In Pursuit of Development

Епизоде

• How civil society adapts when aid shrinks | Tikhala Itaye 03.06.2026 48мин

  As aid shrinks and donor priorities shift, civil society organizations are being forced to rethink how they survive, adapt, and continue serving communities. Dan Banik speaks with Tikhala Itaye about funding cuts, local ownership, social entrepreneurship, gender equality, accountability, and why Malawi’s development future may depend on new forms of innovation and collaboration.
• Is Rwanda a development success? | Pritish Behuria 20.05.2026 46мин

  Rwanda is often celebrated as one of Africa’s most striking development success stories. But how durable is that success, and who has benefited from it? Dan Banik speaks with Pritish Behuria about Rwanda’s services-led growth model, powerful national brand, and the unresolved challenges of jobs, inequality, foreign dependence, and structural transformation.
• African agency at the crossroads | Dan Banik 13.05.2026 24мин

  African scholars, policymakers, civil society leaders, and practitioners are rethinking development amid aid cuts, geopolitical fragmentation, climate pressures, and the rise of AI. Drawing on recent conversations in Pretoria, Addis Ababa, Blantyre, and Mauritius, Dan Banik reflects on African agency, the limits of donor-driven development, and why the future must be shaped by those most affected by it.
• How public institutions become captured | Elizabeth Dávid-Barrett 29.04.2026 43мин

  Dan Banik speaks with Elizabeth Dávid-Barrett about state capture and development. Together, they explore how corruption moves beyond bribes to reshape institutions, weaken accountability, deepen inequality, and allow powerful political and business actors to rewrite the rules in their own favor.
• Why the UN looks different from the Global South | Alanna O’Malley 22.04.2026 47мин

  Dan Banik speaks with Alanna O’Malley about the hidden history of the United Nations, showing how actors from the Global South helped shape global governance, decolonization, development, and the struggle for a more just international order. The conversation explores why the UN looks very different when viewed from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and why these debates matter so much in today’s crisis-ridden world.
• The poverty trap that kills a million people a year | Madhukar Pai 15.04.2026 51мин

  Why does tuberculosis still kill more than a million people every year despite being preventable and curable? Dan Banik speaks with Madhukar Pai about TB, poverty, undernutrition, primary healthcare, decolonizing global health, and the enduring legacy of Paul Farmer.
• Can aid still fight poverty? | Elina Scheja 08.04.2026 39мин

  How is global development cooperation changing in an age of aid cuts, geopolitical fragmentation, and shifting national priorities? In this episode, Dan Banik speaks with Elina Scheja, Chief Economist at Sida, about the future of foreign aid, poverty reduction, jobs, evidence, and what effective development policy looks like in a more uncertain world.
• Can Asia still deliver the development dream? | Philip Schellekens 01.04.2026 43мин

  Dan Banik speaks with Philip Schellekens, Chief Economist for Asia Pacific at UNDP, about what Asia’s extraordinary rise can (and cannot) teach us about development today. They explore growth, inequality, jobs, aging, AI, and why the future of development depends on moving beyond crisis language toward a more inclusive and opportunity-focused vision.
• Urbanization, inequality and the future of development | Benjamin Bradlow 25.03.2026 46мин

  Dan Banik speaks with Benjamin Bradlow about urban inequality, informal settlements, and why access to housing, sanitation, and transport remains so unequal in many of the world’s fastest-growing cities. The conversation explores how local politics, state capacity, and civil society shape whether cities become spaces of exclusion or inclusion.
• Why the middle class will shape global development | Homi Kharas 18.03.2026 45мин

  Dan Banik speaks with Homi Kharas about the rise of the global middle class and why it has become central to the story of modern development. The conversation explores how middle-class growth is reshaping economies, politics, and aspirations around the world, and why its future will matter for inequality, sustainability, and global change.
• Artificial intelligence and the future of human decision-making | Francesco Marcelloni 11.03.2026 46мин

  Artificial intelligence is transforming healthcare, education, and governance. Dan Banik and Francesco Marcelloni explore the risks and benefits, and why human judgment must remain central in the AI era.
• Why India–China relations could reshape the global order | Manoj Kewalramani 04.03.2026 37мин

  India-China relations have entered a phase of cautious re-engagement, but beneath the diplomatic optics lie deep structural fault lines shaped by power asymmetry, border tensions, economic interdependence, and great power rivalry. Dan Banik speaks with Manoj Kewalramani about whether the relationship is stabilizing into a cold peace or simply entering another cycle of strategic competition with global consequences.
• Can philosophy save a world obsessed with power? | Thomas Pogge 25.02.2026 37мин

  In a world defined by rising great-power rivalry, declining solidarity, and shrinking aid budgets, the Yale philosopher Thomas Pogge joins Dan Banik to discuss whether global justice and human rights still matter or whether power politics has won. From the erosion of soft power to bold proposals like the Ecological Impact Fund, this conversation explores how values, innovation, and institutional reform could reshape a fractured international order.
• Debt, development finance, and global agency | David McNair 18.02.2026 48мин

  Dan Banik speaks with David McNair about the shifting politics of global development in an era of debt distress and declining humanitarian funding. They explore how activism must adapt to a changing global financial landscape, the rise of agency in the Global South, and what it will take to reform development finance for the years ahead.
• Six economists and the making of modern development | David Engerman 11.02.2026 53мин

  David Engerman takes Dan Banik inside the lives and rivalries of six South Asian economists who helped define what “development” would mean in the postcolonial world. From Cambridge seminars to global institutions, the conversation reveals how their debates on trade, planning, inequality, and human welfare still shape the choices governments face today.
• Making evidence actually usable | Lindsey Moore 04.02.2026 45мин

  Dan Banik speaks with Lindsey Moore about how ethical AI and predictive analytics can transform decades of development evaluations into structured and searchable evidence for better decisions. They explore what it takes to build context-aware models grounded in clear taxonomies and local perspectives, enabling AI to strengthen institutional learning and advance equity.
• Vietnam’s remarkable development turnaround | Arve Hansen 28.01.2026 50мин

  Vietnam is a celebrated development success story, but rapid growth is also reshaping everyday life through rising inequality, changing consumption, and mounting environmental pressures. Dan Banik speaks with Arve Hansen about what Vietnam’s next phase of development may look like and the trade-offs it will require.
• Energy for growth on the African continent | Todd Moss 21.01.2026 50мин

  Dan Banik speaks with Todd Moss about why electrification has surged in some countries but continues to lag across much of Africa. Together they unpack why “access” is only the starting point when electricity is expensive, unreliable, and unable to power jobs and growth.
• Looking back, thinking forward | Dan Banik 23.12.2025 10мин

  As the year draws to a close, Dan Banik takes stock of the major ideas and debates that have defined Season 6 of In Pursuit of Development. From shifting global power and democracy to climate, energy, and artificial intelligence, this episode looks back at what we have learned and ahead to what is next.
• Climate, conflict and the development squeeze | Florian Krampe 17.12.2025 43мин

  Climate change is increasingly shaping development and security outcomes, not as a single cause of conflict but as a force that intensifies existing vulnerabilities in fragile contexts. Dan Banik and Florian Krampe discuss why separating climate, development, and security is no longer tenable and how climate action might become a pathway to resilience and peace rather than instability.