Since its launch three years ago, The Continent has become the most widely distributed newspaper in Africa. Issued via WhatsApp, The Continent tells stories “by Africans, for Africans,” and reveals just how different African news looks when the people living it are the ones writing the stories. Editor-in-Chief Simon Allison joins us on Deep Dish to talk about shaping this new outlet, and Brian discusses what he learned during his month-long trip to Africa, including what US news consumers often don’t hear.

President Biden hosted South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at his second-ever state dinner as part of the US strategy to get the strained South Korea-Japan relationship back on track. On Deep Dish, US Institute of Peace’s Frank Aum and the Wilson Center’s Shihoko Goto explore the reasons for the recurring ruptures over history, why the US cares, and the implications for geopolitics in Asia.

On Deep Dish, we explore whether the Biden administration has followed through on its promises to prioritize human rights in US foreign policy and whether recent events like the release of the annual human rights report and the Democracies Summit provide any hints about how effective they have been. Join experts Steven Feldstein and Sarah Yager as they evaluate the administration’s progress and unpack ways the United States can do better abroad. 

Reading List: 

2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, March 20, 2023 

Jimmy Carter was right about human rights, Elizabeth Shackelford, Chicago Tribune, March 9, 2023 

The ICC has dubbed Vladimir Putin personally responsible for the abductions of children from Ukraine. While the world focuses on Putin’s prospects, Deep Dish dives into the underlying issue: accountability, justice, and protection of the most vulnerable victims of war. Experts Nathaniel Raymond and Kathryn Sikkink unpack the tragic reality of child abductions during times of conflict, how the indictments might affect these Ukrainian children, and whether this could truly deter child abductions in future war crimes. 

Reading List:

• Russia's Systematic Program for the Re-Education and Adoption of Ukrainian Children, Humanitarian Research Lab, Yale School of Public Health, February 14, 2023

• Evidence for Hope: Making Human Rights Work in the 21st Century, Kathryn Sikkink, Princeton University Press, March 5, 2019

• The Justice Cascade: How Human Rights Prosecutions are Changing World Politics, Kathryn Sikkink, W. W. Norton & Company, September 26, 2011

Deep Dish is back after a brief break with a new theme song and some exciting news: occasional host Lizzy Shackelford is joining as an official co-host. To celebrate, Brian and Lizzy talk to each other and give you a chance to get to know them more personally. From what led them to a career grappling with global affairs to their hobbies and interests, we're exploring it all. Tune in to meet the hosts who bring you Deep Dish each week and get ready for a few surprises along the way!

Related Deep Dish Episodes:

• Kenya Has New President, But Election Might Not Be Over Yet, August 18, 2022

• What You Do to Your Women, You Do to Your Nation., March 30, 2023

• Debunking Putin's False History of Ukraine, February 24, 2022

• Microchips and the US-China Battle for the Future, October 27, 2022

Around the world, authoritarianism is rising, and women’s rights are declining—and it’s not a coincidence that’s happening at the same time. On Deep Dish, we revisit a conversation with Valerie Hudson and Zoe Marks to explain how sexism undermines national security, why autocrats are afraid of women, and why progress on gender equality is essential for stability, democracy, and prosperity. [This episode originally aired on March 10, 2022] 

Reading List: 

• What You Do to Your Women, You Do to Your Nation, Valerie Hudson, New York Times 

• Revenge of the Patriarchs: Why Autocrats Fear Women, Zoe Marks and Erica Chenoweth, Foreign Affairs

Today, TikTok CEO Shou Chew testified before Congress in light of the Biden administration’s threat to ban the social media app over concerns that it poses a threat to national security. On Deep Dish, we’re revisiting our conversation with author Aynne Kokas who explains why China has been so effective at collecting and “trafficking” the data of citizens, and how this data could give them a geopolitical advantage. Plus, we hear from data privacy attorneys on the state of regulation protecting user data. 

[This episode originally aired: December 15, 2022] 

Related Content: 

Trafficking Data: How China Is Winning the Battle for Digital Sovereignty, Aynne Kokas, Oxford University Press, November 1, 2022

Opinion: Why the U.S. will probably never ban TikTok, Aynne Kokas, Los Angeles Times, March 22, 2023 

TikTok CEO Testifies at House Commerce Committee, C-SPAN3, March 23, 2023 

On Deep Dish, we’re revisiting our conversation about the world of espionage and the secrets of intelligence gathering with Amy Zegart, author of Spies, Lies, and Algorithms. As new technology continues to disrupt all aspects of our lives, Zegart explains how these innovations are changing espionage and why spy myths perpetuated by Hollywood often get in the way of understanding threats.

[This episode originally aired: March 24, 2022]

Related Content:  

• Spies, Lies, and Algorithms: The History and Future of American Intelligence, Amy Zegart, Princeton University Press, February 1, 2022 

• Senate Intelligence Hearing on Worldwide Threats, PBS NewsHour, March 8, 2023 

• National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, Final Report, March 19, 2021

Since Mahsa Amini’s death in Iranian custody last September, protesters—many women and Gen Z activists—have demanded greater freedom, including an end to the mandatory hijab. Narges Bajoghli of Johns Hopkins University and women of the Iranian diaspora join Deep Dish to explore Iran’s ongoing protests, their significance for the global women's movement, and the push for gender equality.

Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s recent moves to undermine the country’s National Electoral Institute have sparked massive pro-democracy protests and stoked fears that the country is backsliding into authoritarianism. On Deep Dish, Denise Dresser, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, and Guillermo Trejo, Notre Dame and Kellogg Institue, discuss Mexico’s future and why everyone should care that the country’s elites are weakening and dismantling democratic systems. 

Reading List:

• Mexico’s Dying Democracy, Denise Dresser, Foreign Affairs, October 21, 2022 

• Mexico’s Illiberal Democratic Trap, Guillermo Trejo, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, February 17, 2021