Justice Matters

How does a leader strive for social justice for their community and country? Join us this month on Justice Matters as host Sushma Raman talks with Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the former United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women from 2013-2021, and the first woman to hold the position of Deputy President of South Africa. From her background as a teacher in South Afri...

This month on Justice Matters, host Sushma Raman talks with Dr. Sima Samar about the situation in Afghanistan, the status of women and girls in the country, and the role and responsibility of the international community. Dr. Samar is a member of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement and has held the positions of Special Envoy for the President of Afghanistan, State M...

For this month’s episode of Justice Matters, we’re digging into our archives to present a special episode for Black History Month. Featuring excerpts from three conversations with a range of speakers from academia and activism, our guests discuss the historical legacy of enslavement, the periods of progress followed by rollbacks, the promise and peril of the current moment, and how we build more i...

How does the country’s history affect the present — and how can we envision a more just future for everyone? Join us this month on Justice Matters as host Sushma Raman talks with Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, a noted historian and professor at Harvard Kennedy School, as they discuss the legacy of slavery; the intersection of racism, economic inequality, and criminal justice; and the importance of cr...

How do the values being built into AI affect our public and private lives now and into the future? What is the importance of a global human rights framework in driving discussions around the democratization of AI? Join us this month on Justice Matters as host Sushma Raman talks with Dr. Annette Zimmermann, political philosopher at the University of York, and Technology and Human RIghts fellow at t...

Human rights defenders are increasingly the targets of repression by states and private organizations. Join us this month on the Justice Matters podcast as host Sushma Raman talks with Nicholas Opiyo, Ugandan human rights lawyer and fellow at the Carr Center, about campaigning for civil rights and political freedoms in Uganda, and the clampdown on freedom of speech and freedom of press, as well as...

How are new information technologies used in both civic engagement and social control in countries around the world? What do human rights have to do with the global information environment? Join us this month on Justice Matters as host Sushma Raman talks with Phil Howard, Professor of Internet Studies at Oxford University and a Fellow at the Carr Center, about his research on how digital media imp...

How do democracies die? What lessons can we learn from the past as we seek to build more democratic societies and participatory public spheres? Join us this month on Justice Matters as host Sushma Raman talks with Steve Levitsky, Professor of Government at Harvard University, Director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, and co-author with Daniel Ziblatt of the bestselling b...

How can we ensure accountability when international criminal law is violated? How do we approach seeking justice for past atrocities? And in an era of widespread disinformation, what happens when people lack trust in the very purveyors of justice? Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji, former President of the ICC, joins host Sushma Raman to discuss accountability and justice in the global arena.

Can one movie make a difference in a nation's trajectory? Released in 1915, The Birth of a Nation was the first film to be screened in the White House. Mired in racists stereotypes, the film is credited with the resurgence of the KKK. In this month's episode of Justice Matters, Economist Desmond Ang joins host Sushma Raman to discuss the impact of media on racial hate.

How do science and technology affect rights, equity, and justice? When are techno-solutions inadequate in addressing societal problems? In this month's episode of Justice Matters, host Sushma Raman talks with Professor Sheila Jasanoff, a pioneer in the social sciences exploring the role of science and technology in the law, politics, and policy of modern democracies. Join them as they discuss "tec...

President and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Margaret Huang, joins host Sushma Raman to discuss the Center's tremendous growth, along with its challenges in the road ahead.

Regan Ralph, President and CEO for the Fund for Global Human Rights, joins host Sushma Raman to discuss the challenges, triumphs, and complexities of leading an international human rights organization.

Join host Sushma Raman and co-author William Schulz as they reflect on past, present, and future human rights frameworks, and discuss their latest book, "The Coming Good Society."

Wade Henderson, interim president of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund, joins host Sushma Raman to discuss the multigenerational and multiracial fight against systemic racism in the Unites States.

Joan Donovan–Research Director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy—joins host Sushma Raman to discuss disinformation amidst the current political, public health, and human rights landscapes.

When should the law forgive? In this episode, Martha Minow, 300th Anniversary University Professor and former dean of Harvard Law School joins our host, Sushma Raman, to discuss the shortcomings of the current justice system in the U.S., and the importance of forgiveness as we think about reform.

Carr Center Faculty Director, Mathias Risse, joins host Sushma Raman in a discussion on distributive justice, political philosophy, and human rights.

Dr. Megan Ming Francis and host Sushma Raman discuss how—for better or worse— philanthropic organizations have historically influenced the human rights agenda on a national and global scale.

Dr. Keisha N. Blain joins host Sushma Raman to discuss the historic context of Black internationalist movements both domestically and around the world.

Alan Jenkins, Professor of Practice at Harvard Law School, joins host Sushma Raman to discuss the importance of communication as it intersects with matters of race, the law, and social justice.

Teaming up with the Radical Imaginations podcast, we're thrilled to host Angela Glover Blackwell on this episode of Justice Matters. Join Angela and host Sushma Raman as they discuss perhaps not-so-radical solutions to systemic racial and economic inequity.

Kerry Kennedy joins host Sushma Raman to discuss how her nonprofit organization is addressing some of the most pressing human rights concerns of our time. Between transforming agricultural labor laws to promoting freedom of the press, Kennedy discusses the amazing work of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.

Jonathan Ryan, CEO and President of RAICES (the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services), joins our host, Sushma Raman, to discuss the intersection of immigrants' rights, the weaponization of technology, and the private prison system.

Victor Madrigal-Borloz, UN Independent Expert on Protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, discusses the ramifications of systemic discrimination against LGBTQ+ communities.