The CGD Podcast

Ahead of COP31, CGD's Ian Mitchell speaks with colleague Jonathan Beynon and the World Resources Institute's Melanie Robinson about climate policy. Together they explore what the data say about countries' responsibility for emissions and climate change, discuss the financial implications, and share their wishlists for policy change at COP31 and beyond.

CGD's Rachel Glennerster speaks with Wellcome's Charlotte Watts and Refugees International's Jeremy Konyndyk about how scientific progress since 2014 has strengthened our ability to respond to Ebola, how funding cuts are affecting that progress, and the implications for both today's response and our preparedness for future outbreaks.

CGD's Clemence Landers presents highlights from our recent event on what to watch at the Annual Meetings next week. She was joined at the event by CGD's Rachel Glennerster, Markus Goldstein, and Mikaela Gavas, as well as Devex's Adva Saldinger. Together they examined how the World Bank and the IMF can best support the poorest countries at a time of repeated crises.

CGD's David Evans and Rachel Glennerster speak with Kwame Akyeampong, professor at the Open University, about his book Reconceptualising the Learning Crisis in Africa. Together they discuss where the book and the evidence consensus agree and diverge: the framing of the learning crisis, measuring student outcomes, the language of instruction, the potential of accelerated learning programs, the role of teachers, and more.

CGD's Rachel Glennerster speaks with Princeton's Seema Jayachandran about how gender inequality can manifest differently in different regions, why GDP and labor access don't necessarily align, and what the research shows about how to increase women's access to jobs.

CGD's Sam Attridge and Nancy Lee speak with British International Investment CEO Leslie Maasdorp about balancing national interests with development mandates, setting reachable targets, and strategies for mobilization and prioritization.

CGD Board Chair Mohamed A. El-Erian speaks with renowned journalist Judy Woodruff about the Middle East War's impacts on low- and middle-income countries, including how governments can best respond to shocks, implications for the global economy, and what to watch for in the months ahead.

CGD's David Evans speaks with Dipak Naker of the Coalition for Good Schools and CGD's Gabriela Smarrelli on what the data shows about school violence (and what data is missing), how to conduct such research accurately and safely, and effective strategies for changing attitudes and practices around the world.

CGD's Clemence Landers, Liliana Rojas-Suarez, and Catherine Pattillo look at how the Iran war compares to recent shocks like COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, how governments are responding—from fuel subsidies to rationing and currency interventions—and where the pressure is most acute, including in import-dependent economies in Southeast Asia and across Sub-Saharan Africa.

CGD's Rachel Glennerster speaks with colleague Kehinde Ajayi and Imran Matin of BRAC University's Institute for Governance and Development about why child marriage persists and what evidence tells us about how to reduce it. They discuss how the drivers vary across contexts, and what policies have been shown to work, including education investments, empowerment programs for adolescent girls, and cash transfers designed to delay marriage.