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Justice Matters

Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard Kennedy School

Investigating matters of human rights at home and abroad. Listen to the podcast by the Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights at the Harvard Kennedy School, hosted by Executive Director Maggie Gates, Mathias Risse, Aminta Ossom, and Diego Garcia Blum.

The views expressed are those of each speaker individually and not necessarily those of others in this recording, the Carr-Ryan Center, or Harvard Kennedy School. We support free speech as the cornerstone of learning and democracy and share these perspectives to foster open debate.

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#130
Monday · 51 min
Gender Equality on the Eve of the Midterms
On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Timothy Patrick McCarthy speaks with Jamie Keene—former Special Assistant to the President for Equality and Opportunity in the Biden-Harris White House—about the state of gender equality in America on the eve of the midterm elections. Topics they discuss include: federal policy on racial justice and equity, the power and limits of executive orders, authoritarian consolidation, the role of elections, congress and the courts, public resistance, white
#129
October 5 · 34 min
Saving Lives in North Korea
On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Kathi Zellweger and Mike Chinoy about the recent book they co-authored, “Miss Kathi: Saving Lives in North Korea”. Kathi Zellweger is a Swiss aid worker who gained unprecedented access to North Korea over her decades of work in the country. Between 1995 and 2019, she made over seventy five trips to North Korea, including living in Pyongyang for five years as the country director for the Swiss government's development agenc
#128
September 21 · 40 min
Protecting Native Land in Hawaii
On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates speaks with journalist Sara Kehaulani Goo about her new book, Kuleana, a memoir about her ancestral land in Hawaii that touches on themes of indigenous rights, land loss, and the generational responsibility of honoring the land. Sara is a journalist and senior news executive who has led several national news organizations including Axios, NPR and The Washington Post. She is now serving as President of the WP Creator network at The Wash
#127
September 8 · 41 min
Being White in South Africa
On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Dr. Eileen Carter, a white South African human rights lawyer and provincial manager of the South African Human Rights Commission in the Eastern Cape, about race relations in her country in the 21st century. Together they discuss: Dr. Carter’s own life and work that led her to human rights law, race relations in the Eastern Cape, understanding her own privilege and responsibility as a white South African, discoveries about
#126
August 24 · 36 min
Supporting LGBTQ+ Communities in Orthodox Judaism
On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Diego Garcia Blum speaks with Miryam Kabakov, co-founder and executive director of Eshel, a national organization that supports LGBTQ+ Orthodox Jews and their families while helping to build Orthodox communities that are more welcoming and inclusive. Miryam Kabakov is a national leader who has worked for more than three decades on the inclusion of LGTBQ+ individuals in the Orthodox world. Prior to being a leader at Eshel, Miryam was the New York a
#125
August 10 · 41 min
Myth and Reality in South Africa’s Liberation Narrative
On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Professor Tshepo Madlingozi, scholar, activist and commissioner of the South African Human Rights Commission—an independent constitutional body charged with promoting, monitoring and protecting human rights in the country. Together they discuss: post-apartheid South Africa, the mythification of the liberation narrative, the role of the South African Human Rights Commission, constitutional promises vs. lived realities, the
#124
July 27 · 55 min
Our Queer Planet
Today’s episode is part of a new series organized by co-host Diego Garcia Blum and Victor Madrigal-Burloz called Our Queer UN, where they explore the intersection between different UN mandates and LGBTQI+ rights. This first episode, Our Queer Planet, is focused on climate, environment and human rights. Victor Madrigal-Burloz is a former UN Independent expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and a leading voice in advancing LGBTQ
#123
July 13 · 47 min
Disability in the Corporate Workplace
On today’s episode of Justice Matters co-host Maggie Gates speaks with Reid Jewett Smith, Vice President of Research and Policy at Disability:IN, the world's leading nonprofit for disability inclusion in business - where her work focuses on disability and corporate sustainability, both as a measure of human impact and bottom line performance. In this conversation they talk about a variety of topics including: understanding disability in the workplace, the universal disability equality index, co
#122
June 29 · 34 min
The Ethics of AI
On today’s episode of Justice Matters, Mathias Risse speaks with Zoë Hitzig, former research scientist at Open AI who recently left the company due to ethical concerns about the way the company was developing its advertising strategy. She wrote about her decision to leave in a recent op-ed in the NY Times. Zoë received her PhD in economics from Harvard in 2023 and is currently a fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. Her work centers on privacy, equity and transparency in markets and algorit
#121
June 15 · 34 min
The Rebirth of White Rage
On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Heather Ann Thompson- Pulitzer Prize winning author and Professor of History at the University of Michigan - about her new book “Fear and Fury: The Reagan Eighties, the Bernie Goetz Shootings, and the Rebirth of White Rage”. In their conversation they discuss: the 1984 subway shooting of four black boys - Barry Allen, Darrell Cabey, Troy Canty, and James Ramseur - by a white gunman, Bernie Goetz, what the media narratives
#120
June 1 · 45 min
The Art of Mediation
On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates speaks with Neha Sanghrajka, Kenyan negotiator, mediator, and scholar whose career has shaped some of the most consequential peace processes of our time — from working alongside Kofi Annan during Kenya's 2007 post-election crisis to serving as a key architect of the landmark 2019 Maputo Accord that ended decades of conflict in Mozambique. Together they discuss: the role of mediation in conflict resolution, insights from the Mozambique
#119
May 18 · 38 min
Inside Physicians for Human Rights Israel
On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Tirza Leibowitz, Deputy Director of Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) about the organization's decades of work providing medical services in Israel-Palestine. Together they discuss: Tirza’s background in disability rights in Israel-Palestine before joining PHRI, the difference between the international organization Physicians for Human Rights and PHR Israel, the role of the Palestinian and Israeli physicians and m
#118
May 4 · 1 hr 6 min
Telling the Story of October 7th
On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates welcomes Omer Shem Tov and Leat Corinne Unger, cousins who rose to prominence following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023. Omer is a survivor of the Nova Music Festival massacre who was held hostage by Hamas in Gaza for 505 days. Leat is his American cousin who dropped everything to advocate for the hostage families following the attack and abductions. She became a leader and central voice in the fight to release the hosta
#117
April 20 · 35 min
How a Humanitarian Aid Organization Navigates Political Conflicts
On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Dr. Christos Christou, outgoing president of Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières or MSF) a medical humanitarian organization that coordinates tens of thousands of medical staff to provide emergency aid to people in crisis in over 75 countries. Together they discuss: Dr. Christou’s background that led him to humanitarian medical work, his early days working as a physician in Sub-Saharan Africa during the HIV p
#116
April 6 · 1 hr 10 min
Uncovering Forced Labor
On today’s episode of Justice Matters, guest host Timothy Patrick McCarthy - faculty chair of the Global LGBTQI plus Human Rights Program - speaks with Laura Murphy, about forced labor and human rights. Laura Murphy is a professor at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK and one of the leading global experts on forced labor. Together they discuss: what led Laura to this work, the role of storytelling in human rights work, the complexity of violence in freedom movements, the terminology and us
#115
March 16 · 40 min
Shattered Dreams, Infinite Hope: A Tragic Vision of the Civil Rights Movement
On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Brandon Terry, a political theorist at Harvard University whose work seeks to reshape how we understand African-American political thought, especially the memory and meaning of the civil rights movement. Today they discuss topics related to his recently published book, “Shattered Dreams, Infinite Hope: A Tragic Vision of the Civil Rights Movement.” Together they discuss: why Brandon wrote the book, his reasons for choosing
#114
March 2 · 34 min
An International AI BIll of Human Rights
On today's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Yuval Shany, fellow at the Ethics in AI Institute at the University of Oxford. They discuss his recent white paper, “The Need for and Feasibility of an International AI Bill of Human Rights,” and the topics it touches on around AI’s profound impact on the understanding and implementation of rights. Other topics they discuss include: the impact of AI on society, opportunities and challenges the technology poses for human ri
#113
February 16 · 33 min
Indigenous Water Justice
On today's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Dr. Kelsey Leonard, a water scientist and legal scholar from the Shinnecock Indian Nation. They discuss the fundamental role of water in life, ecosystems, and human rights, particularly focusing on Indigenous perspectives on water justice. Dr. Kelsey Leonard is a water scientist, legal scholar, policy expert, writer, and enrolled citizen of the Shinnecock Nation. Her work focuses on Indigenous water justice and its climat
#112
February 2 · 50 min
Advocating for Prisoners of Conscience
On today's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates speaks with Judith Abitan, international human rights advocate and the executive director of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, about her work in fighting for the freedom of political prisoners in entrenched systems of oppression. Judith has been at the forefront of some of the most pressing human rights issues of our time, immersed in the pursuit of justice internationally, the promotion and protection of human rights, and
#110
January 19 · 28 min
The Future of Tibet
On today's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Lobsang Sangay - political leader of the Tibetan administration in exile from 2011 to 2021 - about Tibet’s future. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama turned 90 earlier this year, which has brought renewed attention to the question of how the succession would be handled in the country that has been occupied by China since 1950. Lobsang Sangay is a Senior Visiting Fellow at the East Asian Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law S

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