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The Prospect Interview
China: The greatest threat to human rights
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What is the biggest threat to the international human rights system today? And, in such an unstable world, what hope is there for the future of human rights?
This week, Ellen and Alona are joined by Kenneth Roth, who served as the executive director of Human Rights Watch, the NGO, for almost 30 years. During his tenure, Human Rights Watch uncovered abuses across 100 countries and pressured offending governments to stop them.
Ken’s new book, Righting Wrongs, tells this story.
On the podcast, he discusses the importance of “shame” in holding governments to account, and explores the attacks on Human Rights Watch over the years, particularly regarding its analysis of Israel’s policies and its findings of apartheid in the occupied territories—criticisms which felt even more personal because of his Jewish heritage.Ken also analyses where progressives are failing, the challenge of identity politics, and whether international law truly has any teeth.
To read more on this topic from our website, click here.
Ken’s book ‘Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Abusive Governments’ is available here.
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The Israel-Iran war, with Arash Azizi
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15:04|The world’s richest man and the world’s most powerful man have had a very public fall out—but what does it mean for American government?In a short, bonus episode, Ellen and Alona speak with Jill Abramson, former executive editor of the New York Times, about the long predicted clash.Jill explains the implications for US space policy, and reviews how the US media has covered Musk since he first campaigned alongside Trump last October. For more on US politics from Prospect, visit our website.Devi Sridhar: How to live to 100
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Prospect Lives: What if the teenagers are alright?
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55:30|This week, Ellen and Alona are joined by Canadian historian Quinn Slobodian.The rise of the populist right is often framed as a backlash against neoliberalism—a revolt by those “left behind” by globalisation. But in his new book Hayek’s Bastards, Quinn argues the opposite: that movements like Maga are not a reaction to neoliberalism, but its latest iteration.Tracing the intellectual lineage of today’s far right, he characterises it as a “new fusionism” between three ideological pillars: racialised beliefs in genetically hardwired human nature, hard money, and hard borders.Quinn answers: who are “Hayek’s bastards”? Are the right better at engaging with ideas than the left? And what does Trump really believe?Hayek’s Bastards: The Neoliberal Roots of the Populist Right is available here.Prospect podcasts are also available on our YouTube channel (@prospect_magazine)