Global Tides

Episode with Maria, an international student at Pepperdine University.

Episode 2 with Dr. David Dowling.

Episode 1 with Dr. Allen Pietrobon.

Welcome to Season 6 of the Global Tides podcast! Our two hosts this season are Basia Olewska and Nikolus Gashi, two seniors at Pepperdine University. In this season, they will interview individuals on several international issues while tying them into the overall theme of "Advice for Young Adults".

How is it possible for one state to practice both authoritarian politics, and democratic/pluralist politics at the same time? In our final episode of the season, we talk to Dr. Rizkallah about this question. She discusses her recent research about Lebanon, and how the end of their civil war affected various groups in the country differently, producing these results. 

Climate change is a hot topic in the 21st century, and the international community is increasing its efforts to find collective solutions. Three talented Pepperdine students had the opportunity to attend the recent COP28 conference which discusses this very issue. We sit down with one of these students, Londyn Johnson, to discuss her experiences at COP along with the most valuable lessons she learned moving forward. 

Most of the Pepperdine community has experience studying abroad, but not many of us actually move abroad for our whole college experience. In today’s episode, we sit down with William, Sophie, and Fabian, some of Pepperdine’s very own international students from China, Germany, and Bolivia. They discuss their cultures, their motivations for coming to the U.S. to study, and their experience at Pepperdine!

Pepperdine is well-known for our abroad programs, and especially how transformative they can be in our students’ lives. This has really been true for RJ Wicks, who has participated in 4 international programs during his time at Pepperdine! We sat down to talk about what made each program special, the different cultures within the various countries, and some of his advice to future travelers. 

We hear so often about countries joining international organizations, but we never really hear about the flip side of this: what happens when countries leave these organizations? In this episode, we hear from Dr. Vabulas about her new research titled, Exit from International Organizations. She discusses why countries are suspended, or why they withdraw from important institutions, and the implications of these exits. 

This season of Global Tides is hosted by Sydney Nystrom and Lindsay Hall, two students in the International Studies division at Pepperdine. This season will highlight the new research of several professors, and a variety of student experiences from COP28 to their journeys abroad. We can't wait to bring you Global Tides, Unfiltered. Enjoy!