Ruth Ben-Ghiat joins the podcast to discuss her book Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present, which examines 100 years of authoritarian rule. She describes the characteristics of a strongman and the strange virility cult surrounding these leaders before turning to the central role of corruption in the autocrat’s playbook. (This episode was originally published in November 2021.)

“Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present”

Alexandra Wrage, president of TRACE, interviews luminaries in the field of financial crime, including bribery, fraud, money-laundering, insider trading and sanctions.   Each week, Alexandra and her guests will discuss who commits “white collar crime”, how it works and what is being done to stop it.

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Pedro Pizano and Jeffrey Smith, with the McCain Institute and Vanguard Africa respectively, discuss the reputation laundering that musicians, actors and athletes facilitate when they agree to perform for dictators and kleptocrats. They also describe how these same artists can use their platforms for good instead and show support for the citizens living under brutal regimes. Originally Posted: Sep. 15, 2020

Serenading Despots

Josh Kirschenbaum is a visiting fellow at the German Marshall Fund’s Alliance for Securing Democracy and formerly served as acting director of the Office of Special Measures at Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). He joins the podcast to discuss investment funds and the gaping loophole they create through which vast sums of money can move with no accountability. This episode was originally published on April 20, 2021.

Investment Funds: Massive Transparency Loopholes

Joel Bakan joins the podcast to discuss his books, and the films based on them. He outlines the fundamental conflict inherent in companies ostensibly committed to ESG principles while simultaneously driven by a legal requirement to maximize shareholder value. Originally posted on Jul. 14, 2021

The New Corporation: How Good Corporations are Bad for Democracy

This week’s podcast features an excellent presentation by Misti Mukherjee, founder and managing member of Extensio Law.  Misti addresses the shifting field of diversity, equity and inclusion—including recent changes to the law—and emphasizes the critical importance of this work alongside the need to approach it with intentionality and discipline.

DEI Progress and Setbacks: What Compliance Professionals Need to Know

This week’s podcast is a bit off the beaten track.  We speak with Sherub Tharchen in Paro in Bhutan about his country.  We cover some of the basics, including the country’s location between two neighbors with high levels of corruption, and then discuss how the current King of Bhutan tackled corruption in a way that, while probably not replicable in most countries, has nevertheless had great success for the Bhutanese.

“Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present”

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