Chris McGowan is an author and journalist of diverse interests who was born in California and currently lives in Rio de Janeiro.

He is the co-author of The Brazilian Sound: Samba, Bossa Nova and the Popular Music of Brazil, now in its 3rd U.S. edition. It has been translated into French, German, and Japanese.

As "J.C. McGowan," he also recently published The Big God Network, a satirical science-fiction novel that explores the clash of culture and religion in cyberspace and "post-America"; the search for extraterrestrial intelligence and higher powers; and the socio-cultural impact of "virtual life" on our existence.

As a journalist and blogger, McGowan has written about culture, the arts, and digital media, as well as nature, science, alternative energy and environmental issues. He has been published in the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles magazine, L.A. Weekly, L.A. Reader, Billboard, and elsewhere.

He has written extensively about Brazil, and been interviewed about Brazilian music and culture by the BBC, New York Times, AirTalk and various NPR affiliates. McGowan was a contributor to The Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture.

In the digital-media realm, he was a longtime columnist for Billboard and is co-author of the book Entertainment in the Cyber Zone: Exploring the Interactive Universe of Multimedia (Random House).

For more information about his books, see: The Big God Network (at MySpace) and The Brazilian Sound (at MySpace).

His own website is located at jcmcgowan.net

Blog Entries by Chris McGowan

Blame It on the Bossa Nova: 50 Years of Sublime Music

Posted December 4, 2008 | 09:20 PM (EST)


Bossa Nova has been celebrating its fiftieth birthday in grand style this year, with commemorations having taken place in Brazil, the U.S. and other countries. The Brazilian musical genre has demonstrated an enduring global appeal, and is the favorite type of music of millions of listeners around the world. Bossa...

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A Brief History of Halloween (and its Pagan Origins in Samhain)

Posted October 31, 2008 | 12:54 PM (EST)


Tonight, don't be surprised if Sarah Palin, John McCain, and Barack Obama come knocking on your door. They won't be campaigning, and they'll probably be accompanied by hordes of vampires, witches, and ghosts. It is Halloween, which has pagan (pre-Christian) origins, but is not evil or menacing unless you watch...

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Green Party's Gabeira May Be a Troubled Rio de Janeiro's Best Hope

2 Comments | Posted October 4, 2008 | 07:55 PM (EST)


Brazilian iconoclast Fernando Gabeira, who is running for mayor of Rio de Janeiro in the Sunday, October 5th election, may be the best hope for turning things around in the troubled city. The federal congressman, a revolutionary during Brazil's military dictatorship, is a member of the Green Party (Partido Verde...

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August 11: The Night of Shooting Stars

Posted August 8, 2008 | 09:43 PM (EST)


On the night of August 11th, turn off your TV, log off your PC, forget the presidential election, and head for the hills! If the skies are dark and clear, you will be treated to a grand celestial display: the Perseid meteor shower. Take your family or friends to a...

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Memo to Obama or McCain: Pick Amory Lovins As Energy Czar

Posted June 5, 2008 | 08:39 PM (EST)


The skyrocketing price of petroleum has put America and most of the world in a tight spot right now, with global warming as a parallel and greater problem that must also be addressed. Bush's prescription for fuel-pump woes -- drilling in environmentally sensitive areas -- will fatten Big Oil profits...

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McCain's Dilemma: Who's Next After Hagee & Parsley?

Posted May 27, 2008 | 09:08 PM (EST)


John McCain is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't accept endorsements from popular leaders of the Christian Right, many of whom have taken controversial positions regarding other religions, gays, women and God's plan for the Middle East.

McCain did the right thing by rejecting the endorsements of...

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Obama & McCain: Delusional Spiritual Ally Test

Posted May 1, 2008 | 01:42 AM (EST)


The media runs Barack Obama through the wringer for his close association with Rev. Jeremiah Wright, an angry, controversial preacher who has suggested that the U.S. government manufactured HIV to kill black people. Reporters call John McCain to task for having been endorsed by the divisive pastor John Hagee, who...

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Earth Day Resolution: No Biofuel from Food Crops

Posted April 22, 2008 | 02:39 PM (EST)


This year, we have seen soaring food prices and world food riots. Global warming and increased demand are boosting the cost of our daily bread, as is biofuel production. Once again, President Bush has come down on the wrong side of an environmental issue: his misguided subsidizing of American ethanol...

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Beijing 2008 and Tibet: The Orwellian Games

Posted April 9, 2008 | 04:16 PM (EST)


It's 1984 all over again, and I don't mean the '84 Olympic games in Los Angeles. China's recent behavior following Tibetan unrest and calls for the region's independence seems straight out of George Orwell's novel, with its "Big Brother," double-speak, and thought control.

When protesters disrupted the Olympic-flame procession in...

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The Dwindling Flame: Tibet, China & The Olympics

6 Comments | Posted March 31, 2008 | 11:36 PM (EST)


The Olympic flame arrived Monday in Beijing. It burned not gloriously with humanitarian ideals, but sadly under the shadow of shame. It was not fully celebrated by the host city, but hurried along its way with limited participation by the populace. Totalitarian China, so leery of dissent, so ready to...

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Arthur C. Clarke: Songs of a Future Earth

4 Comments | Posted March 25, 2008 | 05:25 AM (EST)


Sir Arthur C. Clarke, a visionary writer of this century and the last, passed away on March 19. He conceived the idea of communications satellites, authored classic science-fiction novels and short stories, and co-wrote the landmark movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, described by Steven Spielberg as "the Big Bang" of...

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Rio's Next Mayor Could Be Gabeira, Who Kidnapped U.S. Ambassador in '69

Posted March 11, 2008 | 11:52 AM (EST)


Brazilian congressman Fernando Gabeira, a member of the Partido Verde (Green Party), will officially announce his candidacy for mayor of Rio de Janeiro today. He stands a good chance of winning the October election, given his high popularity. Gabeira has a reputation for being honest, ethical and uncorrupted, qualities that...

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McCain Has to Get Right With the Conservative God

Posted February 13, 2008 | 12:02 PM (EST)


Although John McCain seems assured at this point of garnering the Republican nomination, barring divine intervention on behalf of Mike Huckabee, he still needs to shore up support among conservatives. If Hillary Clinton gets the Democratic nomination, she will be a formidable foe; if Barack Obama receives the nod, he'll...

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Two Musical Giants Left Us On December 8: Lennon & Jobim

Posted December 8, 2007 | 05:22 PM (EST)


December 8 marks the death anniversaries of two of the late 20th century's most influential musical figures: John Lennon, who died in 1980, and Antonio Carlos "Tom" Jobim, who passed away in 1994. In both cases, their songs were the soundtracks for generations who lived during days when it seemed...

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Creationists Making Monkeys Out Of Americans

Posted November 26, 2007 | 10:10 AM (EST)


Recently, while driving on Interstate 5 through Oregon, I saw a billboard that gave me pause. "Are They Making a Monkey Out Of You?" ran above four panels that displayed a disturbing transformation of a startled looking fellow with a van dyke (panel #1). He acquired an ape-like mouth and...

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Chaparral & Global Warming Footnotes

Posted October 31, 2007 | 09:07 PM (EST)


On October 24, I published the blog Global Warming Not Behind SoCal Fires. Many readers disagreed passionately, and I found myself, a card-carrying Sierra Club member and longtime Al Gore fan, in the odd position of being urged to go to "Republican fact-check school." Interestingly, the next day Los...

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Global Warming Not Behind SoCal Fires

Posted October 24, 2007 | 08:57 PM (EST)


The devastating blazes that swept through Southern California these last few days were largely unrelated to changing weather patterns due to global warming, as some newscasters and pundits have stated. I have been a believer in the danger of global warming for more than two decades, but I don't think...

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Biofuel Could Eat Brazil's Savannas & Deforest the Amazon

Posted September 14, 2007 | 02:41 PM (EST)


These days, when you fill up your car with a gasoline-and-ethanol blend, you are probably burning ethyl alcohol made from American corn. A few years from now, your commute may be powered by ethanol from sugar cane grown in Brazil's cerrado, a biodiversity hotspot that is the largest savanna in...

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Gas, Grass Or...Corn: Nobody Rides For Free

Posted March 15, 2007 | 02:33 PM (EST)


George W. Bush and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are two-term presidents in the Americas with mangled diction, scandal-ridden administrations, a disregard for the environment, and a penchant for denial. Now they have something else in common: a misguided push to produce ethanol from food crops.

Last week, the...

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Which Are Worse: Brazil's Bandits Or Its Leaders?

Posted February 28, 2007 | 03:33 PM (EST)


Three French NGO workers were stabbed to death Tuesday at their group's headquarters in Rio's Copacabana neighborhood. Christian Pierre Doupes, his wife Delphine Douyere, and Jerome Faure ran Terr'Ativa, which helped children in poor communities. They were allegedly murdered by three men, one of whom was Tarsio Ramirez, an accountant...

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