Nothing is Foreign

Chile is on the cusp of replacing its Pinochet-era constitution with a radically progressive new alternative.

Three years after mass protests swept the nation, an elected group of citizens have rewritten their constitution. It could replace the one enacted when a military dictatorship gripped the country from 1973 to 1990.

The new document, which voters will have to decide on in September, brings Indigenous rights, environmental protections and public services to the forefront. But not everyone's on board with this bold new direction.

We take a look at how Chile got to this point, and the obstacles that stand in the way of making it a reality.

Featuring:

Pablo Abufom, activist, Solidaridad

Afrobeats is dominating summer playlists.

After a steady rise for the genre over the last few years, artists like Wizkid, Burna Boy and Tems are all over the Western music charts, winning big at the Grammys and BET Awards and headlining the biggest festivals. But, for the growing African diaspora that's been fueling its rise, the music goes a lot deeper than its commercial success.

We get into how Afrobeats is paving a way back home for members of the diaspora and how its dominance is built on self-acceptance and cultural pride.

Featuring:

Christian Adofo, writer and author of A Quick Ting on Afrobeats.

GuiltyBeatz, Ghanian DJ and Afrobeats producer.

The devastation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine is being felt far beyond the front lines of the war.

More than 20 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain exports are being blocked by Russia in the Black Sea — a vital trade route that supplies millions of people in North Africa and the Middle East; many nations in those regions now face extreme food shortages and potential famine.

We explain how Ukraine's role as "breadbasket of Europe" is being used as a chess piece in the war and what can be done to solve this growing crisis.

Featuring:

Dr. Hassan Khannenje, Director of the HORN Institute of Strategic Studies

Yevheniya Kravchuk, Ukrainian member of Parliament

Ideas with Nahlah Ayed is a deep-dive into contemporary thought and intellectual history. No topic is off-limits. Can you ever truly go home again? At a time when more people have been forcibly displaced from their homes than at any other time in history, IDEAS explores what it means to return years — or decades — later. This is the first episode in the new five-part series, The Idea of Home. More episodes of Ideas are available at smarturl.it/cbcideas

On June 21, a new labour law comes into effect in the U.S. requiring all importing businesses to prove that nothing in their supply chain is made with forced labour in the Chinese province of Xinjiang. That's where human rights organizations say more than a million Uyghurs have been detained, with estimates of hundreds of thousands forced to produce cotton, apparel and electronics for some of the world's biggest brands.

We speak with two Uyghur advocates who tell us stories of their family heartache, the struggle for the truth and whether this new law can end these crimes against humanity.

Featuring:

Rayhan Asat, human rights and business practices lawyer.

Jewher Ilham, Uyghur human rights activist, Project to Combat Forced Labor.

More than two years into the pandemic and North Korea finally admits it has a COVID problem — and it could be getting dire.

Since May, the secretive North Korean government says more than three million people have come down with a "fever" while hundreds of thousands are confirmed COVID cases. With no vaccines and only some able to access medical care, the outbreak could already be out of control.

First-hand information is hard to come by because access to the country is nearly impossible. We attempt to find out what's really happening inside the most isolated nation on earth, in the middle of a pandemic.

Featuring:

Jeongmin Kim, North Korea-South Korea correspondent at NK News.

Colombia's presidential election is heading to a pivotal runoff between two political outsiders: a former guerilla fighter turned senator who could become the country's first left-wing president, and a 77-year-old right-wing populist TikTok star.

It's a critical time for the country, six years after a historic peace deal that was supposed to end 50 years of civil war.

But instead of promised peace and a new future, Colombians have faced extreme income inequality, resurgent cocaine cartels and new militias taking up arms and causing bloodshed.

With stark choices and real consequences, where does Colombia go from here?

Featuring:

Angelika Rettberg, professor and researcher of armed conflict and peacebuilding at the University of the Andes, in Bogota.

Ukraine's Donbas region has traditionally been a stronghold of pro-Russian support, but after months of war in its backyard, that once-unassailable loyalty to Russia in the east could be starting to dissipate.

This week, we head back to the front lines of the Ukraine-Russia war and explore why some Ukrainians who once dreamed of a Russian-backed future are changing their minds.

Featuring:

Enrique Menendez, Ukrainian humanitarian aid worker.

Mansur Mirovalev, Al Jazeera journalist covering eastern Ukraine conflicts.

An Israeli court decision could allow the government to evict around 1,200 Palestinians from the Masafer Yatta area in the southern West Bank.

The May 4 High Court of Justice ruling rejected the prior appeals against eviction orders issued to residents of the area, which Israel declared a military firing zone in the 1980s.

Palestinians say they have a right to remain on the land and have lived there for generations, but Israel argues they are squatting and do not have the right to establish permanent residence in the firing zone.

The decision is being criticized by some legal experts in Israel, and the United Nations said in a statement that by upholding the eviction orders, the judicial system has given "carte blanche to the Israeli government to perpetuate the practice of systematic oppression against Palestinians."

We speak to Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard about how the land of Masafer Yatta became a legal and physical battleground and check in with Palestinian journalist Basel Adra about his experiences of reporting on the 20-year-long land dispute.

Featuring:

Basel Adra, Palestinian journalist

Michael Sfard, Israeli human rights lawyer

CLARIFICATION: This episode mentions reports from Israeli media stating that the Israeli military was “not planning to investigate the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh.” Those reports specifically pertained to a criminal investigation.

In the Philippines, Bonifacio Ilagan survived prison, political violence and the disappearance of his sister — all at the hands of the Ferdinand Marcos Sr. dictatorship.

Despite decades of activism, he never expected to see the family he fought to overthrow return to power in his country.

But that's what happened this week when Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. won a landslide presidential victory.

Ilagan reflects on how his country has forgotten one of its darkest eras, the concerted effort the Marcos family and its supporters have made to accelerate that amnesia and what it all means for the Philippines' future.

Featuring:

Bonifacio Ilagan, playwright, activist and Philippines martial law survivor.