On Shifting Ground

Earlier this year, a grassroots movement emerged in the key battleground state of Michigan calling on Democratic voters to cast “uncommitted votes” in protest of president Joe Biden’s policy towards Israel’s war on Gaza. And in the months since, it’s gone national. But are Arab and Muslim American voters willing to gamble a second Trump presidency to hold Biden accountable for his Israel policy?

 

Nihad Awad, a CAIR Action board member, joins Ray Suarez to share why Arab and Muslim voters feel abandoned by the Democratic party, and why they won’t be bullied into accepting the “lesser of two evils.” 

 

Guest:

 

Nihad Awad, Board Member of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Action

 

Host:  

 

Ray Suarez

 

If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

Direct download: 3-25_On_Shifting_Ground_pt._2_for_pod.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's staunch opposition to a ceasefire in Gaza — and a future Palestinian state — is putting President Joe Biden in a vulnerable position at home. And as the 2024 election quickly approaches, it’s becoming clearer that US-Israel policy will be a lingering concern. 

 

Ray Suarez sits down with Zack Beauchamp, a senior correspondent at Vox, to unpack how the political winds on Israel may be shifting.

 

Guest:

 

Zack Beauchamp, Senior Correspondent at Vox

 

Host:

 

Ray Suarez

 

If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

Direct download: 3-25_pt._1_for_pod.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

The US has once again ignored the United Nations’ annual resolution calling for an end to its decades-long embargo on Cuba, even as Cubans took to the streets to protest the island nation’s worst economic crisis in decades, with shortages of food and fuel. And when the US Embassy urged the Communist-led regime to “attend to the legitimate needs” of its people, the Cuban government criticized the comment as “open interference in Cuba’s domestic affairs.” For Cuba, Washington's long standing role in the current crisis makes their complaints a “hypocrisy.” 

 

In this episode, we revisit Ray’s conversation with Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Ada Ferrer on just how intertwined the histories of the US and Cuba are, and why we’re so inseparable. 

 

Guest:

 

Ada Ferrer, Julius Silver Professor of History and Latin American Studies at New York University and Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of Cuba: An American History 

 

Host(s):

 

Ray Suarez

 

If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

Direct download: 3-18_On_Shifting_Ground_pt._2_for_pod.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

Cuba is facing its worst economic crisis in decades, and shortages of food, fuel, medicine — and opportunity — have fueled a record-breaking surge of Cuban immigrants at America’s borders. But the US shows no signs of changing its policy towards the embargoed island, nor reversing former President Trump’s designation of the communist-led nation as a “state sponsor of terror.”

 

Ray Suarez sits down with Lianys Torres Rivera, Cuban Ambassador to the US, to unpack how migration and economic sanctions are linked.

 

Guest:

 

Ambassador Lianys Torres Rivera, Chargée D'Affairs, Embassy of Cuba in United States

 

Host:  

 

Ray Suarez

 

If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

Direct download: 3-18_On_Shifting_Ground_pt._1_for_pod.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

Mass death and disappearances have become normalized on Europe’s borders. Back in 2015, when more than a million refugees turned up on Europe’s doorstep to request asylum, the European Union cut deals with North African and Middle Eastern nations to hold back the flow of asylum-seekers. Since then, roughly 29,000 people have died or disappeared in the Mediterranean, reports the Missing Migrants Project

 

And for the migrants who were were intercepted while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea and forcibly placed in detention centers in Libya, they face inhumane living conditions, beatings, sexual abuse, starvation… and death — consequences of Europe’s ongoing cooperation with nations like Libya on migration and border control.

 

In My Fourth Time, We Drowned, journalist Sally Hayden reports on the shadowy immigration system created by the European Union which captures and imprisons migrants from Africa to keep them from reaching European soil. In an interview with Senior KQED editor Rachael Myrow, Hayden explains how western institutions are complicit in this humanitarian crisis. 



Featuring:

 

Rachael Myrow, senior editor of KQED's Silicon Valley News Desk

 

Sally Hayden, author of My Fourth Time, We Drowned and Africa correspondent for the Irish Times

 

If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

Direct download: Updated_Hayden_pod.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine has forced millions to flee their homes. And for the Ukrainian civilians caught in the crossfire, war has become a way of life. 

 

This week, we talked to Ukrainians about the ways that the war unexpectedly changed their lives. Kateryna Lazarevych, an archivist at the PinchukArtCentre in Kyiv, shares how she’s working to improve her country, as if everyday were her last day on earth. Filmmaker Iryna Tsilyk takes us through her decision to leave Kyiv where her husband is fighting as a soldier in Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces. And Alex Gerz, a Russian-Ukrainian student living in Germany, records his story from the road, where he provides humanitarian assistance and safe passage to those fleeing Ukraine with a ragtag army of volunteers. 

 

Guests:  

 

Kateryna Lazarevych, archivist at the PinchukArtCentre in Kyiv

 

Iryna Tsilyk, filmmaker and director of “The Earth is Blue as an Orange

 

Alex Gerz, Russian-Ukrainian student based in Kassel, Germany

 

Host:  

 

Ray Suarez

 

Producers:

 

Andrew Stelzer, KALW producer

 

If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

Direct download: 3-11_On_Shifting_Ground_for_pod_REV1.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

Shortly before the end of his term in 2022, former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta pledged to end gender-based violence in his country by 2026. With two years left before the deadline, is Kenya still on track to fulfill the promises made to Kenyan women? And how is Kenyan media keeping the fight alive?

 

This week, we’re sharing an episode from Foreign Policy’s “Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women”, about how reality TV is helping women’s rights activists press the Kenyan government to uphold its pledge.

 

Guests:

 

Audrey Mugeni, the co-founder of Counting Dead Women Kenya

 

Anne Ireri, the executive director of the Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya

 

Hosts:  

 

Reena Ninan, founder of Good Trouble Productions

 

Laura Rosbrow-Telem, senior producer at Foreign Policy

 

If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

Direct download: 3-4_On_Shifting_Ground_pt._2_for_pod_REV1.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

To leaders in Silicon Valley, artificial intelligence is just the latest innovation in a never-ending “make our lives better.” But can we trust them with our data… and our lives… if they can’t be held accountable?

 

Journalist Kara Swisher joins Ray Suarez to discuss her newest book, “Burn Book,” and the psyche of Silicon Valley’s biggest players.

 

Plus: Hear Kara Swisher discuss “Burn Book,” the inside story of Silicon valley and the biggest boom in wealth creation in history live at the Commonwealth Club World Affairs on Thursday, March 7. Register here.

 

Guest:  

 

Kara Swisher, author of “Burn Book,” and host of the podcast “On with Kara Swisher”

 

Host: 

 

Ray Suarez



If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

Direct download: 3-4_On_Shifting_Ground_pt._1_for_pod_REV1.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

Most Americans are far more focused on “pocketbook issues” – like stretching an ever-inflating dollar – than what the country does overseas in their name. But this election cycle, calls for additional aid for overseas wars has put foreign policy on the ballot for voters.

 

In the second episode of our special election series, South Carolina voter Maryann Wright shares her thoughts on the role of American democracy at home… and its responsibility abroad. Then, Ray Suarez sits down with Wendy Sherman, former US Deputy Secretary of State, and Nicholas Kristof, columnist at The New York Times, to see why international affairs will matter come November.

 

Guests:  

 

Wendy Sherman, former US Deputy Secretary of State

 

Nicholas Kristof, NY Times columnist

 

Maryann Wright, retired teacher and South Carolina voter

 

Phil Hemingway, former owner of Phil’s Repair, LLC and Iowa voter

 

Host:  

 

Ray Suarez

 

If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

Direct download: 2-26_On_Shifting_Ground_for_pod.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

Saturday marks the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. And while foreign support may be dwindling, Ukrainian determination to win the war is not. But what’s at stake when war no longer feels like an emergency… but a way of life?

 

Ray Suarez sits down with Masha Gessen, staff writer for The New Yorker, to unpack the toll of Russia’s aggression on Ukraine’s freedoms… and democracy.

 

Guest:

 

Masha Gessen, Russian-American award-winning author and staff writer for The New Yorker 

 

Host(s):  

 

Ray Suarez

 

If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

Direct download: 2-19_On_Shifting_Ground_pt._2_for_pod.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT