The Conflict Tipping Podcast

Exploring Indigenous Approaches to Peacebuilding: The Idea of Ubuntu

In this episode of the Conflict Tipping podcast, host Laura May interviews Bryony Vince, a PhD candidate at the University of Sheffield in the UK and an advocate for context-specific indigenous approaches to peace-building. Bryony talks about her PhD focus on Ubuntu, a South African worldview that underscores interconnectedness and mutual dependence, as a tool fo...

Power Perception and Conflict Prevention in the Black Sea Region: A Conversation with Neli Kirilova

In this episode of 'Conflict Tipping Podcast', host Laura May speaks with Neli Kirilova, a researcher focused on power perception and conflict prevention in the Black Sea Region. Kirilova discusses why the Black Sea region is a nexus for conflict, largely due to cultural, religious, and linguistic diversity. She also delves into how ...

Strengthening Mental Health in Conflict Zones: A Conversation with Dr. Nawaraj Upadhaya

In this episode of the Conflict Tipping Podcast, host Laura May interviews Dr. Nawaraj Upadhaya, Global Mental Health Director at HealthRight International. Dr. Upadhaya shares about his experience developing and implementing a WHO-associated Self-Help Plus intervention in Uganda and Sudan, targeting individuals dealing with mild to moderate str...

In the latest episode of the Conflict Tipping podcast from Mediate.com, meet Dr Louise Ridden, a specialist in nonviolence and Unarmed Civilian Protection.  We talk about:

• What is Unarmed Civilian Protection?  Where is it used?
• How does UCP 'happen' in conflicts?
• What is the role for mediation and mediators in UCP?
• False binaries in war and peace
• The role of peace-keeping and UCP in violent conflicts
• Spaces, bodies, and time in...

In this episode, Laura engages in a riveting conversation with Anne Ikiara, the Executive Director of the nonprofit Digital Action.  She has a remarkable background directing social enterprises in Global Majority countries and is known as an author, poet, speaker, gender consultant, and social advocate.

We talk about:

• Lived Experience of Disinformation and Violence: Anne shares her personal connection to the impacts of disinfo...

Hear from Dr. Samuel Ritholtz, a Max Weber fellow at the European University Institute and specialist in queer experiences of conflict, crisis, and displacement, as they talk about their research into anti-LGBT violence during Colombia's civil war. We explore the violence's impact on LGBT communities, the dynamics of paramilitaries, and the concept of queer peacebuilding. Let's dive in!

In this episode, we discuss:

• The logic be...

Laura May is joined by Dr. Patricia Cernadas Curotto, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Geneva interested in compassion, conflict resolution, inter-group relations, and emotions. Laura attempts to convince Patricia to add kite surfing to her interests as they dive into Patricia's research:

• 💑 How sleep deprivation affects even "perfect" relationships.
• 🧐 The connection between basic needs like sleep and handling c...

Welcome to the Conflict Tipping podcast from Mediate.com, where we explore social conflict and what to do about it. In this episode, we explore the effects of party polarization on electoral participation with Dr. Morgan Le Corre Juratic, a postdoctoral researcher at Aarhus University in Denmark. She recently completed her PhD at the European University Institute, focusing on party competition, political behavior, and support for d...

In this episode, learn about Stanford PhD candidate Luiza Almeida Santos' research into fostering empathy across political divides.  Listen if you are interested in learning more about:

• What empathy is (and is not)
• How empathy helps us - and 'them'
• Building common ground
• Carrying out conversations across divides

About Luiza:

Luiza is a psychology Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University, studying how political conflicts d...

In this episode, meet Dr Benjamin Abrams, who has just released his brand-new book about mass mobilisations called "The Rise of the Masses".  Listen if you are interested in:

• Why mass mobilisations such as protests happen
• The Black Lives Uprising, Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, or even the French Revolution
• The emotions of protest
• How physical space can support mass mobilisations
• Ben's admiration for guillotines

Buy the...

In this episode, Laura speaks with David Liddle, founder and CEO of the TCM Group, about his career as a dedicated mediator and 'people first' professional.  Listen if you are interested in:

• His early career mediating in estates in the UK
• Transformational culture and restorative justice in the workplace
• A role for mediators in broader social conflicts
• Redefining HR in modern organisations

About David: David has developed ...

In this episode, Host, Laura May, talks with guests, Dr. Solveig Richter and Laura Camila Barrios Sabogal about Colombia as a case study for how conflict behaves and how conflict transforms itself.  Topics discussed include:

• The role of language in the Peace Accords
• Security concerns
• Listening to local partners
• Psychological support
• Involving communities in the research and the final products

Connect with the Guests:

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• How cancer and conflict are portrayed on social media
• Use of images in peace mediation
• The role of technology and AI in peace mediation

• A collaborative approach to academia and the classroom
• Dealing with group think
• When NOT to collaborate
• Embracing cultural humility
• Community conversations and democracy as an aspirational idea
• Avoiding both-sides-ism
• Bringing together communities and building inclusive events
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• Why you might need to learn to fake an Australian accent
• Colonisation and legacies of privileged whiteness in Zimbabwe
• What intersectionality means and how it affects our lives
• Transnationalism and living in two places at once
• Wearing different identity hats, and living d...

• The problem of binaries and black-and-white thinking
• Why we can't 'just add women and stir' in peacebuil...

• The long footprint of collective traumas (e...

In this episode Laura interviews Laura Aumeer, Director of the Europe-Asia Department of Conciliation Resources, overseeing work in the South Caucasus and South Asia regions, as well as cross-regional peacebuilding work.

Laura brings expertise on adaptive peacebuilding management and led our work with the Smart Peace consortium, an innovative consortium integrating research and implementation to address complex conflict problems. S...

In this episode Laura interviews Sebastian F. Winter, a physician-scientist working at the intersection of public health policy, medicine, and academia with a vision to shape healthcare and inspire a lasting social impact. 

He is currently Head of Policy and Research at the International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE), where he works with an interdisciplinary team comm...