Displaced
46 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 5 years ago - ★★★★ - 257 ratingsThe world is facing the largest displacement crisis since WWII as a number of humanitarian emergencies rage on. Grant Gordon and Ravi Gurumurthy from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) have in-depth conversations with leading humanitarians, foreign policymakers, and innovators to understand how they think about, and tackle these global crises. Produced by the Vox Media Podcast Network.
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Episodes
What it Takes to Succeed After Displacement
April 23, 2019 10:00 - 38 minutesIn 1942, nine year-old Krishnan Gurumurthy fled to India from Burma with his family. It was just after the Japanese invasion, and they had just missed the final ferries out of Rangoon. So his family travelled by a treacherous land route -- a 1,500 mile journey that took over 42 days. Years later, Krishnan moved from India to the U.K., worked as a radiologist, and had a three kids: Krishnan, Geeta, and Ravi. Today, Ravi interviews his father about his journey from Burma to India and how his ex...
Complicating Narratives with Documentary Photographer Glenna Gordon
April 16, 2019 10:00 - 44 minutesGlenna Gordon is a documentary photographer and photojournalist. She's been commissioned by the New York Times Magazine, Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and other outlets. She’s photographed a range of subjects, from Muslim women writing romance novels in Boko Haram territory in Northern Nigeria to the American women of the alt-right. She’s also Grant Gordon’s older sister. This week, Grant interviews Glenna about her work in Nigeria, her current project documenting the alt-right, an...
Climate Change: Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson on Climate Justice
April 09, 2019 10:00 - 1 hourThe cruel irony of climate change is that it disproportionately impacts those who have contributed least to global warming—the world’s poorest and most marginalized groups. For Mary Robinson—former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, president of the Mary Robinson Foundation–Climate Justice, and the former, first female President of Ireland—rectifying these injustices is an essential part of the international effort to address climate change. This week, Ravi and Mary Robinson discuss the ...
Climate Change: How Local Communities Can Build Resilience to Climate Change
April 02, 2019 10:00 - 36 minutesAlthough cross-border displacement affects local communities, international efforts to address it typically take place at the highest levels. How can affected communities make their voices heard in these intergovernmental negotiations? This week, Ravi and Grant sit down with Walter Kaelin, Envoy of the Chair at the Platform on Disaster Displacement and former Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons. Kaelin has been at the forefront of the...
Climate Change: How Global Warming Exacerbates Conflict
March 26, 2019 10:00 - 40 minutesAs climate change causes rapid and large-scale migration, countries already facing environmental challenges become increasingly vulnerable to instability and humanitarian crisis. Sherri Goodman, Senior Fellow at the Wilson Center and former U.S. Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Environmental Security, describes climate change as a threat multiplier. This week she joins Grant and Ravi to discuss how climate change is linked to conflicts happening now, and what it might lead to in the futu...
Climate Change Displacement is Happening Now
March 19, 2019 10:00 - 38 minutesAn estimated 26 million people a year were internally displaced by disasters and hazards between 2008 and 2015. These numbers will just get worse as climate change exacerbates the effects of natural disasters, increasing both internal and cross-border displacement. That is why we are releasing a series of episodes this season focusing on climate change. This week we kick off our series with Jane McAdam, Scientia Professor of Law and Director of the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law ...
Refugee Resettlement: Minister Ahmed Hussen Explains the Canadian Model
March 12, 2019 10:00 - 46 minutesThroughout our series on refugee resettlement, we’ve referenced Canada’s system of private sponsorship as an overall success - but how does it actually work? And what can other countries learn from it as they build their own resettlement infrastructures? This week, Grant and Ravi get a close-up view of Canada’s resettlement system with Ahmed Hussen, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship for the Government of Canada. Minister Hussen provides insight into the history of resettl...
Refugee Resettlement: Perspectives from an IRC Caseworker
March 05, 2019 11:00 - 31 minutesThis week in our series on refugee resettlement, we take a closer look at the process of resettlement in the U.S. with Dauda Balubwila, a caseworker for the International Rescue Committee in Boise, Idaho. Dauda works with resettled refugees from the moment they arrive in Boise; he meets them at the airport, takes them to their first apartments, and then guides them through their first few months in the U.S. He provides valuable insight about the process of resettlement and its most pressing c...
Refugee Resettlement: A Conversation with Congresswoman Ilhan Omar
February 26, 2019 11:00 - 32 minutesIn January 2019, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar became the first ever Somali-American member of Congress. Rep. Omar was resettled in the U.S. as a teenager, and since then has watched the topic of resettlement become increasingly polarized in U.S. politics. This week, Grant and Ravi interview Rep. Omar about her personal experience resettling in the U.S., and what needs to change in the U.S. system. Displaced is a production by the International Rescue Committee and Vox Media. You can read more ab...
Refugee Resettlement: Using Data to Improve the System
February 19, 2019 11:00 - 54 minutesImagine a world where every refugee who needs to be resettled receives that opportunity. What would it take? Today there are 1.4 million refugees who have no chance of returning to their homes or integrating into their countries of first asylum. For them, resettlement is the only option. But that option is under threat around the world - in 2019, U.S. refugee admissions alone are at a historic low due to a cap set by the Trump administration. In the first episode of a new series on global r...
The Future of War: When Civilians Are Targeted in Conflict
February 12, 2019 11:00 - 37 minutesIn October 2015, US airstrikes destroyed a trauma hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, operated by Médecins Sans Frontières. 42 people were killed. Following the attack, MSF International President Dr. Joanne Liu testified before the UN Security Council and captured the attention of an international audience. In the final episode of our series examining the future of war, Grant and Ravi welcome Dr. Joanne Liu to Displaced to discuss the attack, how the conduct of war is changing, and why civilian...
The Future of War: Documenting Human Rights Violations in Yemen
February 05, 2019 11:00 - 39 minutesRadhya Almutawakel started human rights work in 2004; as she criticized the unfolding war in Yemen in a local newspaper, families of those who had been detained reached out to her for help. Now, Radhya is the co-founder and chairperson of the Mwatana Organization for Human Rights, which documents human rights violations by all parties of the conflict in Yemen. This week, Ravi and Grant talk to Radhya about the challenge of documenting famine as a tool of war, the future of the conflict in Ye...
The Future of War: Autonomous Weapons, AI, and Cyberwarfare
January 29, 2019 11:00 - 56 minutesThis week, Ravi and Grant turn to Loren DeJonge Schulman and Erin Simpson to discuss how technology is changing war and what that means for humanitarians. Both Loren and Erin have years of experience working in the defense industry - so not only are they experts on this issue, they also provide a unique view on how militaries around the world are actually thinking about and implementing technologies like autonomous weapons, AI, and cyberwarfare. Loren and Erin are two of the three co-hosts o...
The Future of War: Robert Malley on the Three Conflicts to Watch This Year
January 22, 2019 11:00 - 46 minutesYemen. Afghanistan. U.S.-Chinese tensions. The International Crisis Group (ICG) ranks these conflicts as the top three to watch in 2019. To kickoff season two of Displaced, Robert Malley, president and CEO of the ICG, explains why these conflicts top the list, and what they say about the changing geopolitical order and the future of war. Displaced is produced by the Vox Media Podcast Network in partnership with the International Rescue Committee. Find our show notes here. Get in touch with us...
Announcing Season Two of Displaced
January 21, 2019 13:00 - 1 minuteAt Displaced we examine the causes and consequences of the global refugee crisis. And this season, we're going even deeper. Each of our episodes will focus on one of the three top issues humanitarians face today: the future of war, refugee resettlement, and climate change and displacement. Season two launches January 22nd. Don't miss an episode - subscribe to Displaced now. If you're new to Displaced, start listening with our conversations with Pulitzer Prize winner Viet Thanh Nguyen and Hom...
Viet Thanh Nguyen on trauma, displacement, and identifying as a refugee
October 30, 2018 10:00 - 57 minutesPulitzer prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen is the guest on this episode of Displaced, and talks to Grant and Ravi about his background, and the traumatic experience of being separated from his parents when he was 4 years old. He goes on to talk about the role of trauma in shaping the lives of refugees, and how that has informed his own work. They discuss the label 'refugee', and the place of refugees in America in this current moment. This is the last episode of Displaced in season 1. C...
Ann Mei Chang’s innovation playbook for the development sector
October 23, 2018 10:00 - 55 minutesAnn Mei Chang talks to Ravi and Grant about her new book, ‘Lean Impact: How to Innovate for Radically Greater Social Good.’ Her career spans both the private and public sector: she led USAID’s first-ever innovation hub, the Global Development Lab, and she spent almost a decade as senior engineering director at Google, before she left Silicon Valley for the State Department, where she was a senior advisor for women and technology. Ann Mei Chang shares her lessons learned through this journey, ...
David Miliband on politics, populism and the global refugee crisis
October 16, 2018 10:00 - 48 minutesRavi talks to David Miliband, president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee - and a long-time friend and colleague - during a special event recorded with a live audience at the New School’s Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility in New York City. Their wide-ranging conversation focuses on the politics of the refugee crisis: what a political solution looks like in Yemen; how to negotiate with states to keep borders open and widen rights to work; and whether the refugee crisis ...
Patrick Fine explains integrated development
October 09, 2018 10:00 - 50 minutesIn order to solve any given problem, an understanding of its root cause is the first step. But when those roots are tangled up with other factors - a whole set of interrelated causes and contexts, they all have to be taken into account to design an effective solution. And if ‘everything is everything’, where should we begin in trying to solve complex problems in areas like health and education? Patrick Fine is CEO of FHI 360, and explains what ‘integrated development’ looks like in his work. ...
Anne Richard on 'humanitarian diplomacy' and dealing with anti-refugee sentiment
October 02, 2018 10:00 - 50 minutesThe Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration operates with a 3 million dollar budget, and combines aid with diplomacy. Anne Richard served as the former Assistant Secretary of State for PRM from 2012 to 2017, and in this episode she talks about her experiences during those years, including how she worked with countries to accept more refugees, and implemented changes to refugee policy here in the U.S. under President Obama. She also discusses how those changes are being reversed or rolled...
Nazanin Ash: The Trump administration is tearing apart U.S. refugee policy
September 25, 2018 10:00 - 55 minutesLast week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced a sharp reduction in the number of refugees the U.S. would take in over the next year: 30,000. Grant and Ravi talk to IRC colleague Nazanin Ash for some context on this dramatic shift. Nazanin is Vice President of Global Policy and Advocacy at the International Rescue Committee, and discusses the current administration’s approach to refugee admissions, and how it contrasts not just to previous administrations, but also to public support for ...
Stefan Dercon: how insurance could make humanitarian response faster and cheaper
September 18, 2018 10:00 - 49 minutesStefan Dercon is professor of economic policy at the University of Oxford, and is the former chief economist at the Department for International Development (DFID) in the UK, where he was involved in political discussions about how to shape aid. This episode is a deep dive into the financing model of humanitarian response, and how insurance instruments could change that model, and potentially reshape how we respond to crises. Displaced is produced by the Vox Media Podcast Network in partners...
Nancy Lindborg on what 'fragility' actually means
September 11, 2018 10:00 - 58 minutesAlmost a quarter of the world’s population now live in some form of fragility, and we talk often about fragile states and fragile contexts - but what does the term mean? Nancy Lindborg is the president of the United States Institute of Peace, and she explains why the definition of fragility matters so much to shaping foreign policy and humanitarian response. Displaced is produced by the Vox Media Podcast Network in partnership with the International Rescue Committee. Find our show notes h...
Jeremy Konyndyk on the humanitarian business model
September 04, 2018 10:00 - 57 minutesThis episode looks at how humanitarian response works - the rules of the game, the players, their incentives - and how these elements impact lives of displaced people. Jeremy Konydyk calls this the ‘humanitarian business model,’ and as senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development and former director of USAID’s Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance, he has unique insight on that model and its flaws. He offers potential solutions, and also shares his experiences on leading the U...
Owen Barder: we need an alternative to refugee camps
August 28, 2018 10:00 - 1 hour"When people look back on our time they will wonder why we tolerated refugee camps for so long.” Owen Barder, Vice President at the Center for Global Development, talks in this episode about why we should abolish refugee camps, and what’s wrong with the humanitarian aid system more broadly. Barder talks about the alternatives to keeping displaced people in camps, and how to make the humanitarian system more simple, more focused, and serve the interests of displaced people receiving aid, rathe...
Alix Zwane on what philanthropists can learn from venture capitalists
August 21, 2018 10:00 - 53 minutesIn this episode, we speak to Alix Zwane who is the CEO of the Global Innovation Fund – an organization that invests in generating and growing products and services that help people on less than $5 a day. During the conversation, Zwane talks about the weaknesses of traditional philanthropy, the challenge of delivering financial returns and social impact, and the solutions she’s invested in that she’s most excited about. Displaced is produced by the Vox Media Podcast Network in partnership wit...
Paul Skidmore on the radical transformation to education in fragile states
August 14, 2018 10:00 - 54 minutesEducation in low- and middle-income countries is becoming increasingly private: as many as one in four young Africans could be enrolled in some form of private education by 2021. Paul Skidmore is CEO of the Rising Academies Network, which is part of this sea change in education, and which started its first school in Sierra Leone in the height of the Ebola outbreak in 2014. In this conversation, Skidmore discusses how he built his network of schools, the lessons he's learned, and why the conve...
David Halpern on revolutionizing policy through behavioral science
August 07, 2018 10:00 - 51 minutesDavid Halpern is the Chief Executive Officer of the Behavioural Insights Team in the UK - unofficially known as the ‘Nudge Unit'. In this episode, we dive into how behavioral science works to change people’s behavior and how small tweaks can actually create massive change. This is the episode to listen to to understand how behavioral science can help prevent malnutrition, reduce inter-group conflict, generate savings for retirement, and help NGOs and government craft more effective policy. ...
Rachel Glennerster’s insights on the randomization movement
July 31, 2018 10:00 - 55 minutesNo conversation about social impact is complete without an understanding of randomized control trials, or RCTs. In this episode, we delve into what they are and how they measure impact with Rachel Glennerster, the new chief economist at the Department for International Development (DFID) in the UK. In an episode recorded in London, Glennerster gives her insights on the randomization movement, and also talks about the divide between academics and policy makers, and why it’s important that they...
Geoff Mulgan on how collaboration between humans and machines can help solve the world’s biggest problems
July 24, 2018 10:00 - 50 minutesGeoff Mulgan, head of the UK’s National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) talks about what he calls ‘Collective Intelligence’: how machines and humans can collaborate to solve problems -- like dealing with epidemics, predicting war and conflict, or collecting data during natural disasters. Displaced is produced by the Vox Media Podcast Network in partnership with the International Rescue Committee. Find our show notes here: www. rescue.org/displaced. Rate and review the ...
Chris Elias on the radical progress we’ve made in global health
July 17, 2018 10:00 - 53 minutesChris Elias is the president of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Development Program, which spends $4 billion a year on health and poverty programs. With great power comes great responsibility, and a set of tough decisions on which of the world's many crucial health problems they can strategically invest in. In this conversation, Chris talks about how they make these decisions, assess and take on risk, and work with the private sector to generate breakthrough health solutions for ...
Jan Egeland on how to broker the world’s most challenging peace agreements
July 10, 2018 10:00 - 45 minutesJan Egeland is one of the world’s most experienced peace negotiators, having worked on the Israeli-Palestinian Oslo Peace Accords, as well as mediation efforts in South Sudan, Uganda, Guatemala, and now in Syria. He is currently the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the largest humanitarian organizations in the world. This is the episode to listen to if you want to understand how to broker a peace deal. They unravel the complex questions of who to invite to the negoti...
Kanika Bahl pulls back the curtain on innovation in aid
July 03, 2018 10:00 - 37 minutesThis episode is a taping from a live recording at Devex World in Washington DC, where Grant and Ravi talked to Kanika Bahl, CEO of Evidence Action. 'This interview gets into the nuts and bolts of how to innovative in aid, how to take solutions developed in one place to new contexts, and how to scale them to many contexts while maintaining quality. They discuss the perils and promises of how lessons from the development sector apply to humanitarian contexts and what we should expect of innovat...
Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code, on innovation and failure
June 26, 2018 10:00 - 49 minutesAs a social entrepreneur and founder of Girls Who Code, Reshma Saujani is uniquely placed to talk about innovation - and the role of failure in that process. She talks to Ravi and Grant about creating ideas, taking them to scale, and the culture of ‘failing fast’, and what that looks like when you’re running a global non-profit. Displaced is produced by the Vox Media Podcast Network, in partnership with the International Rescue Committee. For more on the show: www.rescue.org/displaced. Email...
Wilmot Collins on being a refugee mayor in a pro-Trump state
June 19, 2018 10:00 - 50 minutesWilmot Collins is mayor of Helena, Montana, and in this episode, he tells Ravi and Grant about his journey from Liberia, and the harrowing story of how he left the country. He went on to resettle in Montana, and last year won the mayoral election to become the state’s first black mayor in over 100 years. He talks about how he deals with anti-refugee sentiment, and why his experiences have led him to advocate for refugees in the national conversation around resettlement. Displaced is produced ...
Bob Kitchen on how to respond to humanitarian emergencies
June 12, 2018 10:00 - 50 minutesBob Kitchen spends every day makings decisions on if - and how - to respond to rapid onset humanitarian emergencies globally. As the International Rescue Committee’s Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response, he directs the team at the IRC that deploys into crises within 72 hours to provide life saving assistance to those critically in need. These decisions are rife with complexity and in this episode, Bob, Ravi and Grant dive into the challenges of launching responses in places like ...
Vali Nasr on how wars end
June 05, 2018 10:00 - 59 minutesThe war in Afghanistan is the longest war in U.S. history and it has cost roughly 1 trillion dollars, left over 170,000 dead, and displaced another 4 million people. In this episode, we examine how to end wars through the lens of Afghanistan with Vali Nasr, the dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and former senior advisor to Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke. Vali Nasr brings unique insight into how the conflict has played ...
Carolyn Miles: innovative solutions for improving the lives of children
May 29, 2018 10:00 - 1 hour“It’s not about a technology that we’re looking for something to do with, it’s about a problem that we’re trying to solve and and then thinking about how technology helps with it.” Carolyn Miles is CEO of Save the Children USA, and in this conversation she talks to Grant and Ravi about innovative solutions for helping children in crisis situations. She also talks about why women and girls are disproportionately affected by war and conflict, and the challenge of changing behaviors to adopt new...
Helene Gayle on how to lead organizations that respond to crisis
May 22, 2018 10:00 - 45 minutesDr. Helene Gayle has unparalleled experience in leading organizations that respond to crisis. Dr. Gayle spent over 20 years working on HIV/AIDS at the Center for Disease Control while also serving as the Chief of the HIV/AIDS Division for USAID, was the CEO for CARE International, led the McKinsey Social Initiative, and now serves as the head of the Chicago Community Trust. In this episode, Dr. Gayle shares lessons learned of how to lead, refine strategy, and focus. She reflects on the parall...
The IRC’s Sarah Smith on educating children during humanitarian crises
May 15, 2018 10:00 - 49 minutesOver half of the 65 million people displaced right now are children, yet only 2% of total humanitarian spend is allocated to education during crises. Given that refugees are displaced for over 12 years means that entire generations often forgo education. In this episode, Grant and Ravi talk with Sarah Smith, the IRC’s Senior Director of Education, a leading expert in education in humanitarian settings. They discuss how to think about education in crisis settings, what models are promising for...
Mandy Patinkin: From 'Homeland’ actor to refugee advocate
May 08, 2018 10:00 - 57 minutesMandy Patinkin (Saul Berenson for Homeland fans) talks to Ravi and Grant about why he works with the IRC to lend his voice to refugees. Mandy reflects on his travels to various refugee camps and talks passionately about the need for everyone to be involved in working for the well-being of refugees. In this interview, they get into the challenges of generating empathy, the moral obligations of those who can help, and what individuals can do to make a difference. Learn more about your ad choice...
Alex Aleinikoff: let's start with how we define ‘refugee'
May 01, 2018 10:00 - 1 hourThe definition of a refugee - and how we think about the entire refugee system - needs to be changed, says Alex Aleinikoff, who was UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees from 2010-15. He talks to Ravi and Grant about why the definition matters, what it needs to expand to include, and how to build a humanitarian system that responds to the needs of the day. As the nature of conflict and displacement has changed, Alex brings a historical perspective to the discussion. They dive into the chal...
John Prendergast: The Enough Project, South Sudan - and working with George Clooney
April 24, 2018 10:00 - 51 minutesJohn Prendergast founded the Enough Project, which has worked with the likes of George Clooney and Ryan Gosling, to bring attention to complex humanitarian crises in Africa. In this episode, he talks with Ravi and Grant about his model of political change underpinning Enough, how to work with celebrities, and the lessons he has learned through his advocacy. They reflect on the root causes of conflict, the role of advocacy, and what activists should make of South Sudan. Learn more about your ...
Stephen Hickey on witnessing the unfolding Syria crisis
April 17, 2018 10:00 - 55 minutesStephen Hickey has a unique perspective: he was sent to Syria in 2010, as the UK's deputy ambassador to Damascus back when it was thought of as a "sleepy posting." The Assad regime kicked him out of the country a year later, as the protests intensified. Now, he's the political coordinator of the UK mission to the United Nations, and he talks to Ravi and Grant about how seven brutal years of war in Syria has created a humanitarian crisis on an immense scale. The discussion covers the roots of ...
Madeleine Albright on the global refugee crisis
April 10, 2018 10:00 - 57 minutesFormer Secretary of State Madeleine Albright reflects on her experience as a refugee and how it has shaped her views on America's role in the refugee crisis (or lack thereof). In this interview, Ravi and Grant dive into Madeleine’s Albright’s views on how humanitarian intervention has evolved, her disappointment in Aung San Suu Kyi over the treatment of the Rohingya, and the role of art in this dark political moment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Displaced: a weekly exploration of the most innovative solutions to humanitarian crises around the world
April 04, 2018 11:02 - 2 minutesLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices