Carnegie Council Audio Podcast

Are we reaching for the wrong metaphors and narratives in our eagerness to govern AI? In this Artificial Intelligence & Equality podcast, Carnegie Council Senior Fellow Anja Kaspersen is joined by Google Research’s Blaise Aguera y Arcas. In a talk that spans from Gutenberg to federated learning models to what we can learn from nuclear research, they discuss what we need to be mindful of when discussing and engaging with future applications of machine intelligence.  For more on this podcast, please go to carnegiecouncil.org.  For more on the Artificial Intelligence & Equality Initiative (AIEI), please go to carnegieaie.org.

In response to climate change risks, scientists are considering the viability of developing and deploying marine cloud brightening (MCB), which seeks to whiten clouds over the ocean to reflect solar radiation back into space in order to achieve cooling. MCB is still largely theoretical, but if ever deployed at scale, could create large and potentially long-term risks and governance challenges. The recent first outdoor MCB experiment conducted by Australian scientists went largely unnoticed by the general public and has generated some interesting but limited debate. In this C2GDiscuss, the panelists explore:  How to situate MCB in the global challenges of response to climate risks context?  What is the latest research and debate about MCB as well as the governance implications of potential deployment?  What could we learn from the recent MCB outdoor experiment in Australia to move forward the governance of solar radiation modification research? The C2GDiscuss features:  Kerryn Brent, lecturer at the Univers

C2GDiscuss is a series of moderated in-depth conversations between diverse experts on some of the governance challenges of climate-altering approaches. In this podcast, Mark Turner, communications consultant at C2G, interviews Janos Pasztor, C2G's executive director, about how how these discussions encourage an engaging conversation about some of the toughest questions faced by decision-makers on climate change, now and in the future. C2GDisccuss and C2GTalk are posted on Monday on Carnegie Council's podcast channels.  For more, please go to C2G's website. 

Judah Grunstein, editor-in-chief of World Politics Review, returns to The Doorstep to discuss 2022 trends in U.S. global engagement with co-hosts Nick Gvosdev and Tatiana Serafin. Where is the Biden/Harris team succeeding on the world stage? Where are they missing opportunities? Is the American public ready to participate in shaping new narratives for how the U.S. shows up in the world? For more, please go to carnegiecouncil.org. 

When author Eliot Peper first heard about solar geoengineering, or solar radiation modification, he knew he had to write a novel. "There are so many different angles on this kind of a problem. It raises so many questions that impact every area of our lives," he told C2GTalk. Speculative fiction, says Peper, can spark people's curiosity and inspire them to become engaged. "If it makes other people look more deeply and pay more attention, to me that's a huge win." Eliot Peper is the author of nine novels, including Veil, Cumulus, Bandwidth, and Neon Fever Dream. He also publishes a blog, and sends a monthly newsletter. He is on Twitter, @eliotpeper. Peper’s most recent novel, Veil, is a speculative thriller about diplomats, hackers, spies, scientists, and billionaires racing to control our climate future. Janos Pastor, C2G’s executive director, calls Veil "the tale we need to confront climate change. Peper deftly explores one of the most controversial ideas on the climate agenda—solar geoengineering—and its geo

In this episode of the Artificial Intelligence & Equality podcast, Senior Fellow Wendell Wallach sits down with Professor Shannon Vallor to discuss how to reenvision ethics and empower it to deal with AI, emerging technologies, and new power dynamics in the information age. For more on this talk, please go to carnegiecouncil.org. For more on the Carnegie Artificial Intelligence & Equality Initiative, please go to carnegieaie.org.

Equity, justice, and transparency are needed to enable meaningful conversations around the the debate on solar radiation modification, because Africa has to be very careful about climate-altering technologies, especially when we do not understand their consequences, says Vera Songwe, executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) during a C2GTalk interview. Africa can only sustainably and justly have the conversation on carbon emissions if it sees that this road leads to a more prosperous life, better livelihoods, and that this road will help the continent meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Vera Songwe is the United Nations under-secretary-general and the ninth serving executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). As executive secretary focusing on "ideas for a prosperous Africa," her organizational reforms have brought to the fore critical issues of macroeconomic stability; development finance, growth and private sector; poverty and inequality; t

The Biden/Harris team had big plans for re-engaging the U.S. with the world after four years of retrenchment under Trump. But the continuing pandemic, runaway inflation, and rising populism have upended the new administration's 2021 goals. Mo Elleithee, executive director of Georgetown's Institute of Politics and Public Service, joins Doorstep co-hosts Nick Gvosdev and Tatiana Serafin to discuss what the Biden/Harris team gets right and how messaging can be improved ahead of 2022 mid-term elections to engage a disconnected electorate. For more, please go to carnegiecouncil.org. 

In the last 20 years, the U.S. and its allies significantly expanded their military and security infrastructures. But as America pivots from the War on Terror, new areas of focus have begun to take center stage, including the militarization of space and rising tensions with China. Is there a better way to meet our basic security responsibilities without militarizing across society? Carnegie Council President Joel Rosenthal discusses these issues with security experts Elliot Ackerman, Neta C. Crawford, and Ned Dobos. This special event was inspired by the Ethics, Security, and the War-Machine book symposium recently published in the Fall 2021 issue of Carnegie Council's Ethics & International Affairs journal. For more, please go to carnegiecouncil.org.

A global and regional discussion is needed to learn about and create governance for climate-altering approaches like solar radiation modification, says Alicia Bárcena, executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), during a  C2GTalk interview. The UN's regional commissions, including ECLAC, can play an important role in bringing together a diverse range of actors in this discussion, including public and private experts in environment, energy, finance, economy, and planning. At the end of this C2GTalk, Bárcena said “And someday we will have to pay tribute to Maurice Strong . . . I think of him quite a lot.  I believe that he was really anticipating so many of these things. So hopefully someday we and C2G can do something about it”. On behalf of  Bárcena and Janos  Pasztor this C2GTalk is dedicated to the memory of Maurice Strong. Alicia Bárcena  assumed  office  as  the  executive  secretary  of  the  Economic  Commission  for  Latin  America  and  th

Emerging technologies with global impact are creating new ungoverned spaces at a rapid pace. In this critical moment, frameworks and approaches to govern these technologies, particularly in the international sphere, are often unclear or altogether nonexistent. In this podcast, the leaders of Carnegie Council's Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative (C2G) and the Artificial Intelligence & Equality Initiative (AIEI) discuss the ways they are working to educate and activate communities around these critical governance issues. For full transcript, please go to carnegiecouncil.org.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, new questions have arisen in regards to the ethics of global vaccine distribution. In a continuation of a series started over the summer, University of Pennsylvania's Ezekiel Emanuel returns to discuss boosters and vaccine hesitancy and how that affects vaccine distribution around the world. Plus, he shares his thoughts on Biden administration policies concerning the travel ban due to the Omicron variant, domestic mandates, testing, and masking. For more on these issues, read "On the Ethics of Vaccine Nationalism: The Case for the Fair Priority for Residents Framework," co-authored by Dr. Emanuel and published by Carnegie Council's Ethics & International journal and Cambridge University Press.  For a full transcript of this talk, please go to carnegiecouncil.org.

Understanding that we face a planetary emergency can help countries and citizens around the world overcome our many interlocking crises, says Sandrine Dixson-Declève, co-president of the Club of Rome during a C2GTalk interview. Bringing international, national and local leaders into inclusive, people-focused governance processes can help our emergence into a new type of civilization. Technology has a role to play—if governed properly—but cannot be relied upon to "save" us. In particular, climate-altering approaches like solar radiation modification (SRM) or large-scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR) need governance in order to manage risks. Science and stories are needed to help citizens understand potential futures, and to find a way forward for people, planet and prosperity. Sandrine Dixson-Declève is currently the co-president of the Club of Rome and divides her time between lecturing, facilitating change in business, and policy models and advisory work. She holds several advisory positions for the European

One of the fastest growing—and underreported—subjects in international relations is the rise of private armies. Dr. Sean McFate, Atlantic Council senior fellow and former private military contractor, joins Doorstep co-hosts Nick Gvosdev and Tatiana Serafin to discuss his book The New Rules of War and how our current paradigm of warfare is obsolete. With cyberweapons, disinformation, and mercenaries presenting new threats, how can America shore up its defenses and rethink the trillions of dollars spent on defense? Is the risk of inaction creating a new "Middle Ages"? For more on this subject, don't miss Carnegie Council's panel on December 14 at 3pm ET,  "Is Militarization Essential for Security in 2022 and Beyond?" And, for more on this podcast, please go to carnegiecouncil.org.

It is important to reflect internationally on climate-altering approaches such as Solar Radiation Modification, in case the world is not capable of meeting the mitigation challenge, says Marc Vanheukelen the European External Action Service’s ambassador at large for climate diplomacy during a C2GTalk interview. But these approaches should not become an “alibi for inaction. International governance will be needed, but strategically it is best not to move too quickly, but rather first familiarize smaller groups with these ideas, at the expert level, and then to start moving these ideas gradually up the policy ladder as discussions gain traction. Marc Vanheukelen is "hors classe" adviser and ambassador at large for climate diplomacy at the EU’s External Action Service. From 2015 till 2019 he was the EU ambassador to the World Trade Organisation in Geneva. Prior to his ambassadorial posting, Vanheukelen was director in DG TRADE (European Commission) responsible for sustainable development, economic partnership ag

Context matters and without clarity on the impacts that climate-altering approaches will have from different perspectives, it will be difficult to deal with the ethical and governance dimensions, said Youba Sokona during a C2GTalk interview. He highlights the need for research that not only considers the global level, but seeks to understand the national and local levels where people’s lives are impacted. Sokona has over 40 years of experience addressing energy, environment, and sustainable development in Africa and has been at the heart of numerous national and continental initiatives. Professor Sokona was elected vice chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in October 2015. Prior to this, he was co-chair of the IPCC Working Group III on the mitigation of climate change for the Fifth Assessment Report after serving as a lead author since 1990. In addition to these achievements, Professor Sokona has a proven track record of organizational leadership and management, for example, as inaugu

Almost half of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are associated with the energy used to produce, process, transport, and dispose of the food we eat and the goods we use—multiply this around the world. Waste, from food to plastics, not only affects climate change but also affects people's lives in ways that we don't always consider. Saumya Roy brings these issues to life in her book Castaway Mountain. In this podcast, Roy and Carnegie Council Senior Fellows Tatiana Serafin and Nikolas Gvosdev discuss how Mumbai's forgotten community reflects the massive problem of waste around the world.  For more, please go to carnegiecouncil.org.

Will AI systems transform the future battlefield so dramatically that it will render existing paradigms and doctrines obsolete, feeding new intense security dilemmas? In this Artificial Intelligence & Equality podcast, Senior Fellow Anja Kaspersen is joined by Kenneth Payne, a King’s College London reader and the author of I, Warbot: The Dawn of Artificially Intelligent Conflict, to discuss the impact of AI systems on military affairs, the nature and character of war and warfare, strategic culture, and geopolitical affairs. Fore more, please go to carnegiecouncil.org. 

Finding harmony between man and nature is essential as we tackle the climate crisis, said Professor Pan Jiahua in an interview with C2GTalk. In this episode, he explores the concept of ecological civilization, and how carbon dioxide removal and solar radiation modification approaches aimed at altering the climate might be considered in this framework. Pan Jiahua is professor of economics and director at the Institute of Ecocivilization Studies at Beijing University of Technology. He was elected in 2018 as member of the academic board of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. In 2020, he was appointed by the UN secretary-general as one of the 15 members of the Independent Group of Scientists for drafting the Global Sustainable Development Report 2023. Professor Pan is also editor-in-chief of the Chinese Journal of Urban & Environmental Studies, and a member of the China National Expert Panel on Climate Change and the National Foreign Policy Advisory Group, and advisor to the Ministry of Ecology and Enviro

By 2030, Africa is projected to be home to 60 percent of the world's working-age population. Columbia Journalism School's Professor Howard W. French, author of the recently published Born in Blackness, joins Doorstep co-hosts Nick Gvosdev and Tatiana Serafin to explain how this will impact global economies, climate change politics, and U.S.-China relations. French also calls for a reckoning with history that recognizes the importance of Africa in the global conversation. For more on U.S. foreign policy in Africa, check out last year's Doorstep talk with Charles A. Ray,  chair of the Africa Program at Foreign Policy Research Institute and former U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe and Cambodia. For more, please go to carnegiecouncil.org.