“You betrayed us. I've just been a donkey my whole life and you told me my child's life would be different [if they went to school]. But now I’ve learned that he hasn't learned anything”. Join us in a thought-provoking conversation with  Lant Pritchett, Visiting Scholar and Research Fellow at the Blavatnik School of Government and Research Director of the RISE program (Research on Improving Systems of Education). We will discuss development, aid, RCTs, failing education systems and how to turn them around, and monkeys. Prof. Pritchett is a prominent scholar of development and a ******prov ..read more

The Vatican and its various bodies are not only heading the Catholic Church but also disseminating thinking and advancing work in different social policy themes. Amongst those, ecology and peacebuilding are discussed here. But how does that work? Our host, Baudouin de Hemptinne, is joined in this episode by Professor Joshtrom Kureethadam and Professor Gerard Powers. Kureethadam is heading the Dicastery for Integral Development and is Chair of Philosophy of Science and Director at the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome. He has been a researcher at Berkeley and Oxford and published various b ..read more

One year ago the world held its breaths as the Russian armed forces invaded Ukraine. In this particular special episode, we welcome Prof. Andrew Hoskins, whose expertise concerns the impact of digitisation of contemporary warfare on society, and Kanykei Tursunbaeva, a journalist from Ukraine and research associate at the European Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, who reports directly from Odesa, where she has been covering the conflict first-hand. In the episode, we discussed how social media transform our perceptions of warfare, from forming memories and national identities to how people naviga ..read more

Just six months out of office, Colombian president Ivan Duque Marquez shares his personal insights and reflections on his government period. Having led the country during the pandemic he explains how he was able to navigate the political scene and whether or not he would have done anything different in his leadership (7:09). He also inherited the early stages of Colombian recently signed Peace Agreement and was in charge of strengthening the necessary institutions for its implementation.  President Duque highlights the hardships of today’s polarized society and the need to promote social ..read more

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting has been garnering more attention in recent years – especially the environmental component. But how reliable is a reporting method that is not auditable or verifiable? Our host, Benjamin Weiser, is joined by Professor Karthik Ramanna. Professor Karthik Ramanna is a Professor of Business and Public Policy, and Chair of the Master of Public Policy Program at the Blavatnik School of Government. He is also the founder and co-director of the Oxford Case Centre for Public Leadership.  They discuss the origins of the E-Liability Method (0 ..read more

For policymakers and governments, new challenges emerge nowadays to communicate effectively with citizens. The evolution of media channels, trust deficit, misinformation, social dislocation, emotional connection in media content, and nudging are among the long list of changes institutional communication is faced with. Our host, Baudouin de Hemptinne, is joined in this episode by Sean Larkins. Both of them lead the government practice of WPP, one of the leading communications agencies globally, working for governments worldwide. Their practitioners' experience and their firm's research bring us ..read more

COP27, held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, was expected to be the ‘Implementation COP’ that would translate previous commitments and plans for tackling climate change into tangible action. However, the immediate reaction in the aftermath of the conference was that it was marred by organisational issues and ultimately failed to deliver on its promise.  Our host, Vitor Tomaz, is joined in this episode by Professor Thomas Hale, who attended COP27, to discuss the evolution of global climate governance, the outcomes of COP27, the ins and outs of being a civil society participan ..read more

Welcome to Oxford Policy Pod Season 5! The new cohort of the Blavatnik School of Government brings you a new set of episodes. We will be having short conversations with practitioners worldwide to understand today's policymaking challenges ..read more

The recent 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party revealed Xi Jinping’s intention to present to the world an image of a “credible, loveable, and respectable China.” The pursuit of soft power is inseparable from other government initiatives – China spends an estimated $10 billion on initiatives aimed at enhancing its soft power around the globe. Yet, public opinion polling from Pew Research shows that China is viewed unfavorably in many advanced economies. This data raises the question of whether China’s investments in soft power tools are fruitful.    Does Ch ..read more

The COVID-19 crisis forced school closures in 188 countries, disrupting the learning process of more than 1.7 billion children, youth, and their families. This had immediate short-term temporary learning loss effects. However, long-term impacts like curbed educational aspirations and disengagement from the school system may be irreversible. This podcast episode deep dives into these adverse consequences and mitigation strategies as schools re-open.  Our host Nikunj Agarwal is joined in this episode by two experts who share their insights on the impact of COVID-19 on education and what nee ..read more