Podcasts about brookings podcast network

On this episode of Foresight Africa, hosted by Landry Signé, Gargee Ghosh, president of Global Policy and Advocacy at the Gates Foundation, explains why collaborative, context-specific, and innovative solutions elevate development success across Africa. Show notes and transcript Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Adefunke Ekine and Mary Otieno, university educators from Nigeria and Kenya respectively, and alumnae of the Echidna Scholars Program at Brookings, talk with Foresight Africa host Landry Signé on why innovation and listening to girls' stories are crucial to advancing girls' education across Africa. Show notes and transcript Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

During the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C., Foresight Africa host Landry Signé caught up with Axel van Trotsenburg, senior managing director of the World Bank, who spoke about how to mobilize the private sector to help create more jobs for African youth in the coming years, while also addressing the debt distress crisis many African governments face. Show notes and transcript Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

During the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings in April 2025, Foresight Africa podcast host Landry Signé interviewed leaders in the global finance and development space to glean their key takeaways from the meetings and how they might shape policy decisions and deliver tangible results across Africa. In this special episode, you will hear highlights from each of the conversations, and you can find full interviews at brookings.edu/ForesightSpringMeetings.  Show notes and transcript Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Host Landry Signé and Belinda Archibong, a fellow with the Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings, discuss inequalities that hinder development across Africa and policy choices that can overcome them. These include increasing job opportunities for women and youth, passing laws against gender and youth discrimination, and providing access to financial resources to both demographics. Archibong uses Nigeria as a case study to show how these inequalities hinder economic development. Show notes and transcript Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Host Landry Signé and Dr. Karim El Aynaoui, executive president of the Policy Center for the New South, discuss the rapid shift toward transactional relationships between countries in the South and North that may prove difficult for less stable countries in the New South to navigate. Macroeconomic stability and independent monetary policy are fundamental, he says, and countries must create their own specialized strategies for economic growth. Show notes and transcript Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Foresight Africa host Landry Signé discusses the findings of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation's newest governance index with Nathalie Delapalme, the Foundation's CEO. Countries that have continued to make progress, she says, have done so by putting equal emphasis on all four dimensions of governance: human development, sustainable economic opportunity, security and rule of law, and participation and rights. Show notes and transcript Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) provides a blueprint for the continent to overcome development challenges through intra-African trade that is economically and environmentally sustainable. On this episode of Foresight Africa, host Landry Signé talks with AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene, who shares his vision of how the world's largest free trade area can address Africa's development needs with African solutions. Show notes and transcript Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Foresight Africa podcast host Landry Signé speaks with James Robinson, 2024 Nobel Laureate in economics and University Professor at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy, about the critical importance of societal institutions in driving economic prosperity in Africa and the imperative of homegrown solutions in unlocking the continent's potential. Show notes and transcript Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Landry Signé speaks with National Geographic Explorers Noel Kok and Pragna Parsotam-Kok about their work to create a network of African conservation filmmakers to highlight African voices and engage African audiences. Kok and Parsotam-Kok are co-founders and executive directors of Nature, Environment & Wildlife Filmmakers (NEWF). Show notes and transcript Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

In episode one of the fourth season of Foresight Africa podcast, host Landry Signe talks with the new director of the Africa Growth Initiative, Pierre Nguimkeu, who talks about his research priorities for AGI in the coming year. Show notes and transcript Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

With 2030 on the horizon—the looming deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals, now is a critical time to assess the progress, gaps, and road ahead for the top policy and development priorities for Africa, U.S.-Africa relations, and the continent's broader global partnerships. In season four of Foresight Africa podcast, host Landry Signé, senior fellow in the Global Economy and Development Program and the Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings, and guests share their unique insights and innovative solutions to Africa's most complex development challenges, while highlighting the continent's opportunities to advance impactful engagements between Africa, the United States, and the global community. Stay tuned for new episodes every other Wednesday. Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Rwanda has made impressive progress in driving inclusive digitalization across its economy. By harnessing data-driven insights, the country has empowered evidence-based policymaking, fostered innovation, and catalyzed digital transformation of Rwandan society. In this episode, host Landry Signé speaks with Crystal Rugege, managing director of Rwanda's Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR), about her journey from Silicon Valley to driving impactful technology initiatives in Rwanda and Africa. Show notes and transcript Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) aims to create one market across the 55 countries of the African Union, promising free movement of goods, services, investment, people, and cooperation. In this episode, host Landry Signé speaks with Francis Mangeni and Andrew Mold, both experts on African trade and regional integration, about the status of African integration under AfCFTA and how to catalyze its continued implementation. Show notes and transcript Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges the continent of Africa faces, but with severe challenges come generational opportunities. In this episode, host Landry Signé interviews Vera Songwe, chair of the board of the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility and a Brookings Africa Growth Initiative nonresident senior fellow, about those opportunities including, as she argues, converting Africa's assets like the largest carbon sink in the world into financial resources that African countries can invest in growth. Show notes and transcript Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.  

Angola has faced waves of economic uncertainty over the last decade—from oil price shocks in 2014 and 2023 to the spillover effects' of COVID-19. Despite these challenges, Angola is determined to manage the ramifications to its economy. Host Landry Signé is joined by Angola's minister of finance, Vera Esperança dos Santos Daves de Sousa, to discuss the country's tools for addressing both debt distress and preempting future economic shocks. Show notes and transcript Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

The African Union's Agenda 2063 and the African Free Continental Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) are two examples of landmark efforts to positively transform the continent. Host Landry Signé is joined by Chido Munyati, the head of Africa at the World Economic Forum, to discuss how the program is supporting these unprecedented initiatives. Munyati shares the current regional integration efforts, private sector partnerships, and how policymakers can leverage the demographic dividend to strengthen the continent. Show notes and transcript Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Public procurement is the system of laws and operational arrangements that allows the public sector, including the government, to purchase goods and services, with the aim to maximize social welfare and do public good. However, many African countries fail to address legal and social impediments women-owned businesses face when trying to participate in procurement activities. Host Landry Signé is joined by Professor Sope Williams to describe these barriers a Show notes and transcript Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Subjectivity and bias in credit ratings cost African countries up to $24 billion in interest and over $46 billion in foregone lending. On this episode, host Landry Signé is joined by Raymond Gilpin and Daouda Sembene to discuss their 2024 Foresight Africa piece “Making Africa's credit ratings more objective.” Gilpin and Sembene discuss the reasons this subjectivity and bias exist, the costly implications, and government and private-sector solutions for improving credit rating objectivity across the continent.  Show notes and transcript Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.  

Africa has a growing problem: a large population of youth and working-age people with limited employment opportunities. She Leads Africa co-founder Afua Osei joins host Landry Signé to discuss the role entrepreneurs play in closing that gap. Highlighting the importance of technological access, the Africa diaspora and the outsourcing of digital talent, Osei offers insights and solutions into how African entrepreneurs and policymakers can narrow the divide. Show notes and transcript Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Africa's relationship with Asia has changed dramatically over the last few decades. From little economic integration in the early 1990s to the strong trade partnerships seen today, the regions are now strongly intertwined. The continents also face similar economic and development challenges and share colonial histories and cultural values. Host Landry Signé is joined by Amit Jain from the NTU-SBF Center for African Studies to share insights and lessons the two continents can learn from each other. Show notes and transcript Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Africa experienced a wave of democratic unrest from 2020-23, with seven countries—Mali, Chad, Guinea, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Gabon—falling to military coups during this time. Why? Host Landry Signé and his guest Joseph Asunka. CEO of Afrobarometer, a pan-African survey research network, discuss Africans' views on democracy and governance, as well as policy recommendations for reversing the recent trends. Show notes and transcript Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Cities and states have a variety of policy options to help combat high housing costs. Brookings Metro Senior Fellow Jenny Schuetz and Gary Geiler, assistant director of San Diego's Development Services Department, discuss how accessory dwelling units (ADUs) can be part of cities' toolkits for adding affordable housing. Show notes and transcript: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/cities-need-more-housing-adus-can-help The Current is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Find this and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Brookings scholar Constanze Stelzenmüller, director of the Center on the United States in Europe and a senior fellow in Foreign Policy at Brookings, talks about whether foreign policy issues matter to U.S. voters, and also what's at stake for the world in the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. Show notes and transcript The Current is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Find this and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Aloysius Uche Ordu, director of the Africa Growth Initiative (AGI) at Brookings, and Landry Signé, AGI senior fellow, discuss the vulnerabilities and opportunities facing nations on the African continent. From climate change to political instability, positive economic growth to increasing life expectancy, Ordu and Signé offer their perspectives on policy solutions for Africa. Show notes and transcript Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

African countries lag behind G20 nations in their digital infrastructure and risk falling behind in their economic development and exacerbating existing inequalities. Host Landry Signé and his guest Haroon Bhorat of Cape Town University—co-authors of new research on how to foster an inclusive digital economy in Africa—discuss the indicators of digital infrastructure and policy recommendations for accelerating digitalization in Africa. Show notes and transcript Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Afripods, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.  

Season three of Foresight Africa podcast will debut soon with new episodes that celebrate the dynamism and optimism across Africa. This season, we'll be talking again to policymakers, industry and civic leaders, and contributors to our flagship report, Foresight Africa, on topics ranging from the continent's digital transformation to governance trends to young people's role in Africa's structural transformation. Learn more at https://www.brookings.edu/tags/foresight-africa-podcast/ Foresight Africa podcast is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Many countries have faced harrowing debt burdens, and reducing the national debt is usually a lasting challenge. But in just five years, the Jamaica reduced its debt-to-GDP ratio by 40 percentage points, something only a handful of other countries have done in that time frame. On this episode of the BPEA podcast, Peter Blair Henry of Stanford and UC Berkeley's Barry Eichengreen join Brookings Senior Fellow Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti to discuss their new BPEA paper on the unique factors that enabled Jamaica's success. Show notes and transcript The Brookings Podcast on Economic Activity is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Host Tanvi Madan and Tara Varma, a visiting fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe, open the Global India podcast mailbag to answer questions sent in by listeners. Show notes and transcript. Listen to Global India on Apple, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn about other Brookings podcasts from the Brookings Podcast Network.

The COVID-19 pandemic shone a spotlight on supply chains, with shortages in everything from baby formula to microchips. This spurred an on-going policy debate on the need for the U.S. to shore up its supply chains, in some cases literally moving production back to the U.S. or allied nations. However, new analysis published in the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity showed that effort may be more difficult than standard supply chain data suggests, especially when it comes to limiting exposure to China. In this episode, David Wessel, director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy, interviews Rebecca Freeman of the Bank of England and Angelos Theodorakopoulos of Aston University on the “hidden exposure” that is revealed in U.S. supply chains with their new data. Show notes and transcript The Brookings Podcast on Economic Activity is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

In this first episode of Quite By Accident, 25-year-old Steve Hess, fresh out of U.S. Army service in Germany, lands a job in Eisenhower's White House. Host Katie Dunn Tenpas finds out how that happened and gets a ground-level tour of the White House in the late 1950s. Show notes and transcript. Listen to Quite By Accident on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you like to get podcasts. Learn about other Brookings podcasts from the Brookings Podcast Network.

In episode 2 of Quite By Accident, Steve Hess recounts some of the lines he wrote for President Eisenhower's speeches, including a word he made up that the president used. Host Katie Dunn Tenpas also asks about Eisenhower's most famous line: the military-industrial complex. Show notes and transcript. Listen to Quite By Accident on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you like to get podcasts. Learn about other Brookings podcasts from the Brookings Podcast Network.

In episode 3 of Quite By Accident, Steve Hess, a young staffer in Eisenhower's administration, shares stories of feeling surprised to attend State Dinners and other formal White House functions. Host Katie Dunn Tenpas also asks Steve to reflect on Eisenhower's leadership and the end of his administration in 1961. Show notes and transcript. Listen to Quite By Accident on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you like to get podcasts. Learn about other Brookings podcasts from the Brookings Podcast Network.

In episode 4 of Quite By Accident, Steve Hess explains how he entered the orbit of Richard Nixon, the former vice president. Host Katie Dunn Tenpas hears from Steve on his role in the 1960 presidential campaign, learns what Steve did on Nixon's 1962 California gubernatorial campaign, and finds out what both Nixon and Hess were doing on that fateful day in Dallas, November 22, 1963. Show notes and transcript. Listen to Quite By Accident on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you like to get podcasts. Learn about other Brookings podcasts from the Brookings Podcast Network.

In episode 5 of Quite By Accident, Steve Hess shares with host Katie Dunn Tenpas his feelings on his close friendship with Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Steve also recounts how, through a series of fortunate connections, he got a job in Nixon's White House, what he did there, and his thoughts about Nixon and Watergate. Show notes and transcript. Listen to Quite By Accident on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you like to get podcasts. Learn about other Brookings podcasts from the Brookings Podcast Network.

In this sixth and final episode of Quite By Accident, Steve Hess shares stories with host Katie Dunn Tenpas about how he came to Brookings, what he did for Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, how he met Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and more. He ends with reflections on today's politics, the role of luck in a person's life, and his hopes for the country. Show notes and transcript. Listen to Quite By Accident on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you like to get podcasts. Learn about other Brookings podcasts from the Brookings Podcast Network.

David Dollar, the host of Dollar and Sense, passed away on October 6, 2023. In this final episode of his podcast, David's friends and colleagues pay tribute to his work as a U.S. official and scholar, as a mentor and colleague, as a podcast host, and ultimately as a family man. Show notes and transcript Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

A new Department of Labor rule aims to expand protections for retirement savers by updating standards on different types of financial investment advice. Ben Harris explains what the new rule does and other steps the Biden administration could take to increase Americans' retirement security. Show notes and transcript: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/what-does-new-rule-on-investment-advice-mean-for-retirement-security  Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google podcasts, or on Spotify. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu. The Current is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) has served just six years in the House of Representatives before being elected as the new speaker of the House. Molly Reynolds explains how his relative inexperience could hurt or help, especially in upcoming negotiations to avert a government shutdown in November. Show notes and transcript: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/who-is-new-speaker-of-the-house-mike-johnson  Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google podcasts, or on Spotify. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu. The Current is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

President Biden visited Israel as a show of U.S. support and announced new humanitarian aid to Gaza, but subsequent Arab leader summit fell through in the wake of the al Ahli hospital bombing. Jeffrey Feltman weighs in on how Biden's show of empathy - but also caution - was received by Israelis, the urgent need for humanitarian relief in Gaza, and the dangers of escalation from Hezbollah in Lebanon. Show notes and transcript: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/biden-in-israel-and-us-diplomacy-on-the-israel-gaza-crisis Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google podcasts, or on Spotify. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu. The Current is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

Hamas' surprise attack on Israel this weekend is drawing comparisons to 9/11 and the 1973 Yom Kippur War. In an online discussion, Brookings experts Natan Sachs, Shibley Telhami, Suzanne Maloney, and Molly Reynolds weighed in on Israel's response to the attacks, Iran's involvement, the regional repercussions, and how domestic politics will bear on the U.S. response, moderated by Michael O'Hanlon. Show notes and transcript: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/war-in-israel-and-gaza/  Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google podcasts, or on Spotify. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu. The Current is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

This week, the House of Representatives ousted Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House, a position he had held since January. The final vote was 216 to 210, with eight Republicans joining all voting Democrats and passing a motion to vacate, introduced by Florida Representative Matt Gaetz. Sarah Binder, senior fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings, joins the show to discuss what happened and what it means for governance in Congress. Show notes and transcript. Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google podcasts, or on Spotify. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu. The Current is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

The 2023 U.N. General Assembly saw increased calls from countries of the "Global South" for a greater role in global governance and the major multilateral institutions. Bruce Jones explains how the U.S., China, and Russia are competing for the Global South's attention, why calls to reform of the U.N. Security Council may now have a chance, and highlights a new multilateral framework called the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation. Show notes and transcript: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/un-reform-and-the-global-south-at-the-2023-general-assembly  Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google podcasts, or on Spotify. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu. The Current is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

This past weekend, India hosted its first G-20 summit, the annual gathering of leaders from the world's largest economies. To assess highlights from the summit and India's global role moving forward, Tanvi Madan, senior Fellow in Foreign Policy at Brookings, joins the program. Madan is host of the new Global India podcast, debuting this month from the Brookings Podcast Network. Show notes and transcript. Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google podcasts, or on Spotify. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu. The Current is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.  

Caitlin Welsh, director of the Global Food and Water Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), reviews global food insecurity, noting that malnourishment extends beyond just hotspot countries, potentially affecting over 40% of people worldwide. She discusses shocks that have affected food security and agricultural trade, such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine, COVID-19, and India's restriction on exports of rice in 2022, and also comments on foreign entities' purchases of agricultural land around the world. Show notes and transcript Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.  

On Wednesday night, eight contenders for the Republican Party presidential nomination appeared on a Milwaukee stage together for the first GOP debate. Donald Trump, currently leading in the polls, was not among them. On this episode, Elaine Kamarck, founding director of the Center for Effective Public Management and a senior fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings, offers her analysis of what happened and what it portends moving toward the first primaries in January.  Show notes and transcript. Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google podcasts, or on Spotify. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu. The Current is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

The coup that ousted Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum in a late July follows a string of similar military takeovers in Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Mali. Landry Signé discusses how Niger and other democracies in the Sahel have struggled to build systems of accountability and deliver public services, and the need for international, regional, and local alignment to strengthen economic security. Show notes and transcript: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/what-underlies-the-coup-in-niger  Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google podcasts, or on Spotify. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu. The Current is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

Israel's Knesset passed a bill that strips Israel's Supreme Court of the power to declare government decisions unreasonable. The so-called "reasonableness bill" passed with a 64 to 0 vote after all members of the Knesset's governing coalition voted for it and all members of the opposition left the chamber. Passage of the bill has sparked turmoil in the country. Natan Sachs, director of the Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings and a senior fellow in Foreign Policy, discusses what's happening in Israel. Show notes and transcript: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-will-the-supreme-courts-affirmative-action-ruling-affect-college-admissions  Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google podcasts, or on Spotify. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu. The Current is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.  

The Supreme Court's decision ending race-based admissions policies at colleges and universities leaves in place other forms of affirmative action like legacy preferences and early admissions — affirmative action policies that disproportionately benefit white students, says Katharine Meyer. Meyer looks at how underrepresented student enrollment dropped in states that previously banned race-based affirmative action, and how some have tried to increase student diversity through race-neutral methods. Show notes and transcript: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-will-the-supreme-courts-affirmative-action-ruling-affect-college-admissions  Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google podcasts, or on Spotify. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu. The Current is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

This weekend's fast-moving but short-lived revolt by Wagner Group mercenaries led by Yevgeny Prigozhin leaves many unanswered questions about what this signals for Russian President Vladimir Putin's grip on power, what will happen to the Wagner Group after this, and the ramifications for Russia's war on Ukraine. In a discussion moderated by Susan Glasser, Angela Stent, Michael O'Hanlon, and Constanze Stelzenmüller try to make sense of what happened, how to interpret it, and the longer-term implications for Russian stability and European security.  Show notes and transcript: https://www.brookings.edu/podcast-episode/putin-imperiled-what-to-know-about-the-wagner-groups-russian-revolt/  Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google podcasts, or on Spotify. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu. The Current is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.