Global Development Institute podcast

Episodes

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  GDI Students and Muungano wa Wanavijiji Researchers on Co-Designing Research 23.10.2026 30m

  This is the second podcast about the Reciprocal Learning Exchange Project, a collective endeavour set up by the Muungano wa Wanavijiji Kisumu Federation and students from the Global Development Institute, supported by GDI’s Innovation Fund. Designed to better understand the benefits, challenges, and underexplored opportunities that come about when developing relationships between researchers and grassroots movements, the project involved several workshops to facilitate open exchange and recip...
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  GDI Students and Muungano wa Wanavijiji Researchers on Reciprocal Learning and Co-Production 16.10.2026 27m

  The Reciprocal Learning Exchange Project is a collective endeavour set up by the Muungano wa Wanavijiji Kisumu Federation and students from the Global Development Institute, supported by GDI’s Innovation Fund. Designed to better understand the benefits, challenges, and underexplored opportunities that come about when developing relationships between researchers and grassroots movements, the project involved several workshops to facilitate open exchange and reciprocal learning. This podc...
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  The Labour Market in Bangladesh: Conversation with Farzana Munshi 05.10.2026 27m

  In this episode of the GDI podcast, David Fielding, Professor of Development Economics, interviews Farzana Munshi, Professorial Research Fellow, about her latest book, The Labour Market in Bangladesh: Emerging Challenges, Future of Work, and Policy Direction (Routledge). The pair discuss the fourth industrial revolution, potential upcoming transformations to the labour market in Bangladesh, some of the deep puzzles for researchers exploring the country's labour market, and much more. &n...
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  Who gets heard? Language and power in development 30.09.2026 1h 1m

  In this episode we hear GDI undergraduate students Evelyn Taylor, Olivia Thornburrow and Cheryl Loh in conversation with Cecilia Milesi. Cecilia has over 25 years of experience advising multilateral organizations, United Nations agencies such as UNOSSC, and international NGOs including Amnesty International and Oxfam. She is the founder of the Global Change Center and the youth participation initiative Subir al Sur, in addition to serving as an Asia Global Fellow and a fellow of the Glo...
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  Armando Barrientos on Social Policies in the Global South 22.09.2026 36m

  The Oxford Handbook of Social Policies in the Global South has just been published, bringing together the latest research on social policies and institutions in place outside the advanced capitalist countries. In this episode of the GDI Podcast, one of the handbook's co-editors, Professor Armando Barrientos, discusses the rationale behind publishing the book and the contributions it makes to the broad field of social policy studies. Read the book here: The Oxford Handbook of Social...
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  Shifting the Architecture of Aid 14.09.2026 46m

  Three of our recently-graduated undergrad students - Amelia Campion, Alex Dannreuther and Niamh Keogan - speak with Chibwe Masabo Henry about the breakdown of aid structures and the ways we can shift our giving to a flexible, community-grounded model. Chibwe Masabo Henry is Shifting the Power Programme Lead at Comic Relief, and is also Chief Steward of One World Together. Find out more about the Global Development Institute: WebsiteBlogBlueSky LinkedIn FacebookIn...
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  The Political Economy of Rwanda's Rise: Conversation with Pritish Behuria 15.06.2026 43m

  In this episode, GDI's Pritish Behuria discusses his new book, The Political Economy of Rwanda's Rise (Open Access, Cambridge University Press). Pritish explains how the country's economic and political prospects have changed since the genocide in 1994, as well as the development challenges Rwanda currently faces. Find out more about the Global Development Institute: WebsiteBlogBlueSky LinkedIn FacebookInstagram Newsletter Intro music Anna Banana by Eaters
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  The Social Implications of Conservation – with Prof Dan Brockington 02.06.2026 29m

  In recent decades, conservation science has begun to pay greater attention to local people’s rights, livelihoods, and well-being. Yet the growing availability of data and advanced technologies raises new justice concerns for conservation science. This episode explores the justice dimensions of conservation in a data-driven world. This episode features Professor Dan Brockington from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, interviewed by Leverhulme Early Career Fellow Thuy Duong Khuu. Find...
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  Geographies of Responsibility, Care and Repair in Digital Worlds of AI 29.05.2026 33m

  In this episode, we chat with some of the authors of a recent intervention published inTransactions of the Institute of British Geographers on 'Geographies of Responsibility, Care and Repair in Digital Worlds of AI'. We hear from Jessica McLean, Katarzyna Cieslik, Nikko Stevens, and Jack Gieseking about the threats posed by AI, the blurry definitions of AI, and the critical tools scholars are using to understand our ever-changing technological landscape. You can read the essays in the interve...
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  What academic traits create transformative research? 27.05.2026 45m

  In her opening session for Research for Transformation Lab week in November 2025, GDI’s Diana Mitlin reflected on five academic personas and their possibilities for transformative research: the shining superstar, the convenor, the subversive persona, the collaborative co-producer, the shapeshifter. In this pod, we follow the recording of Diana’s reflections with a conversation between two of GDI’ researchers, Smith Ouma and Elisa Gambino. Ellie and Smith react to these personas through their ...
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  Alumni Conversation: Taio Gardey on Farming Out of Poverty 21.04.2026 26m

  In this episode, Taio Gardey, GDI alumnus and Executive Director of Farming Out of Poverty (FOOP), discusses the realities of working on the ground in Sierra Leone. We discuss tricky decisions he's had to make throughout his career, the kinds of skills he's developed in recent years, and how development organisations can adapt and thrive in the current environment. Find out more about the Global Development Institute: WebsiteBlogBlueSky LinkedIn FacebookInstagram&n...
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  Alumni chat: How has the SEED Changemakers programme shaped your university and graduate life? 24.03.2026 35m

  In this episode, we chat with five recent graduates about their time with the SEED Changemakers programme. Participants include: Laura AcostaIfe AgboolaPatrick CaskieEddie GrovesThando MatheAs well as chatting about their reasons for becoming Changemakers, participants describe their reasons for supporting social enterprise One World Together, the skills they learned as students, and their experiences of navigating a tough graduate jobs market. A must-listen for current and prospective studen...
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  Taxation and Development in Ghana and West Africa 24.03.2026 48m

  In this episode, Dr Mohammed Ibrahim is joined by Dr Alex Moyem Kombat, Head of Research and Policy of the Ghana Revenue Authority and two GDI PGRs, Anifat Ibrahim and Mohammed Damba to discuss domestic revenue mobilisation in Ghana and in West Africa. Taxation is crucial to development as it provides states with the necessary funding to provide citizens with public services, such as healthcare and education. Currently, Ghana’s tax-to-GDP ratio is around 13%, just short of the African a...
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  Using data to map forest changes 16.02.2026 1h 5m

  In this latest episode from the Sustainable Forest Transition Project, Prof Johan Oldekop (GDI) speaks to Sarah Castle (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Matt Fagan (University of Maryland Baltimore County). Johan, Sarah and Matt talk about their research and how data can shape forest landscapes and the way we interact with them. More from Sarah: Article in One Earth Bringing Satellites Down to Earth Politics of Pixels Robust Evaluation of Carbon Credits CARE Principles...
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  The Impact of Storytelling, with Uma Kothari 21.01.2026 16m

  Welcome to a new mini-pod series from the Global Development Institute’s Research for Transformation Lab. Based at the University of Manchester, the Lab is an initiative where we explore all things research impact. This episode was recorded in November 2025 during Transformation Lab week, a series of face to face sessions designed to initiate a critically engaged conversation around research impact and the idea of research for transformation. In this episode, our GDI colleague Uma...
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  How can different ways of understanding the world help us tackle the climate emergency? Blanche de Moidrey and Kalani Foster 20.01.2026 38m

  In this episode, we catch up with two of GDI's second-year PhD students, Blanche de Moidrey and Kalani Foster, to discuss how their research projects relate to the broad themes of indigeneity and knowledge production. We touch on topics including how to grapple with one's positionality as a researcher, the complex political dimensions of indigeneity as a concept, and the ways in which their projects overlap and diverge. We also discussed Blanche's motivations for setting up a website fo...
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  Why Study a PhD in Development Economics at GDI? 25.11.2025 48m

  Listen to a discussion between Dr Osman Ouattara and two of our current PhD researchers, Mahtab Uddin and Matilda Kabutey-Ongor. In this episode they discuss their own research and the new pathway for development economics at GDI. Learn more here: https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/gdi... Or here: https://www.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/stud... Find out more about the Global Development Institute: WebsiteBlogBlueSky LinkedIn FacebookInstagram Newsletter Intro music Anna ...
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  Alumni Discussion: Navigating Development Careers in the Twenty-First Century 12.11.2025 57m

  In this episode, Dr Natalie Cunningham, Senior Lecturer in Leadership for Development at GDI, speaks to three UoM alumni about their experiences navigating the contemporary development and humanitarian landscape. Contributors include Stephanie Lord (Head of Global Emergency at the Danish Refugee Council), Shamilah Perumal (Minister for Economic Affairs in the High Commission of Malaysia in New Delhi), and Anna Spethman (Lecturer and Volunteer Manager at the University of Nebraska, Omaha).&nbs...
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  In Conversation: Gindo Tampubolon on healthy ageing around the world 05.11.2025 26m

  A conversation with Gindo Tampubolon, GDI's Reader in Global Health, to discuss his research on global healthy ageing and his work as a lead expert for the World Health Organization's Life Course & Healthy Ageing expert group as part of the UN's Decade of Healthy Ageing Initiative. Find out more about the Global Development Institute: WebsiteBlogBlueSky LinkedIn FacebookInstagram Newsletter Intro music Anna Banana by Eaters
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  In Conversation: Luis Eduardo Pérez Murcia on home and internal displacement in Colombia 23.10.2025 36m

  In this episode, we speak to GDI alumnus and research fellow Luis Eduardo Pérez Murcia about his recent open access book, A Long Journey Home: Losing and Remaking Home Following Conflict and Displacement. The book examines the experiences of those whose sense of home has been disrupted by decades of conflict and violence, highlighting the profound feelings of loss and the enduring struggle of living without a home. Luis Eduardo discusses his findings in depth, including various ways in which ...