PUSHBACK Talks

The Pushback Talks Summer Series is back!

This summer, Fredrik & Leilani are serving up what we call Word Food – bite-sized conversations that pack a punch. Here's how it works: each week, we randomly select two words and dive into a 10-15 minute exploration of how these seemingly simple words intersect with our complex socio-political moment.

Think of it as intellectual snacking with substance – light enough for your summer playlist, deep enough to make you think twice about the world around us. 

New episodes out every Wednesday, so make this your midweek ritual for curious minds.

This week: Frankenstein & Wine

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The Pushback Talks Summer Series is back!

This summer, Fredrik & Leilani are serving up what we call Word Food – bite-sized conversations that pack a punch. Here's how it works: each week, we randomly select two words and dive into a 10-15 minute exploration of how these seemingly simple words intersect with our complex socio-political moment.

Think of it as intellectual snacking with substance – light enough for your summer playlist, deep enough to make you think twice about the world around us. 

New episodes out every Wednesday, so make this your midweek ritual for curious minds.

This week: ROI (Return on Investment) & Saviour

Support the show

The Pushback Talks Summer Series is back!

This summer, Fredrik & Leilani are serving up what we call Word Food – bite-sized conversations that pack a punch. Here's how it works: each week, we randomly select two words and dive into a 10-15 minute exploration of how these seemingly simple words intersect with our complex socio-political moment.

Think of it as intellectual snacking with substance – light enough for your summer playlist, deep enough to make you think twice about the world around us. 

New episodes out every Wednesday, so make this your midweek ritual for curious minds.

This week: Human & Walk the Dog

Support the show

The Pushback Talks Summer Series is back!

This summer, Fredrik & Leilani are serving up what we call Word Food – bite-sized conversations that pack a punch. Here's how it works: each week, we randomly select two words and dive into a 10-15 minute exploration of how these seemingly simple words intersect with our complex socio-political moment.

Think of it as intellectual snacking with substance – light enough for your summer playlist, deep enough to make you think twice about the world around us. 

New episodes out every Wednesday, so make this your midweek ritual for curious minds.

This week: Hope & Bananas

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Fredrik and Leilani dive into Georgia's unprecedented protest movement with Gota Chanturia, education policy specialist and member of the Movement for Social Democracy. For more than 180 days, Georgians have been on the streets opposing their government's dramatic shift away from European integration and toward Russian influence.

Gota explains how the parliamentary elections of October 2024 were manipulated and how the introduction of the so-called "Russian law" targeting civil society organizations sparked nationwide outrage. The conversation explores the deep connections between democratic backsliding and social inequality in a country where 700,000 people live in extreme poverty while oligarchic interests dominate politics.

This episode offers rare insight into a crucial resistance movement happening at the intersection of Europe and Russia, where citizens are fighting not just for democracy but for a vision of society that addresses profound social and economic challenges. Gota shares how international solidarity matters and what lessons Georgia's struggle holds for democratic movements worldwide facing similar authoritarian threats.

Also check out this episode mentioned during the talk:

Mass Protests and the Missing Revolution - a conversation with author Vincent Bevins

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This week, we explore how Mexico City is challenging the global housing crisis through innovative female leadership. While 26,000 Airbnb listings have transformed the city's housing landscape, primarily benefiting large investors rather than residents, women at the helm of Mexico's government are implementing bold solutions. Their vision includes building one million new homes and constitutional reforms to expand affordable rental options for working-class and young people.

Our guest, Maria Silvia Emmanuelli, Coordinator for Habitat International Coalition Latin America and advisor to the housing ministry, discusses Mexico City's groundbreaking regulation of short-term rentals and plans for 100 "utopias" – public spaces centered on care and social harmony.

Fredrik, Leilani, and Maria Silvia examine how this rare alignment between city and federal government is enabling creative approaches that could inspire new solutions to housing challenges worldwide.

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In this week's episode, Fredrik and Leilani take center stage without guests to candidly explore how we might find connection and hope in challenging times. They reflect on the state of democracy, human rights, and social movements, sharing their personal struggles with making sense of current events and finding ways to make meaningful change in complicated times. 

Books mentioned in this episode:

• "The World After Gaza" by Pankaj Mishra
• "One Day Everyone Will Always Have Been Against This" by Omar El Akkad

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Connect with us on social media: @pushbacktalks.bsky.social

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What happens when international law exists on paper but not in practice? This week, Fredrik Gertten and Leilani Farha speak with Allegra Pacheco, an American human rights lawyer who has dedicated her career to protecting vulnerable Palestinian communities in the West Bank. As Chief of Party of the Norwegian Refugee Council-led West Bank Protection Consortium, Allegra sees the realities of Area C in the West Bank, where over 600,000 Israeli settlers live in communities deemed illegal under international law while Palestinians face severe restrictions on movement, construction, and daily life.

Together with Fredrik and Leilani, Allegra discusses what it will take to protect the occupied Palestinian territory. How might private security forces protect Palestinian communities? What leverage does the European Union actually possess? And why has the international community failed to enforce its own legal rulings? As the opportunity to protect a future for Palestine seems to dwindle, Allegra's perspective challenges us to think critically about what it will take to end one of the world's most protracted conflicts, and what it means to have hope in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

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This week, we dive deep into the fracturing landscape of global politics with Peter S. Goodman, New York Times Global Economic Correspondent and author.

What happens when the rules of global cooperation suddenly seem disposable? When nationalist ambitions threaten to unravel decades of multilateral understanding?

Peter Goodman returns to unpack the complex dynamics of trade wars, economic manipulation, and the persistent hope for collective resistance. From the erosion of international institutions to the rise of unilateral power plays, his conversation with Fredrik & Leilani explores how global power dynamics are being dramatically rewritten.

About Peter S. Goodman

Peter S. Goodman is the global economic correspondent for The New York Times and author of How the World Ran Out of Everything: Inside the Global Supply Chain Crisis. His work provides critical insights into the intersection of economics, politics, and human resilience.

Purchase Peter's Book / Follow Peter

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Fredrik and Leilani sit down with Sam Freeman (Head of Research and Advocacy at The Shift) and Dominika Leitane (Legal Officer at Opportunity Green) who reveal how they took the UK government to the United Nations—and won!

Get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the UN review process as Sam and Dominika break down exactly how they navigated this powerful accountability tool to tackle the twin crises of housing injustice and climate emergency. They share their journey from initial submission to celebration when the UN Committee adopted their recommendations.

This eye-opening conversation pulls back the curtain on international law in action, showing how everyday people armed with determination and strategy can use these tools to hold governments accountable. Sam and Dominika offer practical insights into how these seemingly complex international mechanisms can become game-changing tools for creating a more just and sustainable world.

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