On Shifting Ground
World Affairs
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Top 10 On Shifting Ground Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best On Shifting Ground episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to On Shifting Ground for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite On Shifting Ground episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Inside Mexico's Drug Cartels
On Shifting Ground
10/27/11 • 61 min
From the outside, Mexico's drug war looks like any other civil war, with assassinations of police chiefs, mass graves, car bombs, beheadings and paramilitary death-squads. Despite the military aid and billions of dollars thrown at the problem south of the Rio Grande by the US, there have been over 30,000 murders since 2006 and seemingly no decrease in the violence. Journalist Ioan Grillo has spent over ten years reporting from the front line of the drug war in Mexico. He has interviewed cartel insiders as well as government and security officials in the hopes of finding who these mysterious figures are who are tearing Mexico apart. Join the World Affairs Council in welcoming Ioan Grillo as he gives a portrait of Mexico's drug cartels, how they have transformed in the last decade and how deep US involvement really goes.
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Strongmen From Mussolini to Trump
On Shifting Ground
01/09/21 • 59 min
Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat has spent her career documenting the stealth strategies authoritarian leaders use to gain power. In her new book, Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present, she outlines the “strongman playbook” used by authoritarian leaders including Donald Trump. She says that the January 6 insurgency by far-right extremists, meant to facilitate Trump’s self-coup, lays bare how much the 45th president has in common with autocrats like Benito Mussolini and Vladimir Putin. When President Trump incited his followers to storm the US Capitol, some were shocked, but Ben-Ghiat saw this coming. She joins Ray Suarez on the podcast to talk about last week’s events and warn us of what could come next.
Guest: Ruth Ben-Ghiat, professor of history and Italian studies at New York University
If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.
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Rebalancing The Global Economy
On Shifting Ground
05/24/11 • 60 min
While the advanced countries are still reeling from a near economic crash and a challenging economic depression, developing nations are seeing unprecedented economic growth that is reshaping the world. These growth rates present new challenges in governance, international coordination and environmental sustainability that are little understood. Nobel Laureate Michael Spence will ask what implications these challenges hold for advanced countries, and will look ahead to the post crises period to how the global economy will develop over the next fifty years.
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The Colombian Military Complex
On Shifting Ground
08/09/21 • 59 min
It’s been a few weeks since the president of Haiti was brazenly murdered in Port Au Prince. Though we’re not sure who ordered the assassination, we do know who carried it out. Eighteen Colombians, most former soldiers, were arrested in connection with the July 7 assassination. Seven received training in the United States. So how did this happen?
This week, we’re looking at Colombia, its increasingly tenuous peace process, and how US intervention has shaped the country, for better or for worse. We also take a deep dive into the protests that have resurged in recent weeks, why they started in the first place, and what the Colombian people hope to see change.
Guests: Adam Isacson, Director of Defense Oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America; Laura Duarte Bateman, organizer and Communications Manager at California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice; Alexander Fattal, documentarian, author and Associate Professor at UC San Diego; and Juanita León, Founder and Director of La Silla Vacía
Hosts: Teresa Cotsirilos, Producer, WorldAffairs; Ray Suarez, co-host, WorldAffairs
If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to WorldAffairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.
From Moscow to Monte Carlo
On Shifting Ground
11/15/21 • 59 min
The Pandora Papers, a massive data leak connecting individuals to offshore accounts and tax havens, shined a light on the shadow world where celebrities, politicians, dictators and drug traffickers hide their money. In the second installment of our three-part series on Putin’s Russia, investigative journalist Luke Harding explores a trail of documents and properties linked to Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, which show how “Putin and the people around him became fantastically rich, even more rich once he became president.”
Then, we go inside “Putin’s Palace,” a secretive and sprawling luxury complex on the Black Sea allegedly owned by the Russian president. Images of the palace were exposed in a documentary released by Alexei Navalny’s organization, the Anti-Corruption Foundation. But who is Navalny really, and what politics does he embody? For that, we turn to Jan Matti Dollbaum, Morvan Lallouet, and Ben Noble, co-authors of “Navalny: Putin's Nemesis, Russia's Future?”
Guests:
Luke Harding, author and journalist, The Guardian Jan Matti Dollbaum, postdoctoral researcher, Bremen University Morvan Lallouet, PhD candidate, University of Kent Ben Noble, associate professor, University College London
Hosts:
Ray Suarez, co-host, WorldAffairs
If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.
How Has COVID-19 Changed Education?
On Shifting Ground
06/21/21 • 59 min
As COVID-19 spread rapidly around the globe last year, teachers, parents and students scrambled to adapt to a world in lockdown. Some students turned to virtual and hybrid learning. Others had in-person school with social-distancing and masks, but some saw school closures and increased responsibilities at home. Now, many Americans are starting to get vaccinated, making it easier to imagine a normal school year in the fall, but the pandemic has disrupted the education of about 1.6 billion students worldwide. This massive disruption not only limits the skills of students now, but it could have economic implications for the rest of their lives.
In this episode, we look at the lasting effects of the pandemic on education around the world.
Guests: Xiaoyang Liang, lead education specialist at the World Bank Group; Alice Albright, CEO of the Global Partnership for Education; Whitney Dwyer, teacher at MetWest High School in Oakland, CA; Vanessa Rancaño, education reporter at KQED
Hosts: Teresa Cotsirilos, senior producer, WorldAffairs; Ray Suarez, co-host, WorldAffairs
If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.
Making Sense of A Disaster in Haiti
On Shifting Ground
09/13/21 • 59 min
Just weeks after the assassination of Haiti’s president, the island nation was rocked by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake. More powerful than the deadly 2010 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people, the 2021 quake hit a remote part of Haiti, but it still killed more than 2,000 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes.
We start with an audio diary from Jean Simon Féguens, an English teacher from Les Cayes, one of the cities hardest hit by the disaster. Next, former US Ambassador to Haiti Pamela White reflects on lessons learned about aid distribution after the 2010 earthquake.
Then, we turn to Haitian author Évelyne Trouillot and historian Leslie Alexander, for a conversation about Haiti’s turbulent history since its revolution. In 1804, Haiti became the first nation to free itself from slavery. According to Trouillot and Alexander, it has been paying for its freedom ever since.
Guests: Leslie Alexander, Professor of History at Arizona State University, activist and author; Evelyne Trouillot, Author, Poet and Professor of French at Universite d’Etat d’Haiti; Pamela White, Former US Ambassador to Haiti, 2012-2015; Jean Simon Féguens, English Teacher in Les Cayes, Haiti
Hosts: Ray Suarez, Co-host, WorldAffairs; Teresa Cotsirilos, Co-host & Senior Producer, WorldAffairs
If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to WorldAffairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.
544 Days: Jason Rezaian's Hostage Story
On Shifting Ground
01/24/22 • 59 min
In 2008, Jason Rezaian made a life changing decision to move to Iran and follow his dream of being a foreign correspondent. He fell in love, became a reporter for the Washington Post, and even played host to Anthony Bourdain in the Iran episode of Parts Unknown. Then, Jason’s life was turned upside down when he was arrested and held hostage in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison for 544 days. At least forty Americans are currently held captive around the world–not by terrorist groups but by foreign governments.
On this week’s episode, we hear Jason’s story and why he thinks it’s essential that the US government and media change the way they talk about American hostages abroad so we can finally bring them home.
Guests:
Jason Rezaian, Washington Post global opinions writer, host of 544 Days and author of Prisoner
Yeganeh Rezaian, senior researcher at the Committee to Protect Journalists
Kate Woodsome, documentary filmmaker at the Washington Post
Host:
Ray Suarez, co-host, WorldAffairs
If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.
When Your Country Doesn’t Trust You
On Shifting Ground
07/19/21 • 59 min
In the past year, reports of anti-Asian hate crimes have spiked in major cities, and a third of Asian Americans say they live in fear of racially-motivated attacks. A lot of this is attributed to anti-Asian rhetoric about the pandemic. But the hard truth is that whenever tensions escalate between the United States and Asian nations overseas, Asian-Americans bear the brunt of that anger at home.
This week, we’re revisiting an episode we first released in May that explores the structural racism Asian Americans face within our government. We hear from US Congressman Andy Kim about how the power competition between China and the US creates fear and anxiety on the homefront, which often escalates to anti-Asian rhetoric. Then, we hear the stories of two scientists, Wen Ho Lee and Xiaoxing Xi. Both were racially profiled by the FBI—and falsely accused of spying for the Chinese government.
Guests: Rep. Andy Kim, (D-NJ); Helen Zia, journalist, activist and author of many books including Last Boat out of Shanghai and My Country vs. Me; George Koo, retired business consultant and writer; Joyce Xi, community advocate
Hosts: Philip Yun, CEO, WorldAffairs; Ray Suarez, co-host, WorldAffairs; Teresa Cotsirilos, senior producer, WorldAffairs
If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to WorldAffairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.
The Return of the Strongmen
On Shifting Ground
01/03/22 • 59 min
One year after supporters of former President Donald Trump violently stormed the Capitol, how do we make sense of the January 6 insurrection? Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat returns to WorldAffairs to discuss modern authoritarians and the “leader cult” created around former president Donald Trump. With a majority of Republicans believing the false claim that voter fraud helped Joe Biden win the 2020 election, could Donald Trump be reelected in 2024? If weaknesses in our democratic institutions aren’t addressed, Ben-Ghiat warns, the real danger lies in the blueprint left for future leaders.
Guest: Ruth Ben-Ghiat, professor of history and Italian studies at New York University and author of Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present
Host: Ray Suarez, co-host of WorldAffairs
If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.
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FAQ
How many episodes does On Shifting Ground have?
On Shifting Ground currently has 1018 episodes available.
What topics does On Shifting Ground cover?
The podcast is about News, Podcasts and Government.
What is the most popular episode on On Shifting Ground?
The episode title 'Inside Mexico's Drug Cartels' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on On Shifting Ground?
The average episode length on On Shifting Ground is 52 minutes.
How often are episodes of On Shifting Ground released?
Episodes of On Shifting Ground are typically released every 5 days.
When was the first episode of On Shifting Ground?
The first episode of On Shifting Ground was released on Jan 8, 2009.
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