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Paula Morelenbaum is one of Brazil’s finest singers, and spent 10 years with the famed Brazilian songwriter Antonio Carlos Jobim’s band. She’ll sing one of Jobim’s hits and the haunting theme from the film "Black Orpheus" when she joins us in the studio. 

Joseph Leahy, Brazil bureau chief for the Financial Times, talks about Brazil's economy, its rising global profile, and President Dilma Rousseff and her recent visit to the United States. We’ll also look at preparations for both the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 summer Olympics.

Scott Wallace tells the tale of a journey into the deepest recesses of the Amazon to track one of the planet's last uncontacted indigenous tribes. In The Unconquered: The Search for the Amazon’s Last Uncontacted Tribes, Wallace journeys into the Amazon's uncharted depths to observe the mysterious flecheiros, following a researcher who seeks to protect them.

Ken Ellingwood, correspondent for the LA Times' Mexico City bureau, discusses Mexican President Felipe Calderon's remarks at the UN yesterday; Jon Gambrell, chief correspondent in Lagos, Nigeria for The Associated Press, reacts to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan's speech; and Brian Winter, chief correspondent in Brazil for Thomson Reuters, discusses Brazilian president's Dilma Rousseff's opening address.

Did your head of state speak yesterday at the UN? What's your reaction to their speech? Let us know!

For this New Sounds, we’ll sample liberally from the latest recording from Moroccan-born singer Amina Alaoui, called “Arco Iris.”  It’s a pan-Mediterranean blend of flamenco music from Spain, fado music from Portugal, Arab-Andalusian music and Brazilian choro, linked by jazz and a night in Tunisia.

Operation Odyssey Dawn began Saturday with coalition missiles targeting Moammar Gadhafi's tanks and air defenses. Is the United States leading this effort? Meanwhile, relief and rescue efforts continue in Japan and time is of the essence as over 12,000 people are still missing and 8,000 have been confirmed dead so far. 

While the world watches the events unfolding in Japan and the Middle East, President Obama heads to Latin America for a five day tour. The president and first lady Michelle Obama begin their first official trip to Brazil tomorrow, a country with a fast-rising GDP rate that some economic experts have taken to calling "The New World Player." The president and first lady will also stop in Chile and El Salvador.

As part of a series on New Yorkers doing business with BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), Robert Wood, Latin America Senior Analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit, gives a close-up of the Brazilian economy and what it's like for American businesses working in Brazil. Also, Robert Kartheiser, partner of the Project Finance group at Allen & Overy LLP, on operating from Sao Paulo.

Floods in mountain towns north of Rio de Janeiro have killed at least 600 people, and weather forecasters say more rain is on the way. The death toll has risen steadily as rescuers reach remote areas and unearth corpses from mounds of debris. As Brazilians wait for the water to recede, authorities fear the spread of disease through contaminated water. Brazil’s civil defense agency has distributed vaccines against tetanus and diphtheria, according to its website.

More than five hundred people have been killed by flooding and mudslides in southeastern Brazil. Authorities have sent nearly a thousand rescue workers to the region. The floods have affected poorer rural residents, who live in houses built in risky areas. BBC Brazil correspondent, Paulo Cabral, reports from Brazil on the flooding and the dramatic rescue efforts.

Scott Kettner brings his Forró Brass Band to Barbès tonight with a Louisiana-meets-Brazil sonic mashup and many, many horn players. Download a live performance of the band's "Crown Heights Boogie" here.

Dilma Rouseff has become the first woman to be elected as president of Brazil. A former Marxist guerrilla who was imprisoned and tortured during Brazil's long dictatorship, Rousseff said her first priority would be the eradication of poverty in the country. Her election is seen as a major victor for Brazil's popular incumbent president, Lula Da Silva. Rousseff served as da Silva's chief of staff. She has never before held elected office. The BBC's Rogehrio Simoyes reports.

Multi-instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal, at 74-years young, is a legendary and wildly experimental jazz musician beloved throughout his native Brazil. He recently played Lincoln Center Out Of Doors.

Somehow, illegally traded art often finds its way to the Big Apple. But this week, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York began to move some smuggled art works out of New York City.

On a normal day, 46th Street, which is marked with a small "Little Brazil Street" sign, looks like any other midtown side street. But on Sunday, 1.5 million people are expected to descend on the 25 blocks surrounding 46th Street for the annual celebration of Brazilian Independence Day, which falls a day later on September 7th.

Janice Perlman's 1969 book The Myth of Marginality was the first in-depth account of life in Rio’s favela. She carries that story forward in her new book Favela: Four Decades of Living on the Edge in Rio de Janeiro by re-interviewing many longtime favela residents whom she had first met in 1969—as well as their children and grandchildren—to reveal the effects of violence, drugs, poverty, and unemployment.