On Shifting Ground

When Joe Biden ran for president, he pledged to make climate change a major priority. How will he make good on that promise and what are the consequences if he fails to act? On this week’s episode, we discuss climate policy with former California Governor Jerry Brown, oceanographer Sylvia Earle and former Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos, 2016 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Then, we visit Paradise, California, the site of the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in the state’s history.

 

Guests: 

Jerry Brown, Governor of California (1975-1983 and 2011-2019)

Sylvia Earle, Oceanographer and President & Chair of Mission Blue Sylvia Earle Alliance 

Juan Manuel Santos, former President of Colombia & recipient of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize

Emily Thomas, documentary filmmaker

Harmony VonStockhausen, student

 

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: 11_30_20_Climate_Future.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

A recent Politico poll found that 70% of Republican voters don’t believe the presidential election was free and fair, even though there is no evidence to support this claim. Historian Claire Bond Potter talks with Rachael Myrow about the rise of alternative media and pseudo news sites that continue to spread misinformation and are helping Donald Trump convince his base that the election was fraudulent. It was not.

 

Guest: 

Claire Bond Potter, Professor of History and co-Executive Editor of Public Seminar at the New School

 

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: 11_26_20_Alternative_Media.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

Joe Biden will be President in two months. In the meantime, Donald Trump is doing everything he can to make that transition as difficult as possible. He has prevented the president-elect from receiving top secret intelligence briefings and made a flurry of decisions that could jeopardize our national security. Career diplomat Nicholas Burns and Ray Suarez discuss the implications - and how to rebuild America’s foreign service.

 

Guest: 

R. Nicholas Burns, Former US Ambassador to NATO and Professor of diplomacy at the Harvard Kennedy School

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: 11_23_20_Nicholas_Burns.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 1:48am PDT

When Joe Biden takes office, he’ll face challenges like no other president before him. From the pandemic, to our fragile democracy, a world in transition, and challenges exacerbated by climate change, the Biden Administration will have to approach  foreign policy very carefully. On this episode, co-host Ray Suarez talks with Washington Post columnist Ishaan Tharoor about these challenges and how the Biden Administration might tackle them.

 

Guests: 

Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post Columnist

 

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: 11_19_20_Biden_Policy.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 4:58am PDT

Pulitzer Prize- winning historian Anne Applebaum is worried about authoritarianism in the US. Since the election, world leaders have congratulated President-Elect Biden on his decisive victory, and yet, President Trump has not conceded. He’s gone on a rampage to discredit the results and put his loyalists in charge. Applebaum joins producer Teresa Cotsirilos on the podcast to talk about the nature of authoritarianism and how fascist leaders come to power. Democracy is fragile and sometimes, she says, the best way to push back against populist authoritarianism is to not answer it directly.

 

Guest: 

Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer-Prize winning historian, author of  Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism and staff writer at The Atlantic

 

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: 11_16_20_Lure_Authoritarianism.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

This year, the US is on track to spend $4 trillion on healthcare -- more than any other nation. Yet our healthcare system is famous for its dysfunction. What are we getting for our money? And how does our system stack up against those in other countries? This week, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel joins co-host Ray Suarez to compare different healthcare systems around the world. Then, producer Teresa Cotsirilos and Radio New Zealand’s Indira Stewart explain how Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern managed to nearly eradicate the coronavirus from New Zealand and return the country to some sense of normalcy.

 

Guests: 

Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD, Vice Provost for Global Initiatives, University of Pennsylvania and author of Which Country Has The World’s Best Healthcare System?

Indira Stewart, Radio New Zealand

 

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: 11_09_20_Healthcare_System.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

On October 25, an overwhelming majority of Chileans voted to throw out their constitution, written during Augusto Pinochet’s brutal dictatorship. It started as a student protest at a high school and grew into a national movement. Now, the streets of Santiago are filled with jubilant celebration, music and fireworks. But soon, the hard work of writing the new charter will begin. Daniel Alarcón discusses his reporting from Chile with Ray Suarez. 

Featuring:

Daniel Alarcón, contributing writer at The New Yorker and Executive Producer of Radio Ambulante

Ray Suarez, co-host of WorldAffairs & Washington reporter for Euronews

Reading Material: 

Chile at the Barricades, by Daniel Alarcón, The New Yorker

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: 11_05_20_Democracy_Chile.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

Fraudulent elections can lead to long term voter apathy and erode democratic institutions. Sometimes, they can fuel widespread protests, and in some countries, revolution. On this episode of the podcast, we examine how a rigged election in Belarus is fueling a democratic uprising. Election observer and University of Missouri political scientist Mary Stegmaier is our guide.

 

Featuring: 

Mary Stegmaier,  Vice Provost for International Programs and Director of the International Center at the University of Missouri

Teresa Cotsirilos, WorldAffairs producer

 

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

Direct download: 11_02_20_Democratic_Belarus.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

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