Inside the Life and Power of Kim Jong Un (0:32)

Guest: Anna Fifield, Beijing Bureau Chief, Washington Post, Author of “The Great Successor: The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Brilliant Comrade Kim Jong Un”

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ended 2019 with a threat to resume nuclear weapons and long-range missile testing. That’s bad news for negotiations to end North Korea’s nuclear program entirely. But President Trump says he’s optimistic a deal could still happen. Two unprecedented summits between President Trump and Chairman Kim in 2019, heightened interest in just who the secretive leader of North Korea is and how he came to power at such a young age. Washington Post Beijing bureau chief Anna Fifield spent a decade tracking down the answers for her book, “The Great Successor.” It came out last year and led to one of our favorite interviews of 2019. The day I spoke with Fifield, news had broken that Kim Jong Un’s older half-brother was a CIA informant before his assassination. (Originally aired June 14, 2019). 

 

Pro-Democracy Protests Rock Moscow, but Putin Remains Unshaken (24:04)

Guest: Angela Stent, Director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies and Professor of Government and Foreign Service at Georgetown University, Author “Putin’s World: Russia Against the West and with the Rest”

While America obsessed over the threat Russia poses to our politics and democracy, Russian President Vladimir Putin faced threats to his own power in 2019. Over the summer, there were large scale protests in Russia, particularly over the decision of Putin’s political party to disqualify some opposition candidates from city council elections in Moscow. Even with that suppression, Putin’s political allies went on to suffer embarrassing defeat in the Moscow elections. (Originally aired August 28, 2019). 

 

China’s Mass Incarceration of Muslim Uyghurs May Be a New Form of Ethnic Cleansing (37:27)

Guest: Sean R. Roberts, Ph.D., Director and Associate Professor, International Development Studies Program, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University

In 2019, the world learned of a massive campaign of suppression and imprisonment in Western China. The Chinese Communist Government views a Muslim ethnic group called Uyghurs(Wee-gores) as a terrorist threat. The Uyghurs claim a portion of Western China as their indigenous homeland. The Chinese government disagrees and has placed millions of people in that region under intense surveillance. Up to a million Muslim Uyghurs are believed to have been imprisoned in the so-called “re-education camps” outside scholars have compared to the boarding schools where Native American youth were sent to be “re-educated.” (Originally aired July 5, 2019). 

 

Baking Your Own Happiness (50:44)

Guest: Michael Platt, Head Baker, and Spokesperson for Michaels Desserts and Danita Platt, Michael’s Mother

“People underestimate the power of kids in general, and they certainly underestimate our power to do something about big problems.” That’s a clip from a TEDx talk Michael gave not long after we spoke on Top of Mind. The big problem he’s decided to tackle? Hunger. He started his bakery Michaels Desserts two years ago–when he was 11. For every cupcake or cookie, he sells, he donates one to someone in need. (Originally aired August 13, 2019). 

 

Hiring with No Questions Asked (1:06:42)

Guest: Mike Brady, President, and CEO, Greyston Bakery

For people who have served time behind bars, it can be very difficult to get a job. But there’s a commercial bakery in New York that opts simply not to ask any questions about the background of people who apply. They call it “open hiring.” Greyston Bakery is known for its brownies –you’ve had them on Delta flights and in Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. (Originally aired January 7, 2019). 

 

What Has Become of the Last Blockbuster on Earth (1:23:52)

Guest: Sandi Harding, General Manager

The world’s last Blockbuster video store is in Bend, Oregon. Your kids have no idea what life was like before Netflix and Disney+, do they? Browsing the DVDs on a Friday night, looking for something to watch. You’re probably wondering what Blockbuster has to do with people doing good. But the store has become a delightful blast of nostalgia for tourists, and manager Sandi Mann believes it’s important for maintaining human connection. (Originally aired March 20, 2019).