Rolling with democracy: Recent Episodes
Stefanie Beermann
Despite global crises and conflicts, we humans are doing better than ever before. But why do more and more people in Europe and beyond seem frightened or have doubts about "the system"? Why do more and more people seem to be distrustful of politicians and political institutions? This podcast believes in two things: democracy and the rule of law.* And that you can only get rid of a feeling of insecurity about such big concepts if you have discussions about them, involving both experts and citizens. We want to get to know the people behind the experts and citizens, their personal views and professional opinions. Trusting political institutions also means being familiar with how they work and why they were established. The fundamental concepts stay the same, but people and ideas can evolve. We just gotta roll with it!
*Rule of law is shortened to ROL by the way.
We have an e-mail address now, in case you want to contact us: rollingwithdemocracy@gmail.com
In the latest episode of "What's happening in...?" we're visiting the 7th most populous country in the world: Nigeria. What has caused last year's massive protests against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS)? Why is Nigeria such a complicated country to govern?
Join in our conversation with Ernest Danjuma Enebi from Nigeria who has written extensively about Nigerian politics and policy, who says: "The world cannot allow Nigeria to become unstable... the world relies on Nigeria to keep the peace on the continent of Africa."
In this new segment we focus on the current political or legal situation in different places all around the world to get familiar with issues that might not make it into the mainstream media.
In this episode we're talking with Aleksandra Kustra-Rogatka, associate professor at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland, and Pamela Martín García, political scientist and Argentine activist, about the current situation in their countries regarding abortion laws.
How have essential workers experienced the COVID-19 pandemic? What do doctors and journalists have in common and could a European definition of "essential work" help improve the general working conditions of and cooperation between essential workers? We're exploring these and other questions in this episode together with Neus Vidal, Spanish journalist + political scientist, and Giulia Castelli, Italian doctor.
Thanks for your support and stay safe!
Is populism a threat to democracy as a whole or can populist movements also have some advantages? How does the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) come into play and has the COVID-19 pandemic broken the spell of populism? In the second episode we're talking with Alain Zysset, legal expert on public law of the University of Glasgow, about populism and its effect on democracy and the ECtHR.
Stay healthy & safe and have a cosy New Year's Eve. See you in 2021!
How did people with personal ties to the United States experience this election? What impact will this election result have on US-European relations, especially when we look at democracy and the rule of law? In this first episode we're talking with American conductor Garrett Keast and legal scholar Stoyan Panov.
Become familiar with political institutions and concepts. Let's have some meaningful and personal conversations about democracy and the rule of law to rebuild the trust in "the system"!