Wigdan Seedahmed joins host Lars Peter Nissen for a conversation that drifts between code and Sudanese music, and into the quiet art of translating magic into data - without letting magic slip. Wigdan is not on autopilot. In a sector often dominated by compliance and performative intellect, she carries a rare kind of mind - one that doesn’t just react or repackage, but thinks. Her intelligence is quiet, original, and layered - the kind that allows her to interact within the wild, magical, messy ...
Jul 11, 2025•1 hr
What is the role of cash distributions in the humanitarian reset? That is the question that Cate Turton , the Director of the Cash Learning Partnership (CALP) Network) , Yolande Wright, the VP for Partnerships at GiveDirectly and Alessandro Bini the Director of the Somali Cash Consortium discuss with Lars Peter Nissen in this weeks episode. The conversation focuses on the current state and future potential of cash-based humanitarian assistance. The participants discusses the barriers and opportu...
May 30, 2025•49 min
What happens when a philanthropist shows up differently? In this episode, Maya Ghosh Bichara joins host Lars Peter Nissen to reflect on what it means to fund, partner, and build trust with integrity. Maya isn’t running a billion-dollar foundation - she gives small but catalytic grants, drawing on her experience from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to reimagine what money can do. They explore trust-based philanthropy, the need for humility, and how to move beyond extractive funding models. What wo...
May 23, 2025•40 min
In this special crossover episode, Lars Peter Nissen ( Trumanitarian ) and Carla Vitantonio ( Living Decoloniality ) sit down in Doha to explore the deep fault lines in humanitarian work — and why they’ve both turned to podcasting as a space for honest conversation. Carla unpacks the concept of decoloniality — the lingering structures, mindsets, and behaviors that survive long after formal colonialism ends. Together, they explore how power, bureaucracy, and hero narratives shape the humanitarian...
May 09, 2025•51 min
In this episode of Trumanitarian , recorded on the sidelines of the Center for Humanitarian Leadership Conference in Doha, host Lars Peter Nissen sits down with two sector heavyweights: Sofía Sprechmann, former Secretary General of CARE International, and Amitabh Behar, Executive Director of Oxfam International. Together, they confront some of the humanitarian sector’s most uncomfortable truths. The aid sector is full of elephants—entrenched power dynamics, outdated models of partnership, perfor...
Apr 25, 2025•43 min
On December 8, Syria saw a major turning point: the fall of the Assad regime and the emergence of a new government. For the White Helmets , this moment opened the door to expand operations from 800 to over 4,600 communities—nationwide. In this episode, the White Helmet’s Chief of Programs, Ahmed Ekzayez , shares how the group has evolved from frontline rescue to tackling climate change, protecting human rights, and strengthening civil society, all while fending off disinformation and facing the ...
Apr 18, 2025•42 min
The Emergency Response Rooms in Sudan have, over the past couple of years, become the backbone of humanitarian action in Sudan. As community-based informal organizations, the ERRs provide mutual aid to more than 2 million people in Sudan. In this week's episode Hajooj Kuka and Justin Corbett discuss the work of the ERRs with co-hosts Mabala Nyalugwe and Lars Peter Nissen .
Apr 05, 2025•46 min
We are at a pivotal moment for the humanitarian sector. The freeze of US foreign aid, the dismantling of USAID and aid cuts from a number of the major donors has sent shockwaves through the system. But how do we move forward and strike the balance between ensuring continuity of lifesaving humanitarian assistance while addressing serious and well-known issues with the existing humanitarian system – do we opt for reform or disruption? Dominik Stillhart is the the Head of the Swiss Humanitarian Aid...
Mar 28, 2025•36 min
Happy international women’s day ! When women connect across generations and experiences, heart to heart, incredible things happen. In this special episode, Maeva Fages joins Rigmor Tholstrup for a heartfelt conversation about humanitarianism, yoga and resilience. Maeva, a humanitarian health specialist, yoga teacher, and Senior Country Manager for Afghanistan and Syria, shares experiences on leading with softness and finding strength in vulnerability. They discuss the pressures to “toughen up” i...
Mar 08, 2025•44 min
The ethos of 'move fast and break things' doesn't work for humanitarians. If we break things, we break people. But technology is changing the nature of conflict. International Humanitarian Law cannot evolve to meet these challenges without input from the private tech actors shaping the battlefield. This week's guest, Philippe Stoll, Senior Techplomacy Delegate at the ICRC, works to connect humanitarians to tech entrepreneurs and other relevant minds over the dilemmas presented by new technologie...
Feb 28, 2025•33 min
In this episode, Tamam Aloudat and Richard Blewett join Lars Peter Nissen to ask the hard questions: What’s worth saving? What needs to go? Who gets to decide? ...And are we the right guys to discuss this? Tammam argues that tinkering with the system isn’t enough - we need a “non-reformist reform,” a radical reimagining of what humanitarianism even is. Richard reflects on decades of failing attempts to change from the inside and whether this crisis is the moment to go back to the basics of princ...
Feb 24, 2025•1 hr 9 min
Humanitarian tech initiatives fail when they start with a "shiny object" rather than a defined problem. Solutions are imposed rather than developed based on actual needs. A ‘graveyard of bad tech’ is expanding. Should humanitarians just admit they’re bad with technology? During the International Red Cross Movement Conference in Geneva in October 2024, Host Lars Peter Nissen found a quiet corner to discuss pitfalls and opportunities in humanitarian tech with Heather Leson (Digital Innovation Lead...
Feb 14, 2025•50 min
Over the past week, the 90-day freeze of US foreign assistance has sent a shockwave through the humanitarian and development communities. If you ask this weeks guests on Trumanitarian the crisis will not be over in three months - Harpinder Collacott , Michael Barnett , and Meg Sattler come to the conclusion that the consequences of the aid freeze will last for years. The real question is: as the old system fractures, what new models of humanitarian action will emerge? Meanwhile, communities are ...
Feb 03, 2025•1 hr 4 min
Dr. Rola Hallam - a doctor, humanitarian, and Syrian advocate - joins host Lars Peter Nissen for a personal conversation on the resilience of humanity amidst chaos. Against the backdrop of Syria’s profound suffering and the fall of the Assad regime, Dr. Rola shares her journey of healing, hope, and service. She dismantles the idea of the untouchable hero humanitarian, laying bare the fragility and vulnerability of frontline workers. She recounts her burnout and her path to rebuilding through hea...
Dec 13, 2024•46 min
What happens when you mix cyber warfare, climate collapse, and humanitarian action with a dash of whiskey? You get Emerson Tan - a man who started as a hacker, turned humanitarian, and now designs fintech for the apocalypse. Dive into chaos: how disasters, misinformation, and the climate crisis are forcing us to rethink everything from technology to social systems. Emerson explains why the difference between a war zone and a flood is six feet of water and how mutual aid and grassroots are bubbli...
Nov 30, 2024•36 min
In an early episode this year, Dr. Hugo Slim warned that he would challenge the most fundamental humanitarian principle: humanity. This week, he does just that. As a Senior Research Fellow at Oxford and a policy advisor specializing in the ethics of war and humanitarian aid, Hugo brings a unique philosophical lens to the conversation, drawing on his doctorate in theology. In this conversation, host Lars Peter challenges Hugo to assess the practicality and effectiveness of his landscape-based app...
Nov 01, 2024•59 min
This episode discusses 'community engagement': recent wins, as well as the continued struggle to move beyond tokenism to achieve meaningful change – and whether 'bureaucracy engagement' might better reflect the complexities of the engagement. In this episode, Kristin Vestrheim (Moderator), Eminenur Çınar (Board Member), and Yakzan Shishakly (Board Member) discuss their network – the Interagency Community of Practice on Community Engagement in Displacement Response. They explore the consequences ...
Oct 25, 2024•45 min
In his 2021 book, Night on Earth, Davide Rodongo, professor of international history and politics at the Geneva Graduate Institute, writes about humanitarian action during the 20th century interwar period. “What they aimed to do was delusional”, he told Lars Peter. “The reality is they did a few little good things in a few places…And they aimed to civilize the entire Near East.” According to Davide, historians often argue that the past teaches us nothing. And yet, his recounting of the humanitar...
Oct 18, 2024•50 min
The Humanitarian Club - members only! Is the humanitarian sector run by an elite network that controls the vast majority of resources and power within the sector, a closed circle that excludes outsiders? This week Trumanitarian welcomes Michael N. Barnett, Professor of international affairs and a leading scholar on humanitarianism. In one of his pieces ‘The Humanitarian Club’ (we love it), Barnett uses sociological and economic theory to describe humanitarianism as a club where the few hold the ...
Oct 12, 2024•47 min
Simon Western, founder of the Eco-Leadership Institute, joins host Lars Peter Nissen, to explore how to bring some soul into the humanitarian space as they know it. And how the “helpless helping” tendency currently plagues it. Simon draws on his experience from psychiatric nursing to corporate leadership, and explains how his eco-leadership model - rooted in ecosystemic thinking and mutualism - could re-enchant individuals and organisations, helping to break free from outdated, bureaucratic stru...
Oct 05, 2024•48 min
Neil Smyth, the founder of tech startup, Alkemio, challenges the dominance of major digital platforms. Alkemio seeks to create safe spaces for collaboration, offering an open-source platform that serves societal interests, rather than shareholders. It is based on a steward ownership model which puts purpose before profit and ensures that control remains with the mission of the platform rather than external investors. Neil explains the significant challenges of scaling a platform that aims to fun...
Sep 27, 2024•45 min
What does NASA have to do with humanitarianism? Strap in as host Lars Peter Nissen takes off with Rhiannan Price and Laura Guzman from NASA Lifelines to explore the groundbreaking intersection of satellite technology and humanitarian action. Can the very data that orbits our planet revolutionize how we respond to crises and save lives? This episode explores how Lifelines dismantles the barriers between scientists and humanitarians, creating a community dedicated to leveraging satellite data for ...
Sep 20, 2024•1 hr
David Galbraith and Trumanitarian's host Lars Peter Nissen's parenting skills declined the moment they met and tuned their attention from their kids' soccer practice to geeky tech conversations. David is the founder of a number of startups and claims he knows nothing about the humanitarian sector. He is, however, well-versed in how technology has transformed the world and this makes for a truly interesting conversation about the link between technology and crises and how technology can both crea...
Sep 13, 2024•40 min
In the third and final episode on ACAPS ' participation in the AI for Changemakers Bootcamp Ali, Yevhen and Lars Peter are joined by Konrad Pabianczyk who ran the Bootcamp for Tech to the Rescue (TTTR). The Bootcamp is over and ACAPS has been matched with a tech company in order to develop an AI that can strengthen forecasting of crises....
Sep 06, 2024•32 min
Welcome to a candid convo from March 2024 exploring the complexities of being independent. Lars Peter Nissen hosts Meg Sattler, Ed Schenkenberg, and Adelina Kamal in the studio. When can you truly claim to be independent and what does it really mean when you’re submerged into a world full of political shenanigans and blurred ethical lines? Listen in as the guests struggle to find the right balance between standing firm in their resolve for change and getting entangled in the day to day business ...
Aug 30, 2024•57 min
In this 2020 episode, Mabala Nyaluwge, a Research Designer at the British Red Cross, joins her father, host Lars Peter Nissen, for a heart to heart conversation on racism and colonialism in aid. Following global outcry at George Floyd's murder, Mabala and Lars Peter explore whether the humanitarian space is free from colonial legacy. Mabala speaks about how the aid sector, while well-intentioned, often perpetuates colonial dynamics and racism. She discuss cultural communication styles and workpl...
Aug 23, 2024•40 min
In this episode from Summer 2023, Stephen “Steve” Webster, a veteran of UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination and IFRC’s Field Assessment and Coordination Team, discusses the essential qualities of effective disaster managers. He emphasizes the power of mutual aid and love-driven leadership and reveals what he says is the single most important quality for elevating the human condition. Reflecting on his experiences, Steve tells host Lars Peter why he values individuals over institutions and ho...
Aug 16, 2024•36 min
Meg Sattler sits down with Beth Eagleston and Kate Sutton, the co-founders of the Humanitarian Advisory Group (HAG), a Melbourne based social enterprise that seeks to use research to challenge the status quo of humanitarian aid. It’s a discussion steeped in reflection; Who owns the knowledge? What does it mean to listen, trust and truly aim to make difference? The privilege of knowledge meets the urgency of lived experience. For Beth and Kate, it's not just about the research they produce, but a...
Aug 09, 2024•52 min
Hugo Slim is one of the best known and most interesting thinkers in the humanitarian space. He works at Univeristy of Oxford on the ethics and practice of humanitarian action and currently focus on answering the question “What is Climate Humanitarianism?” In this conversation with Lars Peter Nissen , Hugo discusses how we should define and prioritise humanitarian needs. The two papers that form the basis of the conversation can be found here: How should we define and prioritise humanitarian need...
Aug 02, 2024•44 min
Clionadh Raleigh is not only an accomplished academic, she is also founder of ACLED - delivering the most comprehensive and timely datasets on armed conflict, registering over 300,000 events annually. Tune in and hear why Clionadh couldn’t care much about AI and why it triggers Lars Peter - who spent the past five weeks in Bob-the-AI-Builder mode (check episodes 84 and 87). You will also hear why Clionadh is considering sending her husband to an ISIS controlled area to study climate adaptation! ...
Jul 26, 2024•58 min
