O Pulo do Gato · Grupo Bandeirantes

Podcast: O Pulo do Gato de 01/01/2026

·1 hr·4 clips

Caju e Castanha arrived in São Paulo from Pernambuco, slept under the Minhocão viaduct on luggage suitcases, and went from homeless to winning a Latin Grammy.

1. O Pulo do Gato on Rádio Bandeirantes broadcast its 1 January 2026 New Year's Day special edition, with host Pedro Campos welcoming forró duo Caju e Castanha as studio guests. 2. The programme is joined by listener and friend Zé Ferreira, who facilitated the Caju e Castanha booking after the hosts discussed the duo during a São João festival segment six months earlier. 3. The episode's central purpose is to mark the new year with a long-form conversation with the forró duo about their five-decade career and cultural legacy. 4. Castanha recalls the duo's origins in the 1970s making tambourine drums from marmelada tin cans and singing in town squares, performing songs by Manezinho Araújo, Jackson do Pandeiro, and the early Luiz Gonzaga. 5. The duo name 'Caju e Castanha' was coined when a local prefect and cultural secretary — identified as Severino Claudino — told them their faces resembled a cashew fruit and a Brazil nut; the name has endured for over 50 years. 6. After arriving in São Paulo from Pernambuco with suitcases, the brothers slept under the Minhocão viaduct until a woman named Dona Margot took them in at her home in Santo Amaro. 7. A contact named Teo Azevedo introduced them to Mano Velho and Mano Novo — presenters on Rádio Bandeirantes — who gave them their first radio appearance on the 'Quebradas do Sertão' programme. 8. Producer Rolando Bodrim gave them their first television appearance on the show São Brasil on Globo, which at the time commanded 80 Ibope rating points; the morning after the broadcast, cars were honking at them while they still slept on viaduct cushions. 9. Cajuzinho took over from the original Caju approximately 24 years ago, delivering his debut performances at Tom Brasil in São Paulo and then Rock in Rio while the original Caju was still hospitalised recovering from surgery, watching on television from his hospital bed. 10. The duo performed live on air: an excerpt of 'Futebol no Inferno,' describing a football match in hell between Lampião's team and Satan's team, tied 100-100, with a corrupt referee and a CPI trying to suspend the tournament. 11. They also performed the popular 'Ladrão Besta e Sabido' and the newer song 'O Velhinho Namorador,' about an elderly man who lost everything after pursuing too many romantic interests. 12. Caju and Castanha described attending São João festivals in Caruaru and Campina Grande — both compete to claim 'world's largest' — and across Mossoró, Surubim, and Recife. 13. Castanha discussed the limits placed on humour in contemporary Brazil, noting that some of their older songs can no longer be performed due to social sensitivity, while others like 'Futebol no Inferno' and cuckold-themed songs remain acceptable. 14. The duo stated that they record only family-appropriate material despite receiving frequent submissions of double-entendre songs from fans, and that their audience spans children to the elderly. 15. Cajuzinho announced the CulturaCast podcast by Caju e Castanha, scheduled to debut on 3 March 2026, produced through his production company Cajuzinho Produções based in central São Paulo. 16. Castanha called radio the primary vehicle for an artist's success, arguing that television follows radio — and that artists who prioritise television over radio miss the foundational platform. 17. Reporter Pedro Gambasi confirmed that the Serra Velha da Tamoios highway was closed on New Year's Day due to flooding, running convoy-only operations toward São José dos Campos, with Caraguatatuba experiencing floods and no reopening timeline given. 18. Gambasi also explained that the Mega da Virada lottery draw of R$1.9 billion — a record — was delayed from New Year's Eve because Caixa's website crashed under 120,000 transactions per second; the draw was rescheduled for 10am on 1 January 2026. 19. Infectious disease specialist Dr. Evaldo Stanislau provided a health segment explaining why multiple vaccine doses are needed: inactivated-agent vaccines like the triple bacterial require lifelong boosters, while mutations in influenza and Covid necessitate annual doses. 20. The episode suits Brazilian Portuguese speakers interested in northeastern Brazilian folk music, forró culture, rags-to-success career stories, and New Year's Day service news from São Paulo.

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