In this episode, I'm joined by Khatere Gorji to discuss the ongoing women-led protests in Iran. We cover life for women under Iran's brutal theocracy, how the protests got started, where they might go, the potential fate of those the regime has arrested for participating, and a number of other topics. Views are our own.

Please share this episode with hashtags like #MahsaAmini, #WomenLifeFreedom, and #WomanLifeFreedom

In this episode, I summarize some of the early results of the 2022 midterm elections (and why I'm less depressed about them than I expected to be), and analyze some of the implications (again, mostly negative, but not as bad as anticipated) of those results. Views very much my own.

In this episode, a sick and tired Oliver recaps several global bad news stories for the future of Democracy, including Ukraine, Israel, Brazil, and the US in the context of the midterms. I also engage in some unsubtle eye-rolling at the state of the debate around inflation. Views very much my own.

2022 has been a rough year for women’s rights. In this second of a two-part episode in which I discuss this fact, I wrap up the US side of things, and look at a few other flashpoints around the world this year re women’s rights – Iran, Afghanistan, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Views very much my own.

For those who have listened looking for links I mentioned, here are:

- Masih Alinejad’s speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PzBXfavmGA

- “In Russian-occupied Izyum, she was raped and tortured,” The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/10/09/izyum-rape-torture-occupation-russia/

2022 has, in many ways, been a rough year for women's rights. In this episode, I begin that discussion, to be continued into a future part II, addressing the end of a nationally-protected right to abortion in the United States, the radicalism of the anti-abortion movement, and a bit of the background of how opposition to abortion became a galvanizing issue for the evangelical Christian extreme right and the Republican Party. Views very much my own.

As the Russians formally annex four regions in Ukraine, I'm joined by Katya Firsova, who, hailing from one of those four regions which has been occupied by the Russians for the last eight years, shares her experience of what it's like living in a territory that's been illegally occupied by a hostile foreign power.

Views are our own.

In a typically deranged speech complete with unsubtle nuclear saber-rattling, the Russian leader announced sham referendums in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories, and the mobilization of 300,000 additional Russian soldiers to escalate his vicious, illegal, and thoroughly unjustified invasion of Ukraine. I discuss this breaking news, some of its implications, and points from the glorious dear leader’s grand oration. Views very much my own.

In this episode, I discuss another batch of good news for fans of liberal democracy, starting with good economic news in the US and how that relates to slightly less dim prospects for the upcoming midterm elections, President Biden's broadside against fascism in America, and Ukraine's stunning victories in taking back parts of their northeastern territory. Views very much just my own and not representing any other organization.

In this episode, I reflect on the tragic significance of Mikhail Gorbachev's recent passing - his impaction the world (particularly those parts whose fate is in someway attached to that of Russia), and how that looks now. Views very much my own.

Sorry for the absence! In this episode I explain why I disappeared, and that I'm hoping to bring OK Talks back in some form. I also reflect on some positive recent developments in the news. The views expressed on OK Talks are very much just my own.