EQUALS: Reimagining Our Economy

Do you think Artificial Intelligence (AI) will exacerbate inequality or will it help in tackling it? In this episode Nafkote and Grazielle hosts Nobel Prize winner and MIT professor Simon Johnson as they dive deep into the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its effect on inequality. From the promises of AI to its potential challenges, Simon discusses the risks of increasing inequality...

Did you know that some of Germany's wealthiest families, who control major brands like BMW and Volkswagen, had deep ties to the Nazi regime? In this eye-opening episode, journalist David de Jong reveals how these powerful dynasties amassed their fortunes through close collaboration with the Nazi party (National Socialist German Workers' Party), forced labour, and expropriation. Join us as we uncov...

In this episode, Max and Nafkote interview Grace Blakeley, an economist and author, about the rise of oligarchy and the relationship between billionaires, corporations, and the state. Grace discusses the close relationship between the American political establishment and the billionaire class, highlighting how modern capitalist economies are characterized by a fusion of public and private power se...

To coincide with the launch of Oxfam’s Davos 2025 report , Takers, not Makers, Naf and Max interview acclaimed author, academic and activist Jason Hickel. Find out how our world is still organised primarily to benefit a small group of white men in rich countries and what we can do to stop this.   If you enjoy the episode, please like, share, comment, and leave us a review. Follow us on X&nbsp...

Grazielle and Max interview the epidemiologists Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson, whose groundbreaking work has shown how more equal societies are much safer, happier, healthier, more democratic and greener places to live. How the American dream is actually a Danish dream - and that radically reducing inequality is the key to our future. If you enjoy the episode, please like, share, comment...

As South Africa prepares to take on the G20 presidency next year, we were inspired to explore how it might seize this opportunity to tackle inequality. In our latest episode, we speak with lawyer and activist Isobel Frye, Executive Director at Social Policy Initiative (SPI). With the enduring legacy of apartheid, high unemployment, and deep-rooted economic inequality, South Africa’s inequality cri...

As we head to COP29 with climate finance taking centre stage, join Max and Nafkote for an insightful discussion. This episode features Meena Raman, a veteran activist and Head of Programs at Third World Network. Together, they explore the pressing $5 trillion climate debt, the call for reparations, and the main obstacles in climate finance negotiations. Discover how taxing the wealthy and redirect...

In the summer of 2024, Kenya ignited with protests against the controversial Finance Bill 2024. This legislation threatened to impose heavy taxes on essential goods, sparking widespread outrage. In this episode, Grazielle and Nafkote delve deep into the movement with Grace Wendo, a passionate youth activist and student leader from Kenya. We explore the underlying factors that fuelled the prot...

Jayati Ghosh is an incredible activist, campaigner, academic and thinker. She is leading the fight on so many issues key to the fight against inequality. In this fascinating interview hear her sharp analysis of issues from colonialism to care, and from tax to climate, and what we need to do to win. As always, like, share and leave us a review. You can find us on X at  @EQUALShope  a...

As we launch our new season focusing on fighting inequality, Max and Grazielle host Oxfam’s new Executive Director, Amitabh Behar. From growing up in Bhopal, India, a city infamous for the chemical leak by a US corporate that killed thousands, Amitabh talks us through his life experiences and how they have shaped his thinking and his passion to fight inequality and advocate for social justice and...

As the World Health Organization (WHO) continue to negotiate the Pandemic Accord, Max and Grazielle interviews Nick Dearden on Pharma patents, monopolies and greed that makes them price medical tools out of reach by people who need them. They also discuss how the public funded research changes hand to be a patent for big pharmaceutical companies whose only concern is to make profit rather than sav...

Imagine someone owing you money, but instead of paying you, they offer you a loan with conditions on how to use it. That is the how climate financing looks like according to Fadhel Kaboub. Fadhel, hosted by Max and Nafkote, breaks down bit by bit, the situation in climate financing and why it is impossible to have just transition within the structures of colonialism and extractivism. Fadhel is an...

Imagine a private company creating its own jurisdiction in a sovereign country. It sets up its own laws, currency, and tax, labour and environmental regulations regardless of their compatibility with national laws. And when the democratically elected government steps in, the company sues it in little-known ‘corporate courts’ for billions of dollars citing its projected financial loss. Listen to ou...

In this episode of EQUALS, we talk about how wealth and power defy gravity by making water flow… upwards! Max and Nafkote interview Sushmita Mandal about water inequality and how climate breakdown is already affecting water access for people around the world. Sushmita shares amazing stories about a young boy in India (who observed water flowing upwards from his community to posh apartment building...

On International Women’s Day, Max and Nafkote interviewed Bhumika Muchhala, a development and feminist economist, on the possibility of being a feminist in an economic system that thrives on the exploitation of people and nature. This episode explores the importance of the way our global economy is organized in understanding the fight for gender equality. How issues like labour rights, fair t...

Nafkote and Max interview Dr. Faiza Shaheen on how capitalism has failed on its main selling point – work hard and you will succeed. The idea that everyone has equal opportunity in life is just a myth. Your success in life is significantly influenced by where you are born, your social class, race, and education. This episode is a powerful critique of our system - one that perpetuates wealth concen...

Max and Nafkote interview the brilliant Dr. Clara Mattei on the history of austerity and how it was created to maintain “the capital order”. Austerity today the world over remains a favored tool of policymakers. And yet it is far more than just a policy. We examine the roots of austerity and its fundamental role in entrenching capital, and disciplining people to never dare to create alternative ec...

Nafkote and Nabil welcome the pioneering Senegalese development economist Ndongo Samba Sylla onto EQUALS. We talk about the untold vision of former Burkina Faso President Thomas Sankara for economic liberation. The role of the French colonial currency in today’s world. What Modern Monetary Theory can mean to the Global South. And what a Green Bandung Woods – picking up from where liberation leader...

Max and Nafkote interview the world-famous economist Professor Ha Joon Chang to ask what is causing the inequality crisis and what governments can do to stop it. How are traffic lights, neoliberalism, and the Catholic Church in medieval times linked? How can we create a new generation of developmental states that face down corporates and build equal societies? An EQUALS episode not to be...

EQUALS is back. Max and Nabil speak to Dr. Daniela Gabor, who says we’ve entered a new era of the “ Wall Street Consensus ”. Her macro analysis is lighting up debates around the world about how much power we’re giving up to global private finance - and what exactly comes after neoliberalism. Daniela, Professor of Economics and Macro-Finance at UWE Bristol, breaks down what is driving this new para...

Introducing a new EQUALS season and our new podcast co-host, Nafkote Dabi, Climate Policy Lead at Oxfam International. Joining Nafkote and Max in this episode are Astrid Nilsson Lewis and Ashfaq Khalfan. Together, they delve into the latest Oxfam report “ Climate Equality: A planet for the 99% ” How are the climate and inequality crises intertwined? In this episode, we expose the profound disparit...

A season five wrap-up with just the co-hosts! Nadia is sadly leaving the podcast (and Oxfam). The co-hosts get together to look back on their time together and reflect on over fifty episodes of EQUALS.  We’ll be back for season six folks. Inequality’s sky-high. The fight’s on this decade but there’s hope. You’ve asked us to cover issues from the global debt crisis facing developing countries...

Nadia and Nabil interview Nobel Prize Laureate Professor Joseph Stiglitz to ask just how dire the state of inequality is - and what we’ve got to do about it.    Is it realistic to tax the richest at rates above 70%? What’s the connection between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and IMF-backed austerity in low income countries? An EQUALS episode not to be missed with a giant of economic think...

How exactly can rich countries address their past wrongs of slavery and colonialism? Well, there’s a plan. Jamaican scholar and UN leader Verene Shepherd outline what Caribbean nations have called for. This EQUALS episode is the second of a two-part special on reparations. In the first episode, we heard the case for reparations – and went back to the 15th century to the moment European men began a...

We start on the shores of the Caribbean islands of the 15th century. As white European men landed on its shores, the story of centuries of colonialism and slavery, and today’s global inequality begins. This EQUALS is the first of a two-part special on the case for reparations. Nabil and Nadia speak with the Jamaican scholar Professor Verene Shepherd who with others across the world is demanding re...