49. Classical Music, Monterrey Smog, 2025 Highlights and Bread Wars

For our Christmas special, we interview Carlos Miguel Prieto, renowned Artistic Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, about the business and current state of classical music in Mexico. We also speak with Verónica García de León about the smog crisis in Monterrey: what’s driving it, and why it persists. To kick off, Eduardo and I discuss Mexico’s 2025 corporate and market highlights, from Fernando Chico Pardo taking control of Banamex, to the rally in Pemex bonds, IPOs at Aeroméxico, Fibra Next, and Esentia, and a wave of new CEOs at Coppel, Alsea, Walmex, Femsa, Bimbo, and others. Finally: Bread Culture Wars. We reflect on the Green Rhino / Richard Hart controversy, and how intemperate comments on the alleged poor quality of Mexican bread rolls in an obscure 2024 podcast became a social-media firestorm 18 months later, and turned into a proxy for (some of) Mexico’s gentrification and anti-foreign anxieties.Try Whitepaper 30 days freeBuy your Whitepaper merch here