GDP - The Global Development Primer

Guatemala has one of the most inimitable landscapes on the planet. It's not just the volcanoes, coastlines, or moonscape highlands of the Cuchumatanes. You see it most starkly in the rural landscapes. Women work the fields. Men look for work and opportunity outside of the country's borders. It's a long-standing demographic mark on the country, and one that continues to drive processes...

Ukraine is not planning to purchase any more tanks while it defends itself from Russia. A country under attack by the world's 5th-largest army is relying on innovation, technology, and resilience to win this war. Russia had more tanks; Ukraine built better drones. Russia targeted electrical and infrastructure grids; Ukraine brought out the solar-powered generators. Russia coming at you with el...

Did Donald Trump really say that kids should have fewer toys? Did JD Vance say that American economic health is artificially inflated because the system "bombards [Americans] with all manner of creature comforts? They sure did. Amid the MAGA mayhem is a message of anti-consumerism. Does this mean that Trump's Republicans are into slow growth, environmentalism, and alternatives to GDP grow...

In an era of compounding shocks and shifting borders, global development can no longer afford to be a sector that is procedurally sophisticated but politically naive. We must urgently explore how to move beyond linear models of development cooperation to build strategic resilience in a non-linear world where conflict and volatility are the new central realities of development. Rosemary McCarney sp...

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is a unique approach to global development that not only continues on, but may in fact thrive through one of the most turbulent times in Global Development. At a time when many foreign aid and global development agencies are folding up, IDRC champions and funds research and innovation within and alongside developing nations. Embracing new techno...

I can't believe we're doing this. But here it is. Inspired by Senator #BernieSanders, I sit down with #ClaudeAi to have a conversation about any shady business going on with Ai. Data collection, microtargeting, and undermining democracy are all discussed with this ChatBot. We go further: I ask Claude to take a stance on whether or not non-human technology exists on Earth, and it says, defi...

Donald Trump has bullied everyone. But when it comes to Cuba, Trump's bellicosity is different. Unlike many of the executive orders hastily signed with an immoderate sharpie stroke, Trump's economic weapons against Cuba are backed up with congressional acts dating as far back as the 1960s. This makes them harder to undo and more serious to enact. Currently, Cuba is facing its worst crisis...

Armenia doesn't always get mentioned in Global Development dialogue, but the struggle for economic and social indepdence is very real among many at-risk communities within the country. The Fund for Armenian Relief has advanced fundraising and developed programs that go beyond meeting basic needs; they help people gain skills and become financially self-sufficient. In this podcast, we meet Bree...

When Irene Pritzker walked into the Agbogbloshie Market in Ghana’s capital city of Accra in 2008, her heart ached. Inside the market was a small but growing school—Paulina’s Queensland School, run by entrepreneur Paulina Nlando—with between 100 and 150 students. It was in a desperate state of physical disrepair, with dirt floors, poor lighting, and dangerous exposed wiring. But Paulina and thousan...

A year after Elon Musk and Donald Trump destroyed USAID, where is development today? The US took $68 billion dollars out of the global development budget last year. Other countries are slashing their budgets too. Now what? If global development was about positioning the US as a strategic ally across the globe, it is now toast. But if development can continue to be more than political positioning,...

If you're tuning in from Texas, keep listening. We're going to talk about what they don't want you to hear. In this episode of GDP, we're talking about academic censorship, in particular the case of Texas A&M banning Plato's Symposium. We bring in Platonic expert Eli Diamond to tell us exactly what is being banned: an erotic booze fuled drama of debauchery and perverse beha...

Is there a future in Global Development? Will the U.S. be at the forefront of it? When it comes to the life saving services provided by USAID around the world, who will pick up the pieces? The answer is not clear, but Dennis Vega has seen this transformative moment in global development from the front lines. He joins us today to discuss what's going on, how deep the impact is, and to remember...

Could honey bees best explain how sanctions are supposed to work? To prevent bloodshed, sanctions are meant to to take down an opponent by a collective effort. That's how bees do it? How do we do it? In this episode we learn a lot about bees and draw some sticky connections and analogies to current global politics. Alex Pedersen is the past president of the Limestone Beekeepers’ Guild and currentl...

"If I say you're a friend of mine, that means you're connected. If I say you're a friend of ours, that means you're a made guy. If I introduce you, I'm responsible for you. Anything wrong with you, I go down".  That's how Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino) explains to Donnie Brasco (Johnny Depp) what it means to be a wise guy in a gang. Turn this dialogue into academiceze...

US-based international development organizations will now need to heavily rely on private funding to grow—and even maintain—their operations around the world.   Can that work?  If so, what kind of programs are well-suited to private funding? World Neighbors, a nearly 75-year-old development organization based in Oklahoma City, OK, has relied overwhelmingly on private funding for nearly all of its...

"Do you recall what Clemenceau once said about war?  He said war was too important to be left to the generals. When he said that, 50 years ago, he might have been right. But today, war is too important to be left to politicians. They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought" That's one of the best lines from by General Jack Ripper, from Stanley Kubrick's Dr. S...

"Today I Saw a Revolution" captures the remarkable life of Professor Badiul Majumdar, a visionary leader whose groundbreaking efforts have mobilized millions to end hunger in Bangladesh. This insightful biography offers a compelling look at the man behind the movement—his humble beginnings, innovative ideas, and unwavering commitment to justice and empowerment. Badiul’s story also reveal...

We have spent the last three weeks trying to emerge from the tariff-ridden, anti-immigration, lacking opposition, diabolical fever dream of Trump's Whitehouse. Here, the band comes back together to ask how we can actually thrive through this era. Big ideas are in this podcast. Some of them straight forward, others are a little spicy. Tune in, check it out and keep the conversation going on how...

What do you do when the Commander in Chief of the world's largest military starts popping off about annexing your country? Especially when that military is 10 times the size of your own? Panic? Enlist? Appease? Or Focus? And focus on what has worked in the past to repel such aggression. In Ukraine, Czechia, Egypt, and other places a careful blend of Civil Defense and non-violent resistance has dem...

Supply Management, clean water, and universal health care all offend the Trump administration to the point of wanting it eliminated through annexation. The U.S. constitution is designed for annexation and expansion . It's also not the first time that Washington has threatened Canada with conquest. Overnight Canada has gone from the most geographically secure, to the most geographically vulnerable...

A long, long time ago, I can still remember how foreign aid used to make me smile, and I knew if there was a chance that it could make those people dance, and maybe they’d be happy for a while.  But February made me shiver, with every paper I’d deliver, bad news on the doorstep, I couldn’t take one more step.  I can’t remember if I cried when I read about the widowed brides, but something touched...

Political polarization and disinformation is not just out of control - it is crippling Global Development. The 2023/2024 UNDP Human Development Report makes the case with sound methods and transparent data that political polarization is creating a trench in human development. We know about the supply of political populism and disinformation. What about the demand for it? Where is this coming from?...

India is experiencing dramatic change economically and politically. As India's influence continues to grow globally, what happens at home? And what happens in regions that have highly diverse populations along religious or cultural lines? Srijana Karki has worked in, and between, diverse communities in India. She joins us on GDP to share her experiences of how diversity and cooperation can flo...

We're 6 years out from the Sustainable Development Goals, and it's not looking good. The COVID-19 pandemic, Russia's war against Ukraine, and now war in the Middle East have put a handbrake on the global goals. What's more, the cost of everything has gone up, and it will likely mean that hundreds of millions of people will not ascend out of poverty by 2030. To help us understand th...

Mass migration and climate change are urban crises. The lack of preparedness of cities around the world to handle climate adaptation is lagging. What's more the current and future stresses on mass migration due to climate and conflict will impact cities the most...and in particular a handful of cities in the global South. How can cities be better prepared for what lies ahead? Vittoria Zanuso h...