Gates Cambridge launches podcast with the emphasis on action for positive change

Fed up with the permacrisis of life today and of feeling you can’t do anything much about it? So, now what? is a new podcast from Gates Cambridge, a cutting-edge scholarship programme for international postgraduates at the University of Cambridge.

The podcast is for anyone looking for ideas, vision and optimism about how we can practically tackle some of the world’s most complex and challenging problems. Scholars from a range of different backgrounds and disciplines will share the actions they are taking to change the world for the better.

Gates Cambridge was established in 2000 through a $210m donation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which remains the most generous donation to a British university. Scholars come from all different disciplines and parts of the world. The one thing they have in common is a commitment to improving the lives of others.

The podcast will focus on impact in eight different areas, from economics and environment to culture and global health. Each episode will see scholars in conversation with each other about a wicked global problem, hosted by international journalist Catherine Galloway. It will end with the question So, now what? - with scholars suggesting ways we can all contribute to moving the dial away from despair and towards the kind of practical action that will make a positive difference.

It launches on today with episode one featuring Kamiar Mohaddes, Associate Professor in Economics & Policy at the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge, Todd Tucker, director of Industrial Policy and Trade at the Roosevelt Institute, and Queen Chinyere Quinn Co-Founder and Partner at pan-African investment platform Kupanda Capital.

Following on from the World Economic Forum in Davos, they will be discussing climate economics and answering the question: How do we build back better after crisis? The podcast tackles the need for collaboration, the costs and risks of climate change and the role of innovation and people power in driving change. The speakers also highlight the importance of political will and financing in achieving sustainable recovery and building a more equitable and resilient future.

So, now what? will air on the last Tuesday of the month until August. February’s episode - launching on 27th February - will be on the question of what is education for? And includes best-selling author Tara Westover, Thabo Msibi, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Teaching and Learning at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal and Aliya Khalid, Lecturer of Comparative and International Education at the University of Oxford.

Professor Eilis Ferran, Provost of the Gates Cambridge Trust, said: “We hope people will enjoy and be inspired by So, now what? We are very excited to be bringing people a flavour of some of the stimulating, multidisciplinary conversations that Gates Cambridge has enabled and to celebrate the impact that our scholars are having when it comes to tackling some of the world’s toughest issues today.”