The Take

The tide of fast fashion pulls in a way that can feel difficult to escape, even as supply chain problems spread around the globe. Love it or hate it, many feel they can’t live without quick and cheap clothes from brands like H&M or Zara. We’re revisiting the work of activist Hoda Katebi and a collective of garment workers in the US city of Chicago who have a radical vision for a world without fast fashion, and they’re taking it on with their own worker-owned factory: Blue Tin Productions.

In this episode:

• Hoda Katebi (@hodakatebi), activist
• Mercy, member of Blue Tin Production

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From 1904 to 1908, German colonizers waged a brutal extermination campaign against the Herero and Nama people in present-day Namibia. Now, more than a century later, the German government has officially recognized the genocide and has offered Namibia an aid package. But many Herero and Nama people say Germany’s announcement doesn’t come close to providing justice. 

In this episode: 

• Nandiuasora "Nandi" Mazeingo, Chairperson of the Ovaherero Genocide Foundation (@OGF_Namibia) 

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Venezuela has just held regional elections amid a deep economic and humanitarian crisis - and now an alleged international money-laundering scheme has emerged involving a close ally of President Nicolas Maduro.

The elections are the first in 15 years to include international observers. However, general apathy towards politics from voters is making it hard for the opposition to bring people to the polls.

In this episode: 

• Nelson Eduardo Bocaranda (@bocaranda20), Editor-in-chief of Runrun.es
• Phil Gunson (@philgunson), Senior analyst, The International Crisis Group (@CrisisGroup)

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This week, Russia joined a small club of nations that have conducted anti-satellite missile tests, shooting down a Soviet-era satellite and creating a field of debris in space. The missile test brought attention to the issue of space waste — all of the old bits of machinery that humans have left in space. And as humans send more and more objects beyond the sky, the debris could make parts of Earth’s orbit unusable.

In this episode: 

• Moriba Jah (@moribajah), Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin
• Alice Gorman, Associate Professor at Flinders University

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People seeking to migrate through Belarus and Poland are stuck at the border, and neither country wants them. EU officials have called it “weaponization of migrants” by Belarus, but for the people at the border, the geopolitical dispute is about to get worse – winter is coming. Why has this group of migrants become the center of a standoff and what will happen as temperatures drop?

In this episode: 

• Anna Alboth, Minority Rights Group International (@MinorityRights)
• Aryan, a migrant in Belarus
• Hanna Liubakova (@HannaLiubakova), journalist and non-resident fellow at Atlantic Council
• Joanna Hosa (@joannahosa), European Council on Foreign Relations 

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In October, Haiti’s problem with gangs got international attention when 16 Americans and 1 Canadian were kidnapped. They are still captive, but Haitians have long faced kidnappings and gang violence. Al Jazeera’s Rob Reynolds examines this chronic wave and talks to Jimmy 'Barbecue' Cherizier, one of the most notorious gang leaders in the country.

In this episode: 

• Rob Reynolds (@RobReynoldsAJE), Senior Correspondent at Al Jazeera English

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Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik is taking steps that international leaders warn are “tantamount to secession” and there are fears his threats could dismantle the delicate agreement holding the country together. The war in Bosnia from 1992-1995 was the bloodiest one in Europe since World War II, and for many Bosnians, the trauma still lingers.

In this episode:

• Majda Ruge (@majda_ruge), Senior Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (@ECFRBerlin)
• Mersiha Gadzo (@MersihaGadzo), Producer for Al Jazeera Digital (@AJEnglish)
• Riada Asimovic Akyol (@riadaaa), Contributing Editor, News Lines Magazine (@NewsLinesMag)

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As world leaders meet in Glasgow for the COP26 climate talks, one of the biggest topics of conversation is money. There’s a lot to discuss: who has money versus who doesn’t, and what’s been promised compared to what’s actually been delivered. Rich nations pledged back in 2009 that they’d commit $100 billion a year by 2020 to help support climate initiatives in developing countries. But that deadline came and went, and the wealthy countries failed to deliver. So what will that mean for the countries on the front lines of the climate crisis?

In this episode: 

• Anote Tong, former president of Kiribati
• Clémence Abbès, climate justice officer at Oxfam (@Oxfam)

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Do you remember a world without climate crisis? The answer to that question may define a generation. The UN climate change conference, or COP, has been going on since 1995, well before some of today’s most vocal climate activists were born. Numbers show young people around the world are facing a wave of ‘climate anxiety’ – so today, we’re turning over the mic to four activists who were all born after emissions levels had passed the threshold for normal life on Earth.

In this episode: 

• Blanche Verlie (@BlancheVerlie), Sydney Environment Institute 
• Evelyn Acham (@eve_chantel), Climate activist, Uganda 
• Atlas Sarrafoğlu (@AtlasSarrafoglu), Climate activist, Turkey 
• Line Niedeggen (@lineniedeggen), Climate justice activist based in Germany 
• Jennifer Uchendu (@Dzennypha), Founder of SustyVibes, Nigeria 

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After six months, a Brazilian Senate investigative committee has recommended for President Jair Bolsonaro to be indicted for nine crimes related to his handling of the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 600,000 people in the South American country. But who decides the president’s fate, and will he be impeached or even jailed like his predecessors?

In this episode: 

• Monica Yanakiew (@MonikaKiev), reporter for Al Jazeera English in Brazil
• Claudio Couto (@claudio_couto), political scientist and professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Sao Paulo 

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