Dan Banik and Suhasini Haidar discuss the kind of global power India aspires to be and the potential dilemmas of its great power ambitions.

Dan Banik and Daron Acemoglu discuss the critical role of technology in shaping progress throughout history and today. The way we utilize technology can either benefit a privileged few or promote widespread prosperity.

Dan Banik and Francis Fukuyama discuss democratic backsliding, why liberalism is under threat, and the alternatives to liberalism.

Dan Banik and Conrado Hübner Mendes explore the intricate relationship between the political and judicial systems in Brazil, and the arduous task of tackling poverty, inequality, and corruption. They also discuss the impact of the constitutionalization of environmental protection in Latin America.

Dan Banik and Anne Beathe Tvinnereim discuss evidence-informed policymaking, how to address climate change and promote development, the challenge of promoting food and energy security, and the future of budget support in aid policy.

Dan Banik and Stephen D. Krasner discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the fragmented global order, and why the United States ought to promote “good-enough governance” rather than trying to consolidate democracy around the world.

Dan Banik and Raj Kumar discuss the role of the current media landscape in global development and how billionaires, tech disrupters, and social entrepreneurs are transforming the global aid industry.

Dan Banik and Rachel Glennerster discuss the value of randomized control trials, the generalizability puzzle, how to improve education and learning, the role of participation in improving public services and the impact of microfinance and the media on development.

Dan Banik and Daniel Agbiboa discuss the scholarship on corruption in postcolonial Africa, the survival tactics of road transport workers in Nigeria, and why we must re-think our understanding of corruption.

Dan Banik and Elliott Green discuss why ethnicity is sometimes used interchangeably with race, how identities are negotiated, and the role of the state in promoting ethnic homogenization in Turkey, United States, New Zealand, Somalia, Uganda, Botswana and South Africa.

Dan Banik and Lin Zhang discuss global capitalism and the digital economy from a non-Western perspective and how the contradictions of entrepreneurialism have played out in China.

Dan Banik and Ryan Briggs discuss effective altruism and longtermism, the political effects of foreign aid, and how to maximize global efforts to reduce poverty.

Dan Banik and Rajesh Veeraraghavan discuss the impact of two landmark rights-based laws enacted by the Indian government in 2005: the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which resulted in the largest development program in the world that provides employment on demand and builds rural infrastructure; and the Right to Information Act, which granted all citizens the right to access government records.

Dan Banik and Charles Kenny discuss reasons for optimism about the future of the global economy, the role of global public goods, World Bank reforms, and why Western aid is losing its credibility.

Dan Banik and Helen Clark discuss the fragmented global development agenda, the role and relevance of the United Nations system, whether we are now better prepared for the next pandemic, and how politicians apply research while shaping everyday policies.

Dan Banik and Johanne Døhlie Saltnes discuss the application of the human rights clause in the EU’s global development agenda and the impact of applying a human rights-based approach to promote development in specific national contexts.

Dan Banik and Axel Dreher discuss how China has transitioned from a benefactor to a banker and the impact of this shift in low-income and middle-income countries.

Dan Banik and Hilda Flavia Nakabuye discuss climate injustice, the Fridays for Future movement in Uganda and the controversial East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project.

Dan Banik and Indermit Gill discuss the causes of growing global poverty, debt and stagflation, and what the World Bank is doing to address some of these huge challenges.

Dan Banik, Mona Baker, and Eivind Engebretsen discuss what is meant by “evidence”, and why different people arrive at different decisions based on the same sources of evidence.

Dan Banik and Håvard Mokleiv Nygård discuss locally led development, how to bridge the gap between research and policy, and the future of foreign aid.

Dan Banik and Jamie Hitchen discuss how WhatsApp impacts everyday life in West Africa.

Dan Banik thanks listeners and introduces the acronisation game invented by his colleague Desmond McNeill.

Dan Banik and Harald Eia discuss the welfare state in Norway, the relationship between wealth and happiness, and whether the Norwegian experience can be replicated elsewhere.

Dan Banik and Gustavo Flores-Macías discuss elite engagement in contemporary state building in Latin America and how some countries were able to adopt elite taxes for public safety.