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In Pursuit of Development

Dan Banik

Step into conversations that travel across continents and challenge the way you think about progress. From democracy and inequality to climate resilience and healthcare, Dan Banik explores how societies navigate the complex terrain of democracy, poverty, inequality, and sustainability. Through dialogues with scholars, leaders, and innovators, In Pursuit of Development uncovers how ideas travel, why policies succeed or fail, and what it takes to build a more just and resilient world. Expect sharp insights, candid reflections, and a global perspective that connects local struggles to universal aspirations.
Listen, reflect, and be inspired to see global development in a new light. 🎧

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  • 25 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 42 min
  • English

Episodes 25

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  • S7 · E5
    Yesterday · 49 min

    Can Africa achieve its own economic miracle? | Joe Studwell

    Development economist and bestselling author Joe Studwell joins Dan Banik to explore what the African continent can learn from Asia’s remarkable transformation, why agriculture and manufacturing remain crucial for growth, and how political leadership, democracy, and economic policy can unlock the continent’s enormous potential.

  • S7 · E4
    November 4 · 43 min

    Does foreign aid help or hurt democracy? | Ryan Jablonski

    Does foreign aid strengthen democracy or undermine political accountability? Political scientist Ryan Jablonski joins Dan Banik to explore how foreign aid shapes elections, influences politicians and voters, and transforms the relationship between democracy and development in aid-dependent countries.

  • S7 · E3
    October 28 · 40 min

    The rise and promise of South-South Cooperation | Dima Al-Khatib

    What happens when countries that have long been told how to develop start challenging the rules of international development? Dan Banik speaks with Dima Al-Khatib, Director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), about the growing assertiveness of the Global South, shifting geopolitical power, South-South and triangular cooperation, and the prospects for a fairer and more inclusive system of global governance.

  • S7 · E1
    October 14 · 18 min

    Voice without authority: The Global South after Aid | Dan Banik

    The Global South is increasingly visible in global governance. But visibility is not the same as power. In this season-opening episode, Dan Banik asks whether the real transformation underway is not the “rise” of the Global South, but a far more consequential struggle over who gets to write, enforce, and legitimize the rules of the international order.

  • S6 · E36
    June 17 · 31 min

    Why hope is what we need | Dan Banik

    In this Season 6 finale of In Pursuit of Development, Dan Banik asks why hope has come to seem naïve at precisely the moment we need it most. Drawing on global poverty, democracy, climate anxiety, and the politics of collective action, he argues for evidence-based hope as a disciplined and realistic alternative to both denial and despair.

  • S6 · E35
    June 3 · 48 min

    How civil society adapts when aid shrinks | Tikhala Itaye

    As aid shrinks and donor priorities shift, civil society organizations are being forced to rethink how they survive, adapt, and continue serving communities. Dan Banik speaks with Tikhala Itaye about funding cuts, local ownership, social entrepreneurship, gender equality, accountability, and why Malawi’s development future may depend on new forms of innovation and collaboration.

  • S6 · E34
    May 20 · 46 min

    Is Rwanda a development success? | Pritish Behuria

    Rwanda is often celebrated as one of Africa’s most striking development success stories. But how durable is that success, and who has benefited from it? Dan Banik speaks with Pritish Behuria about Rwanda’s services-led growth model, powerful national brand, and the unresolved challenges of jobs, inequality, foreign dependence, and structural transformation.

  • S6 · E33
    May 13 · 24 min

    African agency at the crossroads | Dan Banik

    African scholars, policymakers, civil society leaders, and practitioners are rethinking development amid aid cuts, geopolitical fragmentation, climate pressures, and the rise of AI. Drawing on recent conversations in Pretoria, Addis Ababa, Blantyre, and Mauritius, Dan Banik reflects on African agency, the limits of donor-driven development, and why the future must be shaped by those most affected by it.

  • S6 · E32
    April 29 · 43 min

    How public institutions become captured | Elizabeth Dávid-Barrett

    Dan Banik speaks with Elizabeth Dávid-Barrett about state capture and development. Together, they explore how corruption moves beyond bribes to reshape institutions, weaken accountability, deepen inequality, and allow powerful political and business actors to rewrite the rules in their own favor.

  • S6 · E31
    April 22 · 47 min

    Why the UN looks different from the Global South | Alanna O’Malley

    Dan Banik speaks with Alanna O’Malley about the hidden history of the United Nations, showing how actors from the Global South helped shape global governance, decolonization, development, and the struggle for a more just international order. The conversation explores why the UN looks very different when viewed from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and why these debates matter so much in today’s crisis-ridden world.

  • S6 · E30
    April 15 · 51 min

    The poverty trap that kills a million people a year | Madhukar Pai

    Why does tuberculosis still kill more than a million people every year despite being preventable and curable? Dan Banik speaks with Madhukar Pai about TB, poverty, undernutrition, primary healthcare, decolonizing global health, and the enduring legacy of Paul Farmer.

  • S6 · E29
    April 8 · 39 min

    Can aid still fight poverty? | Elina Scheja

    How is global development cooperation changing in an age of aid cuts, geopolitical fragmentation, and shifting national priorities? In this episode, Dan Banik speaks with Elina Scheja, Chief Economist at Sida, about the future of foreign aid, poverty reduction, jobs, evidence, and what effective development policy looks like in a more uncertain world.

  • S6 · E28
    April 1 · 43 min

    Can Asia still deliver the development dream? | Philip Schellekens

    Dan Banik speaks with Philip Schellekens, Chief Economist for Asia Pacific at UNDP, about what Asia’s extraordinary rise can (and cannot) teach us about development today. They explore growth, inequality, jobs, aging, AI, and why the future of development depends on moving beyond crisis language toward a more inclusive and opportunity-focused vision.

  • S6 · E27
    March 25 · 46 min

    Urbanization, inequality and the future of development | Benjamin Bradlow

    Dan Banik speaks with Benjamin Bradlow about urban inequality, informal settlements, and why access to housing, sanitation, and transport remains so unequal in many of the world’s fastest-growing cities. The conversation explores how local politics, state capacity, and civil society shape whether cities become spaces of exclusion or inclusion.

  • S6 · E26
    March 18 · 45 min

    Why the middle class will shape global development | Homi Kharas

    Dan Banik speaks with Homi Kharas about the rise of the global middle class and why it has become central to the story of modern development. The conversation explores how middle-class growth is reshaping economies, politics, and aspirations around the world, and why its future will matter for inequality, sustainability, and global change.

  • S6 · E24
    March 4 · 37 min

    Why India–China relations could reshape the global order | Manoj Kewalramani

    India-China relations have entered a phase of cautious re-engagement, but beneath the diplomatic optics lie deep structural fault lines shaped by power asymmetry, border tensions, economic interdependence, and great power rivalry. Dan Banik speaks with Manoj Kewalramani about whether the relationship is stabilizing into a cold peace or simply entering another cycle of strategic competition with global consequences.

  • S6 · E23
    February 25 · 37 min

    Can philosophy save a world obsessed with power? | Thomas Pogge

    In a world defined by rising great-power rivalry, declining solidarity, and shrinking aid budgets, the Yale philosopher Thomas Pogge joins Dan Banik to discuss whether global justice and human rights still matter or whether power politics has won. From the erosion of soft power to bold proposals like the Ecological Impact Fund, this conversation explores how values, innovation, and institutional reform could reshape a fractured international order.

  • S6 · E22
    February 18 · 48 min

    Debt, development finance, and global agency | David McNair

    Dan Banik speaks with David McNair about the shifting politics of global development in an era of debt distress and declining humanitarian funding. They explore how activism must adapt to a changing global financial landscape, the rise of agency in the Global South, and what it will take to reform development finance for the years ahead.

Showing 1–20 of 25 episodes