Podcasts

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Tyranny’s Most Dangerous Foe / María Teresa Ronderos

Tyranny’s Most Dangerous Foe / María Teresa Ronderos

Winston Churchill is alleged to have written that "A free press is the unsleeping guardian of every other right that free men prize; it is the most dangerous foe of tyranny.” Thus, it should be no surprise that at a time when clear majorities of people in most...

Doctor, Doctor Give Me the News / Kris Olson

Doctor, Doctor Give Me the News / Kris Olson

Healthcare is intensely personal. Even when national statistics show improvement—which has been the case for most countries over recent decades—what matters is whether my baby in rural Uganda is having trouble breathing or whether my aging father in New York who went...

It’s Up to the Women / Zubaida Bai

It’s Up to the Women / Zubaida Bai

In 2015 the nations of the world—with much fanfare—agreed to achieve gender equality by 2030 as one of the U.N.’s “Sustainable Development Goals.” With the approach of the 10-year anniversary of that declaration, it’s obvious to even the UN statisticians that there is...

Africa’s Mental Health Emergency / Olayinka Omigbodun

Africa’s Mental Health Emergency / Olayinka Omigbodun

It is trite, but true that youth are our future. Unfortunately, what is also true is that in most countries the mental health of young people has been declining over the past two decades, a decline that seems to have accelerated during and after COVID. Globally, one...

Welcome to Dante’s Inferno / Francesca Borri

Welcome to Dante’s Inferno / Francesca Borri

Over the last several years Palestinians felt abandoned and ignored by Arabs, Americans, and Europeans. The people in Gaza and the West Bank seemed to have become almost invisible to everyone except themselves and the Israelis with whom they engaged in a...

Seeking Safe Passage / Sasha Chanoff

Seeking Safe Passage / Sasha Chanoff

Two hundred and fifty years ago the Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote, "Man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn." He obviously wasn't talking about the tragedy of modern mass migration, but he could have been. Today thousands, indeed, millions of people...

America’s Unhappy Choice / Scott Miller

America’s Unhappy Choice / Scott Miller

Once again, Americans are getting ready for a presidential election that is widely described as the most important in their lifetimes. That may or may not be true, but two things are certain: the two candidates, former President Trump and current Vice President...

A New Iran? / Hossein Mousavian

A New Iran? / Hossein Mousavian

During the summer, Iranians elected a new president: Masoud Pezeshkian, a cardiac surgeon, who is considered to be a political reformer. His victory surprised at least many foreign observers who are skeptical about all things Iranian, not the least that anyone could...

Israeli’s Divided House / Naty Barak & Leora Hadar

Israeli’s Divided House / Naty Barak & Leora Hadar

Israel is at war, and not just with Hamas, Iran, the Houthis, and their fellow travelers. Israeli’s most dangerous war may be with itself. That was certainly true before October 7th, and it’s still true. Back then the streets were full of protesters opposing Prime...

Middle East Tinderbox, Houthi Edition / Allison Minor

Middle East Tinderbox, Houthi Edition / Allison Minor

The Middle East is a war zone with Gaza as ground zero. But barely a day goes by when there isn't also fighting in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Iran, Israel, the Red Sea, or elsewhere. The danger is that one of these battles could suddenly ignite a bigger conflict...

The Next World War? / Philip Zelikow

The Next World War? / Philip Zelikow

War in Ukraine. Fighting in Gaza, and across the Middle East. Risky air naval incidents in the South China Sea. Worries about a potential Taiwan conflict. All of it wrapped in visibly growing tensions between China and Russia on the one hand, and the United States and...

Europe’s Shameful Dumping / May Bulman

Europe’s Shameful Dumping / May Bulman

It’s not exactly headline news that many countries are inventing all sorts of novel ways to seal their borders from migrants and refugees or, when those efforts fail, to force the uninvited and unwanted to leave.  It is news, however, when Europe funds, supports, and...

Politicians, Cartels, Murders, Oh My! / Chris Dalby

Politicians, Cartels, Murders, Oh My! / Chris Dalby

Politics in Mexico has long been a blood sport: not only “winner takes all,” but also incredibly violent. Last month’s national elections—when the country's first female president won with a record number of votes and by a record margin of victory—demonstrated both...

France Lurches Right / Alice Barbe

France Lurches Right / Alice Barbe

Much to everyone’s surprise, France’s President Macron recently decided that—like much of the rest of the world—his country ought to have national elections this year. The outcome of the first of two rounds was devastating for his political project to govern from the...

Arctic Heat / Tero Mustonen

Arctic Heat / Tero Mustonen

That the Arctic is warming is not exactly breaking news on a planet where almost everywhere is warming. But it is critical news that the Arctic is warming almost four times faster than the rest of the globe since the polar regions are essentially the planet’s air...

India Votes! / Vishakha Desai

India Votes! / Vishakha Desai

Like everything else about India, its democracy is complicated. Recent parliamentary elections—more than 640 million people voted (roughly two-thirds of eligible voters)—produced a contradictory, confusing outcome. On the one hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP...

Deal of the Century? / Neil Quilliam

Deal of the Century? / Neil Quilliam

It’s been an amazing, terrifying eight months in the Middle East. The horror of October 7th; the endless pounding of Gaza ever since; civilian deaths, casualties and lives disrupted, mostly in Gaza but also in Israel, the West Bank, and Lebanon; Red Sea shipping...

Truth, and Nothing But / Eliot Higgins

Truth, and Nothing But / Eliot Higgins

We live in a world where facts are everywhere, recorded and shared ubiquitously. That ought to make this an era where arguments, journalism, and politics are routinely rooted in fact; unfortunately, it is more a world where too many people insist not only their own...

War Lessons / Armin Rosen

War Lessons / Armin Rosen

Almost seven months ago, Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel murdering, raping, and kidnapping. In response, Israel launched its attack on Gaza that has reportedly killed at least 34,000 people (mostly civilians), leveled much of the Gaza Strip, significantly...

Re-thinking Education for Migrant Children

Re-thinking Education for Migrant Children

We live in an era of mass migration. Millions of people and families are on the move, driven by conflict, natural disasters, insecurity, and lack of opportunity. The human cost of migration is high, especially for children who often lose access to regular schooling,...

SPOTLIGHT: “tis the mind that makes the body rich”

SPOTLIGHT: “tis the mind that makes the body rich”

What do Shakespeare, neuroscientist Rafa Yuste, and human rights lawyer Jared Genser have in common? They all believe that our brains make us human. Yuste and Genser add their own coda to that belief: therefore, it is essential to define and protect mankind’s neuro...

Things Are Never So Bad They Can’t Get Worse… / Nabil Fahmy

Things Are Never So Bad They Can’t Get Worse… / Nabil Fahmy

Both of the following statements are true: The surprise October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel was brutal, outrageous, inhumane, and far outside the boundaries of behavior even remotely “acceptable” in war. The ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza has terrorized Palestinian...

“Only the Dead Have Seen the End of War.” / Clionadh Raleigh

“Only the Dead Have Seen the End of War.” / Clionadh Raleigh

Philosopher George Santayana wrote those words 100 years ago, between two massively destructive world wars. Unfortunately, they continue to ring true today amidst a growing global epidemic of political and civil conflict. That epidemic takes many different forms—wars...

Spring Migrations / Andrew Selee

Spring Migrations / Andrew Selee

Mass migration is once again in the headlines around the world. This is less because of the numbers of people on the move than because it is an intensely political year—and fear of migrants is grist for politicians’ fear-mongering. The United States is the exception...

Peace How? / George Beebe

Peace How? / George Beebe

As Ukraine’s war enters its third year, it’s past time to dampen the rhetoric and tune up the reality. The war has shifted from failed Russian blitzkrieg, to valiant Ukrainian defense and then recovery, to unsuccessful Ukrainian counteroffensive, and now to war of...

A Visionary Leader / Andrew Bastawrous

A Visionary Leader / Andrew Bastawrous

Andrew Bastawrous solves problems. As a well-trained, highly skilled ophthalmologist he was devoted to treating as many patients as possible, in Kenya and elsewhere in Africa. But even gifted surgeons can only do so much, and Andrew came to realize that there were...

Climb a Tree! / Margaret Lowman

Climb a Tree! / Margaret Lowman

Winners of the Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize typically have several things in common. They look at the big challenges confronting society as opportunities for innovation. They don’t celebrate process: instead, they measure success or failure by...

SPOTLIGHT: Global Leadership

SPOTLIGHT: Global Leadership

We’re at a unique point in history, having experienced 70 years of prosperity and peace. However, we now face challenges like climate change, technology disruption, and conflict. But there’s hope: human agency can change our course. In this thought piece for New...

The Art of Dying Well / Christian Ntizimira

The Art of Dying Well / Christian Ntizimira

The Greek philosopher, Epicurus, wrote “The art of living well and dying well are one.” However, most of us spend our lives desperately trying to avoid even thinking about dying, never mind preparing for it. An exception is Dr. Christian Ntizimira, a Rwandan surgeon,...

Teach the Children Well / Shawn Benjamin

Teach the Children Well / Shawn Benjamin

One of the many challenges facing the United States today is an education system that seems to be rotting from the bottom: while graduate and professional schools are still world-class, elementary, middle and high schools are widely criticized for failing to prepare...

Knocking on Europe’s Door / Sergio Carrera

Knocking on Europe’s Door / Sergio Carrera

European politicians talk endlessly about the rule of law, justice, human dignity and freedom of movement. But those words fade fast when the issue of migration pops up, replaced by endless efforts to stop migrants and refugees at the border or, failing that, strand...

SPOTLIGHT: The Year of the Ballot /  Isabel Aninat

SPOTLIGHT: The Year of the Ballot / Isabel Aninat

During 2024 more than 50 countries, including seven of the world’s most populous nations, will vote in national elections. While many thousands of names will appear on ballots, what’s really at stake is the future of democracy itself. Can democracy cope with the...

What’s Warmer, Wetter, and Greener? / Tero Mustonen

What’s Warmer, Wetter, and Greener? / Tero Mustonen

(SPOILER ALERT: THE ARCTIC—AND IT SHOULDN’T BE!) The Arctic is warming at least twice as fast as anywhere else on the planet. All the vital signs—sea and land surface temperatures, terrestrial snow cover, the melting rate of the Greenland Ice Sheet, the extent and...

Cry for Argentina? / Eduardo Amadeo

Cry for Argentina? / Eduardo Amadeo

Why not? The country's inflation rate is approaching 150%. 40% of its people live in poverty. The currency is practically worthless. And Argentina is the IMF’s largest debtor because practically no one else will lend it money. By any definition, the country is an...

War Without End? / Svitlana Morenets

War Without End? / Svitlana Morenets

On January 1st Ukraine’s President Zelensky welcomed 2023 with the words, "Happy New Year! The year of our victory!’ Instead, as we approach year’s end, the conflict seems to have settled into a war of attrition which neither side can win or lose. In spite of the...

Getting Russia Right / Thomas Graham

Getting Russia Right / Thomas Graham

Thomas Graham on how to cope with Russia today as well as tomorrow. Winston Churchill famously said that Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. After the end of the Cold War, many in the West thought the puzzle was solved. The Soviet Union had...

People-Centered Justice / Allyson Maynard-Gibson

People-Centered Justice / Allyson Maynard-Gibson

It’s commonplace today to bemoan the erosion of democracy almost everywhere. Seemingly endless polls document citizens’ complaints; even more academic books and papers seek to explain the problem. But maybe we are overthinking this. Maybe the “democracy” problem is at...

Can Violent Extremists Leave Their Pasts Behind?

Can Violent Extremists Leave Their Pasts Behind?

Guest host Michael Niconchuk looks for answers with experts Juncal Fernandez-Garayzabal and Noah Tucker. Violent extremism is growing globally. It doesn't know religion or creed. Where once it was confined to specific ideology or identity groups, at least in public...

SPOTLIGHT: War is Not Healthy for Children and Other Living Things

SPOTLIGHT: War is Not Healthy for Children and Other Living Things

The war between Israel and Hamas is a classic “lose/lose” proposition: there can be no winners, with a range of outcomes that stretch from bad towards disastrous. Is this just one more awful conflict in a region whose history is pockmarked by war, violence and hate?...

Pandemic Fallout: Unmasking Ethical Failures / Ruth Faden

Pandemic Fallout: Unmasking Ethical Failures / Ruth Faden

Dr. Ruth Faden explains what happened during COVID and how we can do better. According to the WHO, the COVID pandemic killed almost seven million people. The full bill was undoubtedly far greater, not only in terms of lives lost, but of liberties suspended, economies...

What’s Wrong with America? / Lars Trägårdh

What’s Wrong with America? / Lars Trägårdh

The United States seems to be on the verge of some kind of Judgement Day. Extreme partisanship, a past (and future?) president facing seemingly endless indictments and legal entanglements, a profound loss of trust in institutions and leaders, citizens who tell...

Blot Out the Sun? / Luke Iseman & Andrew Song

Blot Out the Sun? / Luke Iseman & Andrew Song

Luke Iseman and Andrew Song explain how they think they can cool the planet. Supposedly, Herodotus wrote that when the Greeks were told that the Persian archers at the Battle of Thermopylae would blot out the sun with their arrows, they responded: “Good, then we shall...

Diplomatically Speaking / Ashok Mirpuri

Diplomatically Speaking / Ashok Mirpuri

"There is nothing dramatic in the success of a diplomatist. His victories are made up of a series of microscopic advantages: of a judicious suggestion here, of an opportune civility there, of a wise concession at one moment and a far-sighted persistence at another; of...

Should We Tolerate the Intolerant? / Elisabeth Braw

Should We Tolerate the Intolerant? / Elisabeth Braw

"If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them.” Karl Popper in The Open Society and Its...

Trump Agonistes / Joon Kim

Trump Agonistes / Joon Kim

Donald Trump continues to make history: he is the only American president (serving or former) ever to have been criminally indicted. He already faces two separate indictments and trials, with the strong possibility of one or two more before the end of the year. That...

Our Blue Planet / Asha de Vos

Our Blue Planet / Asha de Vos

Asha de Vos has done pioneering work on blue whales and joined this week for a conversation about her work in Sri Lanka. The planet “Earth” should probably be called “Water” since 70% of it is ocean. Of course, that also means any discussion of climate issues should...

What Does ChatGPT Think? / Rebecca Finlay

What Does ChatGPT Think? / Rebecca Finlay

Rebecca Finlay delves into the questions surrounding the regulation of AI, its limitless potential, and the challenges faced in controlling its impact on society. *** Although inflection points are better judged in retrospect, OpenAI's release of ChatGPT late last...

Georgia on My Mind / Nino Evgenidze

Georgia on My Mind / Nino Evgenidze

Russia's invasion of Ukraine seems likely to be one of those seminal events that will divide our future histories: BI and AI. That's obviously true for the combatants, but for many others as well. Consider the small country of Georgia, with less than 4 million people,...

Is India Back? / Milan Vaishnav

Is India Back? / Milan Vaishnav

India had the world's largest economy until the 17th century but suffered almost 500 years of decline afterward. However, India is currently the world's most populous nation with one of the largest economies. Will India continue to evolve and become a global power?...

Africa’s Arc of Misery: Sudan / Samah Salman

Africa’s Arc of Misery: Sudan / Samah Salman

Samah Salman, a Sudanese businesswoman and civil society leader shares her insights on the situation and efforts for peace. Sudan is at war with itself. The revolution that drove Omar al-Bashir from office after 30 years has produced coups, conflict and military rule...

Rising China Plants a Flag in the Middle East / Yasmine Farouk

Rising China Plants a Flag in the Middle East / Yasmine Farouk

Yasmine Farouk discusses the impact of China’s mediation between Saudi Arabia and Iran on the Middle East and beyond. Early last month, there was an extraordinary announcement. Saudi Arabia and Iran had agreed to resume diplomatic relations after seven years of more...

Reflections on the Guillotine / Pierre Lellouche

Reflections on the Guillotine / Pierre Lellouche

Macron’s dilemma: European sovereignty or alienating allies? Former French politician Pierre Lellouche analyzes Macron’s blunders and their impact on France on New Thinking for a New World. French President, Emmanuel Macron, has had a complicated few weeks. On the one...

Slouching Towards Texas (If Not Bethlehem)/ Amelia Frank-Vitale

Slouching Towards Texas (If Not Bethlehem)/ Amelia Frank-Vitale

Anthropologist Amelia Frank-Vitale discusses what it takes to walk from Honduras to Texas, and the tragedies along the way. Human history is a long and continuing story of migration. People have always moved out of fear or out of opportunity—and other people have...

Is This Any Way to Run a War? / Anna Wieslander

Is This Any Way to Run a War? / Anna Wieslander

  Anna Wieslander has had the temerity to point out that the West has no strategy to end the war in Ukraine. Listen as host Alan Stoga discusses with her what it might take to end this war, one way or the other. *** Russia's invasion of Ukraine has settled into a...

Is Israel Heading Over a Cliff? / Neri Zilber

Is Israel Heading Over a Cliff? / Neri Zilber

Listen to a conversation with Neri Zilber is, journalist and analyst who focus on Israel's - and more generally Middle Eastern - politics and culture, on a situation that seems destined to go from bad to worse. *** Israel seems to be on the verge of exploding. Prime...

Everything Old Is New Again / Francesco Svelto

Everything Old Is New Again / Francesco Svelto

Building the University of the Future on an Ancient Foundation. Francesco Svelto, Rector of the University of Pavia, shares his vision for Pavia and, more broadly, education at a time of transformation. What do you teach today that won't be irrelevant, literally,...

Mongolia: Between the Hammer and the Anvil / Undraa Agvaanluvsan

Mongolia: Between the Hammer and the Anvil / Undraa Agvaanluvsan

Dr. Undraa Agvaanluvsan, a former member of Mongolia’s Parliament recently explained her country’s challenges in coping with a changing global order. *** Russia's invasion of Ukraine changed how global politics works. Instead of peace, prosperity and globalization,...

Looking for Justice, One Person at a Time / Sam Muller

Looking for Justice, One Person at a Time / Sam Muller

Sam Muller and his colleagues at HiiL are in the business of building “people-centered justice” that works for everyone. 2023 looks likely to be a year of recession, inflation, social and labor unrest, war, the ravages of climate, food insecurity, rising inequality....

Dialogue of the deaf: Europe and China / Andrew Small

Dialogue of the deaf: Europe and China / Andrew Small

Andrew Small explain how and why he thinks that the Chinese challenge is dramatically and dangerously changing. As recently as September 2021, outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel described economic relations between Europe and China as "win-win.” Within nine...

Navigating the World, One Charity at a Time / Michael Thatcher

Navigating the World, One Charity at a Time / Michael Thatcher

Michael Thatcher, President and CEO of Charity Navigator, whose purpose is to bring transparency to philanthropy, regularly examines and rates 200,000 American nonprofits, aiming to provide objective criteria to guide giving. But how to know whether your charity is...

Can a Broken Democracy Fix Itself? / Isabel Aninat

Can a Broken Democracy Fix Itself? / Isabel Aninat

Isabel Aninat is fundamentally optimistic that Chilean democracy is headed in a good direction. She is the Dean of the Law School of the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, in Chile and has been a keen observer of the constitution-writing process and, more generally, of...

No Normal is the New Normal / Tom Armstrong & Diane Osgood

No Normal is the New Normal / Tom Armstrong & Diane Osgood

Diane and Tom, are in the business of thinking about converging crises and they help corporate leaders not only peer around the corner, but formulate strategies that make sense in our changing world. *** We live in a world of converging crises. War in Europe, food and...

Who is Vladimir Putin? / Philip Short

Who is Vladimir Putin? / Philip Short

Listen to Philip Short discuss how Putin looks at the world, what turned him away from a partnership with the West, and the risk that his war could go nuclear. *** As the Russian invasion of Ukraine ebbs and flows, the whole world is watching—and wondering. What does...

Unwrapping the Riddle That Is Mexico / Jorge Castañeda

Unwrapping the Riddle That Is Mexico / Jorge Castañeda

Jorge Castañeda thinks Mexico is in trouble, but almost half of all Mexicans say their country is on the right path. Mexicans, not known for being optimists, apparently are optimistic. Why? *** Winston Churchill famously described the Soviet Union as "A riddle wrapped...

Asia for the Asians — but which Asians? / C Raja Mohan

Asia for the Asians — but which Asians? / C Raja Mohan

Listen as C Raja Mohan explains how India can cope with a dangerous world and a dangerous neighbor. *** We live in a complicated, conflicted world. Russia's unprovoked war in Ukraine. US and European efforts to punish Russian aggression in ways that challenge the...

Can Tech Save Us? / Scott Cohen

Can Tech Save Us? / Scott Cohen

Our world has become a weird combination of dangerous, existential challenges and of almost magical, potential solutions. Can innovations be transformed into practical realities at the necessary speed and scale, and in ways that allow mankind to flourish? Scott Cohen...

Code Red: not for Earth, for Humanity? – Johan Rockström

Code Red: not for Earth, for Humanity? – Johan Rockström

“For the first time in human history, we face a planetary emergency.” Those words were written by Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. Scientists tend to be sober, measured in their assessments and with a preference for...

Are You Listening?

Are You Listening?

Too many people seem voiceless or, at least, don’t think their voices are heard by those whose decisions shape their lives. Is the problem that too many are voiceless or that too many are not listening? Maybe unanswerable, but we asked some people to try. Please...

Don’t Fool With Mother Nature!

Don’t Fool With Mother Nature!

We live in an era of accelerating, disruptive climate change, with catastrophic consequences that every credible forecast says will worsen. To look for answers we recently organized a conversation with Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Francisco Hildebrand and Tero Mustonen....

Speaking Truth to Power in the Real World

Speaking Truth to Power in the Real World

Listen as three of the good “guys” discuss the reality in the trenches of the fight for human rights. Kenyan poet Sitawa Namwalie, Bangladeshi photographer and activist Shahidul Alam, and American human rights lawyer Jared Genser. At a time when autocrats are...

Ukraine Changes Everything

Ukraine Changes Everything

This war is far from over and its reverberations will be with us for a long time. Most importantly, the war seems to be the straw that is breaking the camel’s back of the post-Cold War world order, with unpredictable consequences. The Tällberg Foundation recently...

Sweden Burning? Really? / Lars Åberg

Sweden Burning? Really? / Lars Åberg

Listen as Lars Åberg explains what Sweden has done right, but also what it has done wrong. We live in the age of the refugee. Arguably, no country in the West has been more welcoming to refugees over the years than Sweden has. Progressive, secular, social democratic,...

Them vs Us: What Ukraine Is Really About

Them vs Us: What Ukraine Is Really About

Leopoldo López, a Venezuelan patriot, explains how the fight to save Ukraine reflects a much bigger, existential fight for freedom everywhere. As Russia's war grinds on with no end in sight, what's at stake may be changing. It's becoming about how the world works,...

Poland to the Rescue

Poland to the Rescue

Marta Górczyńska is a human rights lawyer from Poland specializing in the protection of migrants, refugees and victims of human trafficking. Conducts monitoring missions to the borders and detention facilities for migrants and reports on human rights violations....

How Worried Are You?

How Worried Are You?

Dr. Tytti Erästö's key assumption has long been that rational leaders would never use nuclear weapons. But now she is asking, what about irrational ones? Dr Tytti Erästö is a Senior Researcher in SIPRI’s Nuclear Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-proliferation...

Does China Have Russia’s Back?

Does China Have Russia’s Back?

Tough question that may be impossible to answer, but Alicia Garcia-Herrero recently offered some possibilities. Alicia García Herrero is the Chief Economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis. She also serves as  Senior Fellow at the Brussels-based European think-tank...

The Whole World is Watching!

The Whole World is Watching!

At great personal peril, Russian journalist Yevgenia Albats tells it like it is—to the Russians who depend on her and to us, who need her. Yevgenia M. Albats is a Russian investigative journalist, political scientist, author, and radio host. She has been a non...

Is China Complicit in Ukraine?

Is China Complicit in Ukraine?

Why did Xi apparently green light Putin's war? What does China potentially gain from war in Europe? How does this war fit into China's long-term strategy? Jonathan Ward has been studying Russia, China, and India for nearly twenty years since his undergraduate days in...

The Faces of War

The Faces of War

Janine di Giovanni has spent much of her celebrated career witnessing the worst of what mankind can do to itself, but also the best that people under extraordinary circumstances can do for others. Listen as she discusses her experiences and, in particular, the work...

Special Edition: War in Europe

Special Edition: War in Europe

The Tällberg Foundation recently hosted a conversation about the conflict in Ukraine and its implications. This conversation featured Jan Eliasson, former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Pierre Lellouche, former French parliamentarian and minister, and...

Talking About Talking / Emma Ashford

Talking About Talking / Emma Ashford

The Russian attack shattered the European security structure. Listen to Emma Ashford's thoughts and speculation about a new security structure for Europe. Emma Ashford is a resident senior fellow with the New American Engagement Initiative in the Scowcroft Center for...

Is it the End of Democracy?

Is it the End of Democracy?

Joel Kotkin argues that the withering of democratic process and institutions reflects the deeper transformation of American and European societies: the emergence of a ruling technocracy; the use of the pandemic and the environmental crisis to constrain individual...

What’s Next for the Climate: A Post Glasgow Perspective

What’s Next for the Climate: A Post Glasgow Perspective

No one is better positioned to answer those questions than Denmark's Climate Ambassador Tomas Anker Christensen. Tomas was deeply engaged in the European and global run-up to Glasgow, in the negotiations in Scotland, and in the effort since then to translate words...

Saving Democracy, One New Leader at a Time

Saving Democracy, One New Leader at a Time

Alice Barbe, a French political activist, recently shared her ideas, hopes and solutions on how politics ought to work. Do you think she is headed in the right direction? Alice Barbe is a French social entrepreneur, mostly known for having co-founded and managed...

Will There Be War? / Constanze Stelzenmüller

Will There Be War? / Constanze Stelzenmüller

Listen as Constanze Stelzenmüller—an expert on Germany, geopolitics and trans-Atlantic relations - shares her views on what is at stake. Hostile troops massing on the border of a Central European democracy. Russia's threats against Ukraine and its demands for new...

Looking for Change in All the Right Places: The New Middle East

Looking for Change in All the Right Places: The New Middle East

What's going on? Has the Middle East of strict Islam suddenly turned into something more modern? Listen to Neil Quilliam, a deeply knowledgeable, experienced expert in the region, discuss how the Middle East is changing Dr Neil Quilliam is an energy policy,...

Are the Bad Guys REALLY Winning?

Are the Bad Guys REALLY Winning?

Listen as Anne Applebaum discusses how this new world(dis) order might evolve. What does she mean by “the 21st century is, so far, a story of the reverse”?  Anne Applebaum is a journalist, a prize-winning historian, a staff writer for The Atlantic and a senior fellow...

Searching for New Leaders

Searching for New Leaders

Great leaders may or may not be born that way, but their skills and abilities certainly evolve and mature over time. That is why we established an Emerging Leader category for the TSEGL Prize. The jury selected two leaders. Pashtana Durrani, an Afghan activist and...

Looking For—and Finding—Real Leaders

Looking For—and Finding—Real Leaders

The only hope for a world awash in troubles is that leaders with vision, universal values, and determination will seize the moment. But just bemoaning the lack of leaders accomplishes nothing. That’s why we established the Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership...

Give Peace a Chance (this time in the Middle East)

Give Peace a Chance (this time in the Middle East)

Listen as Ambassador Dina Kawar parses the possibilities, good and bad, in the Middle East Ambassador Dina Kawar was appointed as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to the United States of America in June 2016. Ambassador...

Save the Seas

Save the Seas

Do you care about the future of the oceans? Can we save the oceans? Oceanographers Sylvia Earle from the US and Asha de Vos from Sri Lanka talkes about water, the oceans, threats, and solutions. Sylvia A. Earle is a pioneering ocean scientist, explorer, author,...

Cyber Defenders: Protecting Human Rights Online

Cyber Defenders: Protecting Human Rights Online

Ronald Deibert is fighting back against digital predators to protect citizens and civil society. Listen as Ron explains how Citizen Lab does the voodoo they do so well. Ronald J. Deibert, Director of the Citizen Lab (CL) at the Munk School of Global Affairs &...

China: On the Road to Perdition?

China: On the Road to Perdition?

Is China’s leadership acting out of strength or weakness? Is war possible? Is war avoidable? Listen as Kevin Rudd assesses where China is today, and where it wants to be tomorrow. Kevin Rudd became President and CEO of Asia Society in January 2021 and has been...

Electrify Everything!

Electrify Everything!

Do we have the technologies in hand to decarbonize economies in ways that are compatible with how people want to live? Saul Griffith, inventor, entrepreneur, and engineer, is founder and chief scientist of Rewiring America, a nonprofit dedicated to decarbonizing...

Greta’s right: less talk, more action

Greta’s right: less talk, more action

What is actually being done about climate change? As the Rainforest Alliance’s chief executive officer, Santiago Gowland oversees the organization’s strategic, programmatic, financial, and operational leadership. Gowland has dedicated his career to driving...

Escaping the Taliban

Escaping the Taliban

  The Taliban's surge to power in Afghanistan is one of those events that will have repercussions for years to come. Listen as Jamila Afghani talks about escaping the Taliban, and what she expects for her country. Jamila Afghani, president of Women’s...

Can We Unearth Solutions to the Climate Challenge?

Can We Unearth Solutions to the Climate Challenge?

  Tero Mustonen is a climate scholar who combines indigenous knowledge with academic research. Listen to his insights on how to promote positive change on a damaged planet. Tero Mustonen, President and Co-Founder of the Snowchange Cooperative, Finland Despite its...

Latin American Democracy: Dead or Alive?

Latin American Democracy: Dead or Alive?

  Why hasn't liberal democracy developed deeper roots in Latin America? Why are institutions under pressure in so many places? Why do many Latins seemingly embrace “strong man” rather than democratic solutions to their social, economic, and political problems?...

New World Order: Middle East Chapter

New World Order: Middle East Chapter

Iran sits at the center of this emerging new reality. Rapprochement among Arabs and peace with Israel is one thing if it is aimed at a united front against Iran, but quite another if it is about finding new ways to work with Iran on common objectives. That really...

Can Brazil’s Democracy Survive Bolsonaro?

Can Brazil’s Democracy Survive Bolsonaro?

Can Bolsonaro bully his way into reelection? Will the country’s democratic institutions be so badly damaged by him that Brazil’s future stability could be at risk? Most importantly, what do the Brazilian people actually want? Ambassador Sergio Silva do Amaral was born...

Cyber (In)Security in a Connected World

Cyber (In)Security in a Connected World

Cyber insecurity is a reality of life in the digital age. We all worry about being hacked, about losing personal or corporate secrets to online bandits. But what happens when nations do it? Is that war? Marcus Willett CB OBE, has extensive experience of advising...

Can We Innovate Our Way to Better Times?

Can We Innovate Our Way to Better Times?

Can we really innovate our way out of the mess? Are we smart enough to translate fantastic discoveries into tangible benefits for people? Livio Valenti is a sustainability entrepreneur leveraging scientific discoveries to build innovative companies in the healthcare,...

Who Cares About Migrants?

Who Cares About Migrants?

here do they go and who will take them? What rights do migrants seeking safety have? Who worries about them in a world that is focused on coping with Covid? Becca Heller is the co-founder and Executive Director of the International Refugee Assistance Project. IRAP...

Are Your Thoughts Safe?

Are Your Thoughts Safe?

Where is neuroscience taking us? Rafael Yuste works at the forefront of neuroscience. In an effort to protect your individual neuro-identity and neurorights, he is joined by Jared Genser, a leading international human rights lawyer. Jared Genser is an international...

Slouching Towards Bethlehem

Slouching Towards Bethlehem

If art is a window on the soul of a nation, what does ours look like? Who do we, defined loosely as the West, think we are in the sense of identity? What's our mood? Jonathan Burnham is President and Publisher of the Harper Division at HarperCollins, overseeing...

Hot War, Cold War, New War

Hot War, Cold War, New War

Lithuania is a frontline state in the growing confrontation—some think it is already war—between East and West. Dalia Bankauskaitė, a defense and security expert at Vilnius University, and Marius Laurinavičius, a journalist and analyst at the Vilnius Institute for...

A New Middle East

A New Middle East

Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba, the United Arab Emirates long serving ambassador to the United States and also a key player in the process of creating this new Middle East, discusses the future of the region. Yousef Al Otaiba is the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates...

Does Democracy Have a Future in Latin America?

Does Democracy Have a Future in Latin America?

By any measure, Latin American democracy is in trouble. Will things get worse before they get better? Patricio Navia, Eduardo Amadeo, Sergio Guzmán, all think (and certainly hope) that democracy will survive in their countries and in their region. Eduardo Amadeo has...

Welcome to the High-Tech Barbecue

Welcome to the High-Tech Barbecue

Can we produce enough food to meet humanity's growing needs and wants, without further environmental damage? Is it possible to move the center point of the production process from the farm or the sea into the laboratory? Didier Toubia is the co-founder and CEO of...

Heart of Darkness

Heart of Darkness

  How is Africa doing? Can Africa produce the food, energy, economic activity, education, and social and political stability that all those people, especially all those young people, need and deserve? And is democracy the best means to that end? Michela Wrong has...

Leadership Special: Fio Omenetto and Bright Simons

Leadership Special: Fio Omenetto and Bright Simons

Two prize winners and friends, Fio Omenetto and Bright Simons, discuss how great leaders can change everything. Fiorenzo G. Omenetto is the Frank C. Doble Professor of Engineering, and a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Tufts University. He also holds...

The hope of our future

The hope of our future

Youth is the hope of our future. When it comes to governance, is that a good thing in a world where there is a growing body of evidence that youth's satisfaction with democracy is declining in many countries? Listen as Cristóbal Marín Rojas and Julien Richard discuss...

Alone together: China and America

Alone together: China and America

We seem to be moving from a world where markets ruled to one where politics rules: the politics of nationalism and confrontation, of East versus West instead of East and West. Weijian Shan, economist, businessman, investor, shares his unique perspective, not just on...

Girls, Interrupted

Girls, Interrupted

Dr. Maliha Khan, one of the leaders of the Malala Fund, talks about how the pandemic has made the goal "all girls, everywhere should have free, safe, quality education", even more difficult to achieve. The global pandemic affects almost everyone on the planet—but it...

The Chinese Puzzle

The Chinese Puzzle

What does China—or, more particularly China’s leadership and the Chinese Communist Party— want from the rest of the world? Domination or collaboration? Allies or subjects? War or peace? Dr. Jonathan D. T. Ward is an internationally recognized expert on Chinese global...

The kids are not alright!

The kids are not alright!

"All children of all ages and in all countries are being effected in particular by the socioeconomic impacts and in some cases, by mitigation measures that may inadvertently do more harm than good. This is a universal crisis. And for some children, the impact will be...

The best of times, and the worst of times

The best of times, and the worst of times

Even as the pandemic, like some giant glacier, slowly and unevenly recedes, the world seems frozen in place as it deals with the mess left behind. But is this crisis or opportunity? This week’s guests are dedicated to the latter proposition. They both are trying to...

If it’s illiberal, is it democracy?

If it’s illiberal, is it democracy?

Europe is increasingly divided: between the frugal North and the Club Med South; between the illiberal East and the progressive West. In many ways, the latter is more profound at a time when democracy is under pressure almost everywhere. Listen as our guests discuss...

Casas Muertas

Casas Muertas

Venezuela has been in a death spiral for years. The country have been devastated by political repression and economic depression; its people suffer from hunger, malnutrition, shortages of food, medicine and, perhaps worst of all, opportunity. David Smolansky is the...

When is too much freedom too much?

When is too much freedom too much?

Lee C. Bollinger, President of Columbia University, is widely considered one of America's leading legal scholars on freedom of speech and has written extensively about the evolution of that fundamental freedom in the digital age. Lee C. Bollinger became Columbia...

“Expect to have very violent reactions after the pandemic”

“Expect to have very violent reactions after the pandemic”

Pierre Lellouche worries that bad is likely to get worse. Listen as he discusses how Europe got stuck between the United States and China, the future of democracy, and the tragedy of social movements focused only on race and gender. Pierre Lellouche, after a long...

Iran’s Annus Horribilis

Iran’s Annus Horribilis

2020 was an awful year for Iran. A year that started with the assassination of the country's widely popular, leading general ended with the assassination of its most important nuclear scientist. Answers are difficult to find, but this week’s guests are in the business...

High Anxiety

High Anxiety

There is mounting evidence that the pandemic is generating a global mental health crisis. How do we cope with the results? Dr. Jonathan DePierro and Michael Niconchuk try to answer questions about our mental health in this episode. Jonathan DePierro, PhD is an...

Do you believe in Magic?

Do you believe in Magic?

Magician Mark Mitton explores how magical thinking (or, at least, a magician’s thinking) can help us through this crisis Mark Mitton is a magician who is fascinated by using magic to better understand how we see the world. In addition to performing and producing...

Looking for a New Normal (or something like it)

Looking for a New Normal (or something like it)

We live at a time of pandemic, recession, growing doubts about the future and form of capitalism, challenges to democracy, shifts in global power.   Sandra Breka is Member of the Board of Management of the Robert Bosch Stiftung, one of the major foundations in Europe....

“A republic, if you can keep it”

“A republic, if you can keep it”

Congressman Gephardt, a Democrat, firmly believes America needs bipartisanship to cope with the divisive spirits that are tearing at the country. Listen as he talks about some of the things that urgently need to be done, not just in the United States, but everywhere...

Lines in the Sand

Lines in the Sand

History is replete with leaders drawing real or metaphorical lines in the sand, challenging opponents to cross only if they dare. David Andelman, an American journalist and author, believes that one way to understand global risks and challenges is to explore the nexus...

Welcome to the Brave New (digital) World

Welcome to the Brave New (digital) World

We explore living online with a woman whose job it is to make the experience as productive and pleasant as possible. Jaime Teevan is Microsoft’s Chief Scientist for Experiences and Devices. Jaime Teevan, Chief Scientist, Microsoft Experiences and Devices and helps...

Why Europe?

Why Europe?

Pascal Lamy is arguably one of the most prominent, thoughtful and enthusiastic supporters of a global leadership role for Europe. Pascal Lamy served two terms as Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) from September 2005 to September 2013. Mr. Lamy...

Follow the Science

Follow the Science

2020 will probably be remembered as the year of COVID. Our guest has long worked at the intersection of science, politics, and policy. Dr. Ali Nouri, a molecular biologist, is the President of the Federation of American Scientists Dr. Ali Nouri, a molecular biologist,...

Live and Let Live / Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka

Live and Let Live / Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka

Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, a winner of the 2022 Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prizes, believes that zoonotic disease is controllable by simultaneously working to improve the health of humans and animals, at the points where they meet. Dr. Gladys...

Democracy in America

Democracy in America

The U.S. election has come, but not quite gone as President Trump continues to resist the otherwise apparent victory of Joe Biden. Notwithstanding that drama, what did the voting tell us about America, Americans, and democracy? Scott Miller is a leading strategic and...

Amazonian Armageddon

Amazonian Armageddon

Once again, the Amazon is burning—and deforestation may be approaching a tipping point that could turn the world’s largest rain forest into dry savanna or even dessert. What are the potential consequences? Why aren’t we terrified? Who should be doing what? André...

Has China Won?

Has China Won?

The competition between China and the United States is the defining geopolitical reality of the 21st century. The evolution of its new Great Game will determine whether our collective future will be one of prosperity or disaster. Kishore Mahbubani is a veteran...

Happy (?) Birthday

Happy (?) Birthday

  The United Nations turned 75 this year—but the pandemic overwhelmed its birthday party. The UN, built in a different world, has succeeded in its core mission: preventing World War III.  But is the UN, as it is now constructed, relevant to the problems of the...

Battlegrounds

Battlegrounds

General H.R. McMaster, a highly decorated U.S. military officer, discusses how he believes the U. S. and like-minded countries can maneuver through today’s complicated global realities to produce peace and prosperity for their citizens. H. R. McMaster is the Fouad and...

Migrants (barely) Surviving

Migrants (barely) Surviving

Like a great magician, the pandemic has drawn our attention away from things that are hiding in plain sight. One of those has been the plight of millions of refugees and migrants who are in refugee camps or trying to escape from war, violence, poverty or other...

A World Divided

A World Divided

The world's a mess.  The great powers today, the Chinese and the Americans, seem to disagree on most things. In this episode, Robin Niblett looks for answers. Dr Robin Niblett CMG has led Chatham House since January 2007. Previously he was executive vice president and...

Africa Agonistes

Africa Agonistes

In this episode we're going to explore why democracy and good governance are so rare in East Africa and what leaders like Peter Biar Ajak can do to change that reality. Peter Biar Ajak is the Chairman of the South Sudan Young Leaders Forum, Senior Advisor to the...

A Silver Lining to the Covid Disaster?

A Silver Lining to the Covid Disaster?

Ana Palacio, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain, Magnus Schöldtz, former Ambassador at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, talk about Europes challenges in this week's podcast. Ana Palacio is the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain and...

War, What is it Good For?

War, What is it Good For?

Turkey and Greece are locked in a struggle in the Eastern Mediterranean that feels like it belongs more in 1920 than in 2020.  Is war possible? In this episode, Alan Stoga looks for answers from Constantinos Filis, Executive Director at the Institute of International...

Sometimes History Rhymes

Sometimes History Rhymes

Egypt’s Nabil Fahmy and Turkey’s Cengiz Çandar discuss what Erdogan wants as he is playing a high stakes game that some think could even lead to war between Turkey and Greece or Egypt. Cengiz Çandar is a “Distinguished Visiting Scholar” at the Stockholm University...

Are We Really All in This Together?

Are We Really All in This Together?

Cardinal Czerny argues that any approach to Covid-19 that does not include those most vulnerable among us is a non-solution. Who then seems to have overlooked these people? Card. Michael Czerny S.J. was born on 18 July 1946, in Brno, Czechoslovakia (today the Czech...

African Possibilities

African Possibilities

How can Africa cope? Are solutions—or, at least, possibilities—to be found at the local, national or regional level? Listen to Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, mayor of Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown, and Carole Wainaina, a leader of Africa50. Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr OBE was sworn in...

STOP SLAVERY NOW!

STOP SLAVERY NOW!

Why do nations, rich and poor, tolerate widespread slavery, human trafficking and even the buying and selling of young children in the 21st century? This episode explores the darkness of slavery—which consumes even very young children—with India’s Sunitha Krishnan....

The Covid Economy: Your Bust, My Boom

The Covid Economy: Your Bust, My Boom

What happens when the global economy collapses, but global financial markets boom? That’s one of the issues explored in the conversation with German business leader Kurt Lauk and long-time top American central banker Terry Checki. Dr. Kurt J. Lauk is the co founder...

Is America Finished?

Is America Finished?

Why has America stopped investing in itself? We speak with Christine Loh who is a Hong Kong-based academic, environmentalist, and former government official with deep ties to the United States Professor Christine Loh is Chief Development Strategist, Institute for the...

America: Darkness Before the Crack of Dawn?

America: Darkness Before the Crack of Dawn?

What kind of institutional change does the United States need and can that change be achieved without revolution? Castañeda talks about some of the ideas from his latest book, “America Through Foreign Eyes” and explains why he thinks the United States is heading in...

Is America Racist — if so, will it ever not be?

Is America Racist — if so, will it ever not be?

American Carnage or American Dream? It matters to everyone everywhere whether or not the United States is in terminal decline or (painfully) resetting the basis of its democracy and its society. If the former, the global order will change in incalculable ways, for...

The Millennial Future

The Millennial Future

Are there possibilities for a different future to emerge from the Covid crisis? Listen to Rosario Diaz Garavito, Baiqu Gonkar and David Ross, discuss the possibilities for a different future to emerge from the Covid crisis. Rosario Diaz Garavito is the founder and...

Is It Possible to Be Optimistic About Climate Change?

Is It Possible to Be Optimistic About Climate Change?

For the first time in 75 years, the whole world is focused on the same problem and, in the process, mobilizing unprecedented political will, state authority and fiscal resources as well as relying on scientists to build evidence-based policies. How do we transfer all...

Is Europe’s Future Green or Black?

Is Europe’s Future Green or Black?

The global Covid-19 pandemic has exposed deep fissures in the global political and economic fabric. For democracy to survive, the social contract needs to be reimagined; economies needs to be re-engineered and climate change – that is now accelerating at a pace that...

The American Condition

The American Condition

In this week’s podcast episode, Scott Miller and Josh Steiner explore the potential impact of the pandemic on longer term trends shaping the United States. What is the state of the Union? Has the American dream become American carnage? Covid-19 has laid bare many...

Climate After Covid

Climate After Covid

Christiana Figueres—climate activist, one of the key architects of the Paris Climate Agreement and 2016 Tällberg/Eliasson Global Leadership Prize winner—passionately believes that the pandemic offers a unique opportunity to focus on constructive climate action.  In...

The Value(s) of Democracy

The Value(s) of Democracy

Democracy is under huge pressure everywhere, made worse by the global pandemic. Too many governments in too many places are failing to deliver on the basic social contract with their citizens. In this podcast, celebrated photographer and human rights activist Shahidul...

Will Democracy Survive Covid-19?

Will Democracy Survive Covid-19?

Democracy and democratic institutions were under severe pressure well before the novel Coronavirus appeared. Could the added burden of the pandemic break the back of democracy as we have known it? How worried should we be by governments proclaiming wartime powers and...

Understanding Coronavirus and Its Implications

Understanding Coronavirus and Its Implications

In this podcast, Anne Goldfeld, a scientist and doctor with deep pandemic experience, discusses what we know about Covid-19, what we still need to learn and why it is a global problem that demands a global response. Anne, who is Senior Investigator of the Program in...

What Is a Thought?

What Is a Thought?

Rafael Yuste, a professor of biological sciences at Columbia University and a 2018 Tällberg/Eliasson Global Leader speaks with Alan Stoga, the Tällberg Foundation’s chairman about recent and prospective progress in neuroscience. They discuss such questions as could...

Grappling With the Unknown

Grappling With the Unknown

In this week’s episode of the Tällberg Foundation Podcast, we listen to a conversation between Anne Goldfeld, Faustin Linyekula, and Saul Griffith who share their perspectives on the future and their relationship with it. The three 2019 Tällberg/Eliasson Global...

What Is the Future of Democracy?

What Is the Future of Democracy?

In our second episode of the Tällberg Foundation Podcast, we listen in on a panel conversation addressing these questions. Panelists: Kenneth Lusaka (The Rt. Hon. Speaker of the Senate, Parliament of the Republic of Kenya), David Sperling (Research Professor and...

Unpacking a Tällberg Workshop: Hopes, Concerns and Red Threads

Unpacking a Tällberg Workshop: Hopes, Concerns and Red Threads

Our initial podcast was recorded in Nairobi, Kenya, after a Tällberg Workshop. Three members of the Tällberg Foundation community reflect on “New Thinking for a New World.” Optimism or pessimism about the future may have less to do with facts, and more to do with...

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