Journalist Alex Cuadros Discusses Legacy of Olympics in Brazil

August 31, 2016

Journalist Alex Cuadros will speak about the legacy of the 2016 Olympics in Brazil on Tuesday, September 6, 2016, at 4:00 p.m. in the Zimmerman Library, Willard Room. A book-signing and reception will follow his presentation. The event is co-sponsored by the LAII, the Bookstore, Global Education Office, Center for English Language and American Culture, and University Libraries & Learning Sciences.

Cuadros, a noted journalist, will discuss how in the run-up to the 2016 Olympics, much of the U.S. media coverage played up fears over the Zika virus, terror attacks, and the general safety of athletes and tourists in Rio de Janeiro, but that same media gave minimal attention to some of the most urgent problems underlying the games, such as wasteful spending, demolitions of poor neighborhoods, and the ongoing violence in the areas of Rio where most outsiders rarely travel. Cuadros's presentation will focus on the discrepancy in this coverage and will certainly allow for a deeper understanding of Rio's Olympic legacy, and of the larger context of Brazil’s most recent cycle of boom and bust.

Alex Cuadros, who spent six years based in Brazil, is the author of Brazillionaires: Wealth, Power, Decadence, and Hope in an American Country (Siegel & Grau, 2016), which is based on his experience covering the ultra-rich as a full-time job for Bloomberg News in São Paulo. He has also written for The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Time, The Washington Post, and others. Now based in New York, Cuadros grew up in Albuquerque.