New Thinking for a New World - a Tallberg Foundation Podcast

By Tällberg FoundationSociety & Culture News Science Politics Earth Sciences

New Thinking for a New World - a Tallberg Foundation Podcast episodes

October 08 Best New Thinking: Unboxing the Music Business
How violinist, composer, and entrepreneur Ye Jin Min is making artistic ambition financially sustainable.
How can musicians create adventurous work—and earn enough to keep creating? Ye Jin Min discusses the relationship between artistic sustainability, audience experience, and the business of music.
Topics include:
- How classical training informs experimental and interdisciplinary performance.
- Immersive concerts using soundscapes, visual projections, and audience participation.
- Why Ye Jin sees children’s music as an opportunity to develop future audiences.
- Mini Music Box’s proposed model: online content for families and repertoire packages for institutions offering children’s music programs.
- A package commissioning approach for early-career composers, combining a 12-week workshop, professional recordings, an upfront honorarium, and planned ongoing royalties.
- Moving beyond one-off commissions and a culture of unpaid creative work.
Ye Jin’s long-term goal is a loyal audience and enough recurring revenue to pay artists fairly and keep new work in production without depending heavily on grants. These projects and revenue models are still being developed.
33 min
September 17 The Leadership Journey
Three visionary leaders — from journalism to theater to ocean science — get candid about doubt, setbacks, and what leadership actually costs..
In late June, the Tällberg Foundation joined with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) in Athens to celebrate the winners of the 2025 Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize as part of SNF's 30th anniversary celebration. This special edition of New Thinking for a New World picks up where that celebration left off.
Tällberg Foundation board members Helena Nilsson Friberg and Tom Cummings sat down with the three 2025 laureates—Rhett Ayers Butler, founder and CEO of Mongabay; Bryan Doerries, artistic director of Theater of War Productions; and David Gruber, oceanographer and founder of Project CETI—for a conversation about what leadership demands of them.
Rhett, Bryan, and David talked candidly about the choices that have shaped their leadership journeys as well as the challenges of the future.
19 min
September 03 Leading into a Better Future
Three 2025 Prize laureates on courage, ethics, and building a better world
In late June, the Tällberg Foundation joined the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) in Athens to celebrate the winners of the 2025 Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize as part of SNF’s week-long, 30th anniversary celebration.

On this episode of New Thinking for a New World, Vishakha Desai, vice chair of the Tällberg Foundation Board of Directors, introduces the three 2025 laureates—Rhett Ayers Butler, founder and CEO of Mongabay; Bryan Doerries, artistic director of Theater of War Productions; and David Gruber, oceanographer, founder and president of Project CETI. Listen as they reflect on how they built their leadership, what they have accomplished, and—most importantly—what they hope to do into the future.

Their work spans environmental journalism, theater and public dialogue, and interspecies communications. What they have in common is a determination to challenge conventional thinking, deep ethical commitment, and a belief that the world can be made a better place if people of good will work together to do so.

These three leaders join the extraordinary cadre who have been honored with the Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize since its inception a decade ago. And the beat goes on: this year’s process, during which 2,058 leaders from 144 countries were nominated. The 2026 Prize Jury will meet soon to select leaders whose courage, creativity, persistence, ethics, and commitment to a global worldview exemplify the kind of leadership the world urgently needs.

22 min
June 04Ye Jin Min: The Music (Part 2)
Three pieces by composer and violinist Ye Jin Min — Vinyl Road, Honey, and Four Moons with Koriobots.
In our recent conversation, Ye Jin Min spoke about the economics of making a life in music — the structural challenges, the drive to create, and her new venture Unboxed Musicians. But talk about music only goes so far.
In this short companion episode, we let the music speak for itself. Three pieces, imagined, composed, and played by Ye Jin Min with help from some of her friends:
Vinyl Road
Honey
Four Moons with Koriobots
No further commentary needed. Just listen.
🎧 If you haven’t heard Part 1 yet — Unboxing the Music Business — we recommend starting there. https://tallbergfoundation.org/podcasts/unboxing-the-music-business/
New Thinking for a New World is a podcast from the Tällberg Foundation. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
12 min
June 04Unboxing the Music Business
Violinist, composer, and entrepreneur Ye Jin Min on building a new economic model for musicians.
What does it take to make a life in music — not just artistically, but economically? Ye Jin Min has thought about this question from every angle. A violinist, composer, singer, and conductor with deep roots in both classical Western repertoire and experimental forms that defy easy categorization, she has built an extraordinary artistic life. But she’s also a pragmatist who understands that creativity without sustainability is fragile.
In this episode of New Thinking for a New World, Ye Jin introduces us to Unboxed Musicians — her venture to create new economic structures for musicians and composers worldwide. Still in its early stages, the model has the potential to reshape how music is made, funded, and shared globally.
We discuss:
The economics of classical and experimental music — and why they’re so daunting
What it means to be both an artist and an entrepreneur
How Unboxed Musicians works and why it’s needed
The relationship between creative freedom and financial sustainability
What a healthier music ecosystem could look like globally
🎵 Also: Ye Jin Min — The Music (Part 2)
The best way to understand and appreciate music is to listen to it. In a companion episode, hear three pieces imagined, composed, and played by Ye Jin Min with help from some of her friends: Vinyl Road, Honey, and Four Moons with Koriobots.
Listen to Part 2: https://tallbergfoundation.org/podcasts/unboxing-the-music-business/
33 min
March 05 Democracy Succeeds (At Least in Bangladesh)
Student leaders on revolution, elections, and democracy’s revival in Bangladesh.
It is not news that democracy is in trouble almost everywhere. Poll after poll shows that people in most countries—especially in the West and throughout the Americas—are disappointed with democracy as it exists today. This is particularly true among young people, many of whom seem to prefer a strong leader to the apparent impotence of their democratic leaders.

Of course, there are exceptions, and we should celebrate them. Top of that list is Bangladesh, with a history of autocratic leaders, some of whom used elections to hang on to power for years. However, during the summer of 2024, a student-led revolution succeeded in expelling the government of Sheikh Hasina, who had ruled for 15 years.

Fast-forward to February 2026, and Bangladesh has just conducted an election that, by all accounts, was mostly free, fair, and peaceful. The result was that the interim government, led by Nobel Prize-winning Muhammad Yunus, has now been replaced by a democratically elected government. From start to finish, the entire transformation took less than 20 months.

Score one for democracy!

Our guests on New Thinking for a New World were in the front ranks of that revolution. Aysha Siddiqua Tithi and Umama Fatema were both leaders of Students Against Discrimination, the organization that drove the revolution. Listen as they discuss their experiences and hopes for their country's future.

Know a leader who's shaping our global future with courage, innovation, and ethics?
Nominate them for Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize by March 31, 2026: https://tallberg-snf-eliasson-prize.org/nominate/
37 min
February 26 This Is What Leadership Looks Like
Three extraordinary leaders explore what global leadership requires in a fractured, uncertain world.
What does leadership look like in practice? This episode brings together the 2025 Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize laureates for a wide-ranging conversation moderated by Helena Nilsson.
The laureates represent three distinct yet interconnected paths to impact:
Rhett Ayers Butler, founder and CEO of Mongabay, redefining environmental journalism through a global network of independent reporting.
Bryan Doerries, artistic director of Theater of War Productions, using ancient texts to create brave spaces for dialogue and healing.
David Gruber, founder and president of Project CETI, pioneering efforts to decode whale communication and reimagine humanity's relationship with non-human life.
Guided by Helena Nilsson's thoughtful moderation, the discussion explores leadership beyond politics---leadership rooted in innovation, empathy, accountability, and universal values. Audience questions deepen the exchange, revealing both the distinctiveness of each laureate's work and the shared principles that unite them.
You can watch the full conversation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/hInSO2ZCC-4
25 min
February 19 Middle Eastern Challenges
Rob Geist Pinfold on the growing Saudi–UAE rivalry reshaping Middle Eastern politics.
No, not Iranians and Israelis on the brink of war. And, no, not the seemingly endless search for a Palestinian state. Rather, to the implications of the newest rivalry that is defining Middle Eastern politics: Saudi Arabia vs. United Arab Emirates.
These two countries are rapidly passing through the geopolitical equivalent of the five stages of grief: from allies to collaborators to competitors to adversaries and---possibly---to enemies.
Why? What's at stake? Is it personal or just business? What are the potential consequences?
It is probably too soon for answers, but not for informed speculation. Professor Rob Geist Pinfold is a close observer of the Arab Gulf and the Levant. Listen as he explores how the Saudis and the Emiratis---and their leaders, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed---are maneuvering for power in a region that is critical to all of us.
Know a leader who is courageous, innovative, and rooted in universal values?
Nominations are open for the 2026 Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize, recognizing individuals whose leadership is global in outlook and rooted in universal values.
Three winners receive unrestricted $50,000 awards, global recognition, and entry into the Tällberg leadership network.
Help us find them. Submit a nomination by March 31.
37 min
January 29 GOOOAL!!!
Gabriela Cuevas takes us inside the enormous challenge of preparing Mexico for one of the biggest World Cups in history.
This year is going to be memorable for all sorts of reasons, most of which already look to be depressing. The biggest offset to that is likely to be a global event that will distract much of the world from dismal headlines about war, climate, and tariffs. On June 11th, the FIFA World Cup kicks off, co-hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

The first match will be played in Mexico City's Azteca Stadium between co-host Mexico and South Africa. The final will be played on July 19th, at MetLife Stadium outside New York City. If the past is prelude, many billions of people will watch the 104 matches that comprise this year's tournament.

Have you ever wondered how such an extravaganza is organized and executed? Today on New Thinking for a New World, we depart from our usual fare to consider the answer. Gabriela Cuevas, an experienced Mexican political leader and friend to the Tällberg Foundation, has the near-impossible task of preparing and producing Mexico's World Cup experience. But if anyone can do it, Gaby can.

Listen as she shares some of the challenges and opportunities presented by this year’s edition of the World Cup. Then tell us who you think will play in that championship game on July 19th.

31 min
December 18, 2025 Thinking Differently About the Rainforests
Listen as Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Dr. Fernando Trujillo and Sam Muller explore how to define and execute new approaches to saving the rainforests
For decades, environmentalists and climate scientists have warned about the catastrophic consequences of the shrinking and erosion of the Amazon and Congo rainforests. Politicians have echoed and amplified the warnings, but have done little of consequence to slow the actual pace at which the rainforests are moving towards tipping points.
The recent UN climate summit in Belem was supposed to change all that. However, it would take an unusually large dose of magical thinking to believe what happened at COP 30 will have much more impact than what happened at its twenty-nine predecessors, at least concerning the Amazon and Congo River Basins.
Maybe what's needed is new thinking. Protecting the Amazon and the Congo isn't just an environmental challenge but also a governance challenge, a justice challenge, and an economic development challenge. And stopping---or even slowing---the tipping probably requires bottom-up local action, not just top-down global declarations of intent.
To discuss potential new approaches, we gathered three people who have skin in the game: Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Ugandan wildlife veterinarian and founder of Conservation Through Public Health; Dr. Fernando Trujillo, Colombian marine biologist and world-leading expert on river dolphins; and Sam Muller, Dutch lawyer with extensive experience in global justice and environmental practices.
Listen as they explore how to define and execute new approaches to saving the rainforests.
Here's the link to the webinar on YouTube: https://youtu.be/RxbWsGUosyM
1 hr 6 min

About New Thinking for a New World - a Tallberg Foundation Podcast

From the publisher's feed

Aiming to provoke people to think — and therefore act — differently about the global issues that are shaping their future, the Tällberg Foundation is sharing some of its conversations in podcast form.…