Guyana is the latest country where a major oil discovery has been made. With ExxonMobil set to begin oil production next year, the small, impoverished nation is on the path to become one of the richest in the world. But with oil production brings risk. Next door Venezuela offers a cautionary tale of the “resource curse,” a spiral of political corruption and economic mismanagement that has driven commodity-rich nations into crisis.  But it doesn’t have to happen that way.  In some places natural resource production has brought much-needed development through education, infrastructure and economic diversification. What can Guyana learn from countries that have avoided the resource curse?

Avoiding the Resource Curse: Guyana’s Big Chance

Geopolitical turmoil. A warming planet. Authoritarians on the rise. We live in a chaotic world that’s rapidly shifting around us. 

“On Shifting Ground with Ray Suarez” explores international fault lines and how they impact us all. 

Each week, NPR veteran Ray Suarez hosts conversations with journalists, leaders and policy experts to help us read between the headlines – and give us hope for human resilience.

A co-production of World Affairs and KQED.

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By 2030, it’s estimated one out of every six people on planet earth will be over 60. Thanks to leaps in technology and public health, people are living longer and better than ever before.    We’re taking a look at what economists and demographers are calling “the Silver Wave.” Ray speaks with MIT’s Joseph F. Coughlin,and New York Times Tokyo Bureau Chief Motoko Rich, on the challenges – and opportunities – that global aging presents.    Guests:    Joseph F. Coughlin, PhD, Founder and Director of MIT’s AgeLab   Motoko Rich, Tokyo Bureau Chief for the New York Times   Host:   Ray Suarez   If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.  

The Silver Wave: Challenges and Opportunities of Global Aging

For the most part, the world has gone back to normal. We’re getting on planes… going to concerts… but many Americans haven’t changed their pandemic drinking habits. And this increased consumption trend is especially high for older Americans.   In 2020, alcohol accounted for more than 11,000 deaths among those 65 and up – that’s an 18 percent increase from the previous year – and many of those cases went untreated.    Ray speaks with Keith Humphreys, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, to understand why.   Guest:   Keith Humphreys, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University   Host:     Ray Suarez   If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.  

Boozing Boomers

Ray Suarez talks with former NPR Beijing correspondent Louisa Lim about China’s brazen efforts to stamp out free speech in Hong Kong, the city she grew up in. Lim shares the experiences she chronicled in her book Indelible City, an emotional eyewitness account of the pro-democracy protests and a reflection on Hong Kong’s identity.   Guest:     Louisa Lim, journalist and author of  “Indelible City: Dispossession and Defiance in Hong Kong”    Host:    Ray Suarez   If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

Hong Kong, A History of Defiance and the Fight for Free Speech

Ray Suarez speaks with Sebastien Lai, the son of the imprisoned media mogul Jimmy Lai, and Jonathan Price, a member of Lai’s legal team. He’s on trial for his pro-democracy campaign, and they explore the fate of Hong Kong after China’s passage of the restrictive Article 23.   Guests:    Sebastien Lai, democracy advocate and son of jailed Hong Kong businessman and publisher   Jonathan Price, a member of Jimmy Lai’s legal team   Host:    Ray Suarez   If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

Jimmy Lai’s Fate and the Future of Democracy in Hong Kong

Abortion advocates have long warned the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade would reverberate across all areas of reproductive health. Two years later, state personhood laws have challenged IVF and birth control… further threatening women’s bodily autonomy.   In our third special election episode, we explore how the issue of abortion rights is likely to shape the 2024 election. First, we hear from two women whose lives were changed by rapidly shifting legislation surrounding IVF and abortion access. Then, Ray Suarez sits down with Dr. Jamila Perritt, President and CEO of Physicians for Reproductive Health (PRH), and UC Davis Law Professor Mary Ziegler to discuss the upcoming cases before the Supreme Court, and who may be the next “Roe”.   Special thanks to All Roads Productions LLC for sharing the audio of Maleeha’s encounter with a crisis pregnancy center. You can watch the full scene from “Preconceived” at preconceivedfilm.com.   Guests:     Latorya Beasley, therapist and in vitro fertilization (IVF) patient in Alabama   Maleeha Aziz, Deputy Director at the Texas Equal Access Fund   Dr. Jamila Perritt, President and CEO of Physicians for Reproductive Health (PRH)   Mary Ziegler, Martin Luther King Professor of Law at the University of California, Davis   Host:    Ray Suarez   Guest Producer: Elize Manoukian   If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

Avoiding the Resource Curse: Guyana’s Big Chance

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