The Final Service

In the US, polls show that more and more Americans say they want and need public goods like education, infrastructure, and healthcare. So why do we struggle to implement them?

Policy expert Heather McGhee says this tension is a centuries-old, racialized system of zero-sum economics and politics, which dictates that progress for some must come at the expense of others. McGhee joins Ray to discuss her new book and podcast, The Sum of Us, and the burgeoning cross-racial alliances pushing for real change.

Guest:  

Heather McGhee, economic policy expert and author of The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together

Host:

Ray Suarez

If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

Warrior cultures throughout history have developed unique codes. These codes have shifted over the centuries, so what does “the code of the warrior” mean in the 21st century, and what are the ethics on the modern battlefield

Shannon French, Inamori Professor in Ethics at Case Western Reserve University, joins Ray Suarez to chart the ever-evolving field of military ethics and its central role in keeping both civilians and soldiers safe.

Guest:

Shannon French, Inamori Professor of Ethics at Case Western University

Host:  

Ray Suarez

If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

The so-called “War on Terror” has defined US foreign policy for the past twenty years. The dense web of overseas conflicts and the growing use of remote weaponry, like drones, has left many average Americans feeling disengaged from the human toll of war. 

Journalist Azmat Khan says our ignorance  isn’t an accident. She was recently awarded a Pulitzer Prize for her work uncovering the US military’s systematic failure to investigate civilian casualties in the ongoing US fight against ISIS. Khan sits down with Ray Suarez to discuss what accountability looks like in the age of remote warfare, and the importance of civilian oversight in US military action.

Guest:

Azmat Khan, investigative reporter for the New York Times Magazine

Host:

Ray Suarez

If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

Aminatta Forna was a child when Sierra Leone fell into a brutal, ten-year civil war. Now, 20 years later, she’s working to ensure that Sierra Leoneans shape the country’s postwar narrative.

Forna joins Ray to chat about legacy, trauma, and forging identity – and joy – in the aftermath of violence, in her recent essay collection, The Window Seat: Notes from a Life in Motion.

Guest:

Aminatta Forna, award-winning writer and author of The Window Seat: Notes from a Life in Motion

Host:

Ray Suarez

If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

War captures headlines… but what happens when the rubble clears? How does a country – and its people – rebuild after tragedy?

Chernor Bah was a child when Sierra Leone fell into a brutal, ten-year civil war. Now, 20 years later, he’s working to ensure that Sierra Leoneans, especially women, are at the center of the country’s postwar narrative and development.

Bah shares how his early experiences with war and humanitarian aid inspired to create Purposeful, an Africa-rooted organization that challenges the long held assumption that men – and white donors – should dictate redevelopment in the Global South.

Guest:

Chernor Bah, co-founder and CEO of Purposeful

Host: 

Ray Suarez

If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

Dr. Atul Gawande has had a varied, celebrated career in medicine. He’s been a physician, a writer, and now he’s the Global Health Assistant Administrator at USAID. Dr. Gawande has always said the task of sharing medical progress with every corner of the planet is “the most ambitious thing we’ve ever attempted.” From facing a global public health system weakened by COVID-19, to families seeking support caring for aging loved ones, Dr. Gawande is focused on “generational work” at USAID, and about how society can step up. 

In this episode, Dr. Gawande and Ray Suarez discuss taking public health work to the global stage, and the immense challenges that lie ahead.

Support for this podcast episode was provided in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.

Guest(s):

Dr. Atul Gawande, writer, physician, and Assistant Administrator for Global Health for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) 

Host:  

Ray Suarez

If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

By 2030, it’s estimated one out of every six people on Planet Earth will be over 60. In Japan, nearly 30% of the population is already over 65. But Poland, Romania, Cuba, Serbia, and South Korea? They’re some of the fastest-aging societies on the planet, as well.

Ray Suarez chats with Joseph F. Coughlin, founder and director of the MIT AgeLab, about how leaps in technology have led to longer life spans — and why it may be the key to making the most out of borrowed time. Then, Motoko Rich, Tokyo bureau chief for The New York Times, shares how this demographic force is already being felt in Japan, the poster “grandparent” for aging societies worldwide.

Support for this podcast episode was provided in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.

Guests:

Joseph F. Coughlin, PhD, Founder and Director of MIT’s AgeLab

Motoko Rich, Tokyo Bureau Chief for the New York Times

Host:  

Ray Suarez

If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

Forty years later, the anniversary of Vincent Chin’s death reminds us Anti-Asian hate crimes haven't gone away. Filmmaker Renee Tajima-Peña, who co-directed the documentary, “Who Killed Vincent Chin?” and activist Helen Zia talk with Ray Suarez about the ongoing fight to recognize diverse Asian-American histories, challenging stereotypes and what justice means today. 

For more information, check out Renee Tajima-Pena’s documentary, Who Killed Vincent Chin?, and Tajima-Pena’s docuseries, Asian Americans.

Guests:

Renee Tajima-Peña, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker and Professor of Asian American Studies at UCLA

Helen Zia, activist, executor of the Vincent and Lily Chin estate, and author of books including Last Boat out of Shanghai and My Country vs. Me

Host:

Ray Suarez

On a summer night in 1982, a Chinese-American man named Vincent Chin was brutally murdered by two white men in a racially-motivated attack in Detroit. His death, and the failure of the courts to hold his killers accountable, sparked a civil rights outcry and marked a turning point for the Asian-American community. 

We revisit an interview with filmmaker Renee Tajima-Peña about her documentary, “Who Killed Vincent Chin?” to learn about the movement sparked by Chin’s story.

For more information, check out Renee Tajima-Pena’s documentary, Who Killed Vincent Chin?, and Tajima-Pena’s docuseries, Asian Americans.

Guests:

Renee Tajima-Peña, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker and Professor of Asian American Studies at UCLA

Host:

Ray Suarez

Bill Browder was a prominent foreign investor in Russia until he was banned by President Vladimir Putin. In a gripping interview with Ray Suarez, Browder recounts a hunt for missing money that led him to discover a corruption and conspiracy plot involving Putin’s inner circle. Browder breaks down the Russian government’s lethal response, the landmark Magnitsky Act, and what Putin’s past can teach us about what he might do next - in Ukraine and beyond.

But first, we revisit a brief excerpt from Ray's 2021 interview with prominent Putin critic, Fiona Hill. In it, she warns us that the big mistake people often make is, "underestimating Russia and underestimating somebody like Vladimir Putin."

Ray's interview with Bill Browder was recorded as part of a live event at the Aspen Institute on July 12, 2022.

Guests:

 
Bill Browder, financier and author of Freezing Order: A True Story of Money Laundering, Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin’s Wrath

Host(s): 

Ray Suarez