Tallberg Foundation podcastit

Luke Iseman and Andrew Song explain how they think they can cool the planet. Supposedly, Herodotus wrote that when the Greeks were told that the Persian archers at the Battle of Thermopylae would blot out the sun with their arrows, they responded: “Good, then we shall have our battle in the shade.” Fast forward to the early 21st century and the iss…

Listen to Ambassador Mirpuri's reflections on what he learned about America during his service in Washington. "There is nothing dramatic in the success of a diplomatist. His victories are made up of a series of microscopic advantages: of a judicious suggestion here, of an opportune civility there, of a wise concession at one moment and a far-sighte…

Elisabeth Braw explores the potential consequences of being too tolerant. "If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them.” Karl Popper in The Open Society and Its Enemies Fina…

Will India continue to evolve and become a global power? Milan Vaishnav shares some answers in this episode. India's backstory is largely unknown in the West. Between the 1st and 17th centuries AD, the country had the world's largest economy, controlling as much as one-third of global wealth. But that seemingly endless prosperity was followed by al…

Shahidul Alam’s words and pictures force one—sometimes gently, sometimes less so—to confront reality Shahidul Alam is many things: world-class photographer, Bangladeshi human rights activist, teacher, and author. He is also a provocateur, whose words and pictures force one—sometimes gently, sometimes less so—to confront reality. Alam is also part o…

Paula DiPerna on solving the climate crisis and valuing our most precious assets. Humanity is hardwired to value the valuable, to conserve even to hoard treasure. The atmosphere, the oceans, earth’s ecosystem are vital to life, yet we essentially view them as free goods. The inevitable result is overconsumption, waste and pollution. Paula DiPerna’s…

Former acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim delves into the unprecedented legal challenges surrounding Donald Trump. Donald Trump continues to make history: he is the only American president (serving or former) ever to have been criminally indicted. He already faces two separate indictments and trials, with the strong possibility of one or two more before…

Asha de Vos has done pioneering work on blue whales and joined this week for a conversation about her work in Sri Lanka. The planet “Earth” should probably be called “Water” since 70% of it is ocean. Of course, that also means any discussion of climate issues should start with the oceans. Increasing temperatures, rising sea levels, declining biodiv…

Yevgenia Albats, a journalist in forced exile from Russia, thinks that Prigozhin is a “dead man walking.” Maybe Putin, too. A few days ago the world watched in amazement as Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the infamous paramilitary Wagner Group, turned his ambition from defeating Ukraine to challenging the Russian army and—although he continues to deny i…

Rebecca Finlay delves into the questions surrounding the regulation of a AI, its limitless potential, and the challenges faced in controlling its impact on society. Although inflection points are better judged in retrospect, OpenAI's release of ChatGPT late last year may have touched off a new era in how mankind relates to machines—perhaps in how c…

Nino Evgenidze on the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its potential consequences for Georgia's future. Russia's invasion of Ukraine seems likely to be one of those seminal events that will divide our future histories: BI and AI. That's obviously true for the combatants, but for many others as well. Consider the small country of Georgia, …

Join us as we revisit our conversation with Johan Rockström as he shed light on the gravity of our situation, stating that "for the first time in human history, we face a planetary emergency." Join us as we revisit our conversation with Johan Rockström, renowned earth scientist and Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. A ye…

Gilles Kepel discusses the recent developments in the Middle East that could reshape the global order. Over the last several months, there have been a series of extraordinary developments in the Middle East that could have almost as big an impact on the shape of the new global order as Russia’s war on Ukraine. Consider even a partial list: China's …

Will India continue to evolve and become a global power? Milan Vaishnav shares some answers in this episode. India's backstory is largely unknown in the West. Between the 1st and 17th centuries AD, the country had the world's largest economy, controlling as much as one-third of global wealth. But that seemingly endless prosperity was followed by al…

Samah Salman, a Sudanese businesswoman and civil society leader shares her insights on the situation and efforts for peace. Sudan is at war with itself. The revolution that drove Omar al-Bashir from office after 30 years produced coups, conflict and military rule rather than peace, democracy and prosperity. Today two generals—Abdel Fattah al-Burhan…

Sam Muller believes that you can make justice systems work for people. 2023 has become a year of recession, inflation, social and labor unrest, war, the ravages of climate, food insecurity, and rising inequality. One casualty of that mess is the rule of law; justice seems to take a beating when times are bad. Why is that? The demand for justice is …

Yasmine Farouk discusses the impact of China’s mediation between Saudi Arabia and Iran on the Middle East and beyond. Early last month, there was an extraordinary announcement. Saudi Arabia and Iran had agreed to resume diplomatic relations after seven years of more or less open hostility. Even more extraordinary was the person standing between the…

Pierre Lellouche is deeply worried about what he sees as Macron’s strategic and political mistakes and the consequences for his country. French President, Emmanuel Macron, has had a complicated few weeks. On the one hand, China's President Xi gave him red-carpet treatment in Beijing, where Macron, again, made his case for European strategic soverei…

Anthropologist Amelia Frank-Vitale discusses what it takes to walk from Honduras to Texas, and the tragedies along the way. Human history is a long and continuing story of migration. People have always moved out of fear or out of opportunity—and other people have always resisted them. That story continues today: as more people try to flee war, clim…

Anna Wieslander has had the temerity to point out that the West has no strategy to end the Ukraine war. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has settled into a grueling, vicious war of attrition with no end in sight. However, there is a growing consensus in NATO capitals that a long war not only favors Russia but has the potential for nasty, unintended con…

Bright Simons advocates for a new approach, arguing against debt cancellation as the solution for Africa's current financial challenges. Africa might finally be on the verge of realizing its enormous potential. A booming, young, optimistic population. Vast reserves of the metals needed to power the clean energy transition worldwide. Widespread popu…

Journalist Neri Zilber talks about a situation that seems destined to go from bad to worse. Israel seems to be on the verge of exploding. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s pursuit of radical judicial reform has been met with massive and growing street demonstrations. The country’s President, Isaac Herzog, has publicly warned of a political "point of no re…

Isabel Aninat is fundamentally optimistic that Chilean democracy is headed in a good direction. What do you think? After the tragedy of the Pinochet years, Chile had evolved into one of the most successful countries in the Americas in economic terms, but perhaps more importantly, in terms of the health of its democracy. Right and left-wing parties …

Francesco Svelto, Rector of University of Pavia, shares his vision for Pavia and, more broadly, education at a time of transformation At times of rapid societal change, like those we are now living through, the academy can be a radical platform for experimentation and new thinking or a bastion of conservatism — or a combination of both. Whether dur…

Dr. Undraa Agvaanluvsan recently explained her country’s challenges in coping with a changing global order. Russia's invasion of Ukraine changed how global politics works. Instead of peace, prosperity and globalization, the scenario became war, recession and “near shore.” Suddenly, the world was separated into a conflict between the US and Europe o…

Our guests help us understand not only what's technically called generative AI, but to think on how we live or could live in the not so distant future It’s still early in 2023, but we already know the word of the year: ChatGPT. The amazing bit of technology generates articulate and nuanced articles in response to short questions. Want a report on t…

Sam Muller is building “people-centered justice” that works for everyone. 2023 looks likely to be a year of recession, inflation, social and labor unrest, war, the ravages of climate, food insecurity, rising inequality. One casualty of that mess is likely to be the rule of law; justice seems to take a beating when times are bad. Why is that? The de…

David Kaplan believes that the food he and other scientists are growing in their labs can eventually feed a hungry world. At least one in nine of the almost eight billion people who live on earth are undernourished. As the 18th century economist Robert Malthus forecast, we seem on a path where the planet can’t produce enough food for the projected …

Listen as C Raja Mohan explains how India can cope with a dangerous world and a dangerous neighbor. We live in a complicated, conflicted world. Russia's unprovoked war in Ukraine. US and European efforts to punish Russian aggression in ways that challenge the basic rules of financial and commercial globalization. China's growing geopolitical and mi…

Listen to Philip Short discuss how Putin looks at the world, what turned him away from a partnership with the West, and the risk that his war could go nuclear. As the Russian invasion of Ukraine ebbs and flows, the whole world is watching—and wondering. What does Putin want? How far will he go in his efforts to subjugate Ukraine? Does he have limit…

Andrew Small explain how and why he thinks that the Chinese challenge is dramatically and dangerously changing. As recently as September 2021, outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel described economic relations between Europe and China as "win-win.” Within nine months, the EU's de facto Foreign Minister Josep Borrell described EU-China relations …

Listen to Michael Thatcher, Charity Navigator’s President and CEO, whose purpose is to bring transparency to philanthropy. For many, the holiday season is a time of giving, when people think a bit more about those with less, or those affected by war or other calamities. But those problems and the philanthropic urge to do something about them are fa…

Can innovations be transformed into practical realities at the necessary speed and scale, and in ways that allow mankind to flourish? Our world has become a weird combination of dangerous, existential challenges and of almost magical, potential solutions. On the one hand, we see accelerating, deadly climate change, proliferating famine, pandemics, …

Richard Gephardt and Scott Miller sift through the evidence and speculate on the future of democracy in America. The US mid-term elections are (almost) over. We know the headlines: Democratic Senate, Republican House, many election deniers denied election. Democrats win by not losing; Republicans prove that when bad candidates deserve to lose, they…

Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, a winner of the 2022 Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prizes, believes that zoonotic disease is controllable by simultaneously working to improve the health of humans and animals, at the points where they meet. 2020 will be remembered as the Pandemic Year, when a deadly pathogen somehow moved from bat to human—and…

Laure Mandeville and Friedbert Pflüger discuss how Europe can recover if the French and Germans can't figure out how to work together? Europe is in a bad place: the war in Ukraine, energy crisis, inflation, looming recession, political and social tensions—the list seems endless. Perhaps most importantly, key elements of Europe's grand strategy are …

Jakob Hallgren and Ana Palacio discuss how Europe might get from where it is to where its citizens need it to be. Europe is under considerable stress from the Ukraine war, a deep energy crisis, inflation, roiled financial markets, looming recessions, social unrest, and political turmoil—on top of longstanding tensions between northern and southern …

Isabel Aninat is fundamentally optimistic that Chilean democracy is headed in a good direction. What do you think? After the tragedy of the Pinochet years, Chile had evolved into one of the most successful countries in the Americas in economic terms, but perhaps more importantly, in terms of the health of its democracy. Right and left-wing parties …

Listen to last year's prize winner, Tero Mustonen, share his insights on how to promote positive change to a damaged planet. Rapidly accelerating climate change is uniquely modern — but climate change is not. The planet has warmed and cooled in the past, even during mankind’s time. What can we learn from those events that might help us cope with th…

Diane and Tom, are in the business of thinking about converging crises and trying to help corporate executives cope with them. We live in a world of converging crises. War in Europe, food and energy insecurity, historic flooding in Pakistan and historical drought in the US, COVID shutdowns in China, American and European sanctions that disrupt supp…

Listen to Philip Short discuss how Putin looks at the world, what turned him away from a partnership with the West, and the risk that his war could go nuclear. As the Russian invasion of Ukraine ebbs and flows, the whole world is watching—and wondering. What does Putin want? How far will he go in his efforts to subjugate Ukraine? Does he have limit…

We live in an era of accelerating, disruptive climate change, with catastrophic consequences that every credible forecast says will worsen. We live in an era of accelerating, disruptive climate change. This isn’t about the random bad storm, but about systemic, dramatic shifts in climate that manifest as extreme weather of all sorts: wet bulb temper…

Jorge Castañeda thinks Mexico is in trouble, but almost half of all Mexicans say their country is on the right path. Mexicans, not known for being optimists, apparently are optimistic. Why? Winston Churchill famously described the Soviet Union as "A riddle wrapped in an enigma, inside a mystery.” That seems equally to apply to modern day Mexico. On…

Listen as C Raja Mohan explains how India can cope with a dangerous world and a dangerous neighbor. We live in a complicated, conflicted world. Russia's unprovoked war in Ukraine. US and European efforts to punish Russian aggression in ways that challenge the basic rules of financial and commercial globalization. China's growing geopolitical and mi…

Listen as three of the good “guys” discuss the reality in the trenches of the fight for human rights. At a time when autocrats are rampaging and our democracies are weakening, the need for citizens to defend their rights has never been greater. But, does speaking truth to power matter in the real world? While we celebrate the bravery and eloquence …

David Kaplan believes that the food he and other scientists are growing in their labs can eventually feed a hungry world. At least one in nine of the almost eight billion people who live on earth are undernourished. As the 18th century economist Robert Malthus forecast, we seem on a path where the planet can’t produce enough food for the projected …

Too many people seem voiceless or, at least, don’t think their voices are heard by those whose decisions shape their lives. Is the problem that too many are voiceless or that too many are not listening? One of the ironies of the 21st century is that even though, everyone on the planet seems to have a cell phone and to be actively connected to socia…

Can innovations be transformed into practical realities at the necessary speed and scale, and in ways that allow mankind to flourish? Our world has become a weird combination of dangerous, existential challenges and of almost magical, potential solutions. On the one hand, we see accelerating, deadly climate change, proliferating famine, pandemics, …

Listen as Lars Åberg explains what Sweden has done right, but also what it has done wrong. We live in the age of the refugee—and the numbers of people fleeing their homes are almost certainly going to continue to increase. Will they be welcomed or will destination countries try to harden borders? Arguably, no country in the West has been more welco…