Radio Vinternational

Russia’s Propaganda has reached The White House  How Putin weaponizes history and narratives to justify war This week, I sat down with two experts who understand exactly how narratives shape war, attention, and global instability. Olena Snigyr from Ukraine and Salvador Lima from Argentina joined me to discuss how Russia manipulates narratives to justify its expansionist and totalitarian policies....

The history of Veneto-Ottoman borderlands    What borders say about political power and nation states This episode is one for the lovers of history: I had the pleasure of speaking with historian Vuk Uskokovic about the hidden dynamics of early modern borderlands. His research focuses on the rural communes along the frontier between the Venetian Republic and the Ottoman Empire—places often seen as...

How small island states can punch above their weight in climate diplomacy   In this episode, I speak with Sarah Tegas, a PhD candidate at Sciences Po Paris, about the outsized role of small states in global climate diplomacy. These nations, often seen as vulnerable to external shocks and climate crises, have leveraged innovative strategies to transform their perceived weakness into diplomatic stre...

Contested Statues and Monuments How to settle disputes over representation in public places Can a statue be offensive, objectionable or even violent? And who decides what to do with such a monument? In this episode, I speak with Jadé Botha, a Ph. D. researcher at the European University Institute who previously worked for the Contested Histories Initiative. We discuss case studies from around the...

Rethinking African Governance Governance indicators, Ubuntu and Effective Governance  Let’s be honest: nobody in the world is against good governance. Strong and robust governance leads to civil liberties, economic growth, and other critical aspects of simply having a good life. But how can we measure it, improve it and reimagine it? In this episode of Radio Vinternational, I sit down with Gilbert...

Reimagining European Democracy With Professor Kalypso Nicolaïdis on the power of mythology, translators and demoicracy  In this episode of Radio Vinternational, Professor Kalypso Nicolaïdis shares her unique insights on the resilience and challenges facing democracy in Europe today. Report after report declares that “ we are currently witnessing a concerning trend of worldwide backsliding of democ...

This week, Vincent is joined by Huda Ismael, a financial investigator with 12+ years at the Central Bank of Egypt, now a Policy Leader Fellow at EUI. They explore the world of anti-money laundering, from traditional scams to the rise of digital payments and cryptocurrencies. Huda shares personal experiences and highlights the international cooperation needed to stay ahead of modern financial crime...

In this episode, Vincent dives into Mario Draghi’s long-awaited report: “ The Future of European Competitiveness ’.  Draghi argues that Europe’s productivity and competitiveness are seriously in danger, and he urges Europe to heavily invest in its high-tech sectors. Since I am no economist, I wanted to explore the basics: How do we measure productivity or competitiveness on a continental or global...

Scholars across various traditions have emphasised that asylum seekers with similar persecution stories, requesting asylum in the same country, and under the same legal framework, may still end up with different outcomes. This phenomenon is called ‘refugee roulette’.  In this episode, Vincent speaks with Esteban Octavio Scuzarello, a researcher from the SPS department of the European University In...

In this episode, Vincent talks with Max Smedes, an editor and researcher at the Dutch radio program Bureau Buitenland - the Dutch radio program known as The Foreign Desk. The radio show covers international news, reports, backgrounds and geopolitics, and also produces podcasts and audio-documentaries.  Max shares his insights on the evolving landscape of foreign news in Dutch media and discusses t...

In this episode, Vincent and  Pedro José Mercado Jaén dive into the Human Rights Violations of the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics. We talk about athlete’s rights, civil rights, and the way how nature and indigenous people are either neglected by the nature of the Olympic Games. What stands out from this episode, that it’s not only authoritarian regimes that oppress minorities and disregard human rig...

From the 6th till the 9th of June, citizens across Europe cast their vote to elect the Parliament of the European Union. Millions of those voters will use a so-called Voting Advice Application (VAA) to help them in their voting decision - to see which party matches their political preferences, or to see what parties actually promise. But, what distinguishes a good VAA? And how can you best use it?...

In this episode, Vincent speaks to Harpreet Dhody, a communication expert with a background in politics, entrepreneurship and education. Dhody is currently at the European University Institute as a Policy Leader Fellow, where he aims to create a blueprint and advocacy paper to build a digital media observatory in India. They speak about the Indian elections of 2024, the nation’s media dynamics and...

In this episode, Vincent interviews Jacob Kohnstamm - a former parliamentarian, senator and State Secretary of the Netherlands, about his role in the Dutch art restitution policy, relating to Nazi looted art.  Early in his career, he switched from being a lawyer to being a civil servant because the limitation of the former was that he could only help one person at a time - whereas politics allowed...

This episode of Radio Vinternational is about one country in particular: Tunisia! Specifically, Vincent talks to Ben Bracciano about Tunisia's so-called 'exceptionalism' - a term used by academics to describe Tunisia's remarkable political, social and economic status in the Arab world. We discuss how these factors influenced the democratisation process following the Arab Spring, and how Tunisian c...

n sixteenth-century Spain, Elena/o de Céspedes exerted so much heat during childbirth that she grew a penis and became a man. Two hundred years later, a decorated French war hero who previously had been the official ambassador to the Russian court, turned into a woman when (s)he lived in London. These remarkable stories, which were long hidden in the archives, show the longevity of gender-discussi...

While the trenches of the First World War were still filled with soldiers, French government officials were already dreaming of a different kind of guest: wealthy American tourists. It was a first sign that tourism would become a dominant political and economic issue in the 20th century. But when did tourism become a major priority of nation states? And who were the driving forces in its emergence...

To many, the 1936 Nazi Olympics are the 'mother of sports washing events'. When Hitler came to power in 1933, the Nazi regime was initially uninterested in the costly organisation of the Olympics. However, the 1936 Games would forever be remembered as the biggest and most successful Nazi propaganda operation. What was the key to Germany's success? And why did the world let it happen? In this episo...

Why and how did Amazon's hiring algorithm turn out to be discriminatory? And can you sue an algorithm if your sexiness score on Tinder is too low? But, more importantly: if society is unhappy with the results of Automated Decision Making (ADM)-decisions, should we change the algorithm or ourselves? In this episode, Vincent speaks with data scientist researcher Jose Alvarez about fairness in AI, an...

Historian Marek Maj and Vincent analyse three recent European films, that all tell a story of migration in Europe. From his passion for cinematography, Marek enlightens the audience on sound design, music, dialogue, scenery and character building - and also draws the question whether films are the best medium to tell stories of newcomers, resentment and relocation. The films discussed are 'As Best...

In this first episode, art historian Aurora Hamm from the EUI joins Vincent to unravel the historic, legal and moral dimensions of the restitution of looted art. She elaborates on why restitution matters, why Kim Kardashian bought Diana's necklace and how you can contribute to museums' policies on this subject.  ----  In each episode of Radio Vinternational, host Vincent Hoffmans dives into one fa...