. Maharajas

c. Finger guns

Although never an official campaign symbol, well, it was and is widely used by Bolsonaro, along with his discourse on the end of corruption.

Bolsonaro ensina criança a fazer arma com a mão e revolta internautas

A arma que protege é também a que mata, escreve Rodrigo de Almeida | Poder360

d. The scythe and hammer or, more accurately, hammer and sickle, are official symbols to some Brazilian parties, but have never been associated with anti-corruption campaigns. The anti-corruption rhetoric is an easy distraction from the issues that plague Brazilian society and is mainly used by right-wing parties against left-wing parties.

10. Which of these is NOT the name of a Federal Police operation:

This was a trick question, they were all true.

a. Operation Casper (end of shell (‘ghost’) companies in Paraíba)

b. Operation Cave Allegory (criminals were pretending to be federal police in PE)

c. Operation Déjà vu (end fraud in public office bidding processes)

d. Operation God is watching (arrested evangelical pastors involved in fraud in car sales)

11. How much younger than Temer is his wife:

Marcela Temer is 43 years younger than Michel Temer. Yuck.

12. When asked about the ditch graves during the pandemic, did Bolsonaro respond with:

He famously said he isn't a gravedigger. Nope, just a genocidal maniac, apparently.

13. Which president tried to ban bikinis and mini-skirts:

So as not to tip her hand, Larissa said "tried to", when in fact, Jânio Quadros did officially ban the bikini. Whether people adhered to the ban is a whole other matter. The mini-skirt, however, can't be confirmed, although everyone says it was also part of the ban.

14. What was federal deputy Hildebrando Pascoal’s weapon of choice to kill his victims: CONTENT WARNING

Pascoal was a federal deputy from the state of Acre (and no, he did not come up in the research for the State of your Nuts episode for that state!). He has been convicted from his crimes of leading a murder squad in the state, drug trafficking, cargo theft, and electoral corruption. Quite the CV. Not enough for him, who chose to murder his victims with a chainsaw, quartering them while alive. He is still awaiting trial for many allegations, but his convictions have him in prison for 100 years already (no life in prison in Brazil). Read the whole thing (in Portuguese) here.

15. When vice-president Temer pulled support from President Dilma Rousseff he stated he was tired of being a decorative veep. He did that by:

Writing a ridiculous letter and then allegedly leaking it to the press. Read the whole thing here. This was him giving the "go ahead" and throwing his support behind the forces that were organising the coup against President Dilma Rousseff. What a pathetic little man.

If You're Enjoying This Political Season, You Would Enjoy Veep

And this was the gorgeous trophy Isaac drew for Gareth! Wow!

sílvio santos

Truth AND consequences: A Brazil Nuts Quiz with Isaac Goff-Mitchell

Break in our Nuts