
Doha Debates Podcast
A biweekly debate show that bridges the divide across contentious issues. Every two weeks, Doha Debates and FP Studios bring you an important and topical debate on the world’s most pressing issues. The show brings together people with starkly different opinions for an in-depth, human conversation that looks for common ground. Each show also includes young guest voices, often participants of the Doha Debates Ambassador Program, who ask insightful questions of the guests. Show hosts include Karen Given, Afia Pokua, Mariya Karimjee, Joshua Johnson and others.
Latest episodes

Apr 1, 2020 • 26min
Course Correction S1: Love, Hate and the Power of Listening
While confronting a friend who voted for Brexit, Nelufar goes on an ego-dampening journey that takes her from a conflict circle in Iraq to a prison in southern Illinois, as she learns why conflict resolution is more about confronting ourselves than others. Read the episode transcript here.

Mar 26, 2020 • 34min
Course Correction S1: COVID-19 Will Change the World Forever
What do our decisions about COVID-19 say about who we are as societies and the systems we take for granted? This week, we chat with global strategy expert Parag Khanna and anthropologist Jason Hickel about the novel coronavirus, the global economy and the institutions we must trust to get us through this. Read the episode transcript here.

Mar 18, 2020 • 23min
Course Correction S1: Marc Lamont Hill: Racism & Refugees
How do we solve a problem that has displaced 25 million people globally? Nelufar talks to journalist Marc Lamont Hill about the role racism plays in the global refugee crisis. Read the episode transcript here.

Mar 11, 2020 • 34min
Course Correction S1: Shrinking Our Carbon Footprint
Nelufar gets an unpleasant surprise when she finds out how much carbon she’s personally responsible for emitting into the atmosphere. But even if we all work to reduce our carbon footprint, will it be enough to fix the climate crisis? Or does real change have to come from the top? Read the episode transcript here.

Mar 4, 2020 • 26min
Course Correction S1: Anand Giridharadas: Speaking Truth to Billionaires
The gap between rich and poor is widening at an unsustainable rate. Author Anand Giridharadas says that to really change the world, we need to challenge capitalist power structures. Read the episode transcript here.

Feb 26, 2020 • 32min
Course Correction S1: Is Globalization Good for Us?
What would it take to live without globalization — and is that even possible? Host Nelufar Hedayat attempts to go hyper local in London and talks to author Parag Khanna and Ghanaian agripreneur Nana Adjoa Sifa. One thing is for sure, globalization is a lot more complicated than you think. Read the episode transcript here.

Feb 19, 2020 • 20min
Course Correction S1: Veena Sahajwalla: Turning Trash into Treasure
Garbage is Veena Sahajwalla’s passion. And the trash is piling up: The more stuff we consume, the more waste we create. She’s inventing new ways to turn trash into useful items — like using old tires to make steel and transforming plastic waste into tiles and furniture. Read the episode transcript here.

Feb 12, 2020 • 28min
Course Correction S1: Kicking Our Plastic Habit
Is it possible to live without single-use plastics? Host Nelufar Hedayat learns that recycling our forks, bags and coffee cup lids just isn’t enough. She also talks to a Vietnamese activist who's pioneering the zero-waste movement in a country beset with other people’s plastic waste. Read the episode transcript here.

Feb 5, 2020 • 29min
Course Correction S1: This Isn't a Game: The Fight for Equal Pay in Soccer
“Equal Pay!” was the chant that rang through the 2019 Women’s World Cup. Although women players often bring in more money for their soccer or football federations, they earn a just a fraction of their male counterparts’ salaries. Host Nelufar Hedayat learns that soccer is more than just a game — it’s a battlefield for equality. Read the episode transcript here.

Jan 29, 2020 • 18min
Course Correction S1: Georgie Badiel: Journey to the Well
As a girl, Georgie Badiel walked three hours every morning to get clean water for her family in Burkina Faso. Host Nelufar Hedayat talks to Badiel, who today is a fashion model and an activist for clean water access in her home country, about the right to clean water and why it’s a matter of gender equity in sub-Saharan countries. Read the episode transcript here.