Departures is a literary podcast featuring half-hour interviews with nonfiction authors covering a diverse range of subjects, from geopolitics to law, to history, international affairs, and current events. Hosted by international lawyer Robert Amsterdam, founder of Amsterdam & Partners LLP, Departures brings listeners into casual but revealing conversations with our favorite authors, bringing light to new ideas, arguments, and issues deserving of consideration outside of the usual narratives of the news cycle.
Africa's unique ideological history and its impact on unity
Author Frank Gerits discusses Africa's ideological battles during decolonization with host Robert Amsterdam, revealing how leaders like Kwame Nkrumah and Frantz Fanon fought to reclaim African cultural identity in this interview.
8 Apr 2025
How race and identity became sacred taboos
Following an early Spring hiatus, we're pleased to bring the Departures podcast back with a very special guest, the Canadian author and Adjunct Fellow at the Manhattan Institute Eric Kaufmann.
Eric joins Robert Amsterdam to discuss his interesting new book "Taboo: How Making Race Sacred Produced a Cultural Revolution."
Kaufmann argues that the anti-racism taboo established in the mid-1960s became the "Big Bang of our moral universe," giving immense power to those who wield it. The conversation explores how progressive moral foundations focused solely on equality and care have created policy failures, how expanding definitions of racism have failed to protect minorities but instead serve to silence debate, and why self-censorship today exceeds that of the McCarthy era.
Kaufmann's work examines the implications of these cultural shifts on institutions, free speech, and political discourse while offering thoughts on potential solutions, including recent American political developments.
25 Feb 2025
A discussion on religious freedom with Robert Destro
Issues of religious freedom, in theory, should not be controversial or disputed - there is a general consensus among public opinion that all peoples should have the right to worship according to their beliefs. And yet, it seems that we are going backwards on this basic right, with governments and political parties all around the world seeking to weaponize divides among faith communities to their partisan advantages and dubious agendas.
This week on Departures we are very privileged to have the special guest Robert Destro, law professor at the Columbus School of Law of Catholic University, who served as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at State Department from 2019-2021.
Destro discusses with host Robert Amsterdam many of the global challenges he faced in his official role in the previous administration, from China to the Middle East, as well as the Ukrainian government's campaign of persecution against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. (Disclosure: Robert Amsterdam is an international lawyer representing the UOC).
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.7 / 5
34 ratings
Spotify
4.3 / 5
6 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 59 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
84
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
85
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