Welcome to Dante’s Inferno
New Thinking for a New World - a Tallberg Foundation Podcast
10/31/24
•33m
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Over the last several years Palestinians felt abandoned and ignored by Arabs, Americans, and Europeans. The people in Gaza and the West Bank seemed to have become almost invisible to everyone except themselves and the Israelis with whom they engaged in a low-intensity, but deadly conflict.
The attacks on October 7th and the continuing brutal Israeli response changed that, perhaps forever. Now it's hard to imagine ever returning to the status quo ante as unpleasant and unstable as that was. But all wars end, and this one will as well. The people who survive, especially the almost 50% of Gazans under the age of 18, will surely be marked for life.
So what?
That’s a harsh question, and it demands honest answers. Could the tragedy of war somehow lead to better lives and even a sovereign state for millions of Palestinians? Are Palestinians condemned to remain stuck in whatever circle of Dante's hell they now inhabit? Or might they give up and leave, even if the rest of the world doesn’t seem to want them?
Our guest on New Thinking for a New World brings the sort of experience and insight that can at least give us a window into possibilities. Francesca Borri is an Italian journalist and war reporter who has lived in the West Bank since 2007. Her work and integrity are respected by Arabs as well as Israelis. Proof point: she was the first Western journalist to interview Yahya Sinwar in 2018 and that interview led to direct negotiations between Hamas and Israel.
Can you imagine a positive ending to the tragedy in Gaza? Please tell us what you think here.
Previous Episode
Seeking Safe Passage
October 24, 2024
•39m
Two hundred and fifty years ago the Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote, "Man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn." He obviously wasn't talking about the tragedy of modern mass migration, but he could have been. Today thousands, indeed, millions of people are being driven from their homes by war, natural disasters, climate change, pestilence, poverty, or sometimes just a search for better opportunities. What could be more human? And what could be more inhuman than overcrowded camps, drownings, forced returns, desert dumps and other indignities that too often meet them?
It seems that much more effort goes into trying to stop or reverse the migrations than in either creating legal pathways to safe movement or addressing the root causes that compel people to flee in the first place. In light of the politics around migration in Europe and the United States, but also in important destination countries in the Global South, it is easy to imagine that the challenges facing would-be migrants will inevitably worsen. The resulting tragedies are becoming so commonplace that they seem to go mostly unnoticed.
Mostly is the keyword. There are legions of people who not only notice but are also looking for solutions. Today’s guest on New Thinking for a New World, Sasha Chanoff, founded RefugePoint, an organization dedicated to creating solutions for refugees in extreme danger. Listen as he explains some of his ideas that could change the future for migrants everywhere.
Next Episode
Africa’s Mental Health Emergency
November 7, 2024
•36m
It is trite, but true that youth are our future. Unfortunately, what is also true is that in most countries the mental health of young people has been declining over the past two decades, a decline that seems to have accelerated during and after COVID. Globally, one in seven 10 to 19-year-olds reportedly experience mental disorders. In turn, depression, anxiety, and behavioral issues are among the leading causes of illness, disability, and even suicide among adolescents.
What’s true globally is even more the case in Africa where 60% of people are under 24, and too many are victims of a witch's brew of climate shock, inflation, economic mismanagement, war, gang violence, epidemics, and other disasters. The resulting high incidence of youth with serious and enduring mental health disorders not only mortgages their own futures, but their countries' futures as well.
What can be done? Are there adequate resources, medical professionals, hospitals, and targeted programs focused on the challenges of youth mental health? Is there a real urgency among policymakers to address the problems?
Dr. Olayinka Omigbodun founded the Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria where today she is Provost of the College of Medicine, the first woman to hold that position. She has devoted her life to trying to answer those and other questions about adolescent mental health.
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