The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of planetary health – a framework that recognizes the interdependence of human, animal and environmental health – in a world marred by the climate change and biodiversity crises, as well as growing inequalities between and within countries. With the WHO’s calls for vaccine equity ignored, vaccine nationalisms have threatened progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda’s mandate of ‘leaving no one behind’.

Ronson Chan is the head of the Hong Kong Journalists Association and former editor of Stand News. He was detained and his home and office were raided by authorities in December 2021 leading to the closure to the Stand News. We talk to Ronson about the future of press freedom in Hong Kong.

Freelance journalist Ryan Lenora Brown joins us to talk about her investigation into garment factories in Lesotho, including the Levi’s jeans factory. The story is the first in a series by the Associated Press looking at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives of African women.

Journalism student Hamza Syed was thrust into the media spotlight by the launch of his debut podcast, The Trojan Horse Affair which he produced for the New York Times alongside Serial Productions’ Brian Reed. Hamza will talk to us about the response to his series and the vexed topic of journalistic impartiality.

Shadma Shaikh is a freelance writer for the Factor Daily. Described as the Taylor Lorentz of India. Shadma covers the relationship between technology and young people. She will talk about digital culture and platform politics in India.

Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, and South Africa are countries that have witnessed large-scale illicit financial outflows in recent decades.

But what are the 'who', 'how', and 'where' dimensions of the phenomenon? The quantitative, qualitative, and institutional analysis for each country is being used to examine the modus operandi of capital flight and the major domestic and foreign players (the who); the mechanisms of capital acquisition, transfer, and concealment (the how); and the destinations of capital flight and the transactions involved (the where).

In the last thirty years, the developing world has undergone tremendous changes. Overall, poverty has fallen, people live longer and healthier lives, and economies have been transformed.

And yet many countries have simply missed the boat. Oxford’s Stefan Dercon’s new book, “Gambling on Development: Why some countries win and others lose”, asks why it is that some of the previously poorest countries have prospered, while others have failed.

Gabo award-winning innovator Jazmín Acuña is the co-founder and director of El Surtidor. The Paraguayan outlet is celebrated for its unique use of visual journalism. She joins us to discuss some of her outlet’s most successful stories and techniques.

Jakub Parusinski joined a group of 30 journalists who resigned from the Kyiv Post in 2021 to launch the Kyiv Independent. Less than three months later, Russia invaded Ukraine. As COO of the outlet, Jakub has overseen the launch of a membership model that will ensure the outlet’s longevity for many months to come.