South African foreign correspondent Al J Venter returned from the Central African Republic six weeks ago, having had personal experience of a Russian mercenary force that has virtually taken over an African state. The international community is now familiar with the activities of the Moscow-run Wagner Group, an exploitative military force that is currently active in several African countries - among them the CAR, Mali, Burkina Faso, parts of Libya and before that, Mozambique. In the process, mines and raw resources are being taken over by force and any opposition summarily dealt with, no questions asked. This Russian force also ingratiates itself with the government, gradually supplanting law and order with military force, and killing those who stand in its way, or are even suspected of opposing its will. How much longer is the world community going to allow these inhuman rights transgressions to continue? When are African nations themselves going to make a stand? Find out more in this compelling, exclusive interview.
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Simon Sebag Montefiore is one of the great history authors of our time. In his most ambitious project yet, he tells the history of the world through the stories of families. In this discussion, Gareth Cliff and him explore the tapestry of human history - from the earliest days, to Russia and the Ukraine.
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Iris Singer is an Austrian filmmaker and activist who has been telling the story of the Holocaust and survivors of the Holocaust - as well as organising events and tours to remind young people of the importance of history, and the most devastating genocides of the 20th century. In this discussion, she tells the story of her own anti-Semitic grandfather, the value of survivor stories, and the contribution young people can make to keeping history alive.
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Bali Padda, former COO of LEGO, was one of the people who transformed that company from sinking ship to juggernaut. In his book, 'Deliver What You Promise', Bali shares business lessons from his own story to help the rest of us to become more efficient, to understand our businesses better, and to connect meaningfully with the market. In this conversation, he also shares the story of his own blue-collar origins, and the failures that taught him how to become a success.
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Al J Venter has written books on and brought us the news from war zones all over the planet. He has witnessed things most of us cannot comprehend: closer, louder and more frightening than any second-hand account can accurately portray. In this discussion, Al talks about the most dangerous places he’s ever been, the volatile situations he has found himself in, and the human stories that happen behind the headlines.
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Thomas Grant KC is an English barrister, author and polemicist. His latest book on Sir Sydney Kentridge, called The Mandela Brief, is the incredible story of one of Apartheid South Africa’s most infamous trials. In this discussion, he and Gareth Cliff talk about Kentridge, the law, oligarchs, mock trials of the dead and lots more.
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David Smith is the Washington correspondent of The Guardian. From 2010 to 2015, he was their Africa correspondent, and was based in Johannesburg. He has a completely different take on the midterm elections compared to Joel Pollak - who Gareth spoke to recently. They discuss the main issues on the ballot, where the Republicans and Democrats look strongest and weakest… and whether Biden stands a chance of staying in office if the Dems do poorly in today’s results.
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Joel Pollak is the Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News, and the host of his own talk show. In this discussion - just more than a week before the US midterm elections - Gareth and Joel get into the politics of America in 2022… the issues that voters care about, the biggest surprise races, the balance of power between Democrats and Republicans, and the role of the media.
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Gareth chats to the host of Beyond Madness - Professor Christopher Paul Szabo. They discuss what the podcast series is about, and talk how we deal with mental health… because there’s no health without mental health!
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Peter Boghossian
Peter Boghossian is one of the most erudite social commentators and analysts of modern phenomena like wokeism, cancel culture, ideology and his favourite subject, philosophy. Having lectured thousands of students at some of America’s most prestigious universities, he has become a leading voice in criticising academia, and has written a number of books outlining the mistakes being made at institutions of higher learning. He’s also one of the most vocal counter-cultural thinkers, and has propagated much controversy with his studies of street epistemology.
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