Oxford Policy Pod

In this episode of the Oxford Policy Pod, MPP Student from Saint Lucia in the Caribbean, Rahym R. Augustin-Joseph, sits with Hon. Mark Brantley, Premier of Nevis, and Leader of the Opposition in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, in the Eastern Caribbean. Premier Brantley serves as Premier of Nevis and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Brantley previou...

In this episode of the Oxford Policy Pod, MPP students Cristian Iftodii and Ana Luiza Barbosa speak with Renato Domith Godinho, Director of the Support Mechanism of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty. A Brazilian diplomat with over twenty years of experience in multilateral governance, Renato has played a leading role in shaping international development cooperation, including in the r...

In this episode of the Oxford Policy Pod, MPP student Marc Naro sits with Judge Mykola Gnatovskyy, Ukrainian Judge at the European Court of Human Rights. Judge Gnatovskyy was elected to the European Court of Human Rights in June 2022. He previously served as President of the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture, as an academic partner of the International Committee of the Re...

In this episode of the Oxford Policy Pod, MPP students Thenu Herath and Florence Guyomar speak with Hannah Ferguson, co-founder and CEO of Cheek Media Co, an Australian independent news commentary platform reshaping how people engage with politics and culture. Hannah is also the co-host of Big Small Talk and the bestselling author of Bite Back and Taboo. Her work spans journalism, law and media, w...

In this episode of the Oxford Policy Pod, MPP students Diego Peñaranda and Iván Lozano speak with Professor César Hidalgo, a physicist, complexity scientist, and one of the leading thinkers on knowledge and development. Professor Hidalgo is a tenured professor at the Toulouse School of Economics and leads the Center for Collective Learning. He is widely recognized for co-developing the Economic Co...

🎙️ How to Finance Development and Reconstruction in Times of Crisis? In this new episode of the Oxford Policy Pod, MPP students Marc Naro and Cristian Iftodii sat down with Odile Renaud-Basso at the EBRD headquarters. As the first woman to lead the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and a central figure in Europe’s economic response to the war in Ukraine, she brings a unique perspec...

In this episode of the Oxford Policy Pod, students Marc Naro and Cristian Iftodii sit down with Paul Collier — one of the world's most influential development economists. The conversation traces his journey from studying the poorest countries on earth to asking why communities in wealthy nations are falling behind, and what policymakers can do about it. Paul Collier is Professor of Economics and P...

In this episode of the Oxford Policy Pod, students Marc Naro and Cristian Iftodii have a wide-ranging discussion with Nicu Popescu — one of Europe's most influential foreign policy thinkers. The conversation explores Europe's future, its place in a shifting global order, and the big strategic questions facing the continent. Nicu Popescu is a political scientist and diplomat who served as Moldova's...

🎙️How does a small open economy build credibility, stability, and sustained growth in a volatile global environment? In this episode, Paraguay’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Carlos Fernández Valdovinos, joins Cecilia Esteche and Billy Blackett to unpack Paraguay’s reform agenda, fiscal consolidation efforts, and investment strategy. He shares insights on institutional reform, crisis resilience...

In this episode, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Indonesia’s former Minister of Finance, joins Oxford Master’s students Marc Naro and Diego Peñaranda for a conversation on leadership, crisis management, and the strategy behind Indonesia’s economic rise. From navigating global financial shocks to strengthening fiscal discipline and driving long-term growth, she reflects on the hard decisions that shape a na...

On the Oxford Policy Pod, Blavatnik School of Government students Marc Naro and Meredith Lehman sit down with Stefan Dercon, Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Oxford. Dercon is also the author of Gambling on Development: Why Some Countries Win and Others Lose. Drawing on insights from his last book, Gambling on Development: Why Some Countries Win and Others Lose, the discussion exp...

In this episode, Marc Naro and Cristian Iftodii host Professor Paul Krugman about the future of Europe, American politics, and China's growth. Paul Krugman is an economist and college professor. In 2008, he won the Nobel Prize for his research on international trade and economic geography. Paul was a New York Times opinion writer from 2000 to 2024 and is now active on Substack.

Abhishek Singh is the CEO of the IndiaAI Mission and Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India. A veteran of the 1995 Indian Administrative Services (IAS) batch and an alumnus of IIT Kanpur and Harvard Kennedy School, he has spearheaded some of the world’s largest digital transformations, including DigiLocker, the COVID-19 vaccinati...

Emiliana Vegas is one of Latin America’s leading voices in education policy. Originally from Venezuela, she studied at Harvard and went on to senior roles at the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, where—as Division Chief of Education—she managed a portfolio of over $3B a year in grants and loans. In this conversation, she reflects on what it really takes to move from evidence to s...

Jana Bischler is the focal point for social protection and climate change at the International Labour Organization (ILO) , where she works with governments worldwide to design systems that protect people from climate shocks and support long-term resilience. From a career in development consulting to shaping global social protection policy, Jana brings both on-the-ground insight and international p...

Vinod Karate is Project Director for State Reform at the Central Square Foundation where he helps drive India’s landmark NIPUN Bharat Mission to ensure every child can read, write, and count by age ten. From an early career in investment banking to shaping one of the world’s largest foundational learning reforms, Vinod’s journey bridges sharp strategy with deep community engagement.  In this...

From community-led forest conservation in Odisha to negotiating at the United Nations, Archana Soreng embodies how lived experience can reshape global climate policy. An Indigenous climate leader from India’s Kharia tribe, Archana served on the UN Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change (2020–2023), is a Skoll World Forum Fellow (2024), and sits on The Rockefeller Foundation’s C...

"Something's Brewing" is a laid-back podcast hosted by MPP student Wynsey, where conversations flow freely-just like the drinks. In each episode, a member of the Blavatnik School community joins over a favourite beverage from home to share personal stories, career reflections, and the life that happens beyond policy. In this episode, Wynsey chats with Julia, an MPP student from Uganda, about the “...

Possible Utopia is the podcast exploring the intersection of politics, gender, and leadership to imagine a more inclusive future. In this episode, we speak with Vanessa Nakate, Ugandan climate activist, founder of the Rise Up movement, and author of A Bigger Picture . She shares her journey from launching Fridays for Future in Uganda to amplifying African voices in the fight for climate justice. W...

Possible Utopia is the podcast where we explore the intersection of politics, gender, and leadership to imagine a better world. From addressing challenges of safety and well-being in public life to uncovering the motivations that drive individuals, we look at the stories behind those shaping our societies. Together, we take on difficult questions, confront systemic barriers, and reimagine a more i...

In this episode, MPP students Helen Orjuela and Ana Osorio explore one of the most pressing yet often overlooked public policy issues: care They are joined by Diana Rodríguez Franco, Special Advisor on Gender and Diversity to the Inter-American Development Bank and former Secretary for Women in Bogotá, where she led the creation of the city’s internationally recognised Care System - Manzanas del C...

Nikunj Agarwal is a public policy practitioner, an Oxford MPP alumna, and currently the Strategic Stakeholder Country Lead for the What Works Hub for Global Education at the British Council In this episode, he reflects on bridging the gap between evidence and policymaking, the power of listening over telling, and what it takes to make education reform work in the real world. From cost-effective so...

🌱Empowering Communities through Climate Justice🎙️ In this episode, we are joined by Alexandra Gallo, a policymaker specialised in environmental justice and climate resilience. From working on California's Transformative Climate Communities programme to implementing the largest environmental justice grant in US history under the Inflation Reduction Act, Alexandra shares her journey and challenges....

In this episode, Madison Jennings, Glória Almeida da Silva and Famin Ahmed explore how race and ethnicity shape the experience of gender-based violence around the world. Together, they discuss the legal and systemic barriers women of color face, the narratives that silence survivors, and the grassroots and policy efforts pushing for justice. Drawing on their work in Australia, Brazil, and the U.S....

🎙️ Shaping the AI we want: A conversation with Gabriela Ramos In this episode of the Oxford Policy Pod, MPP students Melissa Muñoz (Dominican Republic) and Gloria Almeida (Brazil) sit down with Gabriela Ramos, Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences at UNESCO and one of the world’s foremost voices in ethical artificial intelligence Together, they explore what it means to govern AI...