Why Does It Matter? Across societies around the world, violent extremism and radicalisation present profound risks to public safety, social cohesion, and community stability. These phenomena do not always follow traditional ideological lines, as they often emerge in diffuse, unpredictable ways, fueled by online communities, personal grievances, and distorted belief systems. Understanding the nature of…
This episode hosts David Higgins to explore the complex and often misunderstood boundary between military operations, humanitarian action, and political stabilisation in modern conflict environments. Drawing on two decades of experience across the British Army, the United Nations, and geopolitical advisory work, we look at how different institutions operating in the same space can interpret…
David Higgins is Head of Humanitarian Access and Civil-Military Coordination in Somalia for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), where his work focuses on the practical and political challenges of operating at the intersection of military, humanitarian, and stabilisation actors in complex conflict environments. His experience spans two decades of work…
This episode hosts Erez Levin to examine the shifting boundaries of acceptable public speech and what this reveals about the health of modern democratic societies. The conversation explores his central argument that liberal democracies depend not only on formal legal frameworks, but also on informal social guardrails, shared moral taboos that limit the public acceptability…
Erez Levin is an advertising technologist and former Google employee whose work focuses on the intersection of digital media systems, online advertising, and the health of public discourse. He has become a vocal critic of the incentive structures underpinning the modern attention economy, particularly the way engagement-driven platforms can amplify polarising and sensational content at…
Democracies are judged by their visible institutions. Elections, constitutions, courts, legislatures and a free press are treated as the cornerstones upon which democratic systems stand. When coming to assess democratic health, they tend to focus on voter turnout, constitutional protections, judicial independence, or the conduct of political leaders. Many of the rules that sustain democratic…
John Goedschalk is a climate change economist, sustainability advocate, and entrepreneur whose work focuses on the intersection of economic development, conservation, and sustainable finance. With more than a decade of experience in climate policy, conservation, and bio-economy development, he has worked extensively on nature-based solutions, carbon finance, and sustainable business models designed to support both…
This episode hosts John Goedschalk to examine the relationship between environmental sustainability, economic development, and long-term climate resilience in the Amazon rainforest and the Guiana Shield. The conversation explores why the forests of Suriname are disproportionately important to global climate stability, regional rainfall systems, and food production across South America. Drawing on the science behind…
This episode hosts Professor Anja Shortland, returning to the podcast following her previous appearance in 2021, to examine how ransomware has evolved into a sophisticated and highly organised form of cybercrime, operating as a global market shaped by incentives, reputation, and weak governance. The conversation explores the scale of the threat, with billions in annual losses,…
When ransomware shuts down a pipeline, exposes hospital data, or forces a local authority offline, the disruption is often framed as a technical failure. In reality, these incidents represent the visible edge of something far more structured: a global criminal economy that increasingly mirrors the organisation of legitimate industry. Ransomware has evolved from opportunistic hacking…
