Archives for July 2018

977 Days as a Hostage of Somali Pirates

Michael Scott Moore spent 977 days as a hostage of Somali pirates. He is a journalist and in 2012 he set out for the Somali coast on a reporting trip when he was kidnapped. What followed was a two and a half year ordeal that he masterfully recounts in his new book: The Desert and the Sea.

In our conversation we discuss his capture and time in captivity, as well as broader issues surrounding piracy off the coast of Somalia. And one thing that does come through is that the gang that held Michael was part of an organized crime network whose business was kidnapping for ransom. The foot soldiers of this gang are far from what we might typically consider as “pirates.”

This book is both a beautifully written memoir and exposé into a criminal underworld that contribute to instability in the Horn of Africa.

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The Inside Story of How the World Closed the Hole in the Ozone Layer

The year is 1985. Ronald Regan is president. Margaret Thatcher is prime minister of the United Kingdom. Michael Jackson, White Snake and George Michael are dominating the billboard charts. Back to the Future is a smash hit at the box office.

And scientists have just discovered a giant hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica.

Scientists were warning that if left unchecked, this hole in the ozone would grow ever larger, letting through harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun that would wreak havoc on human health. Skin cancer rates would skyrocket, as would cataracts. In cities like Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. going outside for just a short period of time in the summer would be dangerous. Meanwhile, the basic ecology of the world’s oceans could change, as plankton which makes up the bottom of the food chain, would die off.

But in two years time, before even Universal Pictures released the sequel to Back to the Future the international community had come together to create a binding international treaty that would lead to the healing of the ozone layer.

That agreement is known as the Montreal Protocol. It is widely considered the world’s most successful global environmental treaty.

In this special episode of Global Dispatches podcast, produced in partnership with the United Nations Foundation, we bring you the inside story of how the world came together to create an internationally binding treaty to protect the ozone layer — and ultimately human health.

You will hear from scientists who discovered the link between Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and ozone depletion; key diplomats and government leaders who pressed for the international regulation of CFCs in 1987; and academics and civil society leaders who explain why this 31-year-old agreement is as relevant today as it was the day it was signed.

The Montreal Protocol is a success of multilateral cooperation. This podcast episode tells its story.

Download this episode to listen later. You can subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify

Interviews: 

Nobel Prize winning chemist Mario Molina

Susan Solomon, atmospheric scientist

David Doniger, National Resources Defense Council

Maria Ivanova, University of Massachusetts, Boston

Melinda Kimble, United Nations Foundation

 

Archival Audio: 

Ronald Reagan

Lee Thomas, former EPA Administrator

Mustafa Tolba, former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program

This episode is part of a series of episodes, called “Wins for the World” in which we tell the story of how multilateral cooperation tangibly benefited people and the planet. Subscribe today! 

How Much Progress Are We Making Towards the Sustainable Development Goals?”

At the United Nations in mid-July officials gathered for an annual checkup on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. The SDGs, as they are known, are a set of 17 anti-poverty, health and environmental goals that in 2015 the world agreed to achieve by 2030.

We are now two and a half years into these goals, and this gathering at the United Nations, which is known as the High Level Political Forum, is a moment in which top officials take stock of both global and domestic progress towards these goals.

On the podcast today, we ask the question: how are we doing?  We examine how far we have come and how much more the world needs to do to achieve the goals it set for itself three years ago.

On the line with me to discuss this all is John McArthur, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and senior adviser to the United Nations Foundation.” We kick off discussing areas where progress has been most pronounced and most lacking. We then discuss the High Level Political Forum itself, and also what comes next for the SDGs.

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PODCAST: How These “Invisible” Countries May Redraw the World Map

Players from Tibet participate in a soccer tournament for quasi-countries. Credit: CONIFA

Joshua Keating loves maps. His new book Invisible Countries: Journeys to the Edge of Nationhood is all about the borders we see on maps and those we don’t see.

Keating is a longtime foreign affairs journalist and now an editor at Slate. In this book he takes readers to places that are not quite countries. This includes places like Abkhazia, Somaliland, and the Akwesasne nation between New York and Ontario. He makes an argument that we are currently in a period of what he calls “cartographical stasis” — that is, we are in an era in which not many new countries are being created, at least compared to other eras in recent history. Though, he posits, this period may be coming to an end.

I first got wind of Josh’s new book when I read an article he wrote about a soccer tournament for countries that are not quite countries–think of it as the World Cup for quasi countries. And the book kicks off by referencing this tournament. So that is where we begin our conversation.

Sunitha Krishnan Rescues Girls from Sex Slavery

Sunitha Krishnan literally rescues girls from sex slavery.

She is the founder of the Indian NGO Prajwala which both physically removes girls from sexual bondage and provides social, medical and psychological support for their rehabilitation.

She’s been beaten. She’s been jailed. But nevertheless she persists.

And as she tells me in our conversation what motivates her in this dangerous work is anger. And that anger stems from her own experience with sexual assault at the age of 15, when she was the victim of a gang rape.

I met Sunitha Krishnan in June in Yerevan, Armenia where she was being recognized for her heroic work by the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative.  She was one of three finalists for the 2018 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity. And though she did not end up winning that award (it went to a Rohingya human rights lawyer named Kyaw Hla Aung) her work in the slums of India certainly gained wider attention.

Sunitha Krishnan is a true hero and it was an honor to get to know her.

Download this episode to listen later. You can subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify or get the Global Dispatches mobile app.

 

What We Know About Air Pollution Around the World

Air pollution is a major killer around the globe and one that disproportionately affects low and middle income countries. The World Health Organization estimates that around 7 million people die every year from the air they breathe.

There are two kinds of air pollution.

The first is called ambient air pollution, this is the air we breathe when we are outside. The second is called household air pollution, and this is air pollution driven by the use of dirty burning  stoves inside the home.

The WHO recently released a report about the global burden of air pollution, and what communities around the world are doing to combat it. Here to discuss that report and the challenge of air pollution more broadly is Dr. Maria Neira, director of the department of public health, environment and social determinants of health at the WHO.

We talk through some of the big data and root causes of air pollution and have a longer conversation about global and local strategies to improve air quality around the world.

If you have 20 minutes and want to learn about this under-appreciated global killer, have a listen

Download this episode to listen later. You can subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify or get the Global Dispatches mobile app.