Episode 411: The Cockroach Movement: Can India’s Youth Challenge Modi?

In this episode of The International Risk Podcast, Dominic Bowen speaks with Vinay Lal about the youth-led protests sweeping India and what they mean for the future of the world’s largest democracy.The discussion examines how the “Cockroach Janta Party”, a movement that began as an online joke, has grown into a serious challenge to Prime…

Episode 410: Sovereign Debt And The Geopolitics of Finance

Global markets are sending some extraordinary signals right now with guaranteed borrowing costs surging. Bond yields at their highest levels that we haven’t seen in decades and geopolitical tensions that honestly are starting to reshape some capital flows. But what does this mean for the world? What does it mean for the markets, for the…

Episode 409: Inside Damascus: Is Syria Ready for Reconstruction?

Almost two years after the fall of the Assad regime, where is Syria heading? In this episode of the International Risk Podcast, producer and researcher Andrea Crafoord-Wiklund flips the script and interviews regular host Dominic Bowen, who joins from Damascus after a week of meetings with Syrian government ministries. Dominic shares what he is seeing…

Episode 408: The U.S. Midterms and Tennessee with Marquita Bradshaw

In this episode, Dominic discusses the US Midterms with Marquita Bradshaw, the Democratic nominee for the US Senate Elections on November 3rd. The conversation spans what challenges working people within the USA are currently facing, what change is necessary for Americans, and the dynamics within the political system today.  It is clear there is a…

Episode 407: The Rise of the AfD and What It Means for Germany

In this episode of The International Risk Podcast, Dominic Bowen speaks with Sophie Schmalenberger about the AfD’s historic result in the Saxony-Anhalt state election and what it means for Germany’s political future.  The discussion examines what is driving the party’s rise, particularly in eastern Germany, and whether Germany’s postwar “firewall” against the far right can…

Episode 406: The World Is Normalising the Taliban with Shaharzad Akbar

More than five years after the Taliban returned to power, millions of Afghan women and girls remain shut out of education, work and public life, while governments around the world are quietly normalising relations with Kabul. In this episode of the International Risk Podcast, host Dominic Bowen speaks with Shaharzad Akbar, former chairperson of the…

Episode 404: Sweden’s Stalemate: Why a Winning Bloc Still Can’t Form a Government

Sweden’s voters handed the centre-left opposition a win by just three seats, 176 to 173, and yet no one can form a government. The Sweden Democrats lost ground at the ballot box, but they may still hold the key to what happens next. With investors, NATO allies and Ukraine supporters watching closely, this is a…

Episode 405: US Midterm Elections with Alex Tarascio

What happens when voters hear promises about cheaper living — but see their government focused elsewhere? Dominic Bowen puts that question to international pollster Alex Tarascio of Cygnal in episode #405 of The International Risk Podcast. Their conversation examines voter frustration, the US #midterm #elections and the gap between political headlines and the choices people…

402: Inside the Fight for Africa’s Minerals

In this episode of The International Risk Podcast, Dominic Bowen speaks with Sarah Logan about the global race to secure Africa’s critical minerals. The discussion examines how China, the US, and Europe are positioning themselves in this race, and whether African countries can move beyond simply hosting the competition. It also explores why refining is…

Episode 401: The Death of Reading: A Neuroscientist’s Warning

In this episode, Dominic sits down with Dr. Maryanne Wolf, a cognitive neuroscientist at UCLA who has spent her career studying what she calls “the reading brain.” Maryanne explains why reading doesn’t come naturally to us the way language or vision does. It’s a skill the brain has to build, circuit by circuit, and one…