Planetary Choices

Rethinking Russia: Transnational Perspectives on Authoritarianism, Society & Resistance – A Symposium

In this special Symposium edition of our podcast series Beyond Neo-Liberalism, we dive into Anna Schwenck’s monograph, Flexible Authoritarianism, alongside a panel of leading scholars: Jeremy Morris, Greg Yudin, and Johanna K. Bockman.  How do ambition, loyalty, status, and inequality take shape inside an authoritarian regime? Can neoliberal aspirations thrive under authoritarian rule? And how does everyday life—and innovation—unfold within a war-driven economy? Our guests unpack these questions, debate the concepts we use to understand Russian society today, and offer fresh perspectives on authoritarianism, social change, and resistance. Academic Reference:  Anna Schwenck, Jeremy Morris, Johanna Bockman, Greg Yudin, Hagen Schulz-Forberg; Rethinking Russia: Transnational Perspectives on Authoritarianism, Society & Resistance—A Symposium. Global Perspectives 14 May 2026; 7 (1): 161510. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2026.161510 [https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2026.161510] Any Questions? Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2543607/fan_mail/new] This podcast was created and produced by the Research Center for New Critical Politics and Governance (CPG). To watch the video version of this episode, please visit the link below: https://cas.au.dk/en/cpg/podcast/mapping-the-planetary [https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2025.144161]

Bitcoin Nation? Assessing El Salvador’s Crypto Experiment — A Conversation with Vladimir Pacheco Cueva

In the third episode of our new season, Global Governance Beyond Neoliberalism, we sit down with Vladimir Pacheco Cueva, Associate Professor in the Global Studies Department at Aarhus University. Drawing on research in political economy and social policy, with a particular focus on Latin America, Cueva takes us through one of the most striking economic experiments of recent years: El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin under President Nayib Bukele. Together with our host, Hagen Schulz-Forberg, the two explore what this unprecedented crypto-project means for governance, development, financial sovereignty, and everyday life in a country marked by political disruptions and environmental fragility. From the promises of innovation to the risks of deepening inequality, Cueva helps us understand how El Salvador’s Bitcoin project fits into longer histories of neoliberal reform and what its trajectory might reveal about the future of post-neoliberal politics across the region. Academic Reference:  Vladimir Pacheco Cueva, Hagen Schulz-Forberg; Bitcoin Nation? Assessing El Salvador's Crypto Experiment — A Conversation with Vladimir Pacheco Cueva. Global Perspectives 25 March 2026; 7 (1): 158699. doi:  https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2026.158699 [https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2026.158699]. Any Questions? Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2543607/fan_mail/new] This podcast was created and produced by the Research Center for New Critical Politics and Governance (CPG). To watch the video version of this episode, please visit the link below: https://cas.au.dk/en/cpg/podcast/mapping-the-planetary [https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2025.144161]

Rethinking Education for Transnational Governance — A Conversation with Fabrizio Tassinari

In the latest episode of Beyond Neo-liberalism, our host Hagen Schulz-Forberg is joined by political scientist and executive director, Fabrizio Tassinari, as we explore his work at European University Institute’s School of Transnational Governance and his works on developing new forms of diplomatic training, suitable for an age of planetary polycrisis. Throughout the episode we explore questions of what it means to educate our future diplomats in times of planetary crisis, what is left of the old forms of transnational governance and what can guide future visions of global governance. Academic Reference:  Fabrizio Tassinari, Hagen Schulz-Forberg; Rethinking Education for Transnational Governance — A Conversation with Fabrizio Tassinari. Global Perspectives 25 March 2026; 7 (1): 158897. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2026.158897 [https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2026.158897] Any Questions? Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2543607/fan_mail/new] Any Questions? Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2543607/fan_mail/new] This podcast was created and produced by the Research Center for New Critical Politics and Governance (CPG). To watch the video version of this episode, please visit the link below: https://cas.au.dk/en/cpg/podcast/mapping-the-planetary [https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2025.144161]

The Shifting Tides of Global Governance — A Conversation with Michael Zürn

In our very first episode in our series Beyond Neo-liberalism, our host Hagen Schulz-Forberg sits down with political scientist Michael Zürn as they explore the intersections of global governance and international relations in the current political climate. The two discuss Zürn’s work with the analytical categories of NALFI (Normativity, Authority, Liberalism, Fragmentation, Inequality), democratic regression and the tensions between national democracy and transnational authorities. Are we moving beyond our traditional understandings of Global Governance? Do transnational authorities have too big of a grasp on national democracies? Are we moving towards a post-democracy understanding of international relations? If so, what will happen? Academic Reference: Michael Zürn, Hagen Schulz-Forberg; The Shifting Tides of Global Governance—A Conversation with Michael Zürn. Global Perspectives 2 January 2026; 7 (1): 159010. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2026.159010 [https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2026.159010] Any Questions? Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2543607/fan_mail/new] This podcast was created and produced by the Research Center for New Critical Politics and Governance (CPG). To watch the video version of this episode, please visit the link below: https://cas.au.dk/en/cpg/podcast/mapping-the-planetary [https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2025.144161]

The Ecology of Happiness —A Conversation with Stefano Bartolini

In episode 9 of Mapping the Planetary, hosts Hagen Schulz-Forberg and James Quilligan welcome Stefano Bartolini, Associate Professor at the University of Siena, whose research explores Political Economy, Social Economy, and the Economics of Happiness. Together, they ask a fundamental question: Can economic prosperity coexist with genuine human well-being and planetary sustainability? The conversation examines how modern economies might evolve beyond growth-centered models to embrace a more holistic understanding of prosperity, one that values social connection, leisure, environmental balance, and happiness as much as material wealth. Academic Reference: Stefano Bartolini, Hagen Schulz-Forberg, James Quilligan; The Ecology of Happiness—A Conversation with Stefano Bartolini. Global Perspectives 10 March 2025; 6 (1): 150338. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2025.150338 [https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2025.150338] Any Questions? Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2543607/fan_mail/new] This podcast was created and produced by the Research Center for New Critical Politics and Governance (CPG). To watch the video version of this episode, please visit the link below: https://cas.au.dk/en/cpg/podcast/mapping-the-planetary [https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2025.144161]