Season four - WORLD: we got this podcast

In our themed episodes we talk to experts about global challenges we face today, and ask them to suggest ways that individuals, decision-makers and society can help overcome these. In our 'In Conversation' episodes, one of our academics talks with a student about a global issue related to their study and research.

Episode Eleven: In conversation about Brazil's defence agenda in the South Atlantic

What life skills can one learn from doing a PhD?

In this episode, Dr Maísa Edwards, who recently completed a joint PhD from the King’s Brazil Institute and the University of São Paulo, talks about her research on Brazil’s diplomatic and defence relations in the South Atlantic region. Speaking to Dr Andreza de Souza Santos, Maísa also shares the challenges she faced in completing her PhD during the Covid-19 pandemic and the research skills and life lessons she learnt from the experience.

Episode Ten: What is the world’s problem with migration?

Migration is a topic that preoccupies many countries around the world and this new episode looks at some of the current global challenges around migration including exploring what impact immigrants have on jobs and public services, whether politicians are in step with public attitudes towards migrants and refugees, plus what it is like for those trying to move in search of a better life.

It features academics from the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy at King’s College London: Dr Leonie Ansems de Vries, Reader in International Politics in the Department of War Studies and Director of King’s Sanctuary Programme; Professor Jonathan Portes, Professor of Economics and Public Policy in the School of Politics & Economics and the Policy Institute; and Dr Mollie Gerver, Lecturer in International Ethics of the School of Politics & Economics.

Episode Nine: In conversation about China and UK relations through film

Why aren't mainland Chinese films box office hits in the UK? Do Chinese people watch films produced in the UK? PhD student, Giulia D'Aquila researches an agreement between China and the UK on film production and distribution.

In this episode, she reflects on how films from mainland China are received in the UK, what is considered propaganda in each country and why other foreign-language exports are popular with Western audiences. She also shares more about her PhD journey with Professor Kerry Brown, Director of the Lau China Institute.

Episode Eight: In conversation about digitalisation and welfare entitlements in India

Is technology really helping people in India to receive their welfare entitlements? Or is digitalisation affecting their agency? And how does it affect local state actors? These are some of the questions PhD student, Vanita Leah Falcao is exploring in her thesis.

In this episode, she speaks with Professor Louise Tillin about her time as a policy worker in India, her experiences doing research field work and how her thesis question has shifted over the course of her PhD studies.

Episode Seven: Guest episode - One year of war in Ukraine: what have we learned?

One year since Russia invaded Ukraine, we shared an episode of The War Studies Podcast produced by our Department of War Studies looking back at what we have learned over the past year of fighting and what it might mean for the future.

It features Dr Marina Miron, who uses her knowledge of Russian military strategy, information warfare, and technology to explore what has happened over the past year and why, as well looking at the implications for future global security. Find out more about The War Studies Podcast.

Episode Six: Are public protests challenging authoritarian regimes around the world?

This new episode looks at recent large-scale public protests in Russia, China and Iran including what has sparked them and what they tell us about the balance of power of these regimes.

Ahou Koutchesfahani, a PhD candidate in our War Studies Department, Dr Jane Hayward, a lecturer in China and Global Affairs at King’s Lau China Institute, and Dr Maxim Alyukov, a postdoctoral fellow at King’s Russia Institute, look at the effects of the protests and the response of those in power to the public dissent.

They also explore whether the protests are a sign that authoritarian regimes are losing their grip or whether those in power might use them to justify increasing control.

Episode Five: In conversation about state-society relations and studying at King's

Master's alumna Linette Lim's focused her dissertation looked at why some Indian states far out-perform others in the Human Development Index (HDI).

In this episode, she shares how she came up with this research puzzle and her journey post-master's degree.

This includes her life as a foreign correspondent in China and how her experience with censorship led to her PhD thesis.

Episode Four: In conversation about sand dunes, climate change and Mars

What can the life of sand dunes on Mars tell us about climate change on Earth?

In this episode, PhD student Lucie Delobel shares her love of sand dunes and how she went from studying them on Earth to studying them on Mars. 

Her master's dissertation became a leading article for Nature Climate Change and is shaping the discussion on using wind patterns to examine climate change. Now doing a PhD at King's, she has taken her knowledge of wind patterns to outer space.

Episode Three: are we at a pivotal moment in the climate crisis?

This episode looks at where we are in the climate crisis, how recent events including war and economic crises have affected the priority of environmental issues and whether we still have time to make a difference.

It features Professor Frans Berkhout, from the Department of Geography, who outlines some of the impacts of global warming that are we already seeing, discusses whether he thinks we will be able to adapt to our new world and assesses where we are on progress against global commitments.

Dr Duraid Jalili, from the Defence Studies Department and Co-Director of the Environmental Security Research Group, highlights ways in which environmental issues have already affected the geopolitical, economic and social order of our world, how the war in Ukraine has affected public focus on climate change and whether we are at a critical moment in public and political understanding of the need to take action.

Episode Two: In conversation about decolonising sexual reproductive health

What shapes and enables women's rights to be fully enacted in a world where sexual reproductive health is politicised? What exactly is the reproductive justice movement? And how important is it to understand our past when it comes to making informed decisions about women's bodies?

In this episode, PhD student Annabel Sowemimo shares how she first got into sexual reproductive health, more about her day job as a Community Sexual Reproductive Health Registrar and why she founded the Reproductive Justice initiative.

She also talks about a piece called, 'The secret lives of Britain’s first Black physicians', which she wrote for Wellcome Collection and about her great, great grandfather – one of the first West African graduates of medicine in the UK.

Episode One: the political consequences of the pandemic

The episode looks at the huge political consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and how its effects are still being felt at every level around the world today.

It explores how the pandemic affected the standing of global leadership organisations, as well as challenging previously held ideas about effective leaders and political systems. 

It also looks at how the pandemic caused the downfall of the British Prime Minister and is still determining key UK government priorities today, plus discusses ways in which the far-right exploited the chaos and confusion surrounding COVID-19 to recruit new followers.

It features Professor ‘Funmi Olonisakin, Professor Andrew Blick and Blyth Crawford, who are all based in the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy at King's.