Global Get Down - A Global Affairs Podcast by IRSA

As COP 28 kicks off in Dubai, our team sat down with Professor Simon Donner, host of the Podcast Pacific Voices (that highlights his engagement with the Pacific Island of Kiribati) and a Lead Author for the most recent 6th Assessment Report published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Professor Donner joins your hosts Alessia and Gaurav and reflects on his time spent at COP 2...

Starting today, the UBC IRSA, PSSA and VSEUS Clubs are hosting this year's rendition of the Canadian Undergraduate Policy Competition (CUPC) on the theme 'Emerging Technologies'. The event shall run from November 24th-26th, 2023. Join us in our conversation with Bridget Chu, one of the co-chairs for CUPC 2023 as we address some FAQs about the event. Register here for the Minister's Box Free Worksh...

In Part 2 of 2 of our very special collaboration with the World Bank’s Air Quality Management (AQM) team on South Asia, based in New Delhi, co-hosts Gaurav and Thalin go deeper into the report ‘Striving for Clean Air’ with guests Jostein Nygard and Sayantan Sarkar. They address the methodology recommended in the report, which speaks of three policy priorities that South Asian governments should fo...

Join your host Gaurav as he gets a 101 on Canadian Climate Politics from UBC Professor Kathryn Harrison.

Welcome to Part 1 of 2 of a very special collaboration that the Global Get Down conducted with the World Bank’s Air Quality Management (AQM) team in South Asia. We discuss their report ‘Striving for Clean Air’ on how best to combat the deteriorating condition of Air Pollution in the region (encompassing India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and parts of Afghanistan and Iran). This episode, co-hosts...

In this episode, host Belle is joined by Professor Christopher Kam, a researcher on comparative politics, to explore the demographic challenge that advanced industrial democracies worldwide are currently experiencing: the problem of simultaneously aging societies and falling birth rates. Integrating topics such as tax regimes, cultural shifts, economic productivity, and immigration, we discuss wha...

In this episode, cohosts Gaurav and Thalin are joined by Dr. James Jay Carney to explore the intersection of religion and politics in Central Africa. The Catholic Church has become an integral part of African national identity. It plays a significant role in the daily lives of communities at the grassroots level in post-colonial Africa. However, this position is not without conflicts and issues th...

Join us for a special episode with Jordan Hattar as we delve into his strategy to change how we should think about refugees globally and why he focuses mainly on educating children. We also hear about the unorthodox path Jordan took to get to where he is today and the many hurdles he encountered along the way - a valuable insight for anyone looking to make the sort of impact he has in the IR world...

Welcome to another episode of the Global Get Down podcast. We are your hosts, Johnny and Thalin. Today, we present the issue of Neo-Liberal expansion in the agriculture sector and the damages this model has caused against smallholder farmers of rural African communities through the lenses of economic, sociopolitical, and gender perspectives. Since the 2008 global food crisis, African governments,...

The fact that Western Corporations engage heedlessly in corrupt activities in Africa and the rest of the Global South fail to get enough mention in mainstream IR discourse. Cases such as the $10.35 million fine imposed upon Griffiths Energy International, an oil-and-gas exploration firm (operating out of Calgary) in 2013 for their attempts to win over foreign officials from Chad (courtesy of a "co...

China, a massive country with a long and intricate history, has spent the last century engaging in a tumultuous process of modernization, finally making its way to the center of the international stage these past years. Living during this critical point in history raises interesting questions regarding China's position in the international system: How did the rise of China come about? What does it...

This episode, co-hosted by Shreya and Johnny, will explore the history of American hegemony and how it came to be. We will divulge into various topics such as the development of American hegemony, soft power, and competitors in the international system. Guest Dr. Jessica Wang, a professor and co-chair of International Relations at UBC, will be joining us to discuss this important topic that is vit...

Join Alex and Jessica as they have a conversation with the President of the International Relations Student Association about what it's like to be an IR student!

This episode, co-hosted by Shreya and Johnny, will focus on breaking down international issues to their roots. This first episode will be breaking down the discipline of international relations and exploring the different theories, philosophies, and institutions that created IR. Guest Dr. Jovian Radheshwar, a professor at Douglas College, will be joining us to discuss these fundamental ideas and i...

On this episode of Global Get Down, co-hosts Theresa and Nanna will dive into the unrest in Myanmar following the coup in February of this year. Since mass protests began against the military junta, hundreds of civilians have been killed, alarming the international community and boding ill for the future of the country. Joined by Isabel Chew, a PhD candidate at UBC, and Calvin Yin, a student leade...

As graduation nears, co-hosts Gizel and Nanna take the chance to reflect with Yoojung Lee, a fourth-year student graduating in May. Having had the opportunity to take part in a research project on democratic health communications during Covid-19, Yoojung shares her experience working alongside UBC professors to create the RAPID Principles of Democratic Public Health Communications. Listen for her...

On this episode, co-hosts Miguel and Theresa are joined by Professor Michael Byers, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law, to discuss the Politics of Outer Space. From thousands of pieces of debris in Low Earth Orbit, to satellite constellations, human settlement on other celestial bodies, or more importantly, whether Elon Musk could become President of Mars,...

On this episode, co-hosts Nanna and Theresa will be discussing the procurement and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines and the implications for global health governance with Dr. Prince Adu from the School of Population and Public Health and Godwin Dzah from the Peter Allard School of Law. In the meantime, don’t forget to check out all our previous episodes on Spotify, Soundcloud, or Youtube!

On this week’s episode, your host Gizel Gedik is joined by Hailey Dash, an undergraduate student at UBC and co-founder of ASILU Collective, working to abolish police presence in Ottawa school’s. School Resource Officers are law enforcement officers placed in many schools in Canada. While their explicit purpose is to aid in safety and crime prevention, it has led to the unjust targeting of racializ...

On this week’s episode, co-hosts Nanna and Miguel are joined by Professor Zaraí Toledo Orozco and UBC IR student Tomas Kantor to discuss the political developments in Chile following the October 25th (2020) referendum. The referendum resulted in a landslide approval to rewrite the Chilean constitution. It also resulted in the approval of a constitutional convention, which will be made up of electe...

On this weeks episode, co-hosts Nanna and Theresa sit down for a conversation with Clark Schofield, the executive director of Collective Aid, a grassroots NGO operating in Europe to support refugees, migrants, and asylum-seekers on the move. We explore insights into NGO work, the ins and outs of running a non-profit organization, the status of the refugee crisis in Europe today, and some of the mo...

We are starting the new season with our first episode discussing U.S. foreign policy during what has been one of the more controversial presidential terms in modern American politics. To give us a better idea of how Trump’s foreign policy has played out during his first term, we were joined by Dr Richard Price, a professor and head of the Department of Political Science at the University of Britis...

S1E03: Globalization - Is it a Small World After All? by Global Get Down - A Global Affairs Podcast by IRSA

S1E02: Coronavirus - Disease and Cooperation by Global Get Down - A Global Affairs Podcast by IRSA