The World Unspun

New Internationalist is at risk! Donate today and help save global, independent journalism. This episode is brought to you by Coops UK . New Internationalist co-owner Kiran Gupta presents The Long Read from NI560: AI: The People Behind the Machine Further reading from this episode: Sudan's warring generals are armed to the brink (Eiad Husham in New Internationalist) Support independent media by becoming a New Internationalist co-owner. No billionaires. No media moguls. No corporate ads. Just truly independent, co-operative media. Subscribe today using the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription.

After more than 50 years of award-winning global justice journalism, New Internationalist could be forced to shut down. We need your help to survive. Donate today at newint.org/give This episode was brought to you by Big Solar Coop . ** The threat of nuclear weapons being used is the highest it’s been since the Cold War. Nuclear-armed states have been ploughing money into modernizing their arsenals and their leaders are abandoning arms control agreements as they continue to ramp up political tensions. In this episode, co-editor Amy Hall speaks to South Korean policy analyst Dae-Han Song of the International Strategy Center about why the US is fuelling this crisis – and what the international community needs to do bring the world back from the brink. Dae-Han Song is also part of the No Cold War Collective, and is an associate at the Korea Policy Institute. Further reading from this episode: The New Nuclear Arms Race (New Internationalist, January-February 2026) Flashpoints to fall out (Amy Hall in New Internationalist) Security or death (Dae-Han Song in New Internationalist) Subscribe to New Internationalist today to get our next issue on the centenary of the 1926 British General Strike! Use the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription.

This episode was brought to you by Big Solar Coop . Subscribe to New Internationalist and use the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription. The Beirut-based journalist provides his analysis on why Israel is able to impose a one-way 'ceasefire', its broader war aims in South Lebanon, and the people caught in the middle. Further reading from this episode: Please note this episode was recorded prior to the extension of the 'ceasefire' announced on 23 April 2026. Gaza: Genocide and Resistance ( New Internationalist , November/December 2025) Read all our Lebanon coverage on newint.org Mat Nashed is an award-nominated journalist who has covered the MENA region since the Arab Spring. He was previously the feature's print correspondent for Al Jazeera English and has written and reported for various other platforms, including Newlines Magazine, The New Humanitarian, The Committee to Protect Journalists, the Carnegie Endowment, and many others. He has extensively covered politics and conflict in the Nile Basin and the Levant.You can follow him at @matnashed on X and Instagram.

Subscribe to New Internationalist today to get our next issue on the centenary of the 1926 British General Strike! Use the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription. This episode was brought to you by Big Solar Coop . Tori Tsui is an environmental campaigner, author and advisor from Hong Kong. She is a senior advisor for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. Follow her on Instagram @toritsui Further reading from this episode: A new treaty promises to end fossil fuel extraction (Danny Chivers, New Internationalist ) Stepping back from the climate brink (Danny Chivers, New Internationalist ) To end the Gaza genocide, the Global South takes justice into its own hands (Kate McMahon, New Internationalist) It's Not Just You: How to navigate eco anxiety and the climate crisis (Tori Tsui) Follow the Fossil Fuel Treaty on Instagram @fossilfueltreaty

Subscribe to New Internationalist today to get our next issue on the centenary of the 1926 British General Strike! Use the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription. This episode was brought to you by Big Solar Coop . Molly Crabapple is an award-winning artist, writer and author whose work has appeared in past issues of New Internationalist including the cover of our 2015 issue Democracy in the digital era . Her forthcoming book, Here Where we Live is our Country , tells the little-known story of the revolutionary Jewish Labour Bund movement. The party aimed to build a socialist alternative to zionism while fighting violent anti-semitism in Eastern Europe in the early 20th century. Further reading from this episode: Singing in dark times: Cultural resistance in Palestine (Decca Muldowney in New Internationalist ) Gaza: Genocide and Resistance ( New Internationalist , Issue 558) Pre-order Here Where We Live is Our Country from Bloomsbury New Internationalist is an award-winning global justice magazine. Proudly reader-owned.

This episode is brought to you by Shared Interest . Despite its documented dangers, algorithmic biases and dire environmental consequences, AI is being pushed into every corner of our lives. But who benefits from framing it this way – and at what cost? For our latest issue, co-editor Decca Muldowney takes an in-depth look at the people behind the AI hype machine. Further reading from our issue AI: The People Behind the Machine : AI and its discontents (Decca Muldowney) 'Pennsylvania is perfect' (Maia Woluchem and Livia Garofalo) The myth of inevitability (Paula Lacey) The kill chain (Chris Cole) The janitors of the internet (Adio-Adet Dinika) Approaching infinity (Rémy Ngamije) Subscribe to New Internationalist magazine to read the full archive of Letter From columns, dating back to 1973. Use the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription.

This episode is brought to you by Shared Interest . Addis is a city at a crossroads. A massive redevelopment project is reshaping Ethiopia’s capital into what Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has called the ‘Dubai of East Africa’. His vision of a glistening metropolis of skyscrapers, wide roads and bike lanes aims to draw in investors and tourists alike. So what does this transformation feel like from the inside? For the past year, journalist Maya Misikir has been trying to answer that question through her Letter from Addis Ababa series - one of New Internationalist’s longest running columns. Traditionally, these letters have been written by women based in the Global South, changing hands every year, and offering perspectives that rarely make the headlines. Subscribe to New Internationalist magazine to read the full archive of Letter From columns, dating back to 1973. Use the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription. Fertile Ground (Bethany Rielly, Maxine Betteridge-Moes and Maya Misikir in New Internationalist ) Cover photograph by Amanuel Sileshi

This episode is brought to you by Shared Interest . New Internationalist co-owner Kiran Gupta presents The Long Read from NI559: The New Nuclear Arms Race Further reading from this episode: Necolonialism in Gaza (Yara Hawari in New Internationalist) The Long War for Meaning (Ramzy Baroud in New Internationalist) Support independent media by becoming a New Internationalist co-owner. No billionaires. No media moguls. No corporate ads. Just truly independent, co-operative media. Subscribe today using the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription.

This episode is sponsored by Path Financial . Share your thoughts on this series by filling out our listener survey. You may not have heard of it, but West Papua is an extraordinary place. It is home to one of the world’s most important rainforests – third only to the Amazon and Congo basins – teeming with species found nowhere else on the planet. Civilizations here stretch back tens of thousands of years. But it’s a region that is increasingly under threat from Indonesia’s military occupation. Rapid deforestation, resource extraction and deadly human rights crackdowns are on the rise. So who's behind the violent plunder – and who's profiting? Read all New Internationalist's coverage of West Papua and Indonesia The Interview: Lia Yewen (Maxine Betteridge-Moes, New Internationalist) Britain's complicity in the tragedy of West Papua (David Whyte, Samira Saunders, New Internationalist) West Papua: A Green State Vision (Danny Chivers, New Internationalist) 'Every signature was an act of courage' (Danny Chivers, New Internationalist) The world's largest deforestation project (Douglas Gerrard, London Review of Books ) Free West Papua Campaign Get 20% off a print and/or digital subscription to New Internationalist using the code THEWORLDUNSPUN and you'll receive digital access to our dedicated issues ' West Papua: Freedom in sight? ' (2017) and ' West Papua: We will be free! ' (2002). No billionaires. No media moguls. No corporate ads. Just truly independent, co-operative media. To help us continue

Share your thoughts on this series by filling out our listener survey . Join us in Glasgow for our December News Club with Rosie and our editorial assistant Paula Lacey. Tickets are FREE but limited – register here . New Internationalist co-owner Kiran Gupta presents The Long Read from NI558: Gaza: Genocide and Resistance Further reading from this episode: Where is the Left? (Rosie Hampton in New Internationalist) Support independent media by becoming a New Internationalist co-owner. No billionaires. No media moguls. No corporate ads. Just truly independent, co-operative media. Subscribe today using the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription.

This episode is sponsored by Path Financial . Share your thoughts on this series by filling out our listener survey. Despite the latest ‘ceasefire’, Israel’s genocide and engineered famine continues to devastate Gaza. The latest issue of New Internationalist confronts the history of Israeli violence and the Palestinian resistance to war, displacement and annihilation, giving space to voices that are too often sidelined and allowing Palestinians to define their own struggle. The magazine was guest edited by Gaza-born historian and writer Ramzy Baroud, editor of the Palestine Chronicle. For Ramzy, compiling this issue was highly personal, having lost over 110 family members in Gaza, including his sister. For The World Unspun, Ramzy sits down with New Internationalist co-editor Decca Muldowney to discuss the process of creating the magazine and the steadfastness of the Palestinian people in the face of genocide. Read NI558: Gaza and Resistance Host: Decca Muldowney Credits: Decca Muldowney (Host) Paula Lacey (Editorial Assistant), Maxine Betteridge-Moes (Digital Editor & Producer), Amy Hall, Bethany Rielly, Conrad Landin, Nick Dowson (Co-Editors), Samuel Rafanell-Williams (Sound Design), Nazik Hamza (Audio Editor), Mari Fouz (Logo Design) Guest: Ramzy Baroud Further Reading from this Episode: The Long War for Meaning (Ramzy Baround, New Internationalist ) Palestine: From Accord to Apartheid (Zoe Homan, New Internationalist ) Fiddling While Gaza Burns (Hamza Yusuf, New Internationalist ) Singing in Dark Times: Cultural Resistance in Palestine (Decca Muldowney, New Internationalist ) The Interview: Leila Khaled (Marta Vidal, New Internationalist ) No billionaires. No media moguls. No corporate ads. Just truly independent, co-operative media. To help us continue Subscribe today and use the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print or digital subscription.

This episode is brought to you by Shared Interest . New Internationalist co-owner Kiran Gupta presents The Long Read from NI557: The Global Far Right. Further reading from this episode: You've got issues, mate: Kneecap and the war on the Irish language (Decca Muldowney in New Internationalist) Gaza: Genocide and Resistance Support independent media by becoming a New Internationalist co-owner. No billionaires. No media moguls. No corporate ads. Just truly independent, co-operative media. Subscribe today using the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription.

This episode is brought to you by Shared Interest . Share your thoughts on this series by filling out our listener survey. Fascism in 2025 isn't just swastikas and flags. Joe Mulhall, the research director at the anti-fascist organization Hope Not Hate says we should be more worried about the erosion of liberal democracy and universal human rights. In this episode, co-editor Bethany Rielly speaks to Mulhall about why the far right is gaining ground around the world, where resistance can take root and what communities are doing to resist the UK’s own far right party, Reform. Host: Bethany Rielly Credits: Bethany Rielly (Co-Editor, Host), Maxine Betteridge-Moes (Digital Editor, Producer), Amy Hall, Conrad Landin, Nick Dowson (Co-Editors), Paula Lacey (Editorial Assistant), Samuel Rafanell-Williams (Sound Design), Nazik Hamza (Audio Editor), Mari Fouz (Logo Design) Guest: Joe Mulhall Further reading from this episode: Read NI557: The Global Far Right A time of monsters (Bethany Rielly, New Internationalist) Shop Fair Trade at New Internationalist’s very own Ethical Shop, using the discount code ETHICAL for 10% off your order No billionaires. No media moguls. No corporate ads. Just truly independent, co-operative media. Subscribe today and use the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription.

This episode is brought to you by New Internationalist's very own Ethical Shop. Use the code ETHICAL for 10% off online orders on a range of ethical and fairtrade goods. Share your thoughts on this series by filling out our listener survey. We are at a critical crossroads. A global wave of far-right authoritarianism is threatening human rights, climate action and democracy – steering the world toward disaster. From Donald Trump in the White House to Javier Milei in Argentina, ideologies that were once confined to the fringes are now dictating the agenda from inside the halls of power. What are the roots of the right’s rise? What networks enable it? What are social movements around the world doing to offer real alternatives to the politics of hate and division? In September, we hosted a special Ask Us Anything event with contributors to our magazine to answer these questions and many more. This episode is an edited version of that discussion. Host: Maxine Betteridge-Moes Credits: Maxine Betteridge-Moes (Digital Editor, Producer), Amy Hall, Bethany Rielly, Conrad Landin, Nick Dowson (Co-Editors), Paula Lacey (Editorial Assistant), Samuel Rafanell-Williams (Sound Design), Nazik Hamza (Audio Editor), Mari Fouz (Logo Design) Guests: Kim Kelly, Josefina Salomon, Balasz Turcsan Further reading from this episode: Read NI557: The Global Far Right A time of monsters (Bethany Rielly, New Internationalist) Shop Fair Trade at New Internationalist’s very own Ethical Shop, using the discount code ETHICAL for 10% off your order No billionaires. No media moguls. No corporate ads. Just truly independent, co-operative media. Subscribe today and use the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription.

Share your thoughts on this series by filling out our listener survey. The French activist, author and film producer joins us to talk about the Together for Palestine concert in London as well as his other major projects in support of Palestinian liberation. Host: Maxine Betteridge-Moes Credits: Maxine Betteridge-Moes (Digital Editor, Producer), Amy Hall, Bethany Rielly, Conrad Landin, Nick Dowson (Co-Editors), Paula Lacey (Editorial Assistant), Samuel Rafanell-Williams (Sound Design), Nazik Hamza (Audio Editor), Mari Fouz (Logo Design) Guest: Frank Barat Further Reading from this episode: Read more of Frank's writing for New Internationalist Italian dockworkers threaten to shut down Europe in solidarity with Global Sumud Flotilla (Tommaso Gori, New Internationalist) I oppose genocide. Is that ok? (Vanessa Baird, New Internationalist) Poll: Nearly 80% of Israeli Jews 'not troubled' by Gaza starvation (The New Arab) South Africa: 30 Years Later (New Internationalist) Avoid Amazon by shopping at New Internationalist’s very own Ethical Shop No billionaires. No media moguls. No corporate ads. Just truly independent, co-operative media. Subscribe today and use the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription.

Share your thoughts on this series by filling out our listener survey. New Internationalist co-owner Kiran Gupta presents The Long Read from NI554: Treaty: Indigenous Sovereignty in Australia Further reading from this episode: Revolutionary Aid in Sudan (Eiad Hisham in New Internationalist) Support independent media by becoming a New Internationalist co-owner No billionaires. No media moguls. No corporate ads. Just truly independent, co-operative media. Subscribe today using the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription.

This episode is brought to you by Shared Interest . Share your thoughts on this series by filling out our listener survey. In this episode we speak to Adele Zeynep Walton, a journalist, digital safety campaigner and author of the new book ‘Logging Off: The Human Cost of our Digital World’ , about online harms, Big Tech accountability, and how to make the digital world safer. To send a GDPR objection email to Meta to exercise your rights against unwanted direct marketing and data misuse, visit; https://wwwdot.org/ . Read NI552: Disinformation Host: Paula Lacey Credits: Paula Lacey (Editorial Assistant, Producer), Maxine Betteridge-Moes (Digital Editor), Amy Hall, Bethany Rielly, Conrad Landin, Nick Dowson (Co-Editors), Samuel Rafanell-Williams (Sound Design), Nazik Hamza (Audio Editor), Mari Fouz (Logo Design), Thomas Barlow, Impress (Media Consultant) Guest: Adele Walton Further Reading from this Episode: Entering the matrix of misinformation with Nanjala Nyabola (The World Unspun Podcast) The issue with social media blocking apps? They’re now just as addictive (Adele Zeynep Walton, The Observer) ‘Meta must be held liable for Facebook abuse that killed my father’ (Mukanzi Musanga, Open Democracy) How to Fix the Online Safety Act: A Rights First Approach (Open Rights Group) Disinformation and disorder: the limits of the Online Safety Act (Alexandros Antoniou, Lorna Woods and Maeve Walsh, Online Safety Act Network) No billionaires. No media moguls. No corporate ads. Just truly independent, co-operative media. To help us continue Subscribe today and use the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print or digital subscription. Sign up to Currents for dispatches from the frontlines of global progressive movements. 30 days FREE then £3/month. Learn more

This episode is brought to you by Shared Interest . Share your thoughts on this series by filling out our listener survey. Considered persona non-grata by Israel, Francesca Albanese is perhaps one of the most hated – and admired – figures in the United Nations today. Unlike many Western diplomats, the Italian human rights lawyer and UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories has called Israel ’s assault on Gaza a genocide, and she has urged Israel ’s suspension from the UN. This stance has made her a target of smear campaigns, with the US mission to the UN accusing Albanese of ‘antisemitic hatred and impartiality’ when her term was renewed in April. For our latest issue on the UN at 80 co-editor Bethany Rielly interviewed Albanese, who appears to place more faith in grassroots power than in the UN’s headquarters. Hosts: Maxine Betteridge-Moes, Bethany Rielly Guest: Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Credits: Maxine Betteridge-Moes (Producer, Digital Editor), Amy Hall, Bethany Rielly, Conrad Landin, Nick Dowson (Co-Editors), Paula Lacey (Editorial Assistant), Samuel Rafanell-Williams (Sound Design), Nazik Hamza (Audio Editor), Mari Fouz (Logo Design) Read NI556: Disunited Nations Further reading from this episode: To end the Gaza genocide, the Global South takes justice into its own hands (Kate McMahon, New Internationalist) Fiddling while Gaza burns (Hamza Yusuf, New Internationalist - subscribe to read) Global leadership vetoed (Conrad Landin, New Internationalist) Criminalized on campus: The UK students taking action for Gaza (Paula Lacey, New Internationalist) Avoid Amazon by shopping at New Internationalist’s very own Ethical Shop No billionaires. No media moguls. No corporate ads. Just truly independent, co-operative media. Subscribe today and use the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription.

Share your thoughts on this series by filling out our listener survey. Corruption, pollution and child labour have long blighted the Democratic Republic of the Congo's cobalt industry. But is there any way of turning the country’s critical mineral wealth into a blessing rather than a burden? In the final episode of our mini series, Dig, Baby, Dig! we spoke to Alaka Lugonzo a senior civil society adviser at Global Witness and Jean Pierre Okenda, the executive director of Sentinel Natural Resources. Host: Maxine Betteridge-Moes Guests: Alaka Lugonzo and Jean Pierre Okenda Credits: Maxine Betteridge-Moes (Producer, Digital Editor), Amy Hall, Bethany Rielly, Conrad Landin, Nick Dowson (Co-Editors), Paula Lacey (Editorial Assistant), Isabella Poderico (Editorial Intern) Samuel Rafanell-Williams (Sound Design), Nazik Hamza (Audio Editor), Mari Fouz (Logo Design) Read NI555: Dig, Baby, Dig! Can Critical Minerals Save the World? Further reading from this episode: Congo's cobalt curse (Cat Rainsford, New Internationalist - subscribe to read) Can mining save the world? (Vanessa Baird, New Internationalist) Women’s agency in the DRC (Sophie Neiman, New Internationalist) It’s time to hold Big Tech accountable for violence in the DRC (Passy Mubalama, New Internationalist) Transition Minerals Tracker: 2025 Global Analysis (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre) In numbers: Critical mineral production, ownership and social unrest (Global Witness) Avoid Amazon by shopping at New Internationalist’s very own Ethical Shop No billionaires. No media moguls. No corporate ads. Just truly independent, co-operative media. Subscribe today and use the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription.

Share your thoughts on this series by filling out our listener survey. New Internationalist co-owner Kiran Gupta presents The Long Read from NI552: Disinformation Further reading from this episode: Women’s agency in the DRC war (Sophie Neiman in New Internationalist) Reporting for this story was supported by the Pulitzer Center. Neiman was awarded the prestigious Gaby Rado Award from the Amnesty International Media Awards in June 2025 as a result of this story. Support independent media by becoming a New Internationalist co-owner Sign up to Currents for dispatches from the frontlines of global progressive movements. Sent straight to your inbox, twice a week. No billionaires. No media moguls. No corporate ads. Just truly independent, co-operative media. Subscribe today using the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription.