The Youth Perspective: Recent Episodes
Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats
In today’s world of fake news and misinformation, where all social media platforms appear to be afflicted, CALD Youth, with the support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom Regional Office, offers a fresh perspective on the role of the youth in addressing current political and social issues through the podcast – The Youth Perspective.
Whether it be the political, economic, and even the military, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a hard-hit effect on just about every facet of society. Another aspect however that COVID-19 has had a great effect on—to not a lot of public attention—is mental health. Aside from the obvious health concerns that were brought about by the pandemic, most factors that contribute to deteriorating mental conditions were those in relation to the policies of the current Philippine administration.
Speaker: Gang Badoy-Capati
Moderator: Mari Veronica Papa
In the age of the pandemic, strengthening and building new networks has never been more important. The new work life of endless zoom meetings and virtual gathering has tampered with the way organizations reach out to their respective networks. Strengthening your existing networks is one thing, but creating new relationships is another. It’s hard work and challenging in this new digital landscape. How do we get better at it? And how can liberals reach out to those outside of their own networks?
Speaker: Jules Maaten (FNF)
Moderator: Min Cheong (SDP)
Winning elections, theoretically, sounds easy enough. In your campaign, you put energy and money into the machinations, and you trust that your platform has been received well and that the democratic process works. But how does one win elections in an increasingly polarized society? Today, the increasing gap within voters and the clash of political ideologies in today’s fast-changing political environment.
Speakers: Birgitta Ohlsson & Jeremiah Tomas
Moderator: Kellor Yde
The podcast episode is in collaboration with the National Democratic Institute
Transformative Politics isn’t a new topic. It banks on the genuine human relationship of those in power and the people participating in the democratic processes. But when an interruption occurs, like corruption, abuse of power, and bad politics in general, how then do we balance it and restore democratic institutions to its glory? Today, we talk about the thin line between transactional politics (scratch my back and I scratch yours) and transformative politics (genuinely changing the lives of your constituents through democratic processes).
Speaker: Ry Kea
Moderator: Veronica Papa
Innovation is the process of breakthroughs over and over and over again. So how do you introduce and commit to innovation in a structure of politics that has been around for so long? How do you introduce a concept of breakdown and breakthrough for better governance? Innovation is the future, how then do you inject it into institutions that have been around for hundreds of years?
Speakers: Anna Marti & Ya-wei Chou (FNF Innovation Hub)
Moderator: Marcin Jerzewski (Taiwan NextGen Foundation)
The art of remembering and forgetting has a thin line. Today, we talk about historical revisionism and the adverse impact of misinformation as means for political machinations to purposely advance political discourse in the Philippines and China in favor of the sitting government. Why does historical revisionism occur and how, in the digital age, do we counter it?
Speaker: Kristoffer Pasion
Moderator: Marc Siapno
The discourse of female empowerment and gender equality has long been translated into many variations. However, how is it, that in 2021, there is still a gap between men and women in politics and economic standing? Today, we talk about the different positioning that has been exerted into the structural power relations and social relations pattern of women and men. Why is power perceived as a male trait? How do we position an equal display of power in today’s political and economic landscape? How do we introduce or strengthen equal power relations in politics? And how do we change the language used to describe women that are in power?
Speaker: Dr. Mira Ofreneo
Moderator: Danica C. Gonzalez
What is it with dictators and strongmen-leaders that just thrive? Why are these populist agendas working? The gap between their form of communication and the reality of things on the ground is borderline delusional. We talk about the different strategies and the historical rise of populist regimes around the region and how their long-term effect could dominate the political landscape in years to come.
Speaker: Leloy Claudio
Moderator: Amanda Kanange
The evolution of social media has given rise to online influencers. Promoting a product/brand isn’t out of the ordinary but what happens when they endorse a politician? In this digital era, can these influencers heavily impact the coming elections? We also talk about how social media paved the way for digital activism. How effective is the “cancel culture” anyway? Is it solidarity or solitary?
Speakers: Kakie Pangilinan, Macoy Dubs
Moderator: Christian Gultian
How do we make sure that people – the youth – have a seat at the table? Why is it so hard to get inside the bubble of decision-making built by years of a systemized politics dominated by an older generation? Youth activists around the region have to make sure that they are part of the conversation. Now, then, 2 questions stand: 1) How do we make tangible change, learning from the experiences of a youth activist who got persecuted for speaking out?; and 2) How do we get a seat at the table to make real change?