Justice Matters

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates speaks with Neha Sanghrajka, Kenyan negotiator, mediator, and scholar whose career has shaped some of the most consequential peace processes of our time — from working alongside Kofi Annan during Kenya's 2007 post-election crisis to serving as a key architect of the landmark 2019 Maputo Accord that ended decades of conflict in Mozambique. Together they discuss: the role of mediation in conflict resolution, insights from the Mozambique peace process, peace listening vs. peace talks, building trust in the process, navigating post-agreement challenges, and her advice for emerging negotiators.   Neha Sanghrajka is a senior conflict sensitivity advisor at UNOPS and serves on the boards of the Kofi Annan and Berghof Foundations. She is a Yale University Peace Fellow, Senior Advisor and Fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, and a fellow at the Weatherhead Center at Harvard University. A founding member of Women Mediators across the Commonwealth, she holds a Degree in Law as well as a Master’s Degree in International Relations. Neha has authored several publications including the book “Back from the brink: The 2008 mediation process and reforms in Kenya.”

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Tirza Leibowitz, Deputy Director of Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) about the organization's decades of work providing medical services in Israel-Palestine.  Together they discuss: Tirza’s background in disability rights in Israel-Palestine before joining PHRI, the difference between the international organization Physicians for Human Rights and PHR Israel, the role of the Palestinian and Israeli physicians and medical staff and volunteers who make up the organization, PHRI’s position among the other local human rights organizations in Israel-Palestine, how they go about providing medical services in conflict areas, PHRI’s involvement in Gaza over the last decades and how that’s changed in recent years, the nature of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, how PHRI’s on the ground knowledge led it to understand the situation as a genocide, the reactions of other Israeli organizations to PHRI’s stance on Gaza, the work of understanding the number of casualties in the conflict, and what their perspective on the current situation in Gaza says about the state of the conflict.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates welcomes Omer Shem Tov and Leat Corinne Unger, cousins who rose to prominence following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023. Omer is a survivor of the Nova Music Festival massacre who was held hostage by Hamas in Gaza for 505 days. Leat is his American cousin who dropped everything to advocate for the hostage families following the attack and abductions. She became a leader and central voice in the fight to release the hostages. Together the two have been speaking on US College campuses. On today’s episode they discuss: Omer’s memories of the attack at the Nova Music Festival on October 7th, his experience of captivity for 505 days including 50 days in total isolation below ground, how he found the strength to survive, Leat’s memories of October 7th watching from the US, her experience as an advocate for her cousin and other hostages, speaking in a political climate where narrative is instrumentalized as a political tool, how Omer and Leat came to speak on US college campuses, their experience of talking to US college students about October 7th, the importance of dialogue, the challenges to peace, and the complexities of hope and a peaceful path forward.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Dr. Christos Christou, outgoing president of Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières or MSF) a medical humanitarian organization that coordinates tens of thousands of medical staff to provide emergency aid to people in crisis in over 75 countries. Together they discuss: Dr. Christou’s background that led him to humanitarian medical work, his early days working as a physician in Sub-Saharan Africa during the HIV pandemic and with migrant communities, how he thinks about the concept of humanity as a practical commitment, the changing environment of humanitarian aid, the practicalities of the extensive work MSF has done in Gaza, how MSF navigates the political terrain of this conflict as an organization committed to humanitarian aid, and what lessons he’s learned that give him hope. Dr. Christos Christou graduated from Aristotle University’s medical school and has a PhD in surgery from the Kapodistrian University of Athens. After serving as a surgeon at Evangelismos Hospital in Athens, he became a senior clinical fellow at King’s College Hospital in London and was later awarded a fellowship from the European Board of Surgery in Coloproctology. Dr. Christou joined MSF in 2002 and has held several roles. His first assignment was in Greece as a field doctor, working with migrants and refugees. He then worked as a doctor in an HIV/AIDS project in Zambia in 2004 and 2005. He later served in a number of conflict zones and insecure contexts, including South Sudan, Iraq, and, most recently, Cameroon, as an emergency and trauma surgeon. With MSF he has held roles including general secretary, vice-president, and president of MSF Greece's Board of Directors, and finally, as MSF international president from 2019 to 2025.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, guest host Timothy Patrick McCarthy - faculty chair of the Global LGBTQI plus Human Rights Program - speaks with Laura Murphy, about forced labor and human rights. Laura Murphy is a professor at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK and one of the leading global experts on forced labor.   Together they discuss: what led Laura to this work,  the role of storytelling in human rights work, the complexity of violence in freedom movements, the terminology and uses of “forced labor” and “modern slavery”, forced labor among the Uyghur population in China, difficulties faced by academics and activists in addressing human rights abuses, and hope amidst the backlash. Laura Murphy is a Professor of Human Rights at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK, and was recently a Biden administration appointee at the Department of Homeland Security, working on implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. Her research currently focuses on forced labor in China and in international supply chains. She has written several books on forced labor globally including Freedomville (Columbia Global Reports, 2021) and The New Slave Narrative (Columbia University Press, 2019).

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Brandon Terry, a political theorist at Harvard University whose work seeks to reshape how we understand African-American political thought, especially the memory and meaning of the civil rights movement. Today they discuss topics related to his recently published book, “Shattered Dreams, Infinite Hope: A Tragic Vision of the Civil Rights Movement.” Together they discuss: why Brandon wrote the book, his reasons for choosing the title, different interpretations of Martin Luther King Jr’s role., the different narratives of the Civil Rights movement including the romantic view, the afro-pessimist view, and Brandon’s tragic vision that he lays out in the book, and Brandon’s reflections on the current state of politics in the United States. Brandon M. Terry is John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University and Co-director of the Institute on Policing, Incarceration, and Public Safety at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research. He is the coeditor, with Tommie Shelby, of “To Shape a New World: Essays on the Political Philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr.” and editor of “Fifty Years Since MLK.” Terry has published work in Modern Intellectual History, Political Theory, The New York Review of Books, Time, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Boston Review, Dissent, The Point, and New Labor Forum and been interviewed by The Ezra Klein Show, Vox, the New York Times, and other media outlets. “Shattered Dreams, Infinite Hope: A Tragic Vision of the Civil Rights Movement” is available from Harvard University Press: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674271289

On today's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Yuval Shany, fellow at the Ethics in AI Institute at the University of Oxford. They discuss his recent white paper, “The Need for and Feasibility of an International AI Bill of Human Rights,” and the topics it touches on around AI’s profound impact on the understanding and implementation of rights. Other topics they discuss include: the impact of AI on society, opportunities and challenges the technology poses for human rights, why the need for a new International AI Bill of Human Rights,  what the new bill would entail, the political liability of an international bill, the future of AI regulation, and the importance of integrating human rights principles into AI development and deployment. Yuval Shany is the Hersch Lauterpacht Chair in International Law and former Dean of the Law Faculty of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was a member of the UN Human Rights Committee from 2013 to 2020, and served for one year during that time as Chair of the Committee. Professor Shany also serves as a Senior Research Fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, and a Visiting Professor in the Center for Transnational Legal Studies (CTLS) at King’s College, London and the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. His current research focuses on international human rights law and new technology and he leads a European Research Council group of researchers investigating the three generations of digital human rights (3GDR). White Paper: The Need for and Feasibility of an International AI Bill of Human Rights By Professor Yuval Shany

On today's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Dr. Kelsey Leonard, a water scientist and legal scholar from the Shinnecock Indian Nation. They discuss the fundamental role of water in life, ecosystems, and human rights, particularly focusing on Indigenous perspectives on water justice. Dr. Kelsey Leonard is a water scientist, legal scholar, policy expert, writer, and enrolled citizen of the Shinnecock Nation. Her work focuses on Indigenous water justice and its climatic, territorial, and governance underpinnings for our shared sustainable future. Dr. Leonard represents the Shinnecock Nation on the Mid-Atlantic Committee on the Ocean, which is charged with protecting America's ocean ecosystems and coastlines. She also serves as a member of the Great Lakes Water Quality Board of the International Joint Commission. Dr. Leonard has been instrumental in safeguarding the interests of Indigenous Nations for environmental planning, and builds Indigenous science and knowledge into new solutions for sustainable water and ocean governance.On today’s episode they discuss: water as an essential part of life, the Shinnecock Indian Nation, Indigenous led water justice movements, current challenges facing water defenders, how a human rights frameworks can be applied to water protection, Indigenous knowledge as integral for effective water management, the Great Lakes and indigenous governance, and Dr. Leonard’s current research.

On today's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates speaks with Judith Abitan, international human rights advocate and the executive director of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, about her work in fighting for the freedom of political prisoners in entrenched systems of oppression.Judith has been at the forefront of some of the most pressing human rights issues of our time, immersed in the pursuit of justice internationally, the promotion and protection of human rights, and the betterment of the human condition. She has made representations to international bodies and governments in relation to the rescue and resettlement of some of the most vulnerable and at-risk populations, political prisoner cases, and asylum seeker applications. Judith’s advocacy work has encompassed, inter alia, the case and cause of Biram Dah Abeid, leader of the international anti-slavery movement and president of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement in Mauritania; Dawit Isaak, dual Eritrean-Swedish citizen known to be, with his colleagues, the longest detained journalists in the world; and a series of Burundian journalists and human rights defenders convicted on trumped-up charges for criticizing the government. Judith has also written for major publications including the National Post, the Globe and Mail, the Times of Israel, the Washington Post, and Time.On today’s episode they discuss: how Judith came to be involved in such a wide range of geopolitical contexts, the case of journalist Dawit Isaak who has been detained since 2001 in an Eritrean prison and what it says about the state of press freedom globally, what levers of accountability are most effective in working for release of political prisoners, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s imprisonment of Dr. Ahmadreza Jalal, the issue of modern slavery and why it persists despite international law, the balance of moral urgency and pragmatic strategy in human rights work, and Judith’s personal reflections on cultivating resilience in an increasingly restrictive world.

On today's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Lobsang Sangay - political leader of the Tibetan administration in exile from 2011 to 2021 - about Tibet’s future. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama turned 90 earlier this year, which has brought renewed attention to the question of how the succession would be handled in the country that has been occupied by China since 1950.Lobsang Sangay is a Senior Visiting Fellow at the East Asian Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School. He was the democratically elected Sikyong (President) of the Central Tibetan Administration and served two terms (2011-21). He completed his BA and LLB from Delhi University and did his LLM ’95 and SJD ‘04 from Harvard Law School where he received the Yong K. Kim’ 95 Memorial Prize for excellence. He has spoken at international conferences such as Forum 2000, Halifax Security Forum, and Oxford Union and has written numerous Op-eds in major newspapers including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and appeared on many international TV networks like BBC and CNN. He was awarded the Gold Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Public Discourse by Trinity College, Dublin (2014) and the Salisbury University Presidential Medal for Distinguished Community Leadership (2015).On today’s episode they discuss: why China occupied Tibet in 1950, the role of rare earth minerals in the occupation, what occupation and exile has meant for Tibetans, the role of the Dalai Lama and the naming of his successor, how reincarnation comes into play in finding the next Dalai Lama, China’s attempt to seize control of the process, Lobsang’s own role in the Tibetan government in exile in India, the interplay between the diaspora and those remaining in Tibet, the relationship between the exiled Tibetan government and the government of India, and the Dalai Lama’s aspiration towards a middle path for negotiations with China.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, host Phuong Pham - associate professor at the Harvard Medical School, T.H. Chan School of Public Health, affiliated faculty member of the Carr-Ryan Center, and co-principal investigator at the Transitional Justice Evaluation Team (TJET) - speaks with Lisa Chung Binder, Siraj Khan, and Jerome Marston about attacks on education around the world.Lisa Chung Binder is the executive director of the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack. She has worked for the UN and the international NGOs in children’s rights and humanitarian response.Siraj Khan is the law and policy manager at the Education Above All Foundation. He is an international lawyer and was formerly a fellow at the Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law.Jerome Marston is the head of research at KoboToolBox–a data collection, management, and visualization platform used globally for research and social good–where he oversees surveys and research projects about human rights, humanitarian response, and the protection of civilians.Together they discuss: why attacks on education are occurring, the impact on victims and survivors of these attacks, the frequency and geographic location of these attacks, what factors contribute to the increase in these attacks, what international enforcement mechanisms exist and are they meeting the problem, what other initiatives are taking place to confront this issue, what are the legal resources in this area, accountability, the response from educators, what does justice look like for victims, concrete ways to make schools more safe, and what resources can provide more information on this topic.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, we’re marking Human Rights Day, observed every year on December 10th to commemorate the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN General Assembly in 1948. To mark the occasion Co-host Mathias Risse speaks with four of our Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Policy Fellows to share their perspectives on why human rights still matter and why they may be more important now than at any point in the 77 years since the Declaration was adopted.Together they discuss: what Human Rights Day means in our current moment globally, the most pressing human rights issues today, misinformation and state repression, whether the international system can constrain abusive states, the state of global legal structures and local grassroots movements, designing a human rights system to meet our present challenges, the impact of the Trump administration globally, what advice they have for young people entering the field today, and a lighting round of questions including their recommendations for articles and books they think everyone should read.Today’s guests include:Desirée Cormier Smith, a seasoned U.S. diplomat and former Foreign Service Officer who served as the inaugural Special Representative for Racial Equity and Justice at the State Department, leading global efforts to advance racial, ethnic, and Indigenous rights in foreign-policy contexts.Maggie Dougherty, former Senior Director for International Organizations at the White House National Security Council, where she coordinated U.S. engagement with the UN and other multilateral institutions on human rights, democracy, and global governance. She has also served as a policy advisor to both UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and Senator Marco Rubio.Kelly Fay Rodríguez, previously the U.S. Special Representative for International Labor Affairs, working to embed labor rights, supply-chain accountability, and inclusive economic justice into American foreign-policy and trade frameworks.And Jessica Stern, the first, and thus far only, U.S. Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons, who led the State Department’s diplomatic efforts to protect and promote LGBTQI+ rights around the world.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Robin Bronen, co-founder of the Alaska Institute for Justice (AIJ) about the pressing effects of climate change on communities in Alaska - the fastest warming region in the United States - and the implications for human rights. A human rights attorney and interdisciplinary social scientist on the issue of climate-forced displacement, Robin Bronen retired from AIJ in 2024 after 19 years as co-founder and Executive Director. Established in 2005, AIJ originally sought to serve an unmet need for legal services for immigrant individuals and families in Alaska and now serves over 7,000 clients living in Alaska from countries around the world. Since the time of the organization’s founding, AIJ expanded to launch the Alaska Climate Justice Program that works with Alaska Native communities on climate adaptation and resilience, including assisting clients and communities as they advocate for state and national policy-level changes. Bronen has worked with the White House Council on Environmental Quality to implement President Obama’s Climate Change Task Force recommendation to address climate displacement as well as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Climate Change Office. The Federal Bureau of Investigation awarded AIJ the 2012 FBI Director’s Community Service award for its work with human trafficking victims, and the International Soroptimist’s awarded Bronen the 2012 Advancing the Rights of Women award. Bronen was named one of USA Today’s Women of the Year.On this episode they discuss: the recent increase in climate effects on Alaskan communities, Robin’s background that led her to co-founding AIJ, an overview of the immigrant and refugee communities that are a central part of Alaska, how she and her team managed to sustain the non-profit over multiple decades, why translation services are crucial to opening access to public services, Robin’s research on forced climate relocation that led AIJ to expand its focus to the impacts of the climate crisis, the status and make up of Native Alaskan communities, how has the connection between human rights and climate change became central to AIJ’s work, how the institute fairing under the current Trump administration, what actions individuals and communities can take to protect themselves, and why climate forced relocation is the most intense human rights challenge related to the climate crisis.

On today's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates speaks with Antonio Ingram II, Senior Counsel at the Legal Defense Fund, about the impact of anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) legislation on educational equity and political participation.Antonio Ingram II serves as lead counsel in the Simon v. Ivey lawsuit challenging Alabama's SB 129 law that prevents state agencies, local boards of education, and institutions of higher education from sponsoring DEI programs or offices. He served as part of the litigation team in South Carolina NAACP v. Alexander, a federal lawsuit challenging South Carolina's racially discriminatory congressional and state house legislative map. Ingram co-authored a US Supreme Court amicus brief in 303 Creative v. Ellenis, where he opposed intersectional anti-black and anti-LGBTQIA + public accommodations discrimination. In addition to his litigation work, he has successfully engaged in policy advocacy and spearheaded campaigns at the state and national level to oppose legislation banning critical race theory and DEI.On today’s episode they discuss: his work on advancing racial justice and educational equity, his involvement in significant legal cases challenging discriminatory laws and practices, the impact of anti-DEI legislation - particularly Alabama's SB 129 - and its broader implications on educational and societal equity, his personal insights on the importance of maintaining open pipelines for marginalized communities, and the role of local and state advocacy in combating these legislative challenges.

On today's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji who served as president of the International Criminal Court (ICC) from 2018-2021. Together they discuss his new book, “End of Immunity: Holding World Leaders Accountable for Aggression, Genocide, War Crimes, and Crimes against Humanity.” Prior to joining the ICC in 2012, Judge Eboe-Osuji was the Legal Advisor to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, during which time he anchored the High Commissioner's interventions in cases involving human rights questions. Before joining the international public service, he practiced law as a barrister in Canada (his adoptive country) and Nigeria (his birth country). He taught international criminal law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ottawa and has an extensive record of legal scholarship and publications, including the books International Law and Sexual Violence in Armed Conflicts (2013), and Protecting Humanity (2010). He is a former fellow at the Carr Ryan Center for Human Rights at the Harvard Kennedy School.On today’s episode they discuss: his journey that led him to becoming president of the ICC, why he felt it was important to write a book about the history of immunity for heads of state, his thoughts on the 2024 US Supreme Court ruling to grant immunity to US presidents, looking to the kings and emperors of the past to understand why we built international systems ending immunity, how we could enact an international law that upholds an actionable “right to peace”, and his view on Trump’s desire to annex of Canada.

On today's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Timothy Patrick McCarthy speaks with Dr. Leo Varadkar, the former Taoiseach, or Prime Minister, of Ireland from 2017-2020 and again from 2022-2024. Together they discuss a range of topics on contemporary human rights and global democracy on the occasion of Dr. Varadkar’s new memoir, “Speaking My Mind”.Leo Varadkar grew up in Dublin, the son of an Irish mother and an Indian father. He studied medicine at Trinity College Dublin, but practiced as a doctor for just a short time before becoming a full-time politician after election to Dáil Éireann (the Irish parliament) in 2007. He became a cabinet minister in 2011 and in 2017, at the age of 38, he became Taoiseach, the youngest ever to serve in the office. A first of many in the role, he was the first gay Taoiseach as well the first person of color. Dr. Varadkar received international recognition for his leadership of Ireland’s public health and economic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. He led Ireland through Brexit, preventing a hard border between North and South, maintaining Ireland's place at the heart of the European Union, its single market and upholding the Good Friday Agreement. The Governments he participated in lifted Ireland’s ban on abortion and improved LGBT rights including the introduction of marriage equality and a gender recognition law. He also prioritized equality between men and women including gender pay gap reporting, greater diversity on state and corporate boards and linking state funding for political parties to election candidate quotas. He is currently a Hauser Leader at the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School as well as a Senior Fellow at the Global LGBTQI + Human Rights Program at the Carr Ryan Center for Human Rights.On today’s episode they discuss: what are some of the greatest challenges to global human rights today, Dr. Varadkar’s childhood that led him to his career in politics, how the Irish political system compares to the structures in the United States, the trust and personal relationships at the center of keeping together a coalition government, the challenges and burdens of being a “first” as Taoiseach, his experience coming out as gay in office and navigating that politically, the storytelling at the heart of the campaign to pass the referendum on marriage equality , where the passage of marriage equality in a catholic country sits globally in LGBTQI, coming from a center-right party in Ireland and presiding over many progressive changes, his view on the strategic tension between incrementalism and sweeping change, how his medical practice influenced his governance, Ireland’s history as a post-colonial nation and its current connection to oppressed peoples around the world, his thoughts on solidarity, Irish reunification, and why he named his new memoir "Speaking My Mind".

On today's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates speaks with Dr. Keisha Blain, Professor of Africana Studies and History at Brown University, about her new book “Without Fear: Black Women and the Making of Human Rights.”A 2022 Guggenheim Fellow and 2022 Carnegie Fellow, Dr. Blain is one of the most innovative and influential young historians of her generation. An award-winning historian of the 20th century United States with broad interests and specializations in African-American history, the modern African diaspora, and women and gender studies, she completed her PhD in history from Princeton University in 2014 and in 2020 she was a fellow at the Carr Ryan Center. A former columnist for MSNBC, Dr. Blain is now the editor-in-chief of “Global Black Thought”, a journal featuring original, innovative, and thoroughly researched essays on black ideas, theories, and intellectuals in the United States and throughout the African diaspora. In addition to her latest book, Dr. Blain is the author of the book, “Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom, “Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer's Enduring Message to America”, and “Wake Up America: Black Women on the Future of Democracy”.On today’s episode they discuss: what led her to write about the contributions of black female leaders to the foundations of human rights, how these figures understood human rights at the time, how they built networks and created what we know of as the human rights movement today, what particular strategies stood out in her research, as well as a few case studies from the founding of this international movement.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Ken Roth, former Executive Director of Human Rights Watch about his new book “Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Abusive Governments”.Ken Roth was executive director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) from 1993 to 2022. In the three decades under his leadership, Human Rights Watch conducted investigations in over 100 countries to uncover abuses, and pressured offending governments to stop them. In his new book, Roth writes about grappling with the worst of humanity, taking on the biggest villains of our time, and persuading leaders from around the globe to stand up to their repressive counterparts. He is currently the Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor at the Princeton School for Public and International Affairs.In this episode they discuss: why he wrote “Righting Wrongs”, the nature of HRW’s investigations and a few case studies from his tenure, his own German Jewish family’s exodus from Germany during Nazi rule, his personal journey that lead him to the idea of human rights, his views on China in regards to human rights, what advice he has for new people entering the field, the online trolling of HRW for its reporting on human rights abuses by the Israeli Government, his views on anti-semitism and the lessons of the Holocaust, the differences between the Biden and Trump administration’s foreign policy, as well as his perspective on what constitutes genocide and the ongoing atrocities in Gaza.Ken Roth's new book is availble here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/739898/righting-wrongs-by-kenneth-roth/

On today’s episode of Justice Matters co-host Maggie Gates speaks with Anna Romandash about the impacts of misinformation in the global narrative around the war in Ukraine.Anna Romandash is an award-winning journalist from Ukraine and an author of “Women of Ukraine: Reportages from the War and Beyond” (2023). She has spent years documenting human rights violations, digital threats, and misinformation from her reporting on the ground in Ukraine. Currently a Technology and Human Rights Fellow at the Carr-Ryan Center, her work focuses on making technology more inclusive and digitalizing democracy to better the lives of people in developing democracies.In this episode they discuss: the use and limits of journalism in reporting, how emergency services are managing under Russian bombardment, the impact of misinformation on the funding coming into Ukraine, where to access truthful information from outside the country, the imperative of journalists being on the ground, the effect of the shifting support of the US on morale in Ukraine, whether international systems are capable of holding Russia accountable, examples of the misinformation narratives pushed by Russia, the impact of AI in the misinformation war, the battle between democratic vs authoritarian systems, and what’s at risk if this war fades from attention.

Justice Matters is celebrating its 100th episode today with co-host Mathias Risse's conversation with Jessica Stern about the state of LGBTQI+ rights around the world.Jessica Stern is one of the world’s most distinguished LGBTQI+ human rights leaders. Appointed by President Joe Biden, Stern served as the U.S. Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Persons, where she led U.S. foreign policy efforts to combat violence and discrimination against LGBTQI+ people globally. She is also the former Executive Director of Outright International and a co-founder of the United Nations LGBTI Core Group.In this episode they discuss: the current state of LGBTQI+ rights globally, her personal journey into activism, her role as the former US Special Envoy for LGBTQI+I Rights, her work with Outright International, the challenges and progress in the fight for equality, her response to recent criticism of LGBTQI+ Rights advocacy, the importance of allyship and the interconnectedness of human rights issues, the role of the UN independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity, and the ongoing struggles faced by LGBTQI+  individuals globally.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters co-host Aminta Ossom speaks with Yara Sallam about the experiences of women human rights defenders in Egypt and Tunisia as well as her personal history following the Arab Spring that led her to write about burnout and well-being in human rights activism.Yara Sallam is a prominent feminist activist and human rights defender who has worked for several Egyptian and international human rights organisations. She was awarded the North Africa Shield Award in 2013 for her work with Nazra for Feminist Studies and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. In 2020 she published Even the Finest of Warriors a book about how feminist activists manage different aspects of their private lives and concurrently deal with the difficulties of being in the public space. The book looks at case studies of female activists in Egypt and Tunisia dealing with aspects of psychological health, general exhaustion, financial security, as well as growing old.In this episode’s conversation they discuss: what inspired her to write Even the Finest of Warriors, the impact of activism on well being, the personal and political intersections of activism, redefining resilience, building community and collective care, evolving perspectives on activism and aging, and Yara’s own resilience in this work.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Lex Zard, Technology and Human Rights Fellow at the Carr-Ryan Center, about recent developments concerning the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in the Europe Union in regulating consumer data protection, how that compares to US regulatory models, and what this means for human rights in the digital space.Lex Zard is a legal scholar with expertise in the European Union digital policy regarding surveillance advertising. In 2024, Lex defended his thesis, 'Power & Dignity: The Ends of Online Behavioral Advertising', at Leiden University, where he also worked as a researcher and a teacher from 2018 to 2024 at eLaw—Center for Law and Digital Technologies. His research primarily addresses the boundaries of influencing humans in the online environment, including through interface design and artificial intelligence systems. Lex won the EURA Young Scholar award in 2019 for his work in these areas.In this episode’s conversation Mathias and Lex discuss: the EU’s April 22nd decision to fine Meta two million dollars for violating the DMA, differences in digital regulatory approaches in the US and EU, the foundation of human dignity in the EU’s regulatory framework, whether the legal mechanisms in the EU and US see data protection as a human right or not, the consent or pay model, the global struggle between human rights and surveillance capitalism, Lex’s own research on online advertising governance, and his view of the transatlantic relationship.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters co-host Maggie Gates speaks with Lucy Ferris about the all volunteer network of professors from around the world educating women in Afghanistan.Professor Ferris is the co-founder and president of the board of Afghan Female Student Outreach (AFSO), a volunteer non-profit organization committed to helping return Afghan women to intellectual and professional life by way of real-time, synchronous distance learning in the liberal arts and sciences, engineering, and health sciences, taught by university professors from around the world. She is a novelist and Writer in Residence emerita from Trinity College, as well as the author of a dozen books of fiction and nonfiction. She did research for her work among the Pashtun area of northwest Pakistan and has been active with a number of charitable organizations, including the Authors Guild, Jewish Family Services, Planned Parenthood, the Brigid Foundation, and Women for Women International. She holds a Ph.D. from Tufts University. In addition to her work with AFSO, she teaches Afghan refugees in the United States.In this episode’s conversation they discuss: the current state of women’s education in Afghanistan, the changes that took place prior to the most recent US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the origins of AFSO, the logistics of how volunteer professors from outside the country are able to deliver online education in a country with limited internet access, why continuing women’s education is so important for Afghan society even when their employment and formal education opportunities are being restricted by the Taliban, the impact of USAID’s closure on organizations educating women in Afghanistan, the changing role of the US in global education, and the resilience of female students in Afghanistan.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters co-host Diego Garcia Blum speaks with former Governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick about his work as Governor fighting for LGBTQI+ rights, as well as the current state of those rights in the country.  Patrick began his career as a staff attorney at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, then went on to serve as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the Clinton administration. From 2007 to 2015, he served as the governor of Massachusetts, the first Black person to serve in the role. During his two terms, Patrick focused on health care, public schools and public infrastructure, and launched initiatives stimulating clean energy and biotechnology, he also signed into law marriage equality rights in the State, as well as protections for transgender rights. He is currently a professor of practice and co-director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School. In this episode’s conversation they discuss: protecting marriage equality from future rollbacks, how personal relationships inform his perseverance on these issues, this moment politically for LGBTQI+ rights, engaging voters, and his thoughts on coalition building.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters co-host Mathias Risse speaks with John Shattuck about the Trump administration’s attacks on Harvard University and the parallels to Victor Orban’s attacks on the Central European University (CEU) in Hungary.Shattuck is an international legal scholar, diplomat, human rights leader and former university president. From 1984-1993 he held the position at Harvard University of Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs, responsible for Harvard’s relations with government agencies, private institutions and the media. He then served as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor under President Clinton from 1993-1998, and was later appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic from 1998-2000. In 2009 became the President and Rector of CEU in Budapest, a position he held until 2016.On today’s episode they discuss: the history of CEU and it’s ties to George Soros, the circumstances under which he became President and Rector of CEU, the roots of Victor Orban’s authoritarianism and attack on CEU, similarities and differences between the Orban and Trump administrations clashes with universities, the ideological straitjacket imposed on universities by authoritarians , CEU’s current situation Austria and what remains in Budapest, and his assessment of what effect Trump’s will take on academia in the US.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Diego Garcia Blum speaks with Wendy Sherman about her experience speaking to global leaders about LGBTQI+ rights while serving as Under Secretary of State from 2021-2023. In addition to her work at the State Department, she is a Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership and Director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School as well as a Senior Fellow at the School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. She is currently an MSNBC global affairs contributor and on the USA TODAY Board of Contributors. Her most recent book, “Not for the Faint of Heart: Lessons in Courage, Power and Persistence” was published by PublicAffairs in September 2018. On today’s episode they discuss: how she approached conversations with heads of state that have anti-LGBTQI+ laws in their country, what values around this issue went into the Biden administration's foreign policy agenda, how she balanced a country’s domestic cultural and religious issues in her foreign policy work, the rollback of LGBTQI+ rights worldwide, and strategies for activists and leaders working on upholding rights.

Today on Justice Matters co-host Maggie Gates speaks with Dr. Tao Leigh Goffe, associate professor of literary theory and cultural history with a focus on climate, race, and digital technologies. She teaches in the Department of Africana, Puerto Rican and Latino Studies at Hunter College in New York after over a decade of research and teaching on Black feminist engagements with Indigeneity and Asian diasporic racial formations. The topic of today’s conversation is her new book, Dark Laboratory: On Columbus, the Caribbean, and the Origins of the Climate Crisis, a groundbreaking investigation of the Caribbean as both an idyll in the American imagination and a dark laboratory of Western experimentation, revealing secrets to racial and environmental progress that impact how we live today. In this episode Dr. Goffe discusses: how the logic of the plantation led to the climate crisis, european colonization of the caribbean, bringing human histories into the origins of climate crisis, the concept of Eden, the invisible laborers in the colonial labor force, her interdisciplinary approach to these topics, how she thinks about the protagonists in the story of the climate crisis, why she sees this book as reclaiming the environmental histories of people of color, and finally she talks about her storytelling lab, Dark Laboratory.

In honor of Earth Day last week, we are featuring an episode of Justice Matters with co-host Aminta Ossom on the topic of climate change and human rights. Aminta speaks with Sam Bookman, a scholar of climate change law and human rights, a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard’s Project on the Foundations of Private Law, and a Hauser Global Fellow at NYU’s Guarini Center on Environmental Law. He publishes widely on topics of constitutional design, climate litigation, and social movements, as well as environmental human and nonhuman rights. He is an active litigator in his role as a Senior Staff Attorney at the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice. In today’s conversation Aminta and Sam discuss: how climate change and human rights overlap, examples of climate action campaigns utilizing the human rights infrastructure, where there are conflicts of interests between climate action and human rights, how to understanding the terms “rights of nature” and “ecocide” and there use, the outcomes of  climate campaigns that have targeted corporate emitters, and a look at cases being litigated around the world and new developments in the field of climate change and human rights.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Alina Beskronva, who is currently pursuing a Master's in Public Administration in International Development at the Harvard Kennedy School. Alina is from the city of Mariupol in South-Eastern Ukraine and was in the city during the first few weeks of the Russian attack on Mariupol in 2022. During the siege, the Red Cross described the situation as “apocalyptic” and Ukrainian officials later reported that approximately 25,000 civilians had been killed, though the true number remains unknown, and that at least 95% of the city had been destroyed during the fighting, primarily by large-scale Russian bombardments. On today’s episode, Alina shares her first-hand account of living in Mariupol during the siege and her experience escaping the city that led to her current studies at Harvard.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates speaks with Darcel Rockett,  senior journalist for the Chicago Tribune whose work centers on narratives for and about populations/communities who need to be heard. An avid documenter of the Black experience, she continually aims to shine a light on the many facets of race and culture. She is currently a fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard where she is researching the impact of the Supreme Court’s reversal of affirmative action in higher education and the repercussions of the decision on the future of the Black middle class. In this conversation Darcell discusses the common threads she’s written about across her career, her reporting on the economic disparities in black communities as a result of housing, economic, and incarceration policies, her current examination of the effects of the reversal of affirmative action, the current attack on DEI policies and the historical context of these actions, and why she spends part of her reporting focusing on activists and artists who are doing work do build community in the face of hardship.

On this episode of Justice Matters, co-host Aminta Ossom speaks with Michael Posner, Professor of Ethics and Finance at the Stern School of Business at NYU and director for the Center for Business and Human Rights. He served in the Obama administration from 2009-2013 as Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Democracy Human Rights and Labor, and from 1978-2009 Posner led Human Rights First. On today’s episode they discuss a variety of topics surrounding Michael’s new book, “Conscience Incorporated: Pursuing Profits While Protecting Human Rights” including: why he chose to write the book, why he wanted to speak to business leaders at this moment in history, how corporations can pursue profits and social good, shifting from the idea of shareholder primacy to stakeholder primacy, corporate responsibility and the role of regulation in the current global political environment, the obstacles of governments in ensuring fairness and safety, and an insider look at negotiations between governments, companies, and human rights advocates.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Douglas Johnson, former director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy from 2013-2017 and Lecturer on Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. On the occasion of his retirement from the university he reflects on his work over a long career in human rights including: his multiple decades of work at the Minnesota-based Center for the Victims of Torture, his role in organizing the historic 1970’s grassroots boycott of Nestle with the Infant Formula Action Coalition, the impact of the boycott on informing the due diligence principles of business and human rights, and finally with his retirement from Harvard, Douglass shares some of his key insights that he sought to convey in his decades of teaching.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Kasha Nabagesera, Ugandan LGBTQ+ rights activist and Executive Director of Freedom & Roam Uganda (FARUG), about her decades of work. In today’s conversation, Mathias and Kasha discuss: Kasha’s origins as an activist standing up for LGBTQI+ rights, why Uganda is so hostile towards LGBTQI+ people, Bombastic magazine and Kasha’s other work in fighting for rights through digital and print media, Freedom & Roam Uganda’s current initiatives, the current legal situation for LGBTQI+ people in Uganda after the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act, threats to her life and other gender rights activists in Uganda, and her international work.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Jean Pfaelzer, award-winning historian and Professor Emerita of English, Asian Studies, and Women and Gender Studies at the University of Delaware, about her 2023 book, California, A Slave State, which investigates California’s histories of enslavement. Together, they discuss: why California merits the designation as a slave state; the history of the 18th century Spanish missions and their brutal treatment of Indigenous people; the “slave rectangle” of Alaska, California, China, and Russia; the “California Genocide” of Indigenous peoples during the gold rush; the historical treatment of Chinese women in California; and why California currently has the largest number of human trafficking cases of any state in the United States.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates talks with Lina Chawaf, CEO of Radio Rozana and fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism. Radio Rozana was created in 2013 in the aftermath of the Arab Spring to examine the conflict in Syria with a focus on women’s voices for an audience of over 8 million listeners. Chawaf has a long career in journalism leading television and radio production companies in Syria, receiving the Freedom Press Award in 2018 from Reporters Without Border, and founding Radio Rozana in exile following threats to her life for refusing to broadcast the pro-authoritarian messaging of Bashar Al Assad’s government. On today’s episode Chawaf discusses: her background in TV and radio in Syria, her experience refusing to propagate government propaganda during the Arab Spring, the state of press freedom globally, Radio Rozana’s focus on women’s voices, how citizen journalism comes into play in high-conflict areas with authoritarian control, her perspective on the future of media freedom in the U.S., and finally, her insights into the recent changes going on in Syria following Assad’s ouster.

In this episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates speaks with Burmese human rights defender Wai Wai Nu and her colleague Hana Seita about their work in Myanmar. Wai Wai Nu spent seven years as a political prisoner in Myanmar and upon her release founded the Women’s Peace Network (WPN) and the Yangon Youth Center. Through WPN she advocates for justice, works to build peace and mutual understanding between Myanmar’s ethnic communities—including her own Rohingya community—and empowers marginalized women throughout Burma.Wai Wai has received many accolades over the last decade and has been named a Next Generation Leader by TIME, a World Economic Forum Young Global leader, and one of 100 top Women by BBC. Hana Seita is the research and advocacy coordinator at WPN and manages WPN’s human rights documentation, research, and international advocacy. Together they speak with Maggie about the work of WPN in Burma and abroad, their advocacy work in the U.S. Congress, the work of the Yangon Youth Center and their holistic vision of changing society, the Rohingya genocide, the current day-to-day life in Myanmar under the military rule, what future they see for Myanmar, and how those from abroad can take direct action to support their cause.You can learn more about WPN at: https://www.womenspeacenetwork.org/

In this episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Tiffany Florvil, associate professor of history at the University of New Mexico and fellow at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. She is a 20th century cultural historian of Germany whose work focuses on Black Germans and their creation of new intellectual, cultural, and political practices. She is the author of Mobilizing Black Germany: Afro-German Women and the Making of a Transnational Movement, which is at the center of this episode's conversation. Together, Mathias and Tiffany discuss: how she became interested in the African diaspora in Germany as an American scholar, Germany’s colonial history, the demographics of the current Black German community, the history of organizing in Black German communities, the role of Black women in these organizations, the influences of Audre Lorde and Angela Davis, the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement in Germany, and Tiffany’s work on Black German author May Ayim.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Diego Garcia Blum speaks with Kimberly Zieselman, an intersex woman, lawyer, and human rights advocate with over 25 years of experience in nonprofit leadership. Currently, she serves as a Senior Advisor to the Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons at the U.S. State Department and is also a senior advisor for Global Intersex Rights for Outright international, an organization dedicated to working with partners around the globe to strengthen the capacity of the LGBTQI+ human rights movement. In this conversation, Zieselman discusses what is distinct about intersex, her own journey to discover late in life that she is intersex, the history of medical treatments used against intersex people, bringing a human rights lens to intersex issues, and fighting the shame, stigma, and misunderstandings around intersex people.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Amani Matabaro Tom, educator and community organizer from Eastern Congo who is currently a Scholar at Risk at the Carr Center. Amani is a co-founder of Action for the Welfare of Women and Children in Congo (ABFEC), which possesses several core initiatives: entrepreneurship training, community farming, HIV/AIDs education, and the Congo Peace School. Every teacher and student at the Peace School are trained in nonviolence in the tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and learn the philosophies, strategies, and practices of nonviolence. In today’s conversation, Amani discusses: the current state of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the history of colonialism and the exploitation of natural resources in the region, how he encountered the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., his opinion on the role of the UN’s peacekeeping mission in the DRC, the role of foreign companies and their impact on the region, and the work ABFEC is doing on the ground to build peace.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates speaks with Albert Fox Cahn, founder and executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP). STOP litigates and advocates for privacy to ensure that technological advancements don't come at the expense of age-old rights. As a lawyer, technologist, and activist, Albert has become a leading voice on how to govern and build the technologies of the future. He is a frequent commentator with more than 100 articles in publications, including the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Guardian, Wired, Slate, and Newsweek, and he serves on the New York Immigration Coalitions Immigrant Leaders Council.In today’s conversation, Albert discusses: walking the tactical line between radical change and instrumental victories, police surveillance technology, the risk of children’s privacy technology, anti-abortion digital surveillance, how STOP has taken on the NYPD’s surveillance system, and the ways in which Artificial Intelligence are already undermining civil rights.Albert Fox Cahn's Ted Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVclObff6fc

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Megan Minoka Hill, the Senior Director of the Project on Indigenous Governance and Development and the Director of the Honoring Nations program at the Harvard Kennedy School. The Project on Indigenous Governance and Development works with Indigenous people to provide them with the tools they need to build or rebuild their nations and govern themselves effectively. Together, Mathias and Megan discuss: the Project on Indigenous Governance and Development, the background and major trends around Indigenous governance, the Honoring Nations program, and Hill’s membership in the Oneida nation and the structure of the tribe's governance.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Diego Garcia Blum speaks with Kimahli Powell, former executive director of Rainbow Railroad, a Toronto-based organization that relocates LGBTQI+ refugees from nations where they are at risk. Powell is a senior leader in the INGO field with expertise in community-building and strategic advocacy with a focus on international development, law and policy, HIV/AIDS, and internally displaced persons. In this episode’s conversation, they discuss: how Rainbow Railroad’s work has evolved over time, lessons learned working with LGBTQI+ refugees about the challenges they face, his experience forming partnerships with both the U.S. and Canadian governments, the gaps that exist in how we address the needs of LGBTQI+ refugees in policy and public awareness, and where he sees opportunities for innovation in the field.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Matthias Risse talks with Archon Fung, Harvard Kennedy School’s Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Democracy, about the state of democracy around the world and the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Fung is the director of the Ash Center for Innovation and Democratic Governance, and his research and teaching have long aimed to understand what kinds of participation, deliberation, or transparency can make governance fairer and more effective. Together they discuss democratic backsliding around the world, the stakes for the upcoming U.S. presidential election, the assassination attempts on Donald Trump, the possible use of generative AI in political campaigning, concerns leading up to and after the election, and if there are any predictions to be made about the election in November. This episode was recorded on September 24, 2024. Links mentioned in this episode:https://www.statista.com/chart/28353/democracies-and-autocracies-around-the-world/

"One of the great virtues of human rights is that it's very alert to the dark side of human nature. All the human rights covenants are a systematic inventory of all the horrible things that human beings can and have done to each other. I respect human rights for their moral realism, and I want human rights that are very realistic in their conception of human capacities and propensities." In this episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse talks with Michael Ignatieff, former president of the Central European University and founding director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. He is an author, academic, and former politician who served as the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011. Together, Risse and Ignatieff discuss the state of human rights in the world today, Hungary under the leadership of Victor Orbán, and revisited topics from Ignatieff's Tanner Lecture series—given at the turn of the 21st century—including the politics of human rights, moral universalism, and American exceptionalism.

On this week's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates speaks with Dr. Charity Clay, Assistant Professor of Sociology and UNCF Mellon Fellow at Harvard's Hutchins Center for African and African-American Research. As a sociologist of the African Diaspora, Clay's research interests are varied but center around the dispersal, preservation, maintenance, and adaptability of African culture throughout the diaspora. In this conversation, Gates and Clay discuss Clay’s upbringing in Minneapolis, the importance of Black spaces and place-making, commodified Blackness in New Orleans, her theory on systemic police terrorism, using drones for socioeconomic mapping of Black spaces, and how she sees her role as a multi-hyphenate scholar, musician, and athlete.Listen to Dr. Charity Clay's Hutchins Center Lecture on 'Systemic Police Terrorism: A Conceptual Framework', Part of the W. E. B. Du Bois Research Institute Colloquium Series.

On this week's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Diego Garcia Blum talks with Kristopher Velasco, Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Princeton University about his research on the global anti-LGBTQI movement. Professor Velasco’s research centers on the intersections of global & transnational sociology, organizations, political sociology, culture, and sexuality. Globally, he investigates how transnational advocacy networks, NGOs, and international institutions facilitate the expansion of LGBTQI rights around the world by changing cultural understandings of gender and sexuality. This line of research, and the backlash these processes invite, is the subject of Kristopher's current book project. In this episode he discusses the global anti-LGBTQI movement, how it is organized and who are the primary players, what connection it has to global geopolitical trends, how the movement is financed, regional success and backlash to the movement, and what advice he has for LGBTQI activists.

On this week's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse talks with Desirée Cormier Smith, the Special Representative for Racial Equity and Justice for the U.S. State Department. In this position, she is the face of the United States for all matters regarding racial equity in the world outside of the United States. Together they talk about her role as the inaugural Special Representative for Racial Equity and Justice, what led to the creation of this position at the U.S. State Department, her own journey graduating from HKS to her current position, and the recent convening of the Symposium on Global Anti-Blackness and the Legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade that Special Representative Cormier Smith presented in collaboration with the Carr Center and UNESCO.

On this week's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates talks with Jessica Yamoah, the CEO and Founder of Innovate Inc., an organization that provides awareness and access to underrepresented communities at the intersection of business, entrepreneurship, and technology. Together they discuss Innovate's work to provide awareness and access in the technology sector, why diversity and inclusion matters, and her work with the African Descendant Social Entrepreneurship Network.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Danson Kahyana, a fellow at the Carr Center and Associate Professor in the Department of Literature at Makerere University in Uganda. His recent work includes an examination of the effects of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023 on artistic freedom; exploring the representations of the right to healthcare in Ugandan literary and other cultural productions and investigating the right to dignity among the elderly citizens as depicted in selected East African fiction. Mathias and Danson discuss these research areas as well as the current political situation in Uganda, his work using poetry to teach his students to articulate issues they face in society, the backlash he has faced to his work including the circumstances that led to being violently attacked in April 2022, his 2018 publication of a book of creative writing from inmates inside a Ugandan prison, his own poetry, as well as his current position as a Scholar at Risk at the Carr Center and how he finds courage to continue his work in the face of hardship.

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates talks with Diego Garcia Blum, Program Director of the Global LGBTQI+ Human Rights Program at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. His work is dedicated to advocating for the safety and acceptance of LGBTQI+ individuals globally, particularly in regions where they face significant risks. Together they discuss the state of anti-LGBTQI+ legislation across the globe, the backlash against this population globally, and what the Carr Center is doing to make a difference with the launch of its new Global LGBTQI+ Human Rights Program.