In our first Lid Is On of 2023, we take a trip to Geneva, to meet our Palais des Nations correspondent Daniel Johnson, who gives us a virtual visit of the venerable building and its surroundings, and looks back at some of his favourite moments from 2022, in particular the interview that earned him a hug (a rare occurrence for journalists)!

Music: Within the Earth, Ketsa

For the last Lid Is On of the year, Conor Lennon invited some of his colleagues for a festive episode, to find out a bit more about them (discovering that one has even sung at Carnegie Hall), and how they wade through reports, studies and data, to tease out stories that demonstrate the real difference the UN makes to people’s lives every day.

May Yaccoub, head of the Arabic Unit, Matt Wells, head of the English Unit, and climate specialist Laura Quinones, share the topics that made the biggest impression on them in 2022, from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, to aid in Lebanon, and international climate agreements.

This is the fifth and final episode of Seeking Peace, a podcast from the Department of Peace Operations.

In this episode, Melanne Verveer from Georgetown University’s Institute for Women Peace and Security, examines the challenges and complex realities that women uniformed peacekeepers face.

We will hear from General Maureen O’Brien, who serves as the Deputy Chief of Military affairs at the UN, about her pioneering career.

Today, we bring you the fourth episode of Seeking Peace, a podcast from the UN Department of Peace Operations.

Melanne Verveer from Georgetown University’s Institute for Women Peace and Security, highlights the extraordinary women whose work defies expectations of traditional gender roles in peacekeeping.

Interviewees on today’s episode are Téné Maimouna Zoungrana leads the rapid intervention activities in the Ngaragba Prison in the Central African Republic, and Colonel Stephanie Tutton, Chief of Policy and Doctrine in the UN Office of Military Affairs. 

In Episode 3 of Seeking Peace, a podcast from the UN Department of Peace Operations, Melanne Verveer from Georgetown University’s Institute for Women Peace and Security, focuses on women’s role in bringing about peace through politics.

We will hear from Mireille Laurier Affa'A Mindzie, the Senior Gender Advisor for the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Beatrice Epaye, a politician and educator from the Central African Republic, and Jeta Xharra, the director of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in Kosovo.

In Episode 2 of Seeking Peace, a podcast from the Department of Peace Operations, Melanne Verveer from Georgetown University’s Institute for Women Peace and Security explores women’s roles in peace negotiations and the implementation of peace agreements.

The interviewees in this episode are the UN Assistant Secretary General for Africa, Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, Maïga Aziza from Mali, the first-ever Member of Parliament to represent Timbuktu, and South Sudanese activist Alokiir Malual, about women’s involvement in peace negotiations, and the implementation of peace agreements.

This week, The Lid Is On has partnered with the UN Department of Peace Operations, to bring you five episodes from the latest season of their podcast, Seeking Peace.

In this episode, Melanne Verveer, the Executive Director of the Georgetown University's Institute for Women Peace and Security, and former United States Ambassador for Global Women's Issues, introduces inspiring activists from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the divided island of Cyprus.

On this week’s The Lid Is On, we’re introducing you to UNiting Against Hate, a new series from UN Podcasts.

Katy Dartford talks to those who have encountered hate speech first-hand, as well as activists and experts from around the world about how they are trying to counter it.

In this episode, she has an in-depth conversation with two organizations who monitor hate speech, and discusses with them the relationship between hate speech and disinformation.

Like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, to ensure you don’t miss an episode!

Music: Backcomb, Ketsa

The world has never been more inter-connected, but this has made it easier than ever before to spread disinformation, hate speech, and information that divides, and causes fear and mistrust.

Intercultural dialogue has been described as an antidote to rejection and violence. But can it really make a difference in a world where toxic language and conflict make headlines, generate more clicks and, or so it often seems, wins votes?

On this episode of The Lid Is On, Conor Lennon talks to Karabo Mokgonyana is an award-winning Activist and Lawyer from South Africa, and Gabriela Ramos, the Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences at UNESCO, the UN agency for education, science and culture.

Music: Within the Earth, Ketsa

We though it was all over…it is now, we promise! We gave you the instant reaction to the final COP27 plenary session on what we though was the last podcast on the event, but then we decided to get an expert perspective from Selwin Hart, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on Climate, and friend of the podcast.

Conor got to sit down with Selwin, and find out more about the progress that was made, where efforts need to be focused over the next 12 months, and why, despite the perilous state of the climate crisis, there is still hope for the future.