EQUALS: Reimagining Our Economy

On International Women’s Day, Max and Nafkote interviewed Bhumika Muchhala, a development and feminist economist, on the possibility of being a feminist in an economic system that thrives on the exploitation of people and nature. This episode explores the importance of the way our global economy is organized in understanding the fight for gender equality. How issues like lab

Nafkote and Max interview Dr. Faiza Shaheen on how capitalism has failed on its main selling point – work hard and you will succeed. The idea that everyone has equal opportunity in life is just a myth. Your success in life is significantly influenced by where you are born, your social class, race, and education.This episode is a powerful critique of our system - one that perpetua

Max and Nafkote interview the brilliant Dr. Clara Mattei on the history of austerity and how it was created to maintain “the capital order”. Austerity today the world over remains a favored tool of policymakers. And yet it is far more than just a policy. We examine the roots of austerity and its fundamental role in entrenching capital, and disciplining people to never dare to c

Nafkote and Nabil welcome the pioneering Senegalese development economist Ndongo Samba Sylla onto EQUALS.We talk about the untold vision of former Burkina Faso President Thomas Sankara for economic liberation.The role of the French colonial currency in today’s world.What Modern Monetary Theory can mean to the Global South.And what a Green Bandung Woods – picking up from where l

Max and Nafkote interview the world-famous economist Professor Ha Joon Chang to ask what is causing the inequality crisis and what governments can do to stop it.How are traffic lights, neoliberalism, and the Catholic Church in medieval times linked? How can we create a new generation of developmental states that face down corporates and build equal societies? An EQUALS ep

EQUALS is back. Max and Nabil speak to Dr. Daniela Gabor, who says we’ve entered a new era of the “Wall Street Consensus”. Her macro analysis is lighting up debates around the world about how much power we’re giving up to global private finance - and what exactly comes after neoliberalism.Daniela, Professor of Economics and Macro-Finance at UWE Bristol, breaks down what is

Introducing a new EQUALS season and our new podcast co-host, Nafkote Dabi, Climate Policy Lead at Oxfam International.Joining Nafkote and Max in this episode are Astrid Nilsson Lewis and Ashfaq Khalfan. Together, they delve into the latest Oxfam report “Climate Equality: A planet for the 99%” How are the climate and inequality crises intertwined?In this episode, we expose the p

A season five wrap-up with just the co-hosts! Nadia is sadly leaving the podcast (and Oxfam). The co-hosts get together to look back on their time together and reflect on over fifty episodes of EQUALS. We’ll be back for season six folks. Inequality’s sky-high. The fight’s on this decade but there’s hope. You’ve asked us to cover issues from the global debt crisis fac

Nadia and Nabil interview Nobel Prize Laureate Professor Joseph Stiglitz to ask just how dire the state of inequality is - and what we’ve got to do about it.  Is it realistic to tax the richest at rates above 70%? What’s the connection between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and IMF-backed austerity in low income countries?An EQUALS episode not to be missed with a gian

How exactly can rich countries address their past wrongs of slavery and colonialism? Well, there’s a plan. Jamaican scholar and UN leader Verene Shepherd outline what Caribbean nations have called for.This EQUALS episode is the second of a two-part special on reparations. In the first episode, we heard the case for reparations – and went back to the 15th century to the moment E