We’ve put together a selection of readings, podcasts and video recommendation that we think you might enjoy this new year.

READING

Tattoos on the Heart by Greg Boyle

The founder of Homeboy Industries, the largest Gang reinsertion program in the world, Father Greg Boyle tells stories that will make you laugh and cry about the power of compassion and how to stand with those on the margins. A great and powerful model for inclusion.

Recommendation by Rainer Gude

Other news

Other News is a nonprofit organisation that publishes expert analyses of and opinions on a variety of global issues and trends. The organisation prides itself as a platform for voices against the tide. This aptly summarises the content of the stimulating and thought provoking daily contributions one can find on the organisation´s website, which approach and discuss global challenges from a different angle than the mainstream media.

Recommended by Philip Poppelreuter

PODCAST

Top Global Crises to Expect in 2023 by Global Dispatches 

The attention will continue to be directed towards Horn of Africa. Somalia, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Yemen, and DRC will be the top countries to watch in terms of humanitarian assistance. Based on the mixed methodology to assess the risks, they discuss how countries like Somalia will be further exposed to the climate emergency. Another significant effect is to be derived from the economic problems and food crisis that piles up for 2023, accelerated by the war in Ukraine.

Recommended by Tamar Tkemaladze

“Hold your fire!” / Dec 2022 / “No end in sight in Ukraine?” by International Crisis Group 

While the conflict continues to evolve and shift on an almost daily basis, ICG’s podcast from December reflects on some of the broader lines regarding the trajectory of the conflict, including in terms of possible scenarios towards negotiation.

Recommended by Alex Shoebridge

A crisis in Peru Signals Trouble for South America & Why Haiti Asked for an Intervention by The New York Times 

From the New York Times, two episodes of the Daily podcast hosted by Sabrina Tavernise examining the recent political showdown in Peru and the request for international aid launched by Haiti.

Recommended by Giulia Ferraro

Conversing on Africa Peace by Africa Amani & Australian Embassy in Ethiopia 

A Podcast series is hosted by the Africa Amani and Australian Embassy in Ethiopia, which is focussed on highlighting how peace processes and peacebuilding in Africa is shaping up and what lessons can be drawn from the various processes highlighted.

Recommended by Wairimu Wanjau

Video

Under the Sun, Vitaliy Mansky by Icarus Films

After years of negotiation the Russian director Vitaly Mansky was invited by the North Korean government to make a film about one girl and her family in the year she prepares to join the Children’s Union, on the ‘Day of the Shining Star’ (Kim Jong-Il’s birthday). The North Korean government cast the film, wrote the script, and provided guides to feed the actors their lines while managing every detail of the project. But the government handlers supervising the production did not realise that Mansky kept filming even after they had shouted “Cut.” The result is an extraordinarily revealing mixture of official propaganda and unauthorised behind-the-scenes footage

Recommended by Alex Bramble