x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

In Pursuit of Development

Step into conversations that travel across continents and challenge the way you think about progress. From democracy and inequality to climate resilience and healthcare, Dan Banik explores how societies navigate the complex terrain of democracy, poverty, inequality, and sustainability. Through dialogues with scholars, leaders, and innovators, In Pursuit of Development uncovers how ideas travel, why policies succeed or fail, and what it takes to build a more just and resilient world. Expect sharp

science social sciences

All Episodes

01:10:49

Corruption and political settlements — Mushtaq Khan

In Pursuit of Development ·

2021/03/10

One of the dominant explanations for elusive development in many parts of the world is the negative role played by corruption in the development process. And many national and local governments as well as international aid agencies have spent considerable time and resources trying to come up with plans to combat the corruption menace. But anti-corruption policy has often been difficult to implement and many well-intentioned efforts have had limited impact. Despite the challenges associated with

en

01:05:18

The impact of the sustainable development concept —...

In Pursuit of Development ·

2021/03/03

Since its inception in the international development discourse in the late 1980s, sustainable development has often been celebrated for its rhetorical appeal to political correctness. But is it a useful tool for global development?The idea of “sustainable development” has not only acquired new layers of meaning over the years but has in many ways witnessed a rejuvenation since 2015 following the adoption by world leaders of the 2030 Agenda and its accompanying 17 Sustainable Development Goals

en

01:02:16

The future of aid — Jonathan Glennie

In Pursuit of Development ·

2021/02/24

International public finance, that is required to address global challenges in the decades to come, is woefully inadequate. And rather than aid, which offers an obsolete approach, we should be talking about joint investments – or as my guest this week puts it, Global Public Investment (GPI).In his recent book, The Future of Aid: Global Public Investment, Jonathan Glennie urges us to move away from the patronizing and outdated aid narrative. For starters, he points to the ambitious SDGs and the need

en

00:30:08

Vaccine nationalism and vaccine equity — Antoine de...

In Pursuit of Development ·

2021/02/20

I was recently made aware of the fact that 10 wealthy countries have monopolized 75% of all vaccinations delivered worldwide. This has led the United Nations to sharply criticize the world’s wealthy countries for hogging Covid vaccines. In light of growing vaccine nationalism, many voices have for long been calling for global sharing of vaccines. But it turns out 130 countries have not received a single dose of a Covid vaccine. Thus, we are at a critical moment when vaccine equity appears to be the

en

01:00:04

Knowledge production and network-building in China’s...

In Pursuit of Development ·

2021/02/17

Within international relations theory and foreign policy circles, there is considerable interest in understanding China’s rise to power. In an exciting new book, my guest argues that China’s various types of encounters with countries in the Global South are very different from the behaviour and investment strategies of the US and European countries. In Shaping the future of power: Knowledge Production and network-building in China-Africa Relations, Lina Benabdallah explores the integrated roles of

en

00:36:30

How to distribute a Covid-19 vaccine ethically —...

In Pursuit of Development ·

2021/02/13

As Covid vaccines become available, health officials, policymakers, philanthropic organizations and people like you and me are being confronted with numerous ethical challenges and moral dilemmas. Who should get the vaccines first and how long should others wait? What about the inequality of access to vaccines between countries?Some of us may agree that rich countries have a moral responsibility to subsidize vaccination programs around the world. But how best can this be achieved? And what types of

en

00:53:37

How India became the "pharmacy of the world" — Rory...

In Pursuit of Development ·

2021/02/10

One of the many ways in which India has expanded its influence in global affairs relates to pharmaceutical products. The Indian pharmaceutical sector has enthusiastically highlighted its ability to develop Triple A technology (affordable, available, adaptable). By encouraging research hubs and offering a steady supply of affordable drugs to many countries, including the United States, India has rapidly moved from being a pharmacy for low-income countries to becoming the “pharmacy of the world”. The

en

00:55:27

Political violence and development — Patricia Justino

In Pursuit of Development ·

2021/02/02

People living in areas prone to, or affected by, conflict tend to suffer from many types of deprivation. Some scholars argue that conflict is an important driver of severe food crises and famines, and that undernutrition worsens in situations of prolonged conflicts and in countries and regions with weak institutional capacity. In recent years, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Ethiopia are just some of the examples that have been used in the literature to illustrate the close linkages

en

00:46:25

Gro Harlem Brundtland on sustainable development,...

In Pursuit of Development ·

2021/01/26

Our guest this week is Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, the former prime minister of Norway and former head of the World Health Organization. Gro has had an illustrious career in Norway and abroad. In addition to becoming the first female head of the Norwegian Labor party, she became the first female prime minister of Norway in February 1981. And during her second stint as Prime Minister in 1986, her cabinet made world news headlines when she appointed 8 female ministers in a cabinet of 18. In addition to

en

00:57:58

Political development and political decay — Francis...

In Pursuit of Development ·

2021/01/19

Welcome to season 2 of the show!Our first guest this season is Francis Fukuyama, one of the most influential political thinkers of our time and someone who has written extensively on international politics and issues of development. He is a senior fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies(FSI) and the director of the institute’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL),. This conversation was recorded in mid-December 2020 at the height of

en

01:06:37

Simmering political tensions and civil war in...

In Pursuit of Development ·

2020/11/18

The focus of this final episode of season 1 is Ethiopia, where the ongoing conflict between the federal government in Addis and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front that controls the Tigray region, is making daily news headlines.Ever since becoming the Prime Minister of Ethiopia in 2018, Abiy Ahmed has undertaken several bold reforms. He has also appointed women in key official positions and freed political prisoners. His efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular his

en

01:02:08

Economic boom, poverty reduction and corruption in...

In Pursuit of Development ·

2020/11/11

China has not only achieved impressive economic growth in recent decades, but has also managed to lift hundreds of millions people out of poverty. How was this possible? What role did Chinese institutions, leaders and bureaucrats play in achieving this impressive result? And how and why China has managed to grow so fast for so long despite pervasive corruption?Yuen Yuen Ang is a professor of political science and an expert on China at the University of Michigan. She has written two award-winning

en

00:55:48

The impact of democracy on economic growth — Carl...

In Pursuit of Development ·

2020/11/04

Some of the most interesting debates on development include the role of democracy in promoting economic growth and then distributing the benefits of growth to achieve poverty reduction. Indeed, some of the questions that have attracted considerably scholarly attention in recent decades include the following: Are certain regimes better able and equipped than others to achieve economic growth? Does democracy work for the poor? Despite considerable research on the topic, the results of the

en

01:04:53

Global inequality and the future of capitalism —...

In Pursuit of Development ·

2020/10/28

Income inequality has received considerable attention in recent years. Very few would have predicted that a very thick academic book on wealth and income inequality in Europe and the United States since the 18th century would go on to become an international bestseller. I am of course referring to Capital in the Twenty-First Century– the book published by the French economist Thomas Piketty in 2013. Income inequality was rising in many countries before the pandemic, and recent reports suggest that

en

01:02:32

China-Africa relations — Eric Olander

In Pursuit of Development ·

2020/10/21

This show has been regularly discussing Beijing’s support for sustainable development initiatives, its provision of aid, technical expertise and finance to developing counties under the South-South Cooperation umbrella, and the numerous infrastructure projects that China is undertaking in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia as part of the Belt and Road Initiative.A common goal in several of the episodes in this season of the podcast has been to nuance the understanding of China’s recent

en

00:34:43

Food insecurity and the Nobel Peace Prize 2020 — Ida...

In Pursuit of Development ·

2020/10/17

The Nobel Peace Prize this year was awarded to the World Food Program (WFP). In its announcement, the Norwegian Nobel committee emphasized that “providing assistance to increase food security not only prevents hunger, but can also help to improve prospects for stability and peace”.The WPF indeed appears to be a worthy winner of this prestigious award. It is the world’s largest humanitarian agency, and currently assists over 100 million people in 88 countries. It is also the frontline UN agency

en

00:57:54

Why democracy will prevail in the contest against...

In Pursuit of Development ·

2020/10/14

In his recent book – ll Winds: Saving Democracy from Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition, and American Complacency (Penguin 2019) – Larry Diamond analyzes the challenges confronting liberal democracy in the United States and around the world at this potential “hinge in history”. The book outlines an agenda for strengthening and defending democracy at home in the US as well as abroad. Larry Diamond is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

en

00:51:02

What the West does not understand about China — Liu...

In Pursuit of Development ·

2020/10/10

Much of the discourse in the Western media in recent months has highlighted the rising tensions between the United States and China and the growing assertiveness of Chinese diplomats on social media and in other international forums, where they have passionately defended their country’s response to the Covid outbreak. There has also been a growing interest in trying to decode how Beijing is reconfiguring its aid and investment policies and how and to what extent it will offer debt relief to

en

01:02:12

China’s Belt and Road Initiative and infrastructure...

In Pursuit of Development ·

2020/10/07

A couple of months ago, Liberia’s former minister of public works, Gyude Moore argued in a popular Tweet that Western critiques of Beijing’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) will ring hollow in the absence of viable and state-led alternatives from the West. He claimed that the West can easily match, if not exceed China's BRI if it wanted to. But he also wondered whether the West wants to do this. He remains unconvinced because he thinks the West is satisfied with "virtue signalling when it

en

01:01:50

Dam diplomacy and water sharing agreements in the...

In Pursuit of Development ·

2020/09/30

The growing tensions between the Nile Basin countries – Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan – over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has made news headlines in recent months. Egypt and Ethiopia have for many years been at loggerheads over Ethiopia’s plan to dam the Nile River and this conflict has resulted in steadily deteriorating relations between some of Africa’s biggest countries. Numerous attempts to negotiate a deal have failed and the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on the smooth flow

en

159 results

Similar Podcasts

Classic Radio Science Fiction

solgoodmedia.com

Mission to Mars

Inception Point Ai

The 365 Days of Astronomy

365DaysOfAstronomy.org

Creek Devil

william Jevning

UFO Chronicles Podcast

Nik Hunter