WORLD: we got this with Esau Williams

In the wake of the UK budget, and a report from Greenpeace on the feasibility of a wealth tax on the super rich, the panel discuss whether such a measure is possible or even likely. Plus, what happened at the BRICS+ summit, and was it a success for Putin and his allies?Joining Esau this episode are Sean Kenji Starrs, Barnaby Dye, and Benjamin Tippet from the Department of International Development.World: We Got This is brought to you by the School of Global Affairs, King's College London.

In this special episode for the Lau China Institute’s China Week, Esau is joined by Dr Charlotte Goodburn to discuss her new report on the impact of China-linked economic development zones in Africa, Dr Jane Hayward explains China’s many vacant cities, and Professor Astrid Nordin and Dr Sean Kenji-Starrs discuss the China question in the US elections. Learn more about the Lau China Institute's China Week: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/china-weekRead about the new report on China-linked SEZs in Africa co-authored by Dr Charlotte Goodburn: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/impacts-of-china-associated-economic-development-zones-in-africaLearn more about the School of Global Affairs: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/global-affairs

With Esau this episode: Prof Frans Berkhout talks about the pledge by the big banks to triple nuclear energy by 2050; Dr Anastasia Piliavsky digs deeper into Narendra Modi's visit to the US; and PhD candidate Teyah Payne discusses recent flooding in the global north and south. 

When Samia Akhter-Khan spent a year in Myanmar with older adults, she became curious to understand how loneliness operates in such social contexts where communities are tight knit. So for her PhD project, she chose to conduct research into loneliness in later life in Thailand and Myanmar. In this episode, Samia talks to her supervisor Dr Rosie Mayston about the challenges of studying loneliness in different cultural contexts, how she learned a new language, and the theory she developed for understanding loneliness. Learn more about Samia's research: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/samia-akhter-khan

The far-right has seen its popularity grow across Europe in recent years and is expected to gain a quarter of the seats in the European Parliamentary elections this year. In this episode, Dr Georgios Samaras, Assistant Professor in Public Policy at King’s College London’s International School for Government, looks at what is behind the rise of the far-right, its wider implications and what society and individuals can do to halt or reverse this trend.If you are interested in gaining further insights from Dr Samaras and other experts across King’s around this extraordinary year of elections, check out our Poll to Poll 2024 series of comment pieces and events.

What can feminist movements worldwide learn from Argentina? A lot it seems.In this episode, Lea Happ, PhD student in the Department of Global Health & Social Medicine talks to her supervisor Dominique Béhague about her research on the feminist activist networks in Argentina. She studies how the movement to legalise abortion transformed when that goal was realised in December 2020. Lea shares the insights we can learn from Argentina to inform feminist movements working for reproductive rights in other parts of the world.Learn more about Lea's research.

As the war in Ukraine enters its third year, there is also ongoing fighting in Gaza, attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea and subsequent US and UK air strikes. This has prompted some to warn we are a moving from a post-war to a pre-war world.In this latest episode, Dr Marina Miron, a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of War Studies at King's College London, explores whether we are in a time of increased conflicts, what lies behind the current wars, the role of NATO and what we need to do differently if we want a more peaceful future.*Note this episode was recorded prior to the appointment of General O. Syrkyi.

In this episode, researcher Ol Perkins explores whether land-based carbon dioxide removal schemes such as reforestation can live up to their promises and help us meet global pledges to limit climate change.Ol outlines some of the challenging implications of this approach and why experts and policymakers also need to consider the socio-cultural, environmental, and institutional factors that seem to have been overlooked to date.If you’d like to read the full paper mentioned in the episode, you can find it here.

What strategic role has Nigeria played on issues of peace and security in West Africa? What do Nigeria's past interventions in Liberia and Sierra Leone tell us about its role in the region today? In this episode, Dr Folahanmi Aina, who recently completed his PhD from the African Leadership Centre at King's, talks to Dr Olawale Ismail, Senior Lecturer at ALC, about the findings of his PhD research and how he navigated the ups and downs of the PhD journey.