Course Correction: Recent Episodes
Doha Debates
The UN estimates that there are 84 million forcibly displaced people around the world, and 27 million of those are considered refugees. These numbers are the highest they have ever been. For season 3 of Course Correction, we’re partnering with UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, to illuminate all aspects of the refugee experience. The season will follow refugees and other forcibly displaced persons from the moment they leave their homes to their eventual resettlement or return, detailing arduous journeys that can sometimes last years or even decades.
Course Correction is a production of Doha Debates and Qatar Foundation, with help from Foreign Policy.
Note: This episode discusses suicide. In the final installment of our six-part series about the refugee experience, host Nelufar Hedayat talks to weightlifter, nurse and refugee Cyrille Tchatchet. A native of Cameroon, Cyrille first came to the UK in 2014 to compete in the Commonwealth Games. Feeling that it was too unsafe to return home, he became a refugee, experiencing both homelessness and depression. With support, Tchatchet went on to win multiple weightlifting titles, and became a mental health nurse. His story underscores some of the hardships that refugees face — and what can be achieved when people have the support and opportunity they need to succeed in their adopted countries. Listener challenge During this season of Course Correction, we're challenging you to reflect on different aspects of the refugee experience and share your thoughts with us. Our last challenge is a place for storytelling. If you are a refugee, our challenge is simple: Share your story with us. Tell us how you came to be displaced, what obstacles you face and what your hopes and dreams are for the future. Please share with us via Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, or tweet directly to our host, Nelufar Hedayat.
More than 85 percent of refugees and asylum-seekers are hosted in developing countries, many of which neighbor the countries being fled. In this episode, host Nelufar Hedayat looks at the role that local communities can play in hosting refugees. Nelufar speaks with Rodaan Al Galidi, who talks about his experiences fleeing Iraq to start a new life in the Netherlands. UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and acclaimed Pakistani actor Mahira Khan tells Nelufar about her experiences meeting Afghan refugees in Pakistan.
Listener challenge During this season of Course Correction, we're challenging you to reflect on different aspects of the refugee experience and share your thoughts with us. For today’s episode: Tell us about a time when you had the choice to welcome someone else into your social circle, What were the criteria you used to decide whether or not to let them in? If you did let them in, what enabled you to empathize with them? Please share with us via Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, or tweet directly to our host, Nelufar Hedayat.
This week, a bonus episode: A town-hall-style discussion with Malala Yousafzai on the future of women's and girls' education in Afghanistan and other conflict areas. In the six months since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan, many schools and universities have closed their doors to young women, and promises to reopen have gone unfulfilled. Education and equality advocate Malala Yousafzai joined students and Afghan refugees for a global town hall conversation at Qatar’s National Library, moderated by Doha Debates correspondent Nelufar Hedayat, on March 28, 2022. The audio from this discussion and audience Q&A examines the refugee experience, men's role in the fight for equality and the future of education. Malala became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 2014. After surviving a 2012 attempt on her life by the Pakistani Taliban, she created Malala Fund, an organization dedicated to fighting for every girl’s right to access to free, safe and quality education.
Jennifer Roberts, a senior education officer with UNHCR, talks to host Nelufar Hedayat about the 10 million refugee children worldwide who lack access to education, what it takes to educate displaced people and how some host countries are working to meet the challenge. Next, Nelufar speaks with Dr. Saleema Rehman, an Afghan refugee who received her medical degree in Pakistan. Dr. Rehman talks about what it was like to attend school as a refugee and the pride she has now that she's able to give back to her community. Finally, Nelufar speaks with Academy Award-winning actor Cate Blanchett about her experiences as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador advocating for refugees. Blanchett explains that educating refugee children and young adults provides opportunities to be leaders in rebuilding their homelands while also benefiting their host countries.
Listener challenge During this season of Course Correction, we're challenging you to reflect on different aspects of the refugee experience and share your thoughts with us. For today’s episode: While not all of us have experience as a refugee, many of us know what it’s like to attend a new school. What’s something that a teacher said or did that made you feel welcome and accepted? How did that change your perception of the school? What are some tactics that could make it easier for newcomers to integrate into schools? Please share with us via Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, or tweet directly to our host, Nelufar Hedayat.
In Part III of our season on refugees, we look at the mental-health toll of living as a refugee or an internally displaced person. Host Nelufar Hedayat speaks with an internally displaced Afghan woman about trying to care for herself and her children while living in a shipping container. She also examines different ways that refugees define and experience the trauma of conflict, and she shares stories from aid workers who help displaced persons process their experiences.
Listener challenge During this season of Course Correction, we're challenging you to reflect on different aspects of the refugee experience and share your thoughts with us. For today’s episode: Have you been in a situation where you've had to worry about providing basic care for yourself or your family? What resources helped you through it? If you're a refugee, what was the moment you felt that your life stabilized enough to start thinking about your long-term hopes and dreams rather than daily survival? Please share with us via Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, or tweet directly to our host, Nelufar Hedayat.
On this episode of our season chronicling the refugee experience, we’re focusing on bodily harm. What kinds of injuries do displaced people suffer, and what does it take to tend to those injuries — not just the ones that can be seen, but the invisible ones that might take longer to heal? This episode features a first-hand account from an internally displaced Afghan dealing with a long term foot injury.
If you want to help those who have suffered from physical ailments while being displaced, you can learn more at the following links:
The International Committee of the Red Cross
Doctors Without Borders
World Vision International
Listener Challenge During this season of Course Correction, we're challenging you to reflect on different aspects of the refugee experience and share your thoughts with us.
For today’s episode: Tell us about a time when you made a difference for someone with a health problem, disability or chronic pain or illness, and what the outcome was.
Please share with us via Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, or tweet directly to our host, Nelufar Hedayat.
In the premiere episode of our season on the refugee journey, we'll take a closer look at the moment of displacement and its immediate aftermath. Hear from experts on what causes displacement, and what resources refugees and internally displaced persons have once they decide it's no longer safe to remain at home. This episode features the story of Mohammed Anwar, a Rohingya refugee who nearly lost his life on a fishing boat while fleeing violence in home country of Myanmar.
Learn more about Anwar’s story.
Listener Challenge
During this season of Course Correction, we're challenging you to reflect on different aspects of the refugee experience and share your thoughts with us.
For today’s episode: Tell us about a time when you were in a difficult circumstance and needed help from a stranger. What was it like when you were in need? Did you repay the stranger’s kindness, and how did that feel? If you are a refugee yourself, have you experienced help from strangers?
Please share with us via Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, or tweet directly to our host, Nelufar Hedayat.
For the past two seasons of the Course Correction podcast, we’ve challenged ourselves to find ways to change the world. In season one, host Nelufar Hedayat conducted personal challenges to explore how individuals can have a real impact on global issues. In season two, she focused on listening to people she disagreed with in order to figure out how to bridge the gaps that divide us.
This season, we’re focusing on a specific global challenge: Refugees. Why this single topic? Displacement of people is arguably one of the biggest humanitarian and geopolitical issues of our time. The United Nations estimates that there are 84 million forcibly displaced people around the world, and nearly 27 million of those are considered refugees. These numbers are the highest they have ever been.
Course Correction has partnered with UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, to illuminate all aspects of the refugee experience. The season will follow refugees and other forcibly displaced persons from the moment they leave their homes to their eventual resettlement or return, detailing arduous journeys that can sometimes last years or even decades.
Course Correction is proud to introduce listeners to The Long Game, a new sports-themed podcast that highlights stories of courage and conviction on and off the field. In this episode, The Long Game host and US Olympian Ibtihaj Muhammad talks to Amy Mackinnon from Foreign Policy Playlist to introduce herself and the new podcast. The Long Game is a production of Doha Debates and Foreign Policy.
Violence, unrest and the coronavirus pandemic have displaced an unprecedented number of people globally. Yet instead of offering shelter to refugees, many countries use populist rhetoric to excuse their global responsibility and reject those in need. In the final episode of season two of Course Correction, host Nelufar Hedayat speaks with refugee advocates David Miliband and Melanie Nezer, as well as Gillian Triggs, the assistant high commissioner for protection in the office of the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Nelufar talks to each of them about what can be done to change hearts, minds and government policies. For the final challenging conversation, she speaks with Boston College political science professor Peter Skerry, who argues that poor leadership has exacerbated the problem.
In this episode, host Nelufar Hedayat examines the power and limitations of dialogue with three people working to create justice and equality in Israel and Palestine. She speaks with rapper Tamer Nafar, a Palestinian who lives in Israel, about how he uses music to call attention to the lives of his fellow Palestinians in Israel. Then she speaks with Hussein Agha, an advisor to Palestinian leaders who has worked in peace negotiations, about the need to translate dialogue into action. Finally she talks to Robi Damelin, an Israeli activist who brings together Palestinians and Israelis through shared grief and empathy.
Host Nelufar Hedayat looks at the evolution of masculinity and what — if any — role men have in within the feminist movements. First she hears from British comedian David Baddiel about how he went from being a "lad" comic to someone acutely aware of gender dynamics. For her challenging interview, Nelufar speaks with French writer and activist Pauline Harmange, who argues that modern men have no place in feminism. Finally, she convenes a roundtable of men from across the globe to hear their perspectives on how to change male culture to be more inclusive, and the how men can fight for gender equality. Roundtable guests include Mazin Jamal, Satchit Puranik and Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic.
Host Nelufar Hedayat begins this episode with a trip to her old London neighborhood of Hampstead ,where she and her younger sister Fatema go apartment hunting and find out just how unattainable home ownership is for younger generations. Next she talks to debt relief advocate Astra Taylor about some of the factors that have created the generational wealth gap. Finally, Jayathma Wickramanayake, the UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth, talks about how to work within government and established systems to create change.
Host Nelufar Hedayat explores the economic and social considerations around automation and artificial intelligence. She talks to three guests with different views about automation, and looks at its effect on women working in Bangladesh's garment industry, the social changes necessary to ensure ethical AI use and questions who should be writing the rules governing AI.
In this episode, host Nelufar Hedayat examines France's Laïcite or "secularism" laws, which discourage religious involvement in public life. First she speaks about experiences wearing the hijab in Western Europe with members of Collectif Les 100 Diplômées, a Belgian group that supports Muslim women. Then French lawmaker Aurore Bergé discusses why she believes that restricting where the hijab can be worn is an act of feminism. Finally, award-winning filmmaker Deeyah Khan talks about her experiences as a prominent Muslim woman, and her frustrations over regulating Muslim attire.
How do we work together to address climate change when there's no consensus on the solution? Host Nelufar Hedayat explores multiple solutions to climate change with Per Espen Stoknes, a Norwegian psychologist who specializes in the psychology of economic choices for climate change. She then speaks to Harvard geologist Dr. Daniel Schrag about how the scientific community could improve its messaging. And finally, she talks to former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard about the political perils of going big when it comes to enacting green laws.
Host Nelufar Hedayat talks about being called out online, and speaks to a crisis management expert about the best way to handle such situations. She then talks to two journalists who have faced online harassment and real-world consequences for their opinions. Finally, she hosts a roundtable discussion on cancel culture to try and parse when, if ever, canceling someone is appropriate.
Social media has made it easier than ever to share ideas around the world and galvanize people into action. Host Nelufar Hedayat looks at the double-edged sword of free speech from the perspective of social media influencer, a free speech lawyer and two tech veterans who say that today's tech companies wield too much power in determining what kind of speech should be permissible.
Why does it matter that different people have different perceptions of the truth? If you're trying to run a country, it can make a big difference. In this episode host Nelufar Hedayat speaks with former U.S. Republican Congressman Denver Riggleman, "godfather of fake news" Jestin Coler and Belarusian politician Svetlana Tikhanovskaya about disinformation's effect on politics and leadership.
Can reparations help repair generations of systemic racism? Beginning in the late 1940s, the British government invited Caribbean citizens to immigrate to England to help rebuild the country after World War II. Known as the Windrush generation, the immigrants and their descendants have frequently been denied basic British citizenship rights. We talk to a member of the Windrush generation who wants justice, and then turn to guests from Zimbabwe and the U.S. to discuss reparations in those countries.
How have different countries have dealt with the pandemic? What is best for society when we do things with shared interests in mind, versus looking out for individual needs? Featured voices include Swedish physician Johnny Ludvigsson, who is against lockdowns, and British economist Noreena Hertz.
*A note to listeners the interviews for this podcast were recorded over the winter and so some of the statistics cited may be outdated. For up to the minute information on the coronavirus check out the World Health Organization's website.
In the second season of Course Correction, host Nelufar Hedayat is taking on a new challenge: Listening to people she disagrees with. Each episode addresses one polarizing issue, and Nelufar will engage with people whose opinions are very different from her own — and try to keep an open mind.
In the final episode of the season, Nelufar speaks with conflict resolution expert and friend Dr. Govinda Clayton about how to listen, how to be heard and how we can all change for the better. Read the episode transcript here.
This special episode is a live recording from the Sundance Film Festival, with Filipino journalist Maria Ressa and filmmaker Ramona S. Diaz. Diaz’s most recent film, A Thousand Cuts, documents Ressa’s work to fight disinformation and the weakening of the Philippines’ democracy. Read the episode transcript here.
Menstruation is normal — so why is it still taboo to talk about in some parts of the world? Nelufar has a heart-to-heart with her childhood friends about period stigma. Then she talks with Mandu Reid, the leader of the British Women’s Equality Party and founder of the Cup Effect, an organization that offers menstrual cups to people in need. Read the episode transcript here.
Artificial intelligence has as much racial and gender bias as the people who create it. Joy Buolamwini, a computer scientist and digital activist at the MIT Media Lab, talks with host Nelufar Hedayat about how to build artificial intelligence systems that don’t perpetuate social inequalities. Read the episode transcript here.
Your phone is tracking you all the time. Tech companies are monetizing your personal data. Is there anything that you can do about it? Nelufar talks to Danny O’Brien of the Electronic Frontier Foundation about why data privacy should be a human right. Then we discover some surprising ways social media ad targeting is being used to do good in the world. Read the episode transcript here.
The public’s trust in governments is at an all-time low. Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein is a veteran diplomat and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. He talks with host Nelufar Hedayat about standing up to governments — and the enemies he made along the way. Read the episode transcript here.
As the coronavirus rages, 89 percent of students around the world are out of school and turning to online platforms to keep studying. That has its limits and its own set of challenges, but it’s far better than no school at all. Nelufar speaks with Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy, about internet inequality and the future of education in a post COVID-19 world. Read the episode transcript here.
While confronting a friend who voted for Brexit, Nelufar goes on an ego-dampening journey that takes her from a conflict circle in Iraq to a prison in southern Illinois, as she learns why conflict resolution is more about confronting ourselves than others. Read the episode transcript here.
What do our decisions about COVID-19 say about who we are as societies and the systems we take for granted? This week, we chat with global strategy expert Parag Khanna and anthropologist Jason Hickel about the novel coronavirus, the global economy and the institutions we must trust to get us through this. Read the episode transcript here.
How do we solve a problem that has displaced 25 million people globally? Nelufar talks to journalist Marc Lamont Hill about the role racism plays in the global refugee crisis. Read the episode transcript here.
Nelufar gets an unpleasant surprise when she finds out how much carbon she’s personally responsible for emitting into the atmosphere. But even if we all work to reduce our carbon footprint, will it be enough to fix the climate crisis? Or does real change have to come from the top? Read the episode transcript here.
The gap between rich and poor is widening at an unsustainable rate. Author Anand Giridharadas says that to really change the world, we need to challenge capitalist power structures. Read the episode transcript here.
What would it take to live without globalization — and is that even possible? Host Nelufar Hedayat attempts to go hyper local in London and talks to author Parag Khanna and Ghanaian agripreneur Nana Adjoa Sifa. One thing is for sure, globalization is a lot more complicated than you think. Read the episode transcript here.
Garbage is Veena Sahajwalla’s passion. And the trash is piling up: The more stuff we consume, the more waste we create. She’s inventing new ways to turn trash into useful items — like using old tires to make steel and transforming plastic waste into tiles and furniture. Read the episode transcript here.
Is it possible to live without single-use plastics? Host Nelufar Hedayat learns that recycling our forks, bags and coffee cup lids just isn’t enough. She also talks to a Vietnamese activist who's pioneering the zero-waste movement in a country beset with other people’s plastic waste. Read the episode transcript here.
“Equal Pay!” was the chant that rang through the 2019 Women’s World Cup. Although women players often bring in more money for their soccer or football federations, they earn a just a fraction of their male counterparts’ salaries. Host Nelufar Hedayat learns that soccer is more than just a game — it’s a battlefield for equality. Read the episode transcript here.
As a girl, Georgie Badiel walked three hours every morning to get clean water for her family in Burkina Faso. Host Nelufar Hedayat talks to Badiel, who today is a fashion model and an activist for clean water access in her home country, about the right to clean water and why it’s a matter of gender equity in sub-Saharan countries. Read the episode transcript here.
Could you live on only 50 liters (13 gallons) of water a day? To better understand the water shortages threatening more and more cities around the world, host Nelufar Hedayat limits herself to 50 liters of water for all her cooking, cleaning, and drinking. She also talks to people in Cape Town, South Africa, about how they averted Day Zero, the day their water supply was going to run dry. Read the episode transcript here.
Host Nelufar Hedayat’s family fled Afghanistan as refugees 25 years ago, when Nelufar was a young child. Nelufar's mother tells her story for the first time in our first episode of Course Correction. Nelufar also talks with a more recent refugee about what it’s like to seek asylum today, and how we can be more empathetic and supportive of our refugee neighbors. Read the episode transcript here.
From living on less than 50 liters of water a day to collecting all the plastic she uses in a week, host Nelufar Hedayat puts herself through the paces to understand the world’s most pressing issues with empathy and deep personal involvement. Course Correction follows Nelufar’s journey each week as she dives deep with the people most affected by humanity’s greatest challenges, from the global water crisis to the gender pay gap to overuse of plastics. Presented by Doha Debates, Course Correction will help you understand the world’s most pressing issues in a completely new way. Season 1 launches January 22.