Take Or Give

It’s time to tackle our first myth about aid and development: countries that receive aid money are entirely responsible for their own problems. Which means that when so-called “rich” donor countries give money to so-called “poor” countries, this support is generous and charitable because those countries are responsible for the challenges they are facing – whether that be poverty, inequality, climate breakdown, and more. Our first guest, Marcus Ryder, is the co-author of The Big Payback: The Case for Reparations for Slavery and How They Would Work with Lenny Henry. He helps us debunk this myth by tracing the connection between the enslavement and resistance of Africans in the 15th and 16th centuries, and the need for reparations - not aid - today. 

This podcast is brought to you by Lorriann Robinson, founder and director of The Advocacy Team, and Alex Martins, founder of VersaVoice Creations. 

Get in touch via Instagram @TakeOrGivePod or by email at [email protected].

Sources mentioned: 

• The Big Payback: The Case for Reparations for Slavery and How They Would Work | Faber

In this episode, we give you some of the tools you’ll need to understand exactly how aid and development actually work - from a brief overview of their origins in the 1940s to a detailed explanation of who gives the money and how they spend it. We also confront two conflicting perceptions of foreign aid. First, that all aid is simply a waste of money because it goes to corrupt governments. And second, that countries giving aid do so selflessly to help those “less fortunate”. But what if we told you that neither of these realities is all that accurate? Listen to Episode 2 to find out why.  

This podcast is brought to you by Lorriann Robinson, founder and director of The Advocacy Team, and Alex Martins, founder of VersaVoice Creations. 

Get in touch via Instagram @TakeOrGivePod  or by email at [email protected].

Sources mentioned: 

• Inaugural Address | Harry S. Truman 
• Foreign Affairs Timeline

Foreign aid and international development have been in the news more than ever before - and not for good reasons. In this first episode of Series 1, we talk you through the headlines you may have seen about drastic aid cuts, and then go behind these headlines to ask: what will be different now that aid budgets have been slashed, what has been the reaction to these cuts, and what this all means for the future of aid spending. 

This podcast is brought to you by Lorriann Robinson, founder and director of The Advocacy Team, and Alex Martins, founder of VersaVoice Creations. 

Get in touch via Instagram @TakeOrGivePod or by email at [email protected].

Sources mentioned: 

• US cutting foreign aid budgets by more than 90%, Trump administration says. 

• Theresa May accuses Government of turning back on poor with aid cut 

• World Inequality Report 2026 

• Two years of global demonstrations in support of Palestine | ACLED 

• Introducing Carnegie’s Revamped Climate Protest Tracker

Take or Give is a new podcast pulling back the curtain on international development and the global equality agenda — and asking why both are under growing attack.

From foreign aid to reparations, we explore how global inequality is shaped by power, politics, and history — and explain why these issues can’t be tackled in isolation. Across six episodes, Series 1 of the podcast challenges common myths, shares overlooked facts, and asks a simple but vital question: how can we all create a fairer world? 

Because international cooperation matters — but we need a radically new approach.

This podcast is brought to you by Lorriann Robinson, founder and director of The Advocacy Team, and Alex Martins, founder of VersaVoice Creations.

Recorded at London Media Lounge.

Get in touch by email ([email protected]) or on Instagram @TakeOrGivePod with your feedback and ideas!

Take or Give is a new podcast pulling back the curtain on international development and the global equality agenda — and asking why both are under growing attack.

From foreign aid to reparations, we explore how global inequality is shaped by power, politics, and history — and explain why these issues can’t be tackled in isolation. Across six episodes, Series 1 of the podcast challenges common myths, shares overlooked facts, and asks a simple but vital question: how can we all create a fairer world? 

Because international cooperation matters — but we need a radically new approach.

This podcast is brought to you by Lorriann Robinson, founder and director of ⁠The Advocacy Team⁠, and Alex Martins, founder of ⁠VersaVoice Creations⁠.

Recorded at ⁠London Media Lounge⁠.

Get in touch by email ([email protected]) or on Instagram ⁠@TakeOrGivePod ⁠with your feedback and ideas!