On Shifting Ground

On September 21, 2022, Vladimir Putin ordered a draft of Russian reservists, mobilizing up to 300,000 troops – the first such draft since World War II.

 

Just before Putin's military order, former US Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, spoke with Ray Suarez to give a sense of what we can expect from the war in Ukraine in the coming weeks and – perhaps – months, and how it’s impacting Russia’s international standing.

 

Guest:  

 

Michael McFaul, Professor of Political Science and Director of Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), former U.S. Ambassador to Russia and author of From Cold War to Hot Peace

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: 9-26_World_Affairs.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:50pm PDT

Whether you’re a trader,  techie, or average joe, you’ve probably heard the words “crypto” or “bitcoin” swirling around the web. In the past year, digital coins – once viewed as the exclusive domain of tech millionaires – have shot to global prominence as the preferred currency of Russian oligarchs, Ukrainian resistance fighters, Salvadoran politicians, and everyone in between.

 

Despite the explosion of “cryptomania,” most people still know little about how the digital currency actually works. This week, we take a deep dive into the global world of cryptocurrency.

 

We start in Kazakhstan, where crypto miners are converting frigid winters into digital cash – and straining the country’s energy grid. Then, Ray Suarez sits down with Ukrainian crypto champion Michael Chobanian and skeptic Molly White to discuss the ways crypto may help or hurt a country in crisis.

 

Guests: 


Denis Rusinovich, co-founder of Maveric Group AG


Joanna Lillis, author of Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan


Jonathan Levin, co-founder and CSO of Chainalysis Inc. 


Michael Chobanian, founder of KUNA exchange and president of the Blockchain Association of Ukraine


Molly White, software engineer and author of “Web3 is Going Just Great”

 

Host:

 

Ray Suarez


This program was produced with additional reporting from Levi Bridges. You can check out more of Levi's work here.

 

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: 9-19_World_Affairs.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

Between the passing of Queen Elizabeth and the election of a new leader, the world’s eyes are on the United Kingdom.

 

Until recently, British politician Liz Truss was a relative unknown outside of the UK. Now, as prime minister, she faces the country’s worst economic crisis in decades, the first monarchy changeover in seventy years, and a host of pressing foreign policy matters – notably, Ukraine, Brexit, and Northern Ireland.

 

On this week’s episode, we break down the global implications of new British leadership with Ronan McCrea, professor of law at University College London. He joins Ray to discuss the country’s changing voting laws, party politics, and how Truss’s governing approach may differ from past Tory leaders. Then, we travel to Northern Ireland, where the fate of a Brexit protocol – and the precarious peace between north and south – is back up for debate.

 

Guests:


Ronan McCrea, professor of law, University College London


Noel Large, tour guide, Ex-Prisoners Interpretive Center  

 

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: 9-12_World_Affairs_for_pod.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 3:08pm PDT

In today’s global economy, a single event – like a storm or virus outbreak – can impact access to basic necessities, like food for millions of people. Add to that a rapidly growing world population and many experts are wondering…  how will we keep everyone fed? In what ways will our lifestyles, and our international supply chains, adapt to meet the needs of a warming and increasingly crowded planet? 

 

On this week’s episode, we hear from two experts with competing visions of how we can sustainably feed a growing planet. Ray Suarez is joined by Raj Patel and Robert Paarlberg on a journey through the inequities and promise of our global food system.

 

Guests:  

 

Raj Patel, author of Stuffed and Starved and co-director of The Ants and the Grasshopper, University of Texas

 

Robert Paarlberg, author of Resetting the Table: Straight Talk About the Food We Grow and Eat, Harvard University

 

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: 9-5_World_Affairs.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

In collaboration with Foreign Policy, we bring you a story from “The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women,” to look at how reforming marital rights could be the biggest first step toward gender equality.

 

Host Reena Ninan uncovers the lesser-known role of women’s rights in the fight to end apartheid, and how the current struggle to reform sexist property laws in South African courts is keeping this legacy alive.

 

Guests:

 

Agnes Sithole, South African marital law reformist

 

Sharita Samuel, South African lawyer

 

Host:

 

Reena Ninan, host, Foreign Policy’s “The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women”

 

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: South_Africa_pt._2_for_podcast_feed.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

1