This was a special episode. I interviewed a dear friend, someone whom I enjoy having conversations on many topics offline, and today we decided to move our conversation about Russia’s conversation of Ukraine, about propaganda and misinformation, censorship, something that Karina Orlova, my today’s guest is very knowledgeable about herself. She was the Washington, D.C., correspondent for Russia’s liberal radio station, Echo of Moscow, before it was shut a few days after the invasion began. She left Russia in 2015, and has for years been very vocal about her opposition to Vla ..read more

It was an incredible privilege for me to host two experts like Catherine Baker and Azra Hromadzic for such an intellectually stimulating exchange! We had a great conversation that addressed topics like race, racism, migration, nationalism, environment, positionality, identification in research, and connected them in a way that I hope would be interesting beyond the geographical context of Southeast Europe as well. Azra and Catherine’s scholarship have inspired me to think about these topics and many other important issues in new ways, so maybe you too will decide to explore more of the same af ..read more

It was a pleasure to host Blerta Basholli, the director of the Kosovar film "Hive," currently shortlisted among 15 international feature films for Oscars 2022. The film is inspired by the true story of Fahrije Hoti from Krusha village, whose husband was missing from the war in Kosovo. In order to help the survival of her family and ensure kids' livelihood, she comes up with an idea to establish a cooperative, to start an agricultural business. On the way, she faces numerous challenges in a traditional, patriarchal environment. I spoke with Blerta about the background of the story, the process ..read more

It‘s been a great pleasure to host Dr. Bruce D. Perry in this episode, for a fascinating conversation on his work and his most recent book, What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing (2021), co-authored with Oprah Winfrey, is a #1 New York Times Bestseller. We discussed the meaning behind the title and the shift to asking “What happened to you?” rather than “What’s wrong with you?”. You will learn about the impact of our pasts on our lives, how all experience is processed from the bottom up, meaning, to get to the top, “smart” part of our brain, we have to go throug ..read more

Wow, what a truly candid and powerful conversation - on politics, history, future of Bosnia & Herzegovina, Western Balkans and so much more! Learn why Jasmin believes that the biggest threat in the Western Balkans region is the renewed Serbian ultra-nationalism as the stated government policy of the regime in Belgrade. Guests also addressed the “Open Balkan” regional market initiative and the absence of Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, and why ”in the Western Balkans, the Serbian World is a fact on the ground and a threat to be confronted; concepts like the Open Balkan initia ..read more

In today’s fascinating conversation, Riada talks to Dr. Jay Van Bavel about the dynamics of shared identities, what causes people to develop a social identity, and what happens to people when they define themselves in terms of group memberships. Identities are not a stable or a static thing, but Jay also explained what does conformity to norm accomplish for a group. We also addressed toxic patterns of standard group and identity dynamics, and you might be surprised to learn why we go along with others. Jay told us about studies that reveal some critical lessons about human nature, including th ..read more

Wow, this was such a treat! I am excited to share my conversation with Amra Sabic-El-Rayess, the author of the highly acclaimed book titled "The Cat I Never Named: A True Story of Love, War, and Survival" published by Bloomsbury in 2020. Our conversation was recorded in late February 2021. Amra's stunning memoir – which was the basis of our conversation – talks about a Muslim teen struggling to survive in the midst of the Bosnian genocide. It has received starred reviews from – be ready the list is long but I think it should be heard: Publishers Weekly, Booklist, School Library Journal, Kirkus ..read more

I was so excited to read and then host one of two authors of a book about friendliness and how it came to be an advantageous evolutionary strategy. In it, advancing what they call the “self-domestication theory," Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods put forward “a powerful new theory of human nature” which suggests that our secret to success as a species is our unique friendliness. So, in this exciting episode, learn how cooperative communication allowed us to thrive while other humans went extinct. Learn also what led some species to be more cognitively sophisticated than others, and what type of fri ..read more

It was my honor and privilege to have Anna Malaika Tubbs as my guest in this episode, and talk about her important, beautiful debut book "The Three Mothers, How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, JR., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation." In this inspiring conversation, Anna Malaika shares what made her write this particular book - with these three women as the main focus, and how difficult it was to find information about them. We get a glimpse of what Alberta, Louise and Berdis taught their sons; there were some obvious shared beliefs and yet they had some different approaches which ..read more

Hello everyone! So, here we are, the first episode of "Dignified Resilience" podcast in 2021 is here and phew, has it not already been so eventful – surely for us who are based here in the USA. I hope you are all well wherever you listen from, and I wish you health, a new year of ease and peace. Elmira Bayrasli - my guest in this episode, is someone whom I admired for quite a while online and we’ve had this idea of getting together for a few months now. I am so grateful that we made it happen finally! In this wonderful conversation, we candidly talked about so many topics that Elmira is just s ..read more