In this special bonus episode of World Review, we look at the results of a two year initiative on how we can achieve wellbeing for all within planetary boundaries. 50 years after the ground breaking The Limits to Growth report, a new book Earth For All details five turnarounds that are the minimum requirements for our societies to build economies that support wellbeing for all, whilst protecting the planet. The project brings together scientis...
Sep 23, 2022•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast On Wednesday (21 September), President Vladimir Putin announced illegal referenda to claim parts of Ukraine as Russia. In the biggest escalation of the war since the invasion began, he ordered a partial mobilisation of Russian army reserves and made a thinly veiled threat to use nuclear weapons. Emily Tamkin and Katie Stallard in Washington, DC, are joined by the New Statesman’s Britain editor and podcast host Anoosh Chakelian to discuss the risk of nuclear war, sold-out flights as milita...
Sep 22, 2022•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, with its "post-fascist" history, is leading the polls ahead of parliamentary elections on 25 September. If the party wins, she will become the country's first ever female prime minister. Emily Tamkin, the New Statesman ’s senior editor, US, speaks to author Tim Parks on how much the vote is about Italy's ideological direction, the country's revamped election system, and whether the centre-left alliance will prevent a right-wing lan...
Sep 19, 2022•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ukrainian forces have been making rapid and remarkable advances in the north-east of the country, regaining control of two key strategic hubs and a large swathe of territory in the Kharkiv region. Emily Tamkin in Washington DC, Ido Vock in Berlin and Katie Stallard in Austin discuss how this success could impact Western support and how far Ukraine could go. Next, the team turns to murmurings of dissent in Russia following Ukraine’s gains. They discuss what criticism broadcast on Russian state TV...
Sep 15, 2022•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Katie Stallard speaks to Lawrence Freedman, emeritus professor of war studies at King's College London and a regular contributor to the New Statesman , as well as the author of numerous books, including his latest, Command: The Politics of Military Operations from Korea to Ukraine . They discuss Vladimir Putin's failure to anticipate the scale of Ukraine's resistance and the current outlook for the conflict. Plus, the lessons that can be drawn from other military campaigns, fr...
Sep 12, 2022•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Russia has halted gas supplies to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. The Kremlin has said that deliveries will not resume until the West lifts the sanctions imposed in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine. Emily Tamkin and Katie Stallard in Washington DC are joined by Ido Vock in Berlin to discuss soaring gas prices in Europe and the scrambled response from Germany and the EU as winter looms. They also cover the latest from the war in Ukraine and consider whether pressure from Russ...
Sep 08, 2022•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ahead of the Swedish general election on 11 September, we take a look at why the far-right party has risen in the polls and whether a recent recovery by the ruling Social Democrats means the country’s prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, will be able to retain power. Journalist and academic Dominic Hinde joins the New Statesman’s executive editor, Megan Gibson, to discuss the election’s main issues, what’s happened to the traditional conservative bloc and how Swedes view their place in the world...
Sep 05, 2022•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, has died at the age of 91 in Moscow. He was credited with bringing the Cold War to a peaceful end and ushering in an era of openness and reform in the Soviet Union, which ultimately led to its collapse. Emily Tamkin in Washington DC is joined by Megan Gibson and Alix Kroeger in London to consider Gorbachev’s legacy and reactions to his death in Russia and around the world, as well as his relationship with Putin. They also discuss the...
Sep 01, 2022•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast As Russia’s war on Ukraine continues, the historian Orlando Figes’s latest book considers how Russia and its rulers see the country. He speaks to Alix Kroeger about why his book is called The Story of Russia , rather than The History of Russia, what drives Vladimir Putin and the low chances of the country liberalising any time soon. The Story of Russia is published by Bloomsbury and available from 1 September Read more: Serhii Plokhy : “The Ukrainian army that no one ever knew existe...
Aug 29, 2022•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today (24 August) marks 31 years since Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union and six months since Vladimir Putin’s invasion which has killed thousands and shaken the global order. This year, national celebrations are muted as the country braces for possible Russian attacks. In this special episode of World Review , Emily Tamkin and Katie Stallard in Washington DC, are joined by Jeremy Cliffe in Berlin to discuss his New Statesman cover story on “ The war that chan...
Aug 24, 2022•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast After a year under the Taliban, Afghanistan is now in “survival mode”, the UN has warned. Its economy has crumbled and rights – especially for women and girls – have been sharply curtailed. The fall of Kabul, on 15 August 2021, came after the US announced its intention to withdraw troops by the following month. There were chaotic scenes at Kabul airport as thousands of desperate Afghans sought to flee. One of those who escaped was the veteran journalist and commentator Bilal Sarwary. He and his ...
Aug 23, 2022•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has called on Russia to withdraw from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, and warned of the disastrous consequences for Europe of any radiation incident at the plant. But why was Russia so keen to take the plant in the first place? Alix Kroeger in London joins Emily Tamkin and Katie Stallard in Washington DC to discuss. Plus, as another US congressional delegation visits Taiwan, Katie Stallard analyses how China’s military e...
Aug 18, 2022•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast On Monday 8 August the FBI launched an unprecedented search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. Agents were reportedly searching for classified documents, including those related to nuclear weapons. The raid has prompted Republican officials to condemn the Department of Justice and fuelled speculation that Trump will pursue a presidential run in 2024. Emily Tamkin speaks to Nick Bryant, the former BBC New York correspondent and author of When America Stopped Being Great: ...
Aug 15, 2022•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has called on Western governments to bar Russians from entering their countries. In an interview with the Washington Post he said that they ought to “live in their own world until they change their philosophy”. Finland, Estonia and Latvia have also backed restrictions on Russian travel. Emily Tamkin in Washington DC, Ido Vock in Berlin and the New Statesman ’s environment correspondent, India Bourke, in London, discuss t...
Aug 11, 2022•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast The US House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan on 2-3 August, and China responded with large military exercises and missile launches. To analyse this, Katie Stallard speaks to Bonnie Glaser, the director of the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. They talk about the signals Beijing is trying to send with its live-fire drills, and what the risks are of a serious escalation in the Taiwan Strait. They discuss the background to the current crisis, the breakdown of ...
Aug 08, 2022•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Leonid Volkov, chief of staff for the jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, speaks to Europe correspondent Ido Vock about how the war in Ukraine could end Vladimir Putin's regime. They discuss Navalny’s treatment in Russian prison, the miscalculations that Putin made in starting the invasion, and why giving into Russian energy blackmail would make a Ukrainian victory more difficult. Further reading: How Vladimir Putin views the world The conflict in Ukraine ...
Aug 05, 2022•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Nancy Pelosi, the US House Speaker, arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday 2 August to meet President Tsai Ing-wen. Chinese officials had repeatedly warned against her visit to the self-governing island, which Beijing claims as its own territory. Alix Kroeger in London, and Emily Tamkin and Katie Stallard in Washington DC, discuss why Pelosi went ahead with the visit now and how Beijing is likely to respond in the coming days and weeks as the Chinese navy begins live-fire drills around Taiwan. &nbs...
Aug 04, 2022•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast In Bosnia and Herzegovina a dispute over a proposed new elections law has led to protests and concerns about the stability of the country. For more than 25 years since the Bosnian War ended in 1995 the country has been governed through a complex federal system intended to strike a balance between the three main ethnic groups: Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats. Many Bosnian Croats, however, now want changes that would, they say, give them better representation. Alix Kroeger speaks to Gerald Knaus, the c...
Aug 01, 2022•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Italian prime minister, Mario Draghi, has resigned after roughly a year and a half in charge of a caretaker government, meaning there will be early elections. Emily Tamkin and Katie Stallard in Washington DC are joined by Jeremy Cliffe in Berlin to discuss why Draghi quit, the far-right coalition hoping to take power, and what a government led by Giorgia Maloni would mean for Italy and its future support for Ukraine. Meanwhile, China is warning of “serious consequences” if Nancy Pelos...
Jul 28, 2022•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast As the war in Ukraine enters its sixth month, Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko speaks to Megan Gibson about what support Ukraine needs to win against Russia. She explains how parliament keeps functioning in a war, the way the country is uniting behind President Volodymyr Zelensky and why the West needs to keep up the supply of weapons to help Ukraine beat back the Russian forces. Further reading: Russia is bluffing about its success in the war – but so is Ukraine Why the Russian military...
Jul 25, 2022•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Hundreds of thousands of Russians have fled their country since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in February. With open dissent to the president’s regime almost impossible, many opposition activists have fled to neighbouring Georgia. Katie Stallard in Washington DC and Alix Kroeger in London speak to Ido Vock, who has been reporting from the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, about its status as a growing hub for the opposition in exile, the threats activists face, and their prospects of return. Ne...
Jul 21, 2022•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the German chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke of a watershed moment for Europe and announced a shift in Germany’s approach to foreign policy. In this special episode, in partnership with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), World Review looks at the context of this shift and whether it will make a difference to how Germany interacts with the world. Megan Gibson speaks to Katarina Barley, the vice-president of the European Parliamen...
Jul 19, 2022•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the Sri Lankan president, has been forced to resign amid mass protests over his mismanagement of the economy. The country is suffering runaway inflation and shortages of food, fuel and basic supplies. Ido Vock speaks to Ganeshan Wignaraja, senior research associate at the Overseas Development Institute, a British think tank, and a former senior official at the Asian Development Bank. They discuss the background to Sri Lanka’s economic collapse, the role of de...
Jul 18, 2022•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, resigned as Conservative Party leader last week, bowing to pressure after more than 50 government resignations. Emily Tamkin in Israel and Katie Stallard in Washington DC are joined by the host of the New Statesman podcast and the NS ’s Britain editor, Anoosh Chakelian, to discuss the race to replace him, the candidates’ foreign policy agendas and what Johnson’s departure might mean for the UK’s support for Ukraine. In Japan, th...
Jul 14, 2022•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Just hours after Israel’s parliament dissolved itself on 30 June 2022, Yair Lapid became Israel’s 14th prime minister. He will act as interim leader until the upcoming elections in November this year. Amir Tibon, senior editor at the Israeli newspaper Haaretz , joins Emily Tamkin to discuss whether Lapid will prove himself in office over the next four months, or whether the elections will be a lifeline for the country’s former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu. They also cover the str...
Jul 11, 2022•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast After another mass shooting in the US, politicians seem resigned to these incidents happening again and again. Emily Tamkin and Katie Stallard in Washington DC are joined by Megan Gibson in London to discuss why they appear unable to do anything to stop them. Plus, more than four months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the team look at how Russia’s war plan has changed and what the West needs to do to support Ukraine in this new phase. Then in You Ask Us,...
Jul 07, 2022•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast The former US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, talks to Emily Tamkin about how Russia and the world underestimated Ukraine’s resolve ahead of former’s February invasion, and how the West needs to hold its nerve and stay united to support Ukraine. Yovanovitch, who was pushed out by President Donald Trump in 2019 following a smear campaign during his first impeachment, talks about the 6 January Capitol riot congressional hearings and whether the US has really returned to the world stage. ...
Jul 04, 2022•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast On Friday 24 June, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe vs Wade, a 1973 decision that guaranteed the right to an abortion. Emily Tamkin and Katie Stallard in Washington DC are joined by Jeremy Cliffe in Madrid to discuss the fear and frustration felt on the ground in America, the Democrats’ lukewarm response amid rising polarisation in the country, and the global implications of the decision. Meanwhile in Madrid, Nato leaders have met this week for a pivotal summit, the organisation’s first since...
Jun 30, 2022•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast It is twenty-five years since the handover of Hong Kong from British to Chinese rule in 1997, when Beijing promised that Hong Kongers’ freedoms would be protected for 50 years. Katie Stallard speaks to Lord Patten, the last British governor of the territory from 1992-1997, about his new book, The Hong Kong Diaries . They discuss his dealings with the Chinese Communist Party, the failure to foresee Beijing’s crackdown on civil liberties in Hong Kong and his belief that Hong Kong might chang...
Jun 27, 2022•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast In 1972 the Club of Rome published the Limits to Growth report: a pioneering document on the extent to which the Earth's natural resources can support rates of industrialisation and population growth. Now, 50 years on, we consider the impact of that report and what is happening to create a new social and economic paradigm that will help the global population live in tune with the environment. The New Statesman 's environment editor, Philippa Nuttall, is joined in Brussels by ...
Jun 24, 2022•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
