Hello Everyone!
This is just me and the team reaching out with very heartfelt thanks for listening to Coffee Talk Politics and reading CTP Notes.
Davide and I were shocked when we realised that you’re all tuning in from 47 different countries. We’re a modest pod, so that’s incredible, and I feel deep gratitude.
We were all living darker days when I started this pod: I was personally dismayed by what I was seeing playing out in Europe and especially in the States. If you’re a regular listener you already know that I have family there, so I was increasingly concerned about Trump’s chances at a second term. I used to wake up with heart palpitations and anxiety. I needed to dig into things to understand. It’s that simple.
That’s why I started the first episode, talking about the decline in liberal democracies worldwide, taking my cue from Prof Larry Diamond’s work in this field. It took off from there, and some unexpected and wonderful things started happening: Davide Cortese came on as senior researcher (his analysis is always bang on and he’s so fast), and I’ve had the good fortune of very generous mentors giving me advice along the way.
During this seismic period, we’ve covered a lot of ground, albeit in the States and in Europe, but on topics that resonate globally: Brexit & the victory of President Biden and Vice President Harris. In June 2020, I had no idea what it meant to cover these topics or how complex so many issues were. Unfortunately, some are still on our plate.
If I think back on the guests, I’m truly grateful as each one has brought their expertise on a broad range of topics to the pod for the benefit of all. The beauty about being an independent podcaster means I don’t have to fall into the lines dictated by an editorial board or the logic (or ill-logic) of the market of emotions: I’m free to invite those who really do have a solid grounding on the topic at hand.
But it doesn’t end here…
What’s coming up?
In short…it’s time to spread our wings…
Besides keeping up with the Biden Administration and the EU, we’d like to step out and begin our geo-political trek across the world.
We’ll take on the large blocs (US-EU-China), with an eye towards Russia and the ex-Soviet satellite states, but can’t forget that there are two continents which we pay cursory attention to, except when they’re struck by warfare or human disaster: Africa and Latin America. Just a little self-criticism here: we know very little about these areas, and this just goes to show how Western-centric our focus is and has been but I intend to redress this limitation.
In keeping with places we never talk about, we’re also increasingly intrigued by the potential in India, and the Scandinavian & Baltic states. The latter were fearless in countering Soviet efforts in the past, and we can learn a lot from them. That said, two significant issues need to be the focus of the international community: the pandemic and measures to counter the climate emergency.
The erudite Prof Scott Lucas will keep us up-to-date on what’s happening in the States as well as in Syria, Iran and the Middle East. This is an area where the US & EU has to decide how best to deal with the intricacies and balances of foreign affairs, especially in light of the recent Khashoggi Report released by The Office of the Director of National Intelligence: what is the internal political context there after the purges in 2017? what's the relationship between MBS and his father King Salman? who actually holds power, and does Biden’s refusal to deal with MBS change anything in that balance?
Then I always love to check in with our dear friend and political activist-analyst Pierpaolo in Chicago, who always manages to give us a birds eye view of what is happening on the ground.
Lastly, we’re excited about teaming up with the Cosmopolitan Globalists:
The Cosmopolitan Globalist strives to provide educated, erudite, and credible reporting and analysis from the world around, treating issues of global import. It is not nationalist, partisan, narrow-minded, or provincial. Our outlook is cosmopolitan and worldly.
We are attached to 18th-century Enlightenment ideals: rational inquiry, free speech, free trade, progress, tolerance, fraternity, constitutional governance, the rule of law, and the separation of state from church, temple, and mosque. We wonder how these ideals will survive the digital age. We will deliver world-class coverage of consequential events even as we consider every issue from an informed local perspective. Our writers live in the countries from which they report. They understand local politics intimately. We will seek insight from academia and other experts: We value expertise. But we do not worship it.
As I said in a past pod, at CTP we’re not interested in fluff or fly-by-night pseudo-star characters, who have nothing new to say: content and expertise matter to us.
My sincere hope is that it will continue to matter to you too, and that we’re able to peak your curiosity or at least provoke your biases on the issues we cover.
Keep safe…and warm thanks for reading!
Mo
Delighted to team up with…
Always a special guest…and check out the articles…
Happy to listen to…
Deep Dive Politics is an international civil initiative for expert analysis and dialogue on the important political, economic, and socio-cultural issues that concern all of us. They produce the World Unfiltered series.
Before you go…just for laughs…
Feel free to DM me @MoniqueCamarra on Twitter or write to us:
coffeetalkpolitics@gmail.com
Senior researcher: Davide Cortese
Junior researcher: Rebecca Bello (University of Siena)
Thanks for listening!
Mo