10 MAY. 2024 · What is the role of narratives within the political economy of development? In this episode, we speak with Professor Raul Sanchez de la Sierra, an Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy and Faculty Affiliate of the Pearson Institute. His research tackles problems in the economics of development, political economy, and conflict. He conducts most of his research in areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); where he looks at the organization of society, the economics and psychology of armed groups, the emergence of state functions, and the economics of organized corruption, working closely with these actors, while also gathering detailed data for statistical analysis. We discuss Professor Sanchez de la Sierra’s path to working in the DRC and later involvement in Congo Calling, a documentary film that follows him and two other Europeans who work in various roles within the international development aid sector in the DRC. Later, we discuss his goals and objectives for his class Power and “Development,” which he teaches at Harris. Finally, we explore Professor Sanchez de la Sierra’s perspectives on the state of the world at-large, including his insights into the #FreeCongo movement. This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at https://thepearsoninstitute.org/ https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast. Podcast Production Credits: Interviewing: Raphael Rony Anthony, Manda Bwerevu, and Hannah Balikci Editing: Nishita Karun Production: Hannah Balikci

10 ABR. 2024 · What factors hindered Tunisia's democratic transition after the Arab Spring? In this episode, we speak with Professor Daniel Brumberg, a Professor in the Department of Government at Georgetown University and co-founder of its Democracy and Governance Master’s program. We discuss Tunisia’s political landscape and how polarization impacted its own democratic journey. We also discuss different theories of political transition, Middle Eastern development politics, and Dr. Brumberg’s perspectives on Iran. This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at https://thepearsoninstitute.org/ https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast. Podcast Production Credits: Interviewing: Joshilyn Binkley and Hannah Balikci Editing: Nishita Karun Production: Hannah Balikci

8 MAR. 2024 · https://www.lse.ac.uk/sociology/human-rights/events/events-2023/colonizing-kashmir/Colonizing-Kashmir-State-building-under-Indian-Occupation. The book interrogates how Kashmir was made "integral" to India through a study of the decade long rule of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, the second Prime Minister of the State of Jammu and Kashmir. We discuss the historical context of the conflict in Kashmir through the book’s chapters. This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at https://thepearsoninstitute.org/ https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast. Podcast Production Credits: Interviewing: Nishita Karun and Julia Higgins Editing: Nishita Karun Production: Hannah Balikci

9 FEB. 2024 · What kind of ethical concerns should researchers think about when deciding to take on a project? In this episode, we speak with Professor Austin Wright, an Assistant Professor of Public Policy at The University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy and a faculty affiliate of the Pearson Institute and Empirical Studies of Conflict Project. We speak about his past and current research projects in Afghanistan, dual-use infrastructure, and broad U.S. policy interventions. We also talk about his work teaching as a professor, his advice for students, and how his life journey has influenced his understanding of conflict and ripple effects. This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at https://thepearsoninstitute.org/ https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast. Podcast Production Credits: Interviewing: Jose Macias and Hannah Balikci Editing: Nishita Karun Production: Hannah Balikci

10 ENE. 2024 · How do war and conflict give rise to gender-based violence? In this episode, we speak with Dr. Maliha Chishti, an assistant instructional professor at the Divinity School and an associate of The Pearson Institute. Her core research interests are international peacebuilding, security, and development, as well as gender and human rights in post-conflict contexts. We talk about gender-based violence in the context of war, Dr. Chishti’s work in passing Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security, and the complexities of humanitarian aid implementation today. This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at https://thepearsoninstitute.org/ https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast. Podcast Production Credits: Interviewing: Julia Higgins, Rabail Sofi, and Hannah Balikci Editing: Nishita Karun Production: Hannah Balikci

7 DIC. 2023 · What is the role of mothers in counterterrorism efforts? Within conflict, women have traditionally been viewed as victims that need protecting; however, their involvement is much more nuanced than that. In this episode, we speak with Professor Amal Hamada, a professor of political science and gender studies at Cairo University. We talk about the role of gender when discussing conflict, the women’s movement in Iran, and Palestinian mothers today. This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at https://thepearsoninstitute.org/ https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast. Podcast Production Credits: Interviewing: Jordan Enos, Raphael Rony Antony, and Isabella Pestana de Andrade do Nascimento Editing: Nishita Karun Production: Hannah Balikci

3 NOV. 2023 · How are authoritarian elites and their collaborators handled in the aftermath of democratic transitions? The modern discipline of documenting transitional justice began with the Nuremberg trials for Nazi perpetrators. The trials shifted the way the international community thinks about accountability for human rights violations committed by authoritarian regimes and are generally the most well-known example of transitional justice. Yet, there exist different procedures of extra-judicial transitional justice—including lustration, truth commissions, and purges—that hold human rights violators accountable and remove them from positions of power without formally sentencing them. In this episode, we speak with Professor Monika Nalepa, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, about her new book After Authoritarianism and her monumental work building the https://ipekcinar.shinyapps.io/global_transitional_justice_dataset/ at the http://www.tjdemstabilitylab.com/. We talk about the different implications of transitional justice for both leaders and rank-and-file members of authoritarian regimes and the more recent global phenomenon of democratic backsliding. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/after-authoritarianism/588E19D4A35B32956CFDDD2DA06C9C9D. This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at https://thepearsoninstitute.org/ https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast. Podcast Production Credits: Interviewing: Editing: Nishita Karun Production: Hannah Balikci

5 OCT. 2023 · What role did Kurdish women play in Iran's protests last year? The death of Jina Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iranian authorities sparked mass demonstrations for women’s rights under the rallying cry of "Women, Life, Freedom." But the Kurdish minorities behind this resistance have largely been erased—and their movements co-opted before the international community. In this episode, we speak with Rez Gardi, a Kurdish New Zealander lawyer and human rights activist, about how, despite becoming the symbol of a revolution, non-Kurdish activists and news coverage have continually denied Jina her true name and identity. We talk about the long-lived Kurdish resistance against state oppression in Iran, Syria, and Turkey and the broader history of the Kurdish struggle for autonomy and self-determination in the Middle East. This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at https://thepearsoninstitute.org/ https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast. Podcast Production Credits: Interviewing: Hannah Balikci and Zareen Hussain Editing: Nishita Karun Production: Reema Saleh

7 SEP. 2023 · What mental models underpin international development? And how do they hold back actors working in conflict-affected countries? In this episode, we speak with https://harris.uchicago.edu/directory/mareike-schomerus-0, author of Lives Amid Violence and Vice President of https://busaracenter.org/, one of the first behavioral science research labs in the Global South. Drawing from ten years of research by the Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium, she argues that the international development sector, in its current form, often fails to take into account the experiences and perspectives of people living in contexts of violence and conflict and offers a new language for transforming development in the wake of conflict. We talk about the colonialist thinking underpins international development, how the sector's unflinching faith in causality creates blind spots for practitioners, and what it means to envision this space anew. https://transformingdevelopment.org/. This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at https://thepearsoninstitute.org/ https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast. Podcast Production Credits: Interviewing: Julia Higgins, Reema Saleh, and Umama Zillur Editing: Nishita Karun Production: Reema Saleh

3 AGO. 2023 · What does an interrupted democratic transition look like? In this episode, we speak to Dr. Ibrahim Elbadawi, managing director of the Economic Research Forum and former Minister of Finance and Economic Planning in the Republic of Sudan. In May of 2023, Dr. Elbadawi joined us in Chicago at the sixth annual Reverend Dr. Richard L. Pearson Lecture to discuss Sudan’s political transition and economic policymaking. The lecture took place just weeks after violent conflict erupted in Sudan. Fighting between two military factions has forced millions of Sudanese to flee the violence and cast a shadow of uncertainty over Sudan's ambitions to transition to a civilian-led democracy. https://youtu.be/lI-JsZNHdps This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at https://thepearsoninstitute.org/ https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast. Podcast Production Credits: Interviewing: Hisham Yousif and Kirgit Amlai Editing: Nishita Karun Production: Hannah Balikci