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In Solidarity - by openDemocracyPlanet PatriarchyPatriarchy refuses to die. In every country of the world, women are oppressed by male violence, patriarchal religions, and ideas of the family. But women are resisting, as Rahila Gupta explains, in a fascinating analysis that takes us from Riyadh and Russia, to Rojava. Buy Planet Patriarchy: Global Tales of Feminism and Oppression: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/8711/9781805262879—https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/newsletters/In Solidarity is openDemocracy’s podcast about people, power, and politics. Support the show by visiting https://www.openDemocracy.net/donate/Credits:...2025-07-2325 minIn Solidarity - by openDemocracyThe tech start-up targeting sexual assault survivorsContent warning: This episode discusses sexual assault, rape and trauma.When our investigative reporter Sian Norris heard worrying claims about a Silicon Valley-style start-up targeting rape survivors at universities in Bristol, she knew she needed to uncover what exactly was going on.Over the next six months, Sian interviewed more than a dozen people on and off the record, sent multiple FOI requests and reviewed countless social media posts. Working with a Lucy H Watson, a student at Bristol university, Sian uncovered the concerns raised by students, universities and the police about E...2025-07-1534 minIn Solidarity - by openDemocracyWho is funding Nigel Farage’s Reform party - and why?This is the first episode of our new mini-series exploring the financial interests of political parties in England and Wales. Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has banked almost £5m from wealthy donors since 2023, including those with links to fossil fuels, the financial services industry and tax havens. It has also received significant financial investment from the general public in the form of party memberships. There seems to be a tension between the party’s desire to be seen as a grassroots, ‘by the people, for the people’ movement and its efforts to court the very bi...2025-07-0128 minIn Solidarity - by openDemocracyA momentous day for reproductive rightsOn 17 June 2025 UK Parliament voted to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales, reversing a Victorian-era law. The amendment will prevent women from being prosecuted for ending a pregnancy after 24 weeks or without approval from two doctors.We spoke to our senior investigative reporter Sian Norris, author of Bodies Under Siege: How the Far-Right Attack on Reproductive Rights Went Global. Get Bodies Under Siege by Sian Norris: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/8711/9781839764738Read Sian’s full piece on this vote: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/mps-vote-decriminalise-abortion-important-increasing-prosecutions-global-backlash-us/—htt...2025-06-1821 minIn Solidarity - by openDemocracyLocked up: protesters in prisonEarlier this year, openDemocracy explored how successive governments had cracked down on protest rights. Now, with Just Stop Oil activists facing lengthy sentences for "conspiring" to commit protest offences, the impact of these laws is being felt more than ever. We sat down with human rights lawyer Katy Watts to discuss the sentencing, and how she and the NGO Liberty won a legal challenge against the government's new protest laws. https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/—https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/newsletters/In Solidarity is openDemocracy’s podcast about...2025-06-1229 minIn Solidarity - by openDemocracyGeneration Crisis: Why generational labels miss the markBoomers ruined everything, Millennials are work-shy and Gen Z can’t comprehend anything that isn’t a TikTok dance. Generational language defines the way we think about broad cohorts of society, but is this way of viewing the world dividing us further at a time when solidarity has never been more important?Tom Nicholas, a writer, filmmaker and YouTuber, joins us to discuss his latest film Boomers: The Rise of Gerontocracy, generational language and whether Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z are really that different to each other or are just one generation shaped by the fina...2025-06-0626 minIn Solidarity - by openDemocracyHow Protest Became a Crime in the UK: "We’re All Arrestables Now"This week on In Solidarity, we're in discussion with openDemocracy's senior investigative reporter and feminist activist, Sian Norris. Sian joins us on the podcast to reveal how recent laws are quietly dismantling the right to protest in the UK.Drawing on six months of in-depth reporting, Sian breaks down the true impact of the Public Order Act 2023 and the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. These laws allow protests to be stopped before they even begin, based on little more than suspicion.What does this mean for democracy, and who is being targeted...2025-05-2235 minIn Solidarity - by openDemocracyWomen, life, freedom: resistance and protest in IranAs a young woman in 1980s Iran, Nasrin Parvaz was arrested, imprisoned and tortured by the Iranian regime. In this moving interview, she shares her experience of torture and incarceration, reflects on the successive women's revolutions in Iran, questions the West's ideas of regime change, and offers a powerful call for global sisterhood.http://www.nasrinparvaz.org/web/tag/https-www-victorinapress-com-product-one-womans-struggle-in-iran-a-prison-memoir/Get our independent journalism delivered direct to your inbox, join the openDemocracy Newsletter today. In Solidarity is openDemocracy’s podcast about people, power, and politics. It’s hosted by openDemocracy Seni...2025-05-1530 minIn Solidarity - by openDemocracyCompanies are making billions from anti-immigration fearsFor many years, politicians have sold the public a simple story: The answer to undocumented immigration is a strong, fortified border. This story has a seductive, common-sense reasoning — but it is also wrong. Decades of research has shown that people determined to move, find a way to move. And when States respond with border controls, people turn to smugglers to circumvent these controls; and on and on this cycle goes with increasingly militarised borders on the one hand, and increasingly desperate people on the other. But politicians don’t want to engage w...2025-05-0931 minIn Solidarity - by openDemocracyWhy organising locally mattersCommunity organisers around the world have long argued that to change a country, canvas a community. But is that really true? In this episode, we catch up with someone who literally wrote the book on the subject. Our guest George Goehl started organising in a soup kitchen in Southern Indiana 30 years ago in the Clinton era and continues to do so in the time of Trump. Listen in to understand how to fight effectively for change and why immigration is such a divisive issue. The Fundamentals Of Organizing - George Goe...2025-05-0140 minIn Solidarity - by openDemocracyPalestine, Musk and BRICS: the issues dividing US and South AfricaThe already fraught relationship between the United States and South Africa has been put under even more strain with Donald Trump's decision to cut foreign aid, not to mention South Africa's case against Israel at the ICJ.Menzi Ndhlovu, a political economist and risk analyst at Signal Risk a risk analysis consultancy focused on Africa, joins us to discuss this critical moment for South Africa.—Get our independent journalism delivered direct to your inbox, join the openDemocracy Newsletter today. In Solidarity is openDemocracy’s podcast about people, power...2025-04-2441 minIn Solidarity - by openDemocracyPopulism's Silver LiningDanny Sriskandarajah is the author of Power to the People: Use your voice, change the worldSriskandarajah discusses the shift from a positive phase of civic engagement to a reversal over the past decade, emphasising the importance of community networks beyond state and market fixations. He highlights the role of civil society in nurturing democracy and the need for international solidarity. Sriskandarajah shares personal experiences from his childhood in Sri Lanka and the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, underscoring the power of collective action and the interconnectedness of global issues.—Ge...2025-04-0729 minIn Solidarity - by openDemocracyEscaping The Alt-Right PipelineJimmy The Giant is a popular YouTuber who did what many would consider to be beyond the pale - he changed his mind about politics. Jimmy went from heading down the right wing pipeline of self improvement gurus to U-turning and becoming, dare we say, ‘woke’. In today’s episode Aman Sethi talks to Jimmy about how and why he changed his mind about the political landscape and together they examine the changing online landscape that is making it all too easy for mainly young men to slip gradually into the world of alt-right politics. Ji...2025-03-2433 minIn Solidarity - by openDemocracyMigration, AI and The Rise of the MachinesBorders patrolled by AI-powered robotic dogs once seemed like something purely in the realm of dystopian sci-fi novels. But the border industrial complex is working hard to make them a part of our (still dystopian) reality. Petra Molnar, author of The Walls Have Eyes: Surviving Migration in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, joins us to discuss the militarization of border technologies, the racial politics of migration and the complexities of being both a refugee and an economic migrant.Petra is a lawyer and anthropologist specializing in migration and human rights. She is the co...2025-03-1031 minIn Solidarity - by openDemocracyWhat Germany's Rightwing Voters Are Telling UsSomething strange is happening in Germany. Last year, the Alternative for Germany or AFD, as it scored, became the first far right party to win a state election in Germany since World War Two. Then in February this year, the AfD came second in Germany's national elections, with 20% of the votes.The AFD isn't just another populist right wing party. Members of the party have consistently downplayed the horrors of Nazi Germany. What is happening?Georg Diez, journalist, writer, and author of a Tipping Points: From the promises of the 90s...2025-02-2719 minIn Solidarity - by openDemocracyUkraine and the return of EmpireWhat do the Ukrainians at the heart of the conflict with Russia feel about being used as a bargaining chip by countries like the United States? In this episode we speak to Volydomyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, academic, and editor of Ukraine World. Volydomyr lives in Kyiv and is also the host of the Explaining Ukraine podcast.—Get our independent journalism delivered direct to your inbox, join the openDemocracy Newsletter today. In Solidarity is openDemocracy’s podcast about people, power, and politics. It’s hosted by openDemocracy editor-in-chief Aman Sethi, an awar...2025-02-2030 minIn Solidarity - by openDemocracyWhat's actually behind the Far Right's anti-women agenda?The rising global far right is violent, racist and misogynistic – and depends on exploiting women. While many of us associate attacks on women’s bodily autonomy with ultra-religious groups, openDemocracy’s Sian Norris argues that the stripping away of abortion rights is a political issue, rooted in fascistic ideas about women and men. Her book, Bodies Under Siege: How the Far-Right Attack on Reproductive Rights Went Global, explains how organisations and individuals obsessed with stopping the “great replacement” are fuelling the assault on reproductive rights, and their success relies on recruiting, and exploiting, women.—G...2025-02-1228 minIn Solidarity - by openDemocracyMisdiagnosing Donald: Trumpism is Religion not PoliticsHave we all been looking at Donald Trump’s success in the wrong way? Jeff Sharlet, journalist and author of The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War, makes a compelling case for examining his rise not as a political figure, but as a religious one. After all, Trump himself would surely be the first to suggest that he is divine.Do the president’s most ardent supporters truly believe that he is an ‘imperfect vessel’ chosen by God? Join us as we discuss.—Get our independent journalism delivered direct to your inbox...2025-02-0323 minIn Solidarity - by openDemocracySyria’s future lies in its pastSince al-Assad’s regime fell from power in December 2024, much of the reporting on Syria has focussed on geopolitics in the region. More concern has been paid to the reactions of neighbouring nations than the ordinary Syrians whose lives have been uprooted by years of violence. But Syria is so much more than a strategic stronghold to be fought over by nations in the Global North. We spoke with Waseem Albahri, a Syrian cultural heritage specialist who works to preserve heritage sites in conflict zones, about the challenges of reclaiming a country’s histor...2025-01-2831 min
The ChatterboxTrump 2.0: Is This the Inauguration of A New Era of the Strongman? Podcast: In Solidarity - by openDemocracy (LS 26 · TOP 10% what is this?)Episode: Trump 2.0: Is This the Inauguration of A New Era of the Strongman?Pub date: 2025-01-17Get Podcast Transcript →powered by Listen411 - fast audio-to-text and summarizationTrump 2.0: Is This the Inauguration of A New Era of the Strongman?Professor Wendy Brown is an American political theorist, UPS Foundation Professor in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton and an author. Professor Brown’s bibliography includes what w...2025-01-2236 minIn Solidarity - by openDemocracyTrump 2.0: Is This the Inauguration of A New Era of the Strongman?Trump 2.0: Is This the Inauguration of A New Era of the Strongman?Professor Wendy Brown is an American political theorist, UPS Foundation Professor in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton and an author. Professor Brown’s bibliography includes what we refer to as ‘the Trump trilogy' - three books that span the political career of President Donald Trump. Given Trump’s return to the White House we felt it was the perfect time to speak to her about how a new blueprint for authoritarian leaders seems to be ma...2025-01-1736 min
The openDemocracy ShowHow the cult of Nigerian prophet TB Joshua lives onNever miss a story from our Africa desk by signing up for alerts on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaEgF1qFi8xgf1MRmD1W2024-01-2521 minThe openDemocracy ShowAnti-abortion group targets women and children in MexicoYou can read part 1 of this investigative series here: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050...═See our latest stories: https://www.opendemocracy.net/Support our work: https://bit.ly/3o0XTgiSubscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/odytsub2023-11-1418 minThe openDemocracy ShowHealthcare workers are dodging abortion rules in MexicoYou can read part 2 of this investigative series here: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050...═See our latest stories: https://www.opendemocracy.net/Support our work: https://bit.ly/3o0XTgiSubscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/odytsub2023-11-1413 minThe openDemocracy ShowDaniel Trilling in conversation with Gary YoungeGary Younge, one of the UK’s leading political voices, on the significant events of the last few decades that have affected the Black diaspora around the globe.2023-05-3152 minThe openDemocracy ShowWhy do Russians support the war?One year since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, surveys demonstrate that over two-thirds of Russians still support the war. Why do people believe that the ‘special military operation’ was necessary? How is it possible that they don’t change their minds even when they know about the Russian army’s devastating war crimes in Ukraine and losses and chaos the army is suffering?Watch the full discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmM59dCI60MDonate to openDemocracy: https://support.opendemocracy.net/project/home2023-05-0223 min
Borders & BelongingDoes brain drain hurt the Global South?Many countries are mining the Global South for one of its vital natural resources – its people. This creates a ‘brain drain’ of professionals and academics leaving the Global South in search of better opportunities abroad. Why exactly is this happening, though, and what is the socio-economic harm done to the countries left behind? Is brain drain sapping the best and brightest from the Global South? Or is it just the effect of global mobility in an interconnected world? First, we’ll hear from someone who is himself part of the brain drain, Kevin Njabo. He’s the Africa...2023-04-0538 minBorders & BelongingAre Ukrainian refugees still ‘temporary’?Since February 2022, over 19m Ukrainians have fled their country. Almost half probably remain spread across the world, most of them in Europe. They are considered temporary refugees – but are they really temporary? Where are these people, and what challenges face their host countries?First in this episode, we'll hear from Aleksandra and Michał Miszułowicz, a couple in Poland who helped resettled thousands of Ukrainian refugees as soon as the conflict began in 2022. Host Maggie Perzyna then turns to two academic experts to explore the situation of Ukrainian refugees: Izabela Grabowska, professor of social sciences at Ko...2023-03-2137 minThe openDemocracy ShowLong Read - How Britain’s broken asylum system props up the Iranian governmentIran’s leaders use the UK’s increasingly hostile asylum policies to warn political refugees against fleeingReax the full story:https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/britain-asylum-system-broken-iran-protests-refugees-migrants-channel/Donate to openDemocracy: https://support.opendemocracy.net/project/home2023-03-1411 minThe openDemocracy ShowLong Read - Idaho bill tries again to equate trans healthcare with female genital mutilationIdaho Republicans are trying for the second time to ban gender-affirming healthcare for minors. Will they succeed?Read the full story: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/ban-trans-healthcare-female-genital-mutilation-idaho-texas/Donate to openDemocracy: https://support.opendemocracy.net/project/home2023-03-0810 minBorders & BelongingShould we call people climate refugees?As temperatures rise around the planet, floods, drought and deforestation are forcing people in the Global South from their homes and livelihoods. The media likes to call them climate refugees, but is that accurate? This episode will unpack the catchy phrase and guide us through some of the nuanced intersections between the environment and migration. First, we'll hear from Daniela Paredes Grijalva. In 2019, she was on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, where, just months earlier, a strong earthquake had caused a tsunami and a rare phenomenon called soil liquefaction. The consequences for the islanders were absolutely devastating. 2023-03-0734 minThe openDemocracy ShowUkrainian journalists share their stories of warHear Igor Burdyga and Kateryna Semchuk explain what it's like working in a homeland under threat. Plus British author Oliver Bullough and chair Daniel Trilling.Watch the full discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX2ziEDpjx8Donate to openDemocracy: https://support.opendemocracy.net/project/home2023-02-2821 minBorders & BelongingAre migrants the answer to labour shortages?Nations in the global North are struggling with labour shortages dubbed in the media as ‘the great retirement' and ‘the great resignation'. Unemployment rates are running at near-record lows. As a result many nations are letting more temporary migrant labourers in to fill the gaps. Is this a good idea? In this episode we'll hear from someone on the frontlines in the fight for migrant workers’ rights: Syed Hussan, executive director of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, a group in Toronto, Canada, that comprises farmworkers, domestic workers and refugees, many of them are undocumented. 2023-02-2244 minThe openDemocracy ShowEnvironmental campaigners ‘spied on’ ahead of Sadiq Khan eventSecurity agents linked to London mayor Sadiq Khan “spied” on a group of environmental activists and blocked them from participating in a public debate, openDemocracy can reveal.Read the full article here:https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/environmental-campaigners-spied-on-mayor-london-sadiq-khan-o2/Donate to openDemocracy: https://support.opendemocracy.net/project/home2023-02-1011 minBorders & BelongingThe migrants that the West doesn’t talk aboutFrom the way Western media and politicians talk about migration, you’d never guess that only 30% of refugees, asylum seekers and economic migrants are heading for the Global North. Instead, most people on the move like this are travelling from one country in the Global South to another.Why does this get so little coverage? What are the most popular destinations for migrants in the Global South? Do migrants moving South to South face the same problems as those headed North: harassment at border crossings, problems with documentation and discouragement from destination countries?Hear from Va...2023-02-0739 minThe openDemocracy ShowLong Read - Are we seeing the collapse of the dollar-dominated global economy?Financial shocks in recent years are forcing the global monetary architecture to change, say some economistsRead the full story here: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/end-dollar-dominated-global-economy-bretton-russia-ukraine-china-saudi-arabia/Donate to openDemocracy: https://support.opendemocracy.net/project/home2023-02-0310 minBorders & BelongingWhy has China become an international student hub?For years, many students from China sought to further their studies in countries like the US or the UK. But in the past decade or so, China has itself become a hub for international students. In this episode, two leading researchers will shed light on this phenomenon, and help us understand how and why China has become such a popular destination for students globally. Hear what it's like to be a foreign student in China from Aya, who fled the war in Syria with her family and sought refuge in China when she was only 13 years old...2023-01-2436 minThe openDemocracy ShowLong Read - A year after Partygate, why is the government still being so secretive?A year after the news broke about Partygate, the Cabinet Office is still refusing openDemocracy’s FOI requests on key evidence Read the full story:https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/partygate-cabinet-office-cctv-conservative-party-boris-johnson/Donate to openDemocracy:https://support.opendemocracy.net/project/home2023-01-1208 minThe openDemocracy ShowLong Read - BlackRock says we’re all doomed. It’s being optimisticThe world’s largest asset manager has forecast systemic economic chaos. The reality is even worseRead the full story: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/blackrock-asset-management-economy-prediction-inflation-recession/Donate to openDemocracy:https://support.opendemocracy.net/project/home2023-01-0906 minThe openDemocracy ShowLong Read - Ukraine prepares to give free rein to property developersCritics fear a new planning law will hand power to property developers and put Ukraine’s historic buildings at riskRead the full story:https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/ukraine-planning-law-historic-building-demolition-property-developer/Donate to openDemocracy:https://support.opendemocracy.net/project/home2023-01-0712 minThe openDemocracy ShowLong Read - How austerity caused the NHS crisisThe A&E delays can be traced back to Cameron – and have been worsened by successive health secretariesRead the full story: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/nhs-a-and-e-delays-austerity-emergency-care-hospitals-hunt-hancock-lansley/Donate to openDemocracy:https://support.opendemocracy.net/project/home2023-01-0507 minThe openDemocracy ShowLong Read - The government’s wrong. We can afford public sector pay risesOPINION: There’s one obvious way to fund public sector wage increases: tax the wealthyRead the full piece:https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/public-sector-strikes-pay-rise-nurses-james-meadway/Donate to openDemocracy:https://support.opendemocracy.net/project/home2022-12-2608 minThe openDemocracy ShowLong read - At the UK’s detention centres, border violence and outsourcing collideOPINION: We need unity between the detained, the outsourced and the underpaid – unions must take on the fightRead the original article:https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/manston-immigration-border-violence-outsourcing-security/Donate to openDemocracy:https://support.opendemocracy.net/project/home2022-12-2007 minThe openDemocracy ShowLong Read - The UK firm at the heart of a high-level fraud conviction in RussiaThe Magomedov brothers defrauded the Russian state of billions – via a Scottish limited partnershipRead the original article:https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/newbay-investments-magomedov-fraud-russia/Donate to openDemocracy:https://support.opendemocracy.net/project/home2022-12-1410 minThe openDemocracy ShowLong read - Labour knows our democracy is broken. So why are its ‘reforms’ so weak?OPINION: Gordon Brown is on the money with his diagnosis of the problem. But his solutions aren’t nearly enoughRead the original article:https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/labour-abolish-house-of-lords-democratic-reform/Donate to openDemocracy:https://support.opendemocracy.net/project/home2022-12-0907 minBorders & BelongingWhen AI is managing migration, should we be afraid?Climate change and other disasters are displacing ever more people. Could artificial intelligence help predict impending crises and where humanitarian aid will be needed? Could algorithms be used to match refugees to regions where they will have the best chance of thriving? And what happens when you take human judgement out of the process, or if data is used to exclude some migrants unjustly?Hilary Evans Cameron (Toronto Metropolitan University) starts off the discussion with a refugee case to show that human-decision making, itself, can be dangerously unreliable. Then host Maggie Prezyna speaks with experts Ana Beduschi...2022-12-0638 minThe openDemocracy ShowLong read - Russia forced them to fight. Ukraine tried them for treasonRussia has forcibly mobilised tens of thousands in Ukraine’s occupied territories to fight, but when captured those recruited under duress are facing difficult legal battles back home.Read the orignal article:https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/russia-forced-mobilisation-donetsk-luhansk-ukraine/Donate to openDemocracy:https://support.opendemocracy.net/project/home2022-11-2513 minThe openDemocracy ShowLong Read - Crisis in legal aid system as asylum seekers unable to find lawyersMore than 40% of asylum seekers may be unable to access legal aid, despite the vast majority needing such supportRead the original article:https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/asylum-seekers-legal-aid-system-crisis-justice/Support openDemocracy: https://support.opendemocracy.net/project/home2022-11-2507 minBorders & BelongingHuman Smuggling or Human Trafficking? Why the Difference MattersPoliticians sometimes talk about human smuggling and trafficking as if they were the same thing. It’s not always because of ignorance: they want to gain support for blocking the flows of all migrants and refugees.In this episode we hear from Luca Stevenson of European Sex Workers Rights Alliance, who explains that, even with sex workers, we have to look at what drives them to the trade in the first place and recognise that laws to prevent trafficking can cause vulnerable women even more harm. Host Maggie Prezyna speaks with Kamala Kempadoo (York University) and Gabriella Sa...2022-11-2229 minBorders & BelongingHow has Brexit Changed the UK for Migrants?Despite the well-documented benefits of labour migration, much of the discussion before the referendum in the UK argued that it was a bad thing. Now, a few years on, are labour shortages painting a new picture or are migrants forever stigmatised? Alex Bulat, a Romanian-born councillor on Cambridgeshire County Council, provides a voice from the ground. Bridget Anderson (Bristol University) and Aija Lulle (Loughborough University) join host Maggie Prezyna to talk about fear of migration and why they feel hope for the future of migrants in the UK.Maggie is a researcher with the Canada...2022-11-0829 minBorders & BelongingWhy We Build Border WallsSince the 1990s, the world has seen a spike in border wall construction. What is driving the increase? The episode begins with a reflection from journalist Todd Miller on the dangers facing undocumented migrants along the Mexican border. Maggie Perzyna (researcher with the Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Migration and Integration program) is then joined by Douglas Massey (Princeton University) and Elisabeth Vallet (University of Quebec at Montreal).Borders & Belonging, produced by CERC Migration and openDemocracy, considers both the individual experience – the difficult decisions and many challenges faced by migrants on their journey—plus the global process...2022-10-2538 min
The openDemocracy ShowCoffee, Comedy, MusicUsman Khalid wanted to set up a coffee shop with a difference - Haven Coffee is a social enterprise, a cafe with a mission of breaking false narratives around migration. Their Laff-Uccino comedy gigs are regular events in London, with comedians of refugee or migrant background and Kryzsia, one of the comedians involved, talks comedy, migration and accents.From comedy in London to music on a Greek island, we head to Mythinini, Lesvos, where Bairbre meets Ramozmontana, a Saudi Arabian/Somali artist on the island, and Farhad, an Iranian musician.This is the l...2022-10-1327 min
The openDemocracy ShowArt Athens ActivismWael Habbal started the Syrian Greek Youth Forum, (the SGYF) in 2018 to advocate for human rights, to connect people together, to break stereotypes around migration, and to create their own opportunities in Athens.He sits down with another member of SGYF - Kareem Al Kabbani - and our reporter Bairbre Flood to talk about how activism, creativity and active citizenship intersect.You can listen to some of their work on Movement Radio part of Onassis Stegi.2022-10-1027 min
The openDemocracy ShowFrom All Over: LGBTQ TurkiyeTwo LGBT refugees in Yalova, Turkiye, Mehdi and Nihal, are setting up their own group, From All Over. Bairbre Flood met them at their home to see why they need this group, and what life is like for LGBT refugees outside of Istanbul. Presenter Mahmoud Hassino also shares some of his personal experiences helping to organise a Mr Gay Syria event which was documented in a film by Turkish director Ayse Toprak.2022-10-0616 min
The openDemocracy ShowArt HereArt and migration in Türkiye, Jordan and Ireland.Arthereistanbul is a community space, an art centre and place where artists can create in peace. Founder Omar Berakdar and artist and curator Sherin Zeraaty talk to Bairbre Flood.In Jordan, Syrian illustrator and painter Haya Halaw is having her first solo exhibition show in Jacaranda Gallery in Amman.And finally in Cork, Ireland, meet artist Hina Khan, whose exhibition ‘No Seradan’ (‘No Borders’) draws on her family history of forced migration from Pakistan and her own deeply personal ideas around borders and nationalism.Pres...2022-10-0334 minThe openDemocracy ShowBorders & Belonging: Trailer - Borders & BelongingBorders & BelongingWhat's the difference between human smuggling and human trafficking? Did migration myths drive the 2016 Brexit vote? Do border walls stop migration?Maggie Perzyna wants to dispel migration myths: why people leave their homeland and the changes they bring in the societies they move to.Maggie is a researcher with the Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Migration & Integration program at Toronto Metropolitan University and this new podcast is Borders & Belonging. Maggie will talk to leading experts from around the world and people with on-the-ground experience to explore the individual experiences of...2022-10-0101 minBorders & BelongingBorders & Belonging: TrailerBorders & BelongingWhat's the difference between human smuggling and human trafficking? Did migration myths drive the 2016 Brexit vote? Do border walls stop migration?Maggie Perzyna wants to dispel migration myths: why people leave their homeland and the changes they bring in the societies they move to.Maggie is a researcher with the Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Migration & Integration program at Toronto Metropolitan University and this new podcast is Borders & Belonging. Maggie will talk to leading experts from around the world and people with on-the-ground experience to explore the individual experiences of...2022-10-0101 min
The openDemocracy ShowBorders & Belonging: TrailerWhat's the difference between human smuggling and human trafficking? Did migration myths drive the 2016 Brexit vote? Do border walls stop migration?Maggie Perzyna wants to dispel migration myths: why people leave their homeland and the changes they bring in the societies they move to.Maggie is a researcher with the Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Migration & Integration program at Toronto Metropolitan University and this new podcast is Borders & Belonging. Maggie will talk to leading experts from around the world and people with on-the-ground experience to explore the individual experiences of migrants: the difficult decisions...2022-09-3001 min
The openDemocracy ShowAna SurieMohamad Khalf has been teaching photography in Zaatari refugee camp, Jordan, for many years – instilling a love of learning and creative expression in his students Ali and Mohammed Nour Al-Babisi.They talk to Bairbre Flood about the photography exhibition Mohmamad Khalf organised in the camp, called ‘Ana Surie’ (‘I Am Syrian’) and why they are Syrian first – not refugees.Nour Al-Hariri shares her rap music and explains why she writes about early marriage, child labour, and other issues - and why the many talented and creative women in the camp should be supported more.Watch some of...2022-09-2924 min
The openDemocracy ShowMedia and MigrationA look at migration and the media with journalists Osama Gaweesh, Nasruddin Nizami and Mohammad Subat.Osama Gaweesh is an Egyptian journalist who joined the Refugee Journalism Project in the UK. He explains how the project works, and why it’s so important – not just for individual journalists, but for the quality of news and media overall. His own podcast, Untold Stories, is available wherever you listen to your podcasts.Nasruddin Nizami, from Afghanistan, is co-founder of the online magazine Solomon, in Athens, and Mohammad Subat set up the first magazine by refugees in Spain, Bayn...2022-09-2634 min
The openDemocracy ShowNothing Without UsWelcome to our new series, created in collaboration with some of the refugee community organisers, activists and artists working to challenge stereotypes around migration. Bairbre Flood talks to three community organisers across three countries: Anas Al Natour in Türkiye, Safdar Salmani in Greece and Mavis Ramazani in Ireland. We explore why it’s so important refugees themselves have ownership of their organisations and support – and see how different communities experienced in forced migration help to organise themselves.Anas is the community liaison officer with Small Projects Istanbul, Safdar Salmani is a community volunteer who works with One Ha...2022-09-2020 min
The EPSU PodcastEpisode 10: Tom Rawley, openDemocracyBefore the current conflict kicked off, journalist Tom Rawley, openDemocracy, discovered something shocking: the British Foreign Office used consultants and development aid to push for neo-liberal market reforms in Ukraine and undermine labour rights. In this episode of the EPSU podcast, he discusses the United Kingdom’s push to gaslight the Ukrainian working class.2022-08-1236 minThe openDemocracy ShowThe Case of Gerry OrtegaGerry Ortega - a community leader and environmentalist in the Philippines who used his primetime daily radio show to speak out against local government corruption - was shot dead on 24 January 2011 as he browsed in a thrift shop. Some people are in prison. But the alleged mastermind, a former governor, remains at large and is running for the governor job again in May elections - despite a warrant having been issued for his arrest for the murder of Gerry Ortega. In partnership with A Safer World for the Truth, openDemocracy examines Gerry’s death - and commemorates his...2022-03-3028 minThe openDemocracy ShowThe Case of Deyda HydaraDeyda Hydara - one of The Gambia’s most respected journalists who stood up to the dictatorial regime of former president Yahya Jammeh - was killed in a drive-by shooting on 16 December 2004. In 2019, testifying before the country’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission, a soldier confessed that he was part of an elite paramilitary death squad that killed Deyda - on the direct orders of Jammeh. No one has yet been prosecuted for the crime. In partnership with A Safer World for the Truth, openDemocracy examines Deyda’s death - and commemorates his life. Jaliba Kuyateh...2022-02-2330 min
For Fact's Sake23: PartyGate & Freedom of Information w/ Jenna Corderoy (openDemocracy)The FFS Show is back with a brand new format, guests, segments, music and more!This week we fact check a claim about 'negative efficacy' of the Covid-19 vaccines in Scotland, which caused a bit of a stir overseas. We speak to Jenna Corderoy from openDemocracy about Freedom of Information requests in the UK, transparency and PartyGate. Finally, we launch a new segment where every week a different person asks Ali to fact check a different fact. This week we check how much food production really happens in Brazil. Notes: 2020 was worst...2022-02-0126 minThe openDemocracy ShowThe Case of Gauri LankeshEpisode 2: The Case of Gauri LankeshGauri Lankesh - a high-profile journalist and activist who spoke out against the rise of right-wing Hindu extremism and stood up for India’s marginalised people - was shot to death on 5 September 2017. Gauri was posthumously awarded the Anna Politkovskaya Award for her work. The trial of the seventeen people being held in remand has yet to start. In partnership with A Safer World for the Truth, openDemocracy examines Gauri’s death - and commemorates her life.Original music and sound design by Lee Sparey. Episode research by Anita Mure...2022-01-1927 minThe openDemocracy ShowThe Case of Regina Martínez PérezopenDemocracy in partnership with A Safer World for Truth presents Killing the Truth Episode 1. Regina Martínez Pérez - an acclaimed Mexican journalist known for her hard-hitting exposés of human rights violations and corruption - was beaten to death on 28 April 2012. A man is serving a 38-year sentence for her murder. But he says he was tortured into making this confession and no forensic evidence ties him to the murder scene. In partnership with A Safer World for the Truth, openDemocracy examines Regina’s death - and commemorates her life. Original music and sound d...2021-12-1425 min
The openDemocracy ShowopenDemocracy presents: Killing The TruthEvery week, somewhere in the world, a journalist is killed.Because their reporting uncovered a truth that someone wants hidden.Most of the murders are never solved. That their killers go free matters - to all of us. Because investigations are abandoned, power and corruption goes unchallenged – and democracy is weakened. Killing the Truth explores the cases of four remarkable journalists who paid the ultimate price for their uncompromising pursuit of the truth. Killing the Truth is a podcast by openDemocracy in partnership with A Safer World for The Truth, and the...2021-12-0102 min
Abortion, with loveExposing Fake Abortion Clinics: Undercover with openDemocracyIn February 2020, openDemocracy released the results of a nine-month, worldwide investigation into a global network of anti-abortion misinformation projects, as part of a larger project titled 'Tracking the Backlash'. Through follow-the-money research and undercover reporting, openDemocracy found over 700 'crisis pregnancy centres' that were spreading misleading information and manipulating vulnerable people. They traced these clinics back to two major U.S. Christian right groups, both of which enjoy significant political packing and financial support.Khatondi Soita Wepukhulu, one of the journalists working for this project in Uganda, talks about her experience working as an undercover reporter and going i...2021-03-0243 min
ourVoicesHow Democrats won Georgia – and what happens nowThe violent scenes in Washington, DC this week risk overshadowing Georgia's historic election result. The Democrats' victory in this Deep South state holds vitally important lessons for the future of US democracy.
Biden's party may now have a slim majority in the US Congress, but the country remains bitterly divided and – as this week demonstrated – support for Trump is not going away.
Some suggest Trump’s persistent false claims of election fraud hurt the Republicans in this election. But, as Mary Fitzgerald and Aaron White learned travelling across Georgia, the Democratic victory here didn't happen overni...2021-01-0929 minourVoicesAndra Gillespie on Georgia’s Senate runoffsAndra Gillespie is a political science professor at Emory University in Atlanta.
openDemocracy’s editor in chief Mary Fitzgerald spoke with Andra for the recent ourVoices documentary episode on the Georgia Senate runoff races.
Their extended conversation dives into the political history of Georgia and why it is suddenly competitive after Biden became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state since 1992.2021-01-0348 minourVoicesWho will win Georgia’s Senate races?On 5 January, a special Senate run-off election in the ‘Deep South’ state of Georgia will determine the future of Biden’s presidency. Will the new president be able to pass badly needed COVID relief; take action on climate change, racial justice and much more?
The voters of Georgia will decide the crucial power balance in the US Senate – and right now, the polls are neck and neck.
Ahead of the vote, we’ve been talking to friends, family, political experts and regular people across the state. They’ve told us how record-breaking sums of cash are piling i...2020-12-1934 minourVoicesUS election: Can Biden deliver?In this ourVoices special, openDemocracy’s Editor in Chief Mary Fitzgerald travels 1,400 miles across the midwestern United States with North America editor, Aaron White.
Their journey starts on the eve of the US election in the city of Louisville, Kentucky – where Mary’s family has lived for generations – and ends on the east coast in Philadelphia, right as jubilant crowds are proclaiming Biden the winner.
Despite the carnival, they found a country facing a dark winter; with nearly half a million COVID deaths projected by year-end, and an economic crisis not seen since the Great Depressi...2020-11-1700 minourVoicesJecorey Arthur on growing up in the ‘capital of American racism’Jecorey Arthur is the soon to be youngest member ever elected to the City Council of Louisville in the state of Kentucky. He’s also a professor and a musician.
openDemocracy’s editor in chief Mary Fitzgerald spoke with Jecorey for the recent ourVoices documentary episode on the US election.
Here is their extended conversation.2020-11-0300 minourVoicesUS election: 'We want change, but not Biden'From race to a broken political system, the story of Louisville is in many ways the story of America.
In this ourVoices special, openDemocracy’s Editor in Chief Mary Fitzgerald travels back to Louisville, Kentucky: the city where her father’s family has lived for generations.
For months, the city centre has been occupied by Black Lives Matter activists, continuing to protest daily over the police killing of Breonna Taylor. They say they won’t give up, no matter who wins the US election.
Kentucky is also the home of one of America’s giant...2020-11-0100 minourVoicesUS election special #4 - Why does the United States not have universal healthcare?With over 8.5 million cases, and nearly 225,000 deaths, the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the cruel dysfunctionality of the US healthcare system.
Even before the coronavirus, 87 million US citizens were either underinsured, or had no health insurance whatsoever. 30,000 Americans lost their lives every year because they lacked access to a doctor.
Whilst $11,000 are spent per person on maintaining the system of private insurance, more than half a million families declare bankruptcy each year due to medically related debt.
So how did we get to this point?
Why, in the richest country on the...2020-10-2600 minourVoicesDavid Adler on the Progressive International launchAaron White and Freddie Stuart are joined by David Adler, the policy director of the Democracy in Europe Movement (DiEM25) and General Coordinator of the newly launched Progressive International – a global initiative with a mission to unite, organize and mobilize progressive forces around the world.
The conversation dives into the current state of the international left, the threat of another Trump term, and the strategy of the Progressive International moving forward.
Related reading:
David Adler, Announcing the Progressive International
Srecko Horvat, The Belmarsh Tribunal...2020-10-0500 minourVoicesIs capitalism racist?The police murder of George Floyd in the US sparked Black Lives Matter protests in every continent in the world. Combined with the global pandemic and the climate catastrophe – both of which are highly racialised - they have led many people to fundamentally question the deepest structures of our political economy.
A recent article in the British magazine the Spectator, frets that the 34,000 people who have recently donated a million pounds to Black Lives Matter UK are unwittingly endorsing an organisation that ‘wants to dismantle capitalism’, thinks climate change is racist, wants to abolish prisons, wants to get ri...2020-09-2845 minourVoicesCharles Mills: "There is an opening for a transracial class alliance"This week’s guest is the academic philosopher, and political theorist, Charles W. Mills.
Mills is a professor at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, and the author of multiple books – most famously The Racial Contract published in 1997.
This conversation, between Charles Mills, and ourEconomy’s Europe Editor, Laura Basu, delves into the concepts of racism and capitalism – dissecting the historical role of the nation state, and asking whether any form of capitalist system requires racial differentiation and thus racial discrimination.
For the other interviews in our series on capitali...2020-09-151h 07ourVoicesUS election special #3: the housing crisis (part 2)The United States is facing a severe housing crisis.
As millions are laid off around the country, there is not a single US state where the number of affordable homes to let matches the number of low-income people looking to rent.
Where people can find shelter, three quarters of all extremely low-income families pay more than half their income in rent.
With eviction moratoriums now lifting across the country and Congress stalling over a new relief package, recent reports suggest that up to 43 million Americans could face eviction in the coming months.2020-09-0147 minourVoicesGargi Bhattacharyya on racial capitalismThis episode is a conversation between ourEconomy’s Europe Editor, Laura Basu, and academic and author Gargi Bhattacharyya.
Bhattacharyya is a professor of sociology at the University of East London, and author of the book Rethinking Racial Capitalism: Questions of Reproduction and Survival.
She has written widely on racism, sexuality, global cultures and the ‘war on terror’.
This interview centres around one question, “is capitalism racist?” – the subject of an upcoming ourVoices documentary.
Bhattacharyya begins by laying out her own understanding of “racial capitalism”, what it means, and how it differs from traditional...2020-08-2140 minourVoicesJen Perelman: “Of all developed nations we are the least equipped to deal with a pandemic”Jen Perelman is challenging former head of the Democratic National Committee and current Florida 23rd congressional district representative Debbie Wasserman Shultz in a primary election on August 18th.
Wasserman Shultz has held the Florida congressional seat since 2004 and infamously was the head of the Democratic National Committee, when she resigned after Wikileaks released emails revealing party officials sabotaging the campaign of Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primary.
Backed by Brand New Congress and former presidential candidates Andrew Yang and Marianne Williamson, Jen supports a progressive economic agenda of $2000 a month universal basic income, as well as...2020-08-1436 minourVoicesUS election special #3: The housing crisis (part 1)In the US today, the number of households who are renting is near postwar highs. Since the 2008 recession, home ownership has dropped by 6%. While 17% of households pay over half their income in rent, another fifth pay over a third.
This housing crisis has been further exposed during the current coronavirus pandemic. With record rates of unemployment, and 30 million workers collecting jobless benefits, the tenuous precarity of America’s housing market is on full display. But how did it get to this point?
In the first part of our two-part documentary podcast on th...2020-08-0554 minourVoicesTom Steyer on Joe Biden’s new climate planThis week’s guest on ourVoices is the billionaire philanthropist, environmental activist, and former presidential candidate, Tom Steyer.
Since leaving the corporate sector, Steyer has pursued an active political career.
In 2013 he launched the nonprofit organization NextGen America, which mobilizes young people to vote for Democratic candidates who back progressive positions on climate change, immigration, and education.
Last year, Steyer launched his own outside bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Running on a platform that forefronted the climate crisis, he also advocated for a wealth tax and reparations for slavery.
Recently na...2020-07-2727 min