We love podcasts, but with over 800,000 active podcasts currently in circulation, it can be hard to figure out which episodes or series you should invest your time in. BCCIC‘s got you covered!
Our flagship International Development Week initiative Develop What? is a curated playlist of podcast episodes that explore social justice, decolonization, climate justice and all things international development. We specifically curated it for folks that are interested in learning more about these topics, and highly recommend it for those working in international development.
We hope you enjoy!
Not on Spotify?
Here are some of the episodes featured in the playlist that you can find on other platforms:
Mikaela Loach is a climate justice activist, the co-host of The Yikes Podcast, writer and a 4th-year medical student based in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 2020, Forbes, Global Citizen and BBC Woman’s Hour named Mikaela one of the most influential women in the UK climate movement. Her work focuses on making the climate movement more inclusive and focusing on the intersections of the climate crisis with oppressive systems such as white supremacy and migrant injustices.
In this podcast with Liberian academic, activist and author Dr. Robtel Neajai Pailey, we discuss the intersections between her recently published Al Jazeera English commentary, “Africa does not need saving during this pandemic”, and Development and Change journal article, “De-centring the ‘White Gaze’ of Development“. We use race as a lens of analysis to interrogate assumptions that Western whiteness and modernity are the primary signifiers of progress and expertise. In exploring the pitfalls of adopting a “colour blind” outlook on development, we consider how scholars, policy makers and practitioners can challenge the ‘white gaze’ by imagining “a better world beyond flattened curves”.
Yásnaya Elena Aguilar Gil (Ayutla Mixe, 1981) is a member of COLMIX, a collective of young Mixe people who carry out research and dissemination activities on Mixe language, history and culture. She studied Hispanic Language and Literature and completed a Master’s degree in Linguistics at UNAM. She has collaborated in various projects on the dissemination of linguistic diversity, development of grammatical content for educational materials in indigenous languages, and documentation projects and attention to languages at risk of disappearing. She has been involved in the development of written material in Mixe and in the creation of Mixe-speaking readers and other indigenous languages. She has been involved in activism for the defense of the linguistic rights of indigenous language speakers, in the use of indigenous languages in the virtual world and in literary translation. She has also been involved in processes in defense of the environment.
As international NGOs and the UN struggle to access certain areas, decentralised mutual aid networks – known as emergency response rooms (ERRs) – have stepped in to fill the vacuum. Co-hosts Heba Aly and Melissa Fundira speak to two guests about unprecedented levels of collaboration between ERRs and the international humanitarian system, how they are trying to overcome the challenges, and how mutual aid groups are spurring a broader shift of power within Sudanese society.
What might it mean for humanity to reach a level of maturation to be able to confront the multilayered crises we now face—calling upon us to “grow up and show up” for ourselves and our planet? And how might recognizing the differing historical contexts that we were raised within help us to have more empathy when navigating our generational differences? In this episode, we welcome Vanessa de Oliveira Andreotti, a Brazilian educator and Indigenous and Land Rights advocate. She is a professor and Canada Research Chair in Race, Inequalities, and Global Change at the University of British Columbia. She is one of the founders of the Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures Arts/Research Collective and part of the coordination team of the “Last Warning” campaign.
We also have a recommended booklist, with books exploring similar topics as the podcasts listed above: from social justice, climate action, decolonization, Black leadership, and all things global cooperation.
This initiative is part of our 2024 International Development Week programming. Access more of BCCIC’s 2024 IDW events and resources here. Sincere thanks to Global Affairs Canada, who contributed funding to this initiative.
