Best Declarations The Human Rights Podcast Podcasts (2024)

1
Protecting the Protector 49:33

6d ago49:33

49:33

In the 100th Episode of the Declarations Podcast, Iman is joined by special guest Lucia de los Angeles Diaz Genao and panellist Matias Volonterio to discuss: what can we do about violence against activists? How do we protect the marginalised who raise their voices?

1
After an attempted assassination, how to turn back a rising tide of political threats and violence 52:12

12d ago52:12

52:12

The attempted assassination of former President and candidate Donald Trump has catalyzed an important discussion about both actual violence and threats of violence against political candidates, office-holders, policymakers, election officials, and others whose efforts help make our democracy work. Harvard Kennedy School professors Erica Chenoweth a…

1
Politics & Human Rights: With the Politics or Against the Politics? 47:38

13d ago47:38

47:38

In this episode of Declarations, our host Iman is joined by special guest Siri Gloppen and panellist Charlotte Abercrombie to discuss global democratic backsliding and its impact on human rights. They evaluate the role of courts in safeguarding human rights and the risks of politicising fundamental freedoms. This episode comes at a crucial period, …

1
Human Rights: Of, By, For Which People? 49:37

28d ago49:37

49:37

In this episode, our host Iman is joined by special guest Tarah Demant and panellist Tess Hargarten to discuss the impact of Western hegemony on modern human rights and the development of human rights organizations worldwide. This topic is especially relevant at the current moment, when multiple contentious wars are raging with more and more human …

1
Season 8 Episode 1 - Introducing Horror, Hope & Human 1:57

1M ago1:57

1:57

Who are human rights for? Where is the 'human' in 'human rights'? What have we learned about human rights conceptually, as well as in practice, over the last 75 years? In this brief first episode, our host Iman introduces our theme for this season, and gives an overview of the questions we seek to probe while reflecting on the 75 years since the Un…

1
The populism of self-destruction: How better policies can blunt the anti-clean energy backlash threatening humanity’s future 51:01

3M ago51:01

51:01

Populism—the political term that describes a group of self-described common people who oppose elite—has turned up in what for many is an unexpected place: the push for a worldwide transition to clean energy. Even though they’re vital to preventing the most catastrophic consequences of the manmade global climate crisis, clean energy measures are enc…

1
Public policy, values, and politics: Why so much depends on getting them right 41:03

4M ago41:03

41:03

Public policy has great power, both to improve people’s lives if it is planned and executed well and to cause significant suffering if it is not, says Harvard Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elmendorf, who will step back from his post this summer to rejoin the faculty. He joins PolicyCast host Ralph Ranalli in this episode to discuss the crucial role p…

1
The Ghost Budget: How U.S. war spending went rogue, wasted billions, and how to fix it 45:49

5M ago45:49

45:49

HKS Senior Lecturer Linda Bilmes, an expert on public finance who has studied post-9/11 war costs for the past 20 years, says their staggering $5 trillion cost was enabled by what she calls “The Ghost Budget.” Using an unprecedented combination of borrowing, accounting tricks, and outsourcing, presidential administrations, Congress, and the Pentago…

1
Of Films and Phonetics: The Digitization of Yukon History 31:26

5M ago31:26

31:26

In today’s episode, we’re commemorating over 125 years of the creation of the Yukon Territory. We speak with Paul Caesar-Jules, a Kaska youth from Watson Lake. He tells us about his work at Liard First Nation’s Language Department, where he digitizes tapes of elders communicating in Dene languages. We also hear from Yukon historian Michael Gates, w…

1
The Great Creep Backward: Policy responses to China’s slowing economy 55:37

5M ago55:37

55:37

Harvard Kennedy School Professor Rana Mitter and Harvard Business School Associate Professor Meg Rithmire say that after decades of tremendous growth, an economically slowing China is the new normal. With a growing debt-to-GDP ratio, an aging population, a devastating real estate bubble, and a loss of confidence among both foreign investors and dom…

1
Champagne in Charlottetown: PEI and the Road to Confederation 24:59

5M ago24:59

24:59

In this episode, we travel back to the moment Prince Edward Island entered Confederation, over 150 years ago. Historian Dr. Edward MacDonald takes us back to the Charlottetown Conference, where it’s said that discussions about the Dominion of Canada flowed over several glasses of champagne. He’ll also help us understand why PEI joined the country s…

1
Two peoples. Two states. Why U.S. diplomacy in Israel and Palestine needs vision, partners, and a backbone 38:39

6M ago38:39

38:39

Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Ed Djerejian says Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin once told him “There is no military solution to this conflict, only a political one.” Rabin was assassinated a few years later and today bullets are flying, bombs are falling, and 1,200 Israelis are dead after the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7 and nearly 3…

1
Canada’s surprising relationship to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 27:44

6M ago27:44

27:44

In 1947, Canadian lawyer John Peters Humphrey worked with other members of the Commission on Human Rights to write the first draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. On December 10, 1948, it was adopted by the UN General Assembly in Paris. It’s been over 75 years since this definitive moment, one in which world leaders pledged to do ever…

1
We can productively discuss even the toughest topics—here’s how 46:14

6M ago46:14

46:14

As our discourse and our politics have become both more polarized and paralyzed, Harvard Kennedy School faculty members Erica Chenoweth and Julia Minson say we need to refocus on listening to understand, instead of talking to win. In mid-2022, the School launched the Candid and Constructive Conversations initiative, based on the idea that frank yet…

1
Of fugitives and orators: The characters behind the RCMP’s complicated history 29:37

6M ago29:37

29:37

In May 2023, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) commemorated its 150th anniversary. The federal police force – which originally started out as the North-West Mounted Police – is almost as old as the Dominion of Canada itself. This episode examines the complex and painful history of an institution that has historically mistreated Indigenous pe…

1
‘Humiliation Day’, A Look Back at the Impact of the Chinese Exclusion Act 20:19

6M ago20:19

20:19

Chinese-Canadians have a long history in Canada. In the 1880s, thousands of Chinese men helped build the Canadian Pacific Railway for a fraction of the wages paid to other labourers. Immediately after the railroad's completion, the Canadian government imposed the head tax, a fee that was exclusively applied to most people arriving from China. Soon …

1
Introducing Canadian Time Machine 1:12

7M ago1:12

1:12

Why did the Yukon split from the Northwest territories? Who were the first inhabitants of Prince Edward Island? Plus… what does the Universal Declaration of Human Rights mean for Canadians? Welcome to season two of Canadian Time Machine – a podcast that unpacks key milestones in our country’s history. To read the episode transcripts in French and E…

1
The document that redefined humanity: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 75 43:10

8M ago43:10

43:10

Harvard Kennedy School Professor Kathryn Sikkink and former longtime Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth have spent years both studying the transformational effects of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and have worked on the ground to make its vision of a more just, equal world a reality. On December 10th, the world celebrate…

1
Legacy of privilege: David Deming and Raj Chetty on how elite college admissions policies affect who gains power and prestige 41:26

9M ago41:26

41:26

Legacy admissions, particularly at elite colleges and universities, were thrust into the spotlight this summer when the U.S. Supreme Court effectively ended affirmative action in admissions. The ruling raised many questions, and fortunately, Harvard Kennedy School professor David Deming and Harvard Economics Professor Raj Chetty were there with som…

1
Need to solve an intractable problem? Try collaborative governing 42:21

10M ago42:21

42:21

Harvard Kennedy School faculty member Jorrit de Jong and Harvard Business School Professor Amy Edmondson say the big, intractable problems challenges facing city leaders today are too complex to be addressed by any one agency or government department. Complex challenges like the shortage of economic opportunity and affordable housing, homelessness,…

1
How to keep "TLDR" syndrome from killing your policy proposal 45:12

10M ago45:12

45:12

Harvard Kennedy School Professor Todd Rogers and Lecturer in Public Policy Lauren Brodsky say trying too hard to sound intelligent—even when communicating complex or nuanced ideas—isn't a smart strategy. Because today’s overburdened information consumers are as much skimmers as readers, Rogers and Brodsky teach people how to put readers first and u…

1
Introducing About A Boy: The Story of Vladimir Putin 3:15

10M ago3:15

3:15

In the West, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is always seen as one of two things: KGB spy or judo master. But to anyone who’s ever lived in the Soviet Union, Putin is something else entirely: a street kid. Join journalist Julia Ioffe as she explores how Putin’s childhood taught him lessons that shape his thinking and actions to this day. To learn m…

1
Dr. Rochelle Walensky on making health care policy under fire 41:29

11M ago41:29

41:29

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who served as CDC director from 2021 to 2023, calls the job “probably the hardest thing I will ever do.” But she also calls it “the honor of a lifetime.” When she was appointed by President Biden as the CDC’s 19th director, she was already used to politicized health care issues, having spent her formative years as a physician…

1
AI can be democracy’s ally—but not if it works for Big Tech 43:53

11M ago43:53

43:53

Kennedy School Lecturer in Public Policy Bruce Schneier says Artificial Intelligence has the potential to transform the democratic process in ways that could be good, bad, and potentially mind-boggling. The important thing, he says, will be to use regulation and other tools to make sure that AIs are working for us, and just not for Big Tech compani…

1
Season 7 Episode 9: Prioritising Human Rights in the Green Transition 24:28

1y ago24:28

24:28

In episode 9 Declarations host Neema Jayasinghe is joined by panellist Aimee Hobley and guest speaker Kristin Hughes. Their discussion explores the potential human rights challenges raised by the ongoing green transition. Kristin offers insight and expertise on how the multistakeholder green transition can mitigate against the potential threats cre…

1
The more Indigenous nations self govern, the more they succeed 35:24

1y ago35:24

35:24

Harvard Kennedy School Professor Joseph Kalt and Megan Minoka Hill say the evidence is in: When Native nations make their own decisions about what development approaches to take, studies show they consistently out-perform external decision makers like the U.S. Department of Indian Affairs. Kalt and Hill say that’s why Harvard is going all in, recen…

1
Season 7 Episode 8: Voices from Across the Picket Lines 36:02

1y ago36:02

36:02

In this episode of Declarations, Neema Jayasinghe and panellist Isabella Todini sit down with Dr. Lorena Gazzotti, a research fellow at the University of Cambridge and Vice President of the Cambridge branch of the University and Colleges Union (UCU) to discuss the right to strike, why lectures across the UK have been striking this year, and why urg…

1
Season 7 Episode 7: Women peacebuilders in a conflicted world order. 41:12

1y ago41:12

41:12

In our seventh episode, host Neema Jayasinghe joins panellist Yasmin Homer to discuss the work of women peacebuilders with guests Eva Tabbasam (GAPS UK) and Andrea Filippi (PeaceWomen Across the Globe). We discuss the importance of fostering and protecting civil society networks in peacetime and wartime, the challenges of political will, and how th…

1
Season 7 Episode 6: The Psychology of Border Violations in Mental Abuse 36:52

1+ y ago36:52

36:52

In our sixth episode, host Neema Jayasinghe is joined by previous podcast host and panellist, Dr Maryam Tanwir. With special guest, Professor Sam Vaknin, the episode unpacks discourses related to the psychology of personal border violations in mental abuse. The conversation questions how borders and boundaries are not only demarcated, violated, or …

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