Political Tours runs correspondent-led journeys throughout the world.
Founder and former New York Times and BBC journalist, Nicholas Wood, interviews key people each week about developments in global affairs.
Listen in, or join us in person when we travel.
President for Life? Xi Jinping & The CCP with Professor Steve Tsang
Recorded on October 2022
Xi Jingping was given an unprecedented third term as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in October - entrenching his rule as the country's paramount leader. In terms of power only Mao had more authority. But what will be the longer term effect on China? Professor Steve Tsang explains
12 Sept 2022
Little Britain – The View from Near and Afar with Tristan de Bourbon-Parme & Latika Bourke
Recorded August 2022
Little Britain is having a wonderful summer. A government in chaos, ministers resigning by the dozen, then yet another Tory party leadership contest as the queues of traffic stretch for miles from England’s ports in the sweltering heat. Needless to say – us Brits are split down the middle on whose to blame for all of this. So we’ve turned to two foreign correspondents based here to get their view; Latika Bourne from the Sydney Morning Herald and Tristan de Bourbon-Parme from France's La Croix.
#boris #brexit #foreignaffairs
11 Sept 2022
Baltic Dirt - with Holger Roonemaa
Recorded August 2022
Leading investigative journalist, Holger Roonemaa, has been uncovering dirt and skulduggery across the Baltics for the past few years - much of it linked to Russia. He outlines some of the amazing investigations he’s covered over the last year. Holger is the head of investigative journalism at Ekpress Media. Based in Tallinn, he recently led our Baltics Tour. #RussiaUkraine #foreignpolicy #spying
10 Sept 2022
Political Court with David Cole - ACLU
Recorded August 2022
The United States Supreme Court has just completed one of its most remarkable terms in years. It has torn up Roe vs Wade, expanded gun rights and looks likely to give states the ability to further restrict voting for some people. There’s no doubting the impact of President Trump's 3 appointments to the bench. But how did we get here? David Cole, National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union outlines the enormous changes to the court over the last 50 years and then looks at its most recent decisions.
9 Sept 2022
Afghan Update with Lindsey Hilsum
Recorded August 2022
Lindsey Hilsum is one of the UK’s most recognised foreign correspondents and is currently Channel 4 News’s International Editor. She has consistently reported on events left aside by other news outlets. She has just returned from Afghanistan where the nascent regime is still trying to find its feet. Girls education, a major earthquake, and the Taliban’s relations with the outside world dominated her recent reporting. She has also spent a substantial amount of time in Ukraine over the last six months.
#Afghanistan #talban #foreignpolicy
19 Aug 2022
Living in Isolation with John McCarthy & Dr. Judith Mohring
With many countries gradually moving out of quarantine BBC broadcaster and former Lebanese hostage John McCarthy is joined by consultant psychiatrist Judith Mohring to look at what impact isolation and quarantine have had on us all and how we should cope!
18 Aug 2022
North Korea’s Economy with Professor Ruediger Frank
Recorded June 2020
In our third in a series of discussions on the DPRK Professor Ruediger Frank separates truth from fiction in North Korea’s economy. How do ordinary North Koreans get by? How is the economy affected by sanctions? And where does this leave Kim Jung-Un’s ambitions for the country.
17 Aug 2022
Mandela’s Legacy with Peter Sullivan & Ambassador Nozipho January-Bardill
Recorded June 2020
ANC leader Nelson Mandela is credited with bringing about a peaceful transition to democracy in South Africa but what of his legacy? South Africa is scarred by enormous social and racial differences and many critics suggest the ANC has squandered the two decades to bring about economic change. Former editor of The Star newspaper, Peter Sullivan and Ambassador Nozipho January-Bardill assess
16 Aug 2022
Saudi Uncertainty
Recorded June 2020
For decades Saudi Arabia’s oil wealth and conservative ruling family have ensured a stable ally for the west in the Arabian Peninsula. But a ruthless heir apparent and tumbling oil prices, compounded by a looming fiscal crisis and regional instability, have raised huge questions about the Kingdom’s future. Dr Neil Quilliam, an associate fellow in Chatham House's Middle East & North Africa Programme, and Sir William Patey, the former British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, discuss the uncertainty surrounding the Kingdom's future.
14 Aug 2022
Fleeing North Korea: A Defectors Story
Recorded 4 December 2020
Eunhee Park escaped North Korea at only 18. She’s part of a new generation of defectors who have fled the north surviving on their wits and surprisingly a spirit of enterprise. In conversation with Nicholas Wood, as well as Casey Lartigue & Eunkoo Lee from Teach North Korean Refugees.
Eunhee was born and raised in North Korea. When we met her in South Korea a year ago, she was studying at college, a popular public speaker in both Korean and English, and a Special Ambassador for Teach North Korean Refugees (TNKR).
Determined not to be defined by the social and cultural forces of the North Korean society and regime, she set off on the journey of her life in search of freedom. She will share her story with us.
13 Aug 2022
Putting Putin in the Dock with Dr. Dahlia Scheindlin
Recorded 26 May 2022
Peace and justice are often at odds when it comes to ending long running conflicts. Vladimir Putin is unlikely to sign a peace deal if he knows he's going to end up before a tribunal somewhere. There are good precedents too for those keen to avoid prosecution; the war in Bosnia only ended because the West did a deal Milosevic. And when the criminals were put on trial from that conflict it was many years after the event. We've got to do better, says political analyst Dahlia Scheindlin. She's spent much of her career in Eastern Europe as well as the Middle East. Following recent interviews with some of the world's leading international jurists she outlines how Putin and those under him could and should be held to account.
12 Aug 2022
In Trumps Shadow with Malcolm Brown and Prof. Tom Baldino
Recorded 24 May 2022
The 45th President of the United State may have left office in a cloud but he continues to dominate the Republican party. Indeed his endorsements have raised eyebrows and even given the Democrats some hope ahead of the crucial mid-term elections. But can he ride this wave and run again in 2024? And can Joe Biden and the Democrats claw anything back and avoid a rout. Malcolm Brown and Professor Tom Baldino take the temperature of the nation and look ahead to our own midterms tour scheduled for this November (3-9).
13 Jul 2022
Colombia Elections with Joe Parkin Daniels & Megan Janetsky
Recorded 17 May 2022
Economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic, state violence (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/15/colombian-forces-committed-serious-abuses-during-protests-un) against mostly peaceful protesters last year – and rising armed violence in the countryside – have turned voters against Colombia’s government. Now President Ivan Duque’s leaving office and a former rebel is leading the opinion polls promising to redistribute wealth and implement the country’s stalled peace-process. Our Political Tours expert and NYT correspondent Joe Parkin Daniels and fellow reporter Megan Janetsky say what’s at stake
12 Jul 2022
Popular, Right? with Catherine Fieschi
Recorded 12 May 2022
Catherine Fieschi, is the founder of Counterpoint, a think tank, and the author of “Populocracy.” Her focus is populism and European politics. She wrote her PhD thesis on Jean-Marie Le Pen and spent time with the family in their chateau. Consequently, she knows more than most about France’s pretender to the presidential throne. Macron won this time, but it is not the end of the hard right or left for that matter in France or elsewhere. We take a longer-term view of French politics and populism in Europe
11 Jul 2022
A War of Attrition with Michael Kofman
Recorded 10 May 2022
Beyond its failure to understand Ukraine’s possible response to an invasion – the Russian military’s inability to conduct combined operations has come as a shock to most. The pivot to the east, the focus on a smaller object, a new commander, and shorter supply lines suggest Russia’s can make more progress in this next phase. But now most analysts are even questioning that. Progress is likely to be slow and extremely bloody. But the Kremlin may be just fine with that.
10 Jul 2022
Chums – Boris Johnson & Co with Simon Kuper
Recorded 5 May 2022
It’s a small circle at the top of Britain’s political elite. Much of it traces its roots back to 1980’s Oxford. Simon Kuper’s new book explains how the rarefied and privileged atmosphere of this narrowest of talent pools - and the friendships and worldviews it created - shaped modern Britain. Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, David Cameron, George Osborne, Theresa May, Dominic Cummings, Daniel Hannan, Jacob Rees-Mogg: Whitehall is swarming with old Oxonians. They debated each other in tutorials, ran against each other in student elections, and attended the same balls and black-tie dinners. They aren't just colleagues - they are peers, rivals, friends. And, when they walked out of the world of student debates onto the national stage, they brought their university politics with them.
1 Jul 2022
The US Midterms & Roe vs Wade with Idrees Kahloon
We take a broader look at US politics in the run up to the US Midterms in the wake of the Supreme Court's momentous ruling on abortion rights.
The Economists’ Washington Correspondent Idrees Kahloon says that while Democrats hope the decision on Roe vs Wade will motivate their supporters it may only have a marginal effect at the polls.
Donald Trump, the man that shaped the court's conservative bias with not one but three nominations still looms large over American politics.
And that's most notable when it comes to the appointment of electoral officials. American democracy looks increasingly fragile.
#midterms #roevswade #uspolitics
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