{"id":81557,"date":"2025-09-13T14:35:04","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T17:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=81557"},"modified":"2025-09-23T11:29:27","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T14:29:27","slug":"meet-the-favela-media-outlet-sharing-the-journeys-and-daily-struggles-of-inspiring-residents-os-favelados-pod","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=81557","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Favela Media Outlet Sharing the Journeys and Daily Struggles of Inspiring Residents: \u2018Os Favelados Pod\u2019!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Part<\/a>
Part of the Os Favelados Pod<\/em> podcast team, from left to right: Rafael Magalh\u00e3es, Manu DaMata, Fabr\u00edcio Oliveira, Tom Macaveli, Tha\u00eds Dutra, Saulo Paulino and F\u00e1bricia Miranda. Photo: Saulo Paulino<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/strong><\/i><\/em><\/i><\/em><\/a><\/h4>\n

RioOnWatch recently sat down in Rio de Janeiro\u2019s Vidigal favela with Saulo Paulino, founder of the podcast <\/span><\/i>Os Favelados Pod<\/span><\/i><\/a>\u2014an <\/span><\/i>audio<\/span><\/i><\/a> and <\/span><\/i>video show<\/span><\/i><\/a> that hosts conversations with prominent favela personalities working in entrepreneurship, art, music, culture and sports. Through discussion circles, the podcast shares the life journeys and everyday struggles of inspiring favela residents, showing that yes, they can achieve their dreams, live in abundance and build wealth. This article is part of our <\/span><\/i>series of community media profiles<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Story and Inspirations Behind the Podcast<\/h3>\n

Os Favelados Pod<\/em> was created on April 22, 2022, by Saulo Paulino, a resident of Rio\u2019s <\/span>Vidigal<\/span><\/a> favela, <\/span>widely visited by tourists<\/span><\/a> and located in the city\u2019s <\/span>South Zone<\/span><\/a>. Up until then, Paulino had been working as an accountant at a company, but he realized that that life didn\u2019t reflect who he truly was, thus inspiring his career transition.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI chose that degree because I was looking for financial stability, but five years later, I came to the conclusion that it wasn\u2019t for me. I wanted to be an artist and express myself somehow, because I knew I had a gift for it since I was a kid.\u201d \u2014 Saulo Paulino<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Inspirations for the podcast come from a life path deeply rooted in <\/span>art<\/span><\/a> and communication, with origins that trace back to Paulino\u2019s childhood. One of his earliest influences was a brief connection with his great-grandfather, Francisco Ribeiro, who was a radio broadcaster in the southern city of Curitiba and worked at <\/span>R\u00e1dio Educadora<\/span><\/a> until his death in the early 1990s.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe radio station he worked at was in the Venceslau Br\u00e1s neighborhood, in Curitiba, back when we still lived there. I was a kid. He was a broadcaster. I found out as an adult that he\u2019d also gone to college and graduated with a degree in journalism. It was a surprise, because I didn\u2019t know there was anyone in the family with a college education. We\u2019ve always lived in a favela\u2014my dad was a construction worker, and my mom only finished elementary school\u2014so finding out that someone in our past had studied communication at university was a big surprise\u2014and a motivation for me to try doing something too.\u201d \u2014 Saulo Paulino<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Another key moment came when Paulino was eight and still living in the Vila Verde favela, in Curitiba’s Cidade Industrial neighborhood, where he discovered his artistic side through clowning.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took part in a social project called <\/span>Circo Cidade<\/span><\/a>. And that\u2019s when I realized that this is what I love doing.\u201d \u2014 Saulo Paulino<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

From that point on, Paulino got involved in circus activities<\/a>, including volunteering with a project that brought clowning to hospitals\u2014where he performed for eight years. In 2015, at the age of 26, after moving to Rio, he began working in professional theater, graduated from prestigious drama school Casa das Artes de Laranjeiras (CAL), and performed in several plays. Later, he created the official Portuguese-language How to Beat<\/em><\/a> YouTube channel, dedicated to horror storytelling, which went on to surpass 220,000 subscribers.<\/p>\n

Paulino balanced all of these experiences with formal jobs until 2022, when he decided to fully invest in his own <\/span>media<\/span><\/a> project: <\/span>Os Favelados Pod<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

According to Paulino, the project\u2019s name was intentional: when spoken aloud in Portuguese, <\/span>Os Favelados Pod<\/span><\/i> (Favela Residents\u2019 Pod<\/span>cast<\/span><\/i>) sounds like \u201cFavela Residents Can\u201d\u2014a reference to the power and potential of favela communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the cultural and artistic nature of Vidigal, I saw the potential to create a platform that could tap into those strengths and showcase the favela\u2019s talents. That way, people could share their struggles, their life journeys, and how they\u2019ve managed to achieve their goals in entrepreneurship, culture and the arts.\u201d \u2014 Saulo Paulino<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The studio is located at Avenida Presidente Jo\u00e3o Goulart 825, inside the <\/span>Brota Vidigal Space<\/span><\/a>\u2014a favela-based co-working space. Paulino built and funded the space himself in 2022 and continued upgrading it until, in 2023, he applied for and won his first public call for proposals: the FOCA grant from Rio de Janeiro\u2019s Municipal Department of Culture, which funded the podcast\u2019s first season.<\/span><\/p>\n