On International Women’s Day, Max and Nafkote interviewed Bhumika Muchhala, a development and feminist economist, on the possibility of being a feminist in an economic system that thrives on the exploitation of people and nature. This episode explores the importance of the way our global economy is organized in understanding the fight for gender equality. How issues like labour rights, fair taxation and debt cancellation are feminist issues. Bhumika is the Political Economist and Senior...

Nafkote and Max interview Dr. Faiza Shaheen on how capitalism has failed on its main selling point – work hard and you will succeed. The idea that everyone has equal opportunity in life is just a myth. Your success in life is significantly influenced by where you are born, your social class, race, and education. This episode is a powerful critique of our system - one that perpetuates wealth concentration among the rich while leaving the majority behind. Faiza Shaheen is Professor of Economics...

Max and Nafkote interview the brilliant Dr. Clara Mattei on the history of austerity and how it was created to maintain “the capital order”. Austerity today the world over remains a favored tool of policymakers. And yet it is far more than just a policy. We examine the roots of austerity and its fundamental role in entrenching capital, and disciplining people to never dare to create alternative economic systems. Dr. Clara Mattei is Associate Professor of Economics at the New School for...

Nafkote and Nabil welcome the pioneering Senegalese development economist Ndongo Samba Sylla onto EQUALS. We talk about the untold vision of former Burkina Faso President Thomas Sankara for economic liberation. The role of the French colonial currency in today’s world. What Modern Monetary Theory can mean to the Global South. And what a Green Bandung Woods – picking up from where liberation leaders left off – can do to rethink the global financial architecture. Ndongo Samba Sylla is a...

Max and Nafkote interview the world-famous economist Professor Ha Joon Chang to ask what is causing the inequality crisis and what governments can do to stop it. How are traffic lights, neoliberalism, and the Catholic Church in medieval times linked? How can we create a new generation of developmental states that face down corporates and build equal societies? An EQUALS episode not to be missed, with a giant of economic thinking. As ever follow us on Twitter and leave us a review. Tune in to...

EQUALS is back. Max and Nabil speak to Dr. Daniela Gabor, who says we’ve entered a new era of the “Wall Street Consensus”. Her macro analysis is lighting up debates around the world about how much power we’re giving up to global private finance - and what exactly comes after neoliberalism. Daniela, Professor of Economics and Macro-Finance at UWE Bristol, breaks down what is driving this new paradigm, how it drives inequality, and what a true alternative - a Big Green State - looks like. As...

Introducing a new EQUALS season and our new podcast co-host, Nafkote Dabi, Climate Policy Lead at Oxfam International. Joining Nafkote and Max in this episode are Astrid Nilsson Lewis and Ashfaq Khalfan. Together, they delve into the latest Oxfam report “Climate Equality: A planet for the 99%” How are the climate and inequality crises intertwined? In this episode, we expose the profound disparities stemming from the dual crises of climate breakdown and staggering inequality. We uncover the...

A season five wrap-up with just the co-hosts! Nadia is sadly leaving the podcast (and Oxfam). The co-hosts get together to look back on their time together and reflect on over fifty episodes of EQUALS.  We’ll be back for season six folks. Inequality’s sky-high. The fight’s on this decade but there’s hope. You’ve asked us to cover issues from the global debt crisis facing developing countries to the new scramble for minerals across the world. Join us then - watch this space! Follow us on...

Nadia and Nabil interview Nobel Prize Laureate Professor Joseph Stiglitz to ask just how dire the state of inequality is - and what we’ve got to do about it.    Is it realistic to tax the richest at rates above 70%? What’s the connection between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and IMF-backed austerity in low income countries? An EQUALS episode not to be missed with a giant of economic thinking. Make sure you share the podcast on social media and write a review! We’re at @EQUALShope on...

How exactly can rich countries address their past wrongs of slavery and colonialism? Well, there’s a plan. Jamaican scholar and UN leader Verene Shepherd outline what Caribbean nations have called for. This EQUALS episode is the second of a two-part special on reparations. In the first episode, we heard the case for reparations – and went back to the 15th century to the moment European men began an era of the slave trade of colonialism. Now we ask “how”. Nabil and Nadia speak to Professor...

We start on the shores of the Caribbean islands of the 15th century. As white European men landed on its shores, the story of centuries of colonialism and slavery, and today’s global inequality begins. This EQUALS is the first of a two-part special on the case for reparations. Nabil and Nadia speak with the Jamaican scholar Professor Verene Shepherd who with others across the world is demanding repair for those atrocities. Professor Verene Shepherd is a social historian and the Director of...

In this episode, Nafkote Dabi, Harjeet Singh, and extinction rebellion activist Teun Ott join Max and Nadia to talk about billionaires, inequality, and climate breakdown. Nafkote and Harjeet joined us directly from the COP last week. Nafkote, Climate Lead at Oxfam describes how billionaires contribute to carbon emissions not only through their lifestyles but also through their investments. Harjeet, Head of Global political strategy at Climate Action Network tells us about Loss and Damage and...

In this episode, Nafkote Dabi, Harjeet Singh, and extinction rebellion activist Teun Ott join Max and Nadia to talk about billionaires, inequality, and climate breakdown. Nafkote and Harjeet joined us directly from the COP last week. Nafkote, Climate Lead at Oxfam describes how billionaires contribute to carbon emissions not only through their lifestyles but also through their investments. Harjeet, Head of Global political strategy at Climate Action Network tells us about Loss and Damage and...

Ann Pettifor joins Max and Nabil on EQUALS. She famously predicted the global financial crash in 2007/8 and she’s worried again. She says it’s not just simply supply and demand that’s driving global food system shocks - and tells the story of how gambling-like practices in global financial markets are affecting all of us. She’s got some big ideas to on reining in capital, and why poorer countries being crushed under mountains of debt need to be able to declare themselves bankrupt. The latest...

We speak to three people reckoning with today’s massive cost of living crisis – with stories from Malawi, the United Kingdom and South Africa. Max speaks with Nellie Kumambala, a secondary school teacher in Lumbadzi, Malawi, and Walter, a security guard in London, United Kingdom. Nabil speaks with Wafaa Abdurahman, the National Coordinator, Fight Inequality Alliance South Africa. Different countries, same story. People are suffering. They’re ready to act. What are their solutions? Make sure...

EQUALS is back! We're asking: What has *really* been happening in the board rooms of multinational companies? And what's that got to do with today's cost-of-living crisis being felt across the globe? This new season on EQUALS we’ll focus on the crisis, bringing stories and solutions from across the globe. Nabil and Nadia speak with Dr. Lindsay Owens and Irit Tamir. Lindsay is the Executive Director at the Groundwork Collaborative, formerly Economic Policy Advisor to Senator Elizabeth Warren...

Nadia and Nabil welcome former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark on the EQUALS podcast for a special episode. The IMF, World Bank and the G20 all are meeting this week. The world is facing multiple crises that are converging from the COVID-19 pandemic to the Ukraine crisis, to soaring food and fuel prices. Two years into the pandemic, we ask PM Clark what governments should have done to respond to the pandemic; what still needs to happen; and how to prevent future crises. And could we...

It’s a wrap on Season 4 of EQUALS! Liz, Max, Nabil and Nadia reflect on the season, and on 2 years since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We talk race, inequality, political power, access to justice, and we discuss campaigning for a People’s Vaccine. 14 episodes in, which ones stand out for us and why? Make sure you share the podcast on social media and leave a review! We’re at @EQUALShope on Twitter. For more information about the people’s vaccine movement check out @peoplesvaccine. If...

In a few days, a 36-year-old former student leader who wants to fight inequality will become the President of Chile. He says, “If Chile was the cradle of neoliberalism, it will also be its grave”. We find out about what President-elect Gabriel Boric wants to do, and about the movement of young people whose protests have swung the pendulum of power in Chile. We take a trip to 1973 to the birth of neoliberalism – the economic ideology that would go on to spread across the world – under military...

Max and Nabil welcome former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown on the Oxfam EQUALS podcast for an incisive interview. The pandemic is far from over. Vaccine inequality rages on. We ask Gordon what he would do if he was leading the G20 today – and how to rally the world’s leaders to act, as he did in response to the global financial crash. Gordon Brown is the World Health Organization’s Ambassador for Global Health Financing, and a member of Club de Madrid forum – the world’s largest forum of...

We are witnessing a COVID-19 driven explosion in inequality. This week, Oxfam released its annual report, Inequality Kills, showing that the pandemic is killing at least 1 person every 4 seconds, while the ten richest men have doubled their fortunes during this same pandemic. This is the biggest single increase in billionaire wealth in recorded history. Max and Nadia talk to Branko Milanovic, world-renowned authority on inequality, to find out why. Branko is a Senior Scholar at City...

Alas! Santa Claus is coming to town!! And we’re having a Christmas debate on a hot button topic that is dividing people. Is Santa a socialist or a merciless capitalist? Liz and Nadia talk to Asad Rehman, the Executive Director of War on Want. He’s a lifelong campaigner against racialised capitalism, economic, climate and social injustice – and he’s got some beef with Santa! This is one for the books. With lots of laughter and music. Please do share the episode on your social media. Intro...

We finally talk healthcare on EQUALS. Could the pandemic trigger the creation of universal healthcare systems around the world? What can we learn from Thailand and Costa Rica? What is privatization doing to healthcare in Kenya? And who is undermining healthcare for all? Liz, Nabil and Max chat to Rob Yates (Director, Global Health Program, Chatham House) and Rebecca Riddell (Co-Director, Human Rights and Privatization Project, NYU Law School Center for Human Rights and Global Justice). The...

Here’s your post-COP26 deep dive. What do the outcomes mean for us all? Why were developing countries insisting on reparations? What’s the fuss about billionaire emissions? We welcome two amazing guests from the climate justice movement who were influencing the Glasgow climate talks. Asad Rehman is the Executive Director of War on Want, a lifelong campaigner against racial and economic injustice, and has been at the forefront of the climate justice movement helping to reframe climate as an...