Best Ruth Mukwana Podcasts (2024)

1
Episode 32 Megan Culhane Galbraith on the Nuances of Adoption

8M ago

—

Megan Culhane Galbraith is a writer, visual artist, and an adoptee. She’s the founder of the Never Hush Workshops for Adoptees. Her debut hybrid memoir-in-essays, The Guild of the Infant Saviour: An Adopted Child’s Memory Book, was published by Mad Creek Books/Ohio State University Press in May 2021. Her work was Notable in Best American Essays 202…

1
Episode 31 Exploring Planetary Health with Maisarah Faisal

8M ago

—

Maisarah Faisal is the Special Assistant to the Executive Director at Sunway Center for Planetary Health, Sunway University in Malaysia. She's a graduate of International Relations with Mandarin from the University of Nottingham, Malaysia. She has experience in research and analysis, new media communications and youth engagement, in both the public…

1
Episode 30 Exploring Humanity Through Storytelling With Danuta Hinc

9M ago

—

Danuta Hinc is a Polish American novelist, short story writer and essayist. She holds an MA in Philology from the University of Gdańsk where she won the Polish National Competition for best dissertation is the Humanities. She received an M.F.A. in Writing and Literature from Bennington College, where she was awarded the Barry Hannah Merit Scholarsh…

1
Episode 29 UNICEF Somalias Hawa Sabriye on the Importance of Education

1y ago

—

Hawa Sabriye works for UNICEF Somalia as an Education Specialist. She has over 7 years of experience in education/teaching, humanitarian aid and international development. She holds a BA in English Literature and Human Geography, a BA and MA in Education, and Graduate Diplomas in Refugee and Migration Studies and Post-Secondary Education: Community…

1
Episode 28 Doug Mercado

1+ y ago

—

Doug Mercado has worked in the field of international humanitarian assistance and post-disaster recovery over the past 32 years on assignments with the United Nations, USAID, OAS & NGOs. He currently holds the position of visiting lecturer at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. He says, “Works of fiction have their pa…

1
Episode 27 Advocating for Women and Girls in Humanitarian Crises: A Conversation with UN Gender Advisor April Pham

1+ y ago

—

Ms April Pham is a Senior Gender Advisor and the Head of Gender Unit in the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. She has over 25 years of experience in social justice, human rights, gender equality, and the prevention and response to violence against women/gender-based violence in development and humanitarian settings. Twitter:…

1
Episode 26 Matteo Fraschini Koffi on the Power of Curiosity in Conflict Reporting

1+ y ago

—

Matteo Fraschini Koffi is a freelance journalist who writes, photographs and produces documentaries for radio and TV. He works for Italian and foreign media focusing exclusively on Sub-Saharan Africa. He has won the Premiolino award and published a book-diary, “Fields of red gold," about his experience in the ghetto of Rignano (Apulia), and his aut…

1
Episode 25 Delphine Vakunta Talks Investing in Youth and Preventing Humanitarian Crises

1+ y ago

—

Delphine Vakunta is a Cameroonian-American communication and public relations professional in the international humanitarian and development affairs field. Her work spans the African Development Bank, the United Nations, NGOs, and the private sector. She says, “We should all strive to prevent humanitarian crises by thinking about what we can indivi…

1
Episode 23 Insights on Fiction and Humanitarianism from Aida Mengistu

1+ y ago

—

Aida Mengistu is the Deputy Head of the Inter Agency Standing Committee’s Peer-to-Peer Support Project which provides targeted support to humanitarian leaders in country operations. She is a graduate of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a mother of three kids. She says, "It’s important to understand the day-to-day life of people caught u…

1
Episode 24 Sebastian Trives on the Power of Viewing Conflict Through Different Lenses.

1+ y ago

—

Sébastien Trives is a French national currently working for the NGO ACTED in Paris. He for the Humanitarian Advisory Team to the Famine Relief Fund, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, UNRWA, UNAMA and OSCE. He holds a M.A. in international relations, a B.A. in international affairs and history, and a diploma in European studie…

1
Episode 22 Asking the Right Questions to Spark Change with Ani Kazarian

2y ago

—

Ani Kazarian is a writer and professional development coach, both of which, she believes, come down to clarifying our vision and following our intuition. Her publications include book reviews, essays, and short stories that have been featured in Consequence Magazine, Agni Online, Sampsonia Way, Aster (ix) Journal, and the Tishman Review. She says, …

1
EP 21 Can We Make a Difference and Reduce Human Suffering?: In Conversation with Samir Elhawary.

2y ago

—

Samir Elhawary is an Egyptian-British national and expert on conflict, humanitarian action, and war-to-peace transitions, with a particular focus on the Middle East and Latin America region. Currently, he is the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator and Head of UN-OCHA in Caracas, Venezuela. He says, “Don’t be indifferent to human suffering. When you see…

1
EP 20 A Brief Glimpse Into the Transformative Power of Literature with Bruce Holsinger

2y ago

—

“A poem can change you; A powerful short story can literally change your brain chemistry. At the individual level, the teaching of compassion, of love of community, these are the ways that I think literature probably moves us most effectively, but they're very hard to discern, I think. And you never know what that kind of reading experience is goin…

1
EP 19 Anna Macdonald on the Power of Fiction in Shaping our Understanding of Humanitarian issues.

2y ago

—

In this episode, Anna Macdonald, a Communications and Campaigns consultant and currently Human Rights Practitioner in Residence at Columbia Law School says, “In humanitarian work, there's a tendency to think that because it's a serious subject, we have to start with data, statistics, facts, and figures. These are important to provide the evidence, …

1
EP 18 Francois Batalingaya

2+ y ago

—

In this episode, I speak to François Batalingaya United Nations Resident Coordinator in Comoros. He says, let’s use the story of these women, Chika and the unnamed Hausa Woman, Halima’s mother, in A Private Experience, and say to ourselves, the other person out there isn’t an enemy, not at all, and you don't know when you may end up in a situation …

1
EP 17 Askold Melnyczuk

2+ y ago

—

In this Episode, I speak to Askold Melnyczuk, an American writer whose publications include novels, essays, poems, memoir, and translations. Among his works are the novels, What Is Told, and Ambassador of the Dead, House of Widows and Excerpt from Smedley’s Secret Guide to World Literature. In his essay, Why My Favorite Characters to Write Are Ofte…

1
SAHA EP 16 Raksha Vasudevan

2+ y ago

—

In this episode,Raksha Vasudevan, an Economist, Writer and former Aid Worker whose essays and reporting have appeared inThe New York Times, VICE, Guernica,and I,discussThe Story of a Brief MarriagebyAnuk Arudpragasam. She says,“The best way for me to answer this question is thinking about it in terms of contribution rather than attribution. I haven…

1
EP 15 Alison Turner

2+ y ago

—

In this episode, I spoke with Alison Turner about her essay, The Autological Archive: Appraisal, Institutional Motives, and Essentializing Identity in Refugee and Asylum Seekers Narratives, In and Out of Fiction where she argues that fiction can expose parts of archival/application processes that impact who is and who is not granted asylum in the U…