
Every year brings its crises, conflicts, and different forms of oppression, with no region being completely safe from anything terrible that can unfold.
But can we notice the good things, too?
This is what I do in my episode – in fact, the third year in a row now.
I think there is tremendous value in expanding our view when it comes to “how the world is doing”. Having a podcast where I mostly talk about what bad happened, to look for victories worth celebrating becomes a refreshing task. It’s also something that can give us hope and spring us into action. We are, after all, capable of affecting change and how that world is doing, from year to year.
So, where was that change affected positively last year?
In my episode, I will go to the UK where a major victory against Elbit Systems, an Israeli arms manufacturer, happened at the beginning of 2022.
Then, we’ll go to Cuba which approved a new Family Code, called one of the most progressive pieces of legislation in the world by some.
Finally, I invite you to Brazil – where I actually happen to be at the moment! – to better understand why the presidential victory of Luis Inácio Lula da Silva brings so much hope to the country, after four years of far-right politics. For a dive into a series of criminal acts that allowed the previous president, Jair Bolsonaro, to get into power, please listen to my older episode here.
If you got curious, where can you go from here?
I have some suggestions:
Learn more about Palestine Action and their #ShutElbitDown campaign here:
Read more about the shutting down of Elbit’s factory in Oldham here. Learn about Elbit’s role in Israel’s violence against the Palestinians here.
To learn more about Cuba’s Family Code, please see an article by Reuters and by Peoples Dispatch.
Click here to see the picture of Lula’s inauguration that I refer to in my episode. For in-depth analyses of Brazilian politics, including Lula’s third term in office, follow The Brazilian Report.
Subscribe to my articles below or check out and subscribe to my free newsletter on Substack!
Latest from the Blog
If We Praise Henry Kissinger, What Do We Have to Negate?
As Henry Kissinger turns 100 years old today, what can we say? Will we praise his diplomacy skills or will we choose to see what’s behind those potential praises? I invite you to do the latter.
Continue reading#JusticeForShireen, A Year Later
Exactly a year ago, Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was murdered by an Israeli sniper. What happened in a year in Palestine? And what lenses can help us understand what’s been happening in Palestine for decades, as seen through Shireen’s painful example?
Continue readingRamadan in Palestine: Disregarding Human Rights is Democracy; Criticising Those Same Abuses Is Antisemitism
The Palestinian town of Huwara was just violently attacked by a big mob of Israeli settlers. This is not an incident – it’s is all part of what a brutal system of military occupation, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid entails.
Continue readingWhat Are Political Prisoners And Why Should We Care About Them?
Why can it seem problematic at first sight to even define the concept of ‘political prisoner’? What can help us to do so? And, most importantly, why should we care? In short, we should care about our political prisoners if we care about human rights and our humanity. In my episode, I talk about the…
Continue readingThe Brutality and The Illegality of The War in Iraq, 20 Years Later
If you’re an empire, you can destroy another nation and continue preaching about international law and human rights. Twenty years after the US-led invasion of Iraq, the country remains struggling and the war criminals unpunished.
Continue readingInternational Women’s Day: Flowers Are Great, But What About End of Oppression?
What’s better than flowers on International Women’s Day? In short, a lot. That’s what I talk about in my episode.
Continue reading