The Cornell Policy Review Podcast

Join Norie Wright (MPA '24) as she sits down with Alejandro Ramos (MPA '25) to further discuss his Cornell Policy Review publication “Igniting Democracy: America’s Burning Need for Civic Education” and the obstacles facing citizen participation in American democracy today.

Join James Paterek (MPA '25) and Savannah Jolie Whitehead (MPA '25) as they talk with Basim Ali (MPA '25) and Yiming Zhong (MPA '24) about Dr. Kaushik Basu, Carl Marks Professor of International Studies at the Department of Economics at Cornell. Yiming and Basim spoke with Dr. Basu about his career path and how game theory can be used to better understand economics and corruption

Join James Paterek (MPA '25) and Savannah Jolie Whitehead (MPA '25) talk with Lauren Nunes (MPA '97), exploring her journey in the MPA program and her career shift from the public sector to a private role at Twitch.

This episode is also the official relaunch of the Cornell Policy Review podcast, with new episode formats and series coming to you from the Cornell MPA program

Jasmin Higo (MPA '23) interviews Daniel Arukwe Johansen (MPA '15) on his work with the United Nation World Food Programme (WFP) in the Yemen country office. Their conversation spans how to effectively contextualize data, the challenges and opportunities working in high-stake environments like war zones, and the remarkable resilience of both humanitarian workers and [especially] the residents of a region experiencing violent conflict. This episode additionally includes a short teaser for developments underway to improve our podcast offerings at the Cornell Policy Review.

Daniel Arukwe Johansen serves as the Head of Operational Information Management and Performance Reporting at the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Yemen Country Office. He has previously worked with WFP in emergency settings in Ethiopia, Bangladesh, and Syria, as well as at WFP headquarters in Rome, Italy. Daniel is a Cornell University class of 2015 Master of Public Administration (MPA) graduate (with a Government, Politics, and Policy Studies concentration), and a class of 2012 BA Development Studies graduate of the University of Oslo. Daniel is a Norwegian national, and calls Oslo, Norway home.

Jasmin Higo works as a Senior Health Financing Associate at the Nairobi-based organization Financing for Health. There, she works with governments and regional institutions to design, develop and implement financing solutions to address health sector investment gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa.

MPA Fellow and CPR Podcast Manager Mahwish Khan sits down with Dr. Ramaswami Balasubramaniam to discuss how to exercise leadership to render more effective democracies in the contemporary world. They dive into a hopeful conversation about the true definition of leadership, the relationship between government leaders and grassroots citizen power, and the challenges democratic leaders face in a world of pandemics, polarization, and economic inequality.

Music by Oleksandr Stepanov from Pixabay

MPA Fellow Rebecca McPettit sits down with Dr. Patton McDowell, a strategist and leader in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors to discuss what it takes to lead a thriving public-serving organization in 2023. They discuss sector trends, best practices in contemporary non-profit leadership and finance, and chart a path for personal career development applicable to anyone seeking career success in any industry.

To hear more from Dr. McDowell, you can follow his podcast Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/your-path-to-nonprofit-leadership/id1487854841

Music by Oleksandr Stepanov from Pixabay

The Cornell Policy Review invites Ranveer Chandra to discuss the role of technology in addressing future food challenges.

Ranveer Chandra is the Managing Director for Research for Industry and the CTO of Agri-Food at Microsoft. Chandra also leads the Networking Research Group at Microsoft Research, Redmond. He has published more than 100 papers and holds over 150 patents granted by the USPTO. Chandra was also recently recognized by Newsweek magazine as one of America’s 50 most Disruptive Innovators.

The Cornell Policy Review invites Professor Prabhu Pingali to discuss Food Systems, challenges being faced and ways forward.

Prabhu Pingali is a professor at the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University, with a joint appointment in the Division of Nutritional Sciences and Department of Global Development. Professor Pingali is also the founding director of the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI).

He is interviewed by Shivanshu Sharma, a second-year Master of Public Administration candidate at the Cornell University Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy with a concentration in International Development.

The Cornell Policy Review invites Professor Rick Geddes to discuss the 1.2 trillion dollar Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was recently passed by Congress on November 06, 2021.

Richard Geddes is a professor at the Cornell University Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy and the Founding Director of the Cornell Program in Infrastructure Policy. Professor Geddes researches the funding, financing, permitting, operation, and maintenance of heavy civil and social infrastructure, with a focus on the adoption of new technologies.

He is interviewed by Waqar Akhtar, a second-year Master of Public Administration candidate at the Cornell University Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy with a concentration in Science, Technology, and Infrastructure Policy.

The Cornell Policy Review invites Parmesh Shah to discuss the role of technological disruptions in agriculture and food systems and how the World Bank supports this agenda.

Parmesh Shah is the Global Lead for Data-driven Digital Agriculture in the Agriculture and Food Global Practise at The World Bank. In this role, he provides leadership to the Bank’s work and supports the development of global knowledge and learning in digital agriculture to offer solutions to clients and other development partners.

Parmesh Shah is interviewed by Shivanshu Sharma, a second-year Master of Public Administration candidate at Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy with a concentration in International Development.