The World Unspun

New Internationalist is at risk! Donate today and help save global, independent journalism.This episode is brought to you by Coops UK.New Internationalist co-owner Kiran Gupta presents The Long Read from NI560: AI: The People Behind the MachineFurther reading from this episode:Sudan's warring generals are armed to the brink (Eiad Husham in New Internationalist)Support independent media by becoming a New Internationalist co-owner.No billionaires. No media moguls. No corporate ads. Just truly independent, co-operative media. Subscribe today using the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription.

After more than 50 years of award-winning global justice journalism, New Internationalist could be forced to shut down. We need your help to survive. Donate today at newint.org/giveThis episode was brought to you by Big Solar Coop.**The threat of nuclear weapons being used is the highest it’s been since the Cold War.Nuclear-armed states have been ploughing money into modernizing their arsenals and their leaders are abandoning arms control agreements as they continue to ramp up political tensions.In this episode, co-editor Amy Hall speaks to South Korean policy analyst Dae-Han Song of the International Strategy Center about why the US is fuelling this crisis – and what the international community needs to do bring the world back from the brink.Dae-Han Song is also part of the No Cold War Collective, and is an associate at the Korea Policy Institute.Further reading from this episode:The New Nuclear Arms Race (New Internationalist, January-February 2026)Flashpoints to fall out (Amy Hall in New Internationalist)Security or death (Dae-Han Song in New Internationalist)Subscribe to New Internationalist today to get our next issue on the centenary of the 1926 British General Strike! Use the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription.

This episode was brought to you by Big Solar Coop.Subscribe to New Internationalist and use the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription.The Beirut-based journalist provides his analysis on why Israel is able to impose a one-way 'ceasefire', its broader war aims in South Lebanon, and the people caught in the middle.Further reading from this episode:Please note this episode was recorded prior to the extension of the 'ceasefire' announced on 23 April 2026.Gaza: Genocide and Resistance (New Internationalist, November/December 2025)Read all our Lebanon coverage on newint.orgMat Nashed is an award-nominated journalist who has covered the MENA region since the Arab Spring. He was previously the feature's print correspondent for Al Jazeera English and has written and reported for various other platforms, including Newlines Magazine, The New Humanitarian, The Committee to Protect Journalists, the Carnegie Endowment, and many others. He has extensively covered politics and conflict in the Nile Basin and the Levant.You can follow him at @matnashed on X and Instagram.

Subscribe to New Internationalist today to get our next issue on the centenary of the 1926 British General Strike! Use the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription.This episode was brought to you by Big Solar Coop.Tori Tsui is an environmental campaigner, author and advisor from Hong Kong. She is a senior advisor for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. Follow her on Instagram @toritsuiFurther reading from this episode:A new treaty promises to end fossil fuel extraction (Danny Chivers, New Internationalist)Stepping back from the climate brink (Danny Chivers, New Internationalist)To end the Gaza genocide, the Global South takes justice into its own hands (Kate McMahon, New Internationalist)It's Not Just You: How to navigate eco anxiety and the climate crisis (Tori Tsui)Follow the Fossil Fuel Treaty on Instagram @fossilfueltreaty

Subscribe to New Internationalist today to get our next issue on the centenary of the 1926 British General Strike! Use the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription.This episode was brought to you by Big Solar Coop.Molly Crabapple is an award-winning artist, writer and author whose work has appeared in past issues of New Internationalist including the cover of our 2015 issue Democracy in the digital era. Her forthcoming book, Here Where we Live is our Country, tells the little-known story of the revolutionary Jewish Labour Bund movement. The party aimed to build a socialist alternative to zionism while fighting violent anti-semitism in Eastern Europe in the early 20th century.Further reading from this episode:Singing in dark times: Cultural resistance in Palestine (Decca Muldowney in New Internationalist)Gaza: Genocide and Resistance (New Internationalist, Issue 558)Pre-order Here Where We Live is Our Country from BloomsburyNew Internationalist is an award-winning global justice magazine. Proudly reader-owned.

This episode is brought to you by Shared Interest.Despite its documented dangers, algorithmic biases and dire environmental consequences, AI is being pushed into every corner of our lives. But who benefits from framing it this way – and at what cost?For our latest issue, co-editor Decca Muldowney takes an in-depth look at the people behind the AI hype machine.Further reading from our issue AI: The People Behind the Machine:AI and its discontents (Decca Muldowney)'Pennsylvania is perfect' (Maia Woluchem and Livia Garofalo)The myth of inevitability (Paula Lacey)The kill chain (Chris Cole)The janitors of the internet (Adio-Adet Dinika)Approaching infinity (Rémy Ngamije)Subscribe to New Internationalist magazine to read the full archive of Letter From columns, dating back to 1973. Use the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription.

This episode is brought to you by Shared Interest.Addis is a city at a crossroads. A massive redevelopment project is reshaping Ethiopia’s capital into what Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has called the ‘Dubai of East Africa’. His vision of a glistening metropolis of skyscrapers, wide roads and bike lanes aims to draw in investors and tourists alike.So what does this transformation feel like from the inside? For the past year, journalist Maya Misikir has been trying to answer that question through her Letter from Addis Ababa series - one of New Internationalist’s longest running columns. Traditionally, these letters have been written by women based in the Global South, changing hands every year, and offering perspectives that rarely make the headlines.Subscribe to New Internationalist magazine to read the full archive of Letter From columns, dating back to 1973. Use the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription.Fertile Ground (Bethany Rielly, Maxine Betteridge-Moes and Maya Misikir in New Internationalist)Cover photograph by Amanuel Sileshi

This episode is brought to you by Shared Interest.New Internationalist co-owner Kiran Gupta presents The Long Read from NI559: The New Nuclear Arms RaceFurther reading from this episode:Necolonialism in Gaza (Yara Hawari in New Internationalist)The Long War for Meaning (Ramzy Baroud in New Internationalist)Support independent media by becoming a New Internationalist co-owner.No billionaires. No media moguls. No corporate ads. Just truly independent, co-operative media. Subscribe today using the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription.

This episode is sponsored by Path Financial.Share your thoughts on this series by filling out our listener survey.You may not have heard of it, but West Papua is an extraordinary place. It is home to one of the world’s most important rainforests – third only to the Amazon and Congo basins – teeming with species found nowhere else on the planet. Civilizations here stretch back tens of thousands of years.But it’s a region that is increasingly under threat from Indonesia’s military occupation. Rapid deforestation, resource extraction and deadly human rights crackdowns are on the rise.So who's behind the violent plunder – and who's profiting?Read all New Internationalist's coverage of West Papua and IndonesiaThe Interview: Lia Yewen (Maxine Betteridge-Moes, New Internationalist)Britain's complicity in the tragedy of West Papua (David Whyte, Samira Saunders, New Internationalist)West Papua: A Green State Vision (Danny Chivers, New Internationalist)'Every signature was an act of courage' (Danny Chivers, New Internationalist)The world's largest deforestation project (Douglas Gerrard, London Review of Books)Free West Papua CampaignGet 20% off a print and/or digital subscription to New Internationalist using the code THEWORLDUNSPUN and you'll receive digital access to our dedicated issues 'West Papua: Freedom in sight?' (2017) and 'West Papua: We will be free!' (2002).No billionaires. No media moguls. No corporate ads. Just truly independent, co-operative media. To help us continue

Share your thoughts on this series by filling out our listener survey.Join us in Glasgow for our December News Club with Rosie and our editorial assistant Paula Lacey. Tickets are FREE but limited – register here. New Internationalist co-owner Kiran Gupta presents The Long Read from NI558: Gaza: Genocide and ResistanceFurther reading from this episode:Where is the Left? (Rosie Hampton in New Internationalist)Support independent media by becoming a New Internationalist co-owner.No billionaires. No media moguls. No corporate ads. Just truly independent, co-operative media. Subscribe today using the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription.