On Shifting Ground

It's holiday season. And for many of us, that means spending more time—whether in person or virtually—with our loved ones. This week, we revisit an episode from earlier this year that helps us make sense of the isolation brought on by the pandemic, and mistrust sown by our political differences.

 

Drawing from an ancient Sanskrit phrase, “the world is one family,” author Vishakha Desai challenges us to consider a different way of looking at each other and the world we share. Desai joins co-host Ray Suarez on the podcast to talk about her new book World as Family: A Journey of Multi-rooted Belongings.

 

Guest:

Vishakha Desai, Author and Scholar at Columbia University

 

Hosts:

Philip Yun, CEO, WorldAffairs

Ray Suarez, co-host, WorldAffairs

 

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: 11-29_World_Affairs_for_podcast_feed.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

In the third and final episode of our series on Putin’s Russia, we feature an interview with Fiona Hill. Long before she testified in the first Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump, her life experiences opened her eyes to the conditions which give rise to populist leaders. Coming of age in a coal-mining town during Thatcher-era austerity, Hill observed how a lack of opportunity in working class communities can manifest at the ballot box, with serious consequences for democracy. As the lead Russia expert in Trump’s White House, she watched Vladimir Putin manipulate Trump’s weaknesses and observed in the former president “autocrat envy.” “He was always talking about people like Putin being strong and powerful and making it very clear that's how he saw himself.”

 

In an interview with Ray Suarez, she spoke about her new memoir, There’s Nothing For You Here, the impact of economic despair on politics, and what needs to change to save democracy. 

 

Guests:

Fiona Hill, former Russia advisor in the National Security Council and senior fellow at The Brookings Institution

 

Hosts:

Ray Suarez, co-host, WorldAffairs

 

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: 11-22_World_Affairs_for_podcast_feed.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

Carmen Carcelén lives in a small town on the Colombia-Ecuador border. One night in 2017, she invited 11 beleaguered Venezuelan migrants into her home for a meal and a decent night's sleep. From there, word of Carmen's shelter spread all the way back to Venezuela. In the past four years, Carmen has fed and sheltered over 10,000 migrants.

After we ran a story about Carmen in August, listeners reached out and asked how they could help. Thanks to their generous donations, a GoFundMe campaign to support Carmen's "Casa De Paz," has raised more than $2,000. 

In case you missed the original story, "In Carmen's Hands," you can listen here, with a special update from Carmen explaining how she is using the funds to expand her work. 

If you want to support Carmen’s shelter, it's not too late to donate to her GoFundMe campaign.

Direct download: In_Carmens_Hands_Update_for_podcast_feed.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am PDT

The Pandora Papers, a massive data leak connecting individuals to offshore accounts and tax havens, shined a light on the shadow world where celebrities, politicians, dictators and drug traffickers hide their money. In the second installment of our three-part series on Putin’s Russia, investigative journalist Luke Harding explores a trail of documents and properties linked to Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, which show how “Putin and the people around him became fantastically rich, even more rich once he became president.”

 

Then, we go inside “Putin’s Palace,” a secretive and sprawling luxury complex on the Black Sea allegedly owned by the Russian president. Images of the palace were exposed in a documentary released by Alexei Navalny’s organization, the Anti-Corruption Foundation. But who is Navalny really, and what politics does he embody? For that, we turn to Jan Matti Dollbaum, Morvan Lallouet, and Ben Noble, co-authors of “Navalny: Putin's Nemesis, Russia's Future?”

 

Guests:

 

Luke Harding, author and journalist, The Guardian
Jan Matti Dollbaum, postdoctoral researcher, Bremen University
Morvan Lallouet, PhD candidate, University of Kent
Ben Noble, associate professor, University College London

 

Hosts:

 

Ray Suarez, co-host, WorldAffairs

 

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: 11-15_World_Affairs_for_podcast_feed_Rev1.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

It’s been about 30 years since the fall of the Soviet Union, and in many post-Soviet countries, people are still fighting for basic rights. From Belarus to Central Asia, to the Caucasus, to Russia itself, people still struggle under regimes that flout democratic norms. Unresolved border disputes sometimes lead to devastating wars.

In this episode, we look at democracy movements fighting to survive in the shadow of a Russian government that’s determined to consolidate power. We start in Armenia. This is part of a 3-part series on Putin’s Russia.

Guests:

Harout Manougian, elections expert, EVN Report
Elize Manoukian, associate producer, World Affairs
Simon Ostrovsky, PBS NewsHour special correspondent
Arzu Geybulla, journalist and founder of Azerbaijan Internet Watch

Hosts:

Teresa Cotsirilos, senior producer and co-host, WorldAffairs
Ray Suarez, co-host, WorldAffairs

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: 11-8_World_Affairs_for_podcast_feed.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

When delegates from 50 countries met in San Francisco to sign the UN Charter in 1945, the goal was to maintain peace and security through international cooperation and to prevent another world war. Today’s UN has 193 member countries and is facing a new era of uncertainty.

As world leaders gather in Glasgow for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, we revisit an episode we produced last year as the United Nations turned seventy-five. We look at the UN’s achievements, its shortcomings and what the future holds for international cooperation. Ray Suarez talks with author James Traub, Rt. Hon Kim Campbell, former prime minister of Canada, and Jorge Castañeda, former foreign minister of Mexico.

Guests:

Jorge Castañeda, former foreign minister of Mexico

Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell, Canada's 19th prime minister

James Traub, fellow at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation

Hosts:

Ray Suarez, co-host, World Affairs

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: 11-1_World_Affairs_for_podcast_feed.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

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