This week, Vincent is joined by Huda Ismael, a financial investigator with 12+ years at the Central Bank of Egypt, now a Policy Leader Fellow at EUI. They explore the world of anti-money laundering, from traditional scams to the rise of digital payments and cryptocurrencies. Huda shares personal experiences and highlights the international cooperation needed to stay ahead of modern financial crime.

Meet the guest
Huda Ismael has over 12 years of experience at the Central Bank of Egypt, specialising in money laundering and terrorist financing investigations. Right now, she is at the European University Institute as a Policy Leader Fellow, where her work focuses on the "Regulation of emerging digital payments to combat Financial Crimes in the Middle East." You can find her contact details here as well, or you can follow her on her LinkedIn. 

In our conversation, she also elaborates on her future beyond the EUI: she aspires to be the central point of reference for Middle Eastern countries on how they can counter modern money laundering strategies, and how they can use modern technology to create a robust and safe payment system! 

Recommendation of the week
Huda’s first recommendation is actually simply brilliant: it’s financial advice on how to prevent scams for yourself! Beyond this, she recommends two movies on the topic: 

• The Wizard of Lies (directed by Barry Levinson): a movie on the fall of Bernie Madoff. You can check out the trailer here. Even though its cast is full of Oscar-Starts (Robert de Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer I had actually never heard of this movie before! 
• The Big Short (directed by Adam McKay) is a contemporary classic on the causes of the housing/mortgage market crisis that made the global financial system collapse in 2008. Especially the scene of Margot Robbie in a bubble bath explaining the stock market is noteworthy! 

In this episode, Vincent dives into Mario Draghi’s long-awaited report: “The Future of European Competitiveness’. 

Draghi argues that Europe’s productivity and competitiveness are seriously in danger, and he urges Europe to heavily invest in its high-tech sectors. Since I am no economist, I wanted to explore the basics: How do we measure productivity or competitiveness on a continental or global scale? What can policymakers do to increase it? To help me with these questions, I invited Sotiris Georgousis, an economist from the European University Institute in Florence. 

Sotiris quickly shifted the focus from Europe as a single, unified entity to highlighting the disparities within the European Monetary Union (EMU). Europe doesn’t have a common fiscal policy or a fully integrated market, and these challenges are leading to growing disparities between member states. Some parts might get technical, but I hope there’s something for everyone in the discussion. 

Meet the Guest 
Sotiris Georgousis, originally from Greece, shares how his personal experience during the economic crisis inspired him to pursue a career in economics. He holds a Bachelor's degree from Athens and a Master's degree from Bocconi University in Milan. Currently he is a PhD-researcher at the European University Institute in Florence, at the Economic Department. He has visited Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Sciences PO and the European Central Bank (ECB). He obtained his Bachelor's degree in Athens and his Master's degree in Economics and Social Sciences from Bocconi University in Milan. 

You can read more about his research, including research on rents in the digital economy, the effect of Monetary Policy on firm investment within the Eurozone on his personal website. 

Recommendations of the Week
Of course, the Draghi Report is a must-read. It is full of sharp analyses across almost all relevant sectors, and is spectacularly well-written. Beyond the report, Sotiris recommends two books: 

• ‘The Profit Paradox’, written by Jan Eeckhout (Professor at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona ). I paraphrase from his website: “wages are stagnant and prices are rising, so that everything from a bottle of beer to a prosthetic hip costs more. This is due to a small number of companies exploiting an unbridled rise in market power—the ability to set prices higher than they could in a properly functioning competitive marketplace” 
• ‘Why Nations Fail’  (by economists Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson) is a modern classic, many different disciplines, including my own (International Development & History). The fact that the book has its own (extensive) Wikipedia-page tells you something about the impact it has had, and still has. 

Scholars across various traditions have emphasised that asylum seekers with similar persecution stories, requesting asylum in the same country, and under the same legal framework, may still end up with different outcomes. This phenomenon is called ‘refugee roulette’. 

In this episode, Vincent speaks with Esteban Octavio Scuzarello, a researcher from the SPS department of the European University Institute. They talk about his research, his passion, and the unique characteristics of the Refugee Status Determination process in Latin- and South-American countries. 

Meet the Guest 
My guest this week is Esteban Octavio Scuzarello. He is from Argentina, and in his own words he is also ‘legally Italian’... In the episode, he elaborates how his own family formed through a ‘forbidden love’ in Italy, and the first boat that sailed was simply bound for Argentina … Speaking about migration and asylum! 


Currently, he is a PhD Researcher at the SPS Department of the European University Institute, in Florence.  Before, he studied International Relations in Argentina and Transnational Governance in Florence. Beyond his academic endeavours, he has been active as a consultant and volunteer for various organisations - amongst others, the UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls.   


Esteban’s research interests revolve around (forced) migration in Latin America and its legal and public policy implications, with a particular focus on gender and sexuality dynamics surrounding it. You can follow him on LinkedIn, or find his email on his EUI-page. 

Recommendations of the Week
Esteban recommends one movie, and two books. The movie ‘Io Capitano’ is the fascinating depiction of the story of two senegalese cousins that decide to leave their house cross a quarter of Africa and the mediterranean sea, to try to reach Italy. Here, you can watch the This movie has already once been discussed in a previous episode of Radio Vinternational, on how European films depict migration with Marek Maj as a guest!). 

The 2 recommended books, are: 

• ‘Refugee Roulette’ (by J. Ramji-Nogales, P. Schrag, A. Schoenholtz) is the original ground-breaking and shocking study that shows that life-or-death asylum decisions are too frequently influenced by random factors relating to the decision makers.
• The book How Migration Really Works, by Hein de Haas, who is Professor of Sociology at the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR), part of the University of Amsterdam (UvA). His latest book is specifically written for an international, non-scientific public and is already published in more than ten different languages. 

In this episode, Vincent talks with Max Smedes, an editor and researcher at the Dutch radio program Bureau Buitenland - the Dutch radio program known as The Foreign Desk. The radio show covers international news, reports, backgrounds and geopolitics, and also produces podcasts and audio-documentaries. 

Max shares his insights on the evolving landscape of foreign news in Dutch media and discusses the role and responsibilities of foreign reporters. The conversation is on the issue of maintaining objective journalism amidst potential budget costs or political pressure, pressures, and how these issues impact global reporting. 

Meet the guest 
Max Smedes is an editor and researcher at Bureau Buitenland, which covers international news, reports, backgrounds and geopolitics. He studied political science in Amsterdam and did a Master in Crisis and Security Management: Intelligence and National Security.

Recommendation of the week
Max recommends a book, Will You Care if I Die, by Swedish author Nicolas Lunabba. In this semi-autobiography, he describes how he (a social worker) helps a vulnerable teenager escape his disadvantaged environment. In the book, Lunabba analyses the place of migrants in Swedish society and creates (as this particular review says) “ a powerful memoir about social class, race, friendship and unexpected love, and a blazingly topical exploration of social polarisation and the rise of the far right.” You can read another review by the Guardian here, and you can buy the book through the Guardian Bookstore or in your local bookshop. 

In this episode, Vincent and  Pedro José Mercado Jaén dive into the Human Rights Violations of the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics. We talk about athlete’s rights, civil rights, and the way how nature and indigenous people are either neglected by the nature of the Olympic Games. What stands out from this episode, that it’s not only authoritarian regimes that oppress minorities and disregard human rights…

Meet the guest 
Pedro is a PhD-researcher at the European University Institute in Florence, at the Law Department. There, he mainly looks at athletes rights and access to remedy. One central question in his research is how we can give justice to people that have been affected by mega sports events and the organising sports federations. 

Pedro is an avid runner himself, so you can actually also follow him on Strava too! Before he moved to Florence, he studied law in Granada and he did the Erasmus Mundus Masters In Sports Ethics and Integrity. He has also worked for the Centre for Sports and Human Rights in Geneva. 

Recommendation of the week 
Pedro firstly recommends people to inform themselves about the topic - and also he urges you to then share the information. If more people realise that the Olympics are not ‘just a beautiful event’, the more eyes will be opened.  

A good source of information to inform yourself, is the book ‘What Are the Olympics For’, by Jules Boykoff - whose personal website is an absolute academic delight. The book touches upon a lot of issues that Pedro and I discussed during the pod.

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In each episode of Radio Vinternational, host Vincent Hoffmans dives into one fascinating and hopefully informative international topic with a passionate expert. The mission is to showcase original and interesting perspectives on actual and historic international affairs, and to have fun!

From the 6th till the 9th of June, citizens across Europe cast their vote to elect the Parliament of the European Union. Millions of those voters will use a so-called Voting Advice Application (VAA) to help them in their voting decision - to see which party matches their political preferences, or to see what parties actually promise. But, what distinguishes a good VAA? And how can you best use it? 

In this episode, Vincent talks to two guests that have developed the EU&I Voting Application, which is a Pan-European VAA developed by the European University Institute.

Meet the guestsFor the first time in Radio Vinternational, I interviewed two guests! 

The first is Andres Reiljan. He is a political scientist and currently has a position at the European University Institute as a Max Weber Fellow. He is the Project co-leader of the EU&I voting application. 

My other guest is Angeliki Xafi. She is a communication strategist, and is currently a trainee at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. She is the Communications assistant of the project, and has done her master at the International Hellenistic University. 

Recommendation of the week 

Obviously, the most important recommendation of the guests was: use the EU&I application! However, both did emphasise something else - which was a bit contradicting…  

• Andres urges all of you to not just focus on the ‘final result’ of the EU&I, but  to really dive into the answers that parties give. If you take some time, you can cross-validate what different European parties want. If you like to play around with election data and visualisations, you’ll have a great time! 
• Angeliki stresses the exact opposite: there are numerous ways you can be updated on elections and political preferences, simply by following the right social media pages. These can be a great source of information, especially if your time is limited. The EU&I, for example, regularly post snippets on the election and the party preferences on their social media accounts. 

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In each episode of Radio Vinternational, host Vincent Hoffmans dives into one fascinating and hopefully informative international topic with a passionate expert. The mission is to showcase original and interesting perspectives on actual and historic international affairs, and to have fun!

In this episode, Vincent speaks to Harpreet Dhody, a communication expert with a background in politics, entrepreneurship and education. Dhody is currently at the European University Institute as a Policy Leader Fellow, where he aims to create a blueprint and advocacy paper to build a digital media observatory in India.

They speak about the Indian elections of 2024, the nation’s media dynamics and about how Western media struggle to keep up with the New India and prime minister Narendra Modi.

Meet the guest 

My guest this week is Harpreet Dhody. He is a communication expert with a diverse background in politics, entrepreneurship and education - and he advised the government of Chhattisgarh on effective communication, regarding public welfare schemes and public policy issues. He has an MBA from Oxford, and is currently at the European University Institute as a Policy Leader Fellow, where he aims to create a blueprint and advocacy paper to build a digital media observatory in India. He will be in Florence until July, after that you can keep up with him through his LinkedIn profile. 

Recommendation of the week 

Harpreet Dhody has one crystal clear recommendation: travel, speak, read, translate in such a way that you get to know the real India, with all its diverse regions and languages. Really dive into the vernacular languages and have a deep, intense understanding of India. I can’t expect people to learn Hindu before these elections are done, but I’ve taken a look at some Youtube-channels and translated some of the comments in Hindu - and it was one of the better rabbit holes I’ve gotten myself into, recently! As a more ‘clear’ recommendation, mr. Dhody recommends one Youtube channel, and two books. 

• The Youtube Channel is the ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash Clips. Here, she hosts different people, from all layers and societies in India - this is largely in English Indian so it’s a great way to learn more about the country. 
• And if you want to study the old, Oxford-educated India (not my words!) - even though it is a very nuanced version of it - he recommends two books - both written by Rajdeep Sardesai: The Election That Changed India (2014) & How Modi Won India (2019) 

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In each episode of Radio Vinternational, host Vincent Hoffmans dives into one fascinating and hopefully informative international topic with a passionate expert. The mission is to showcase original and interesting perspectives on actual and historic international affairs, and to have fun!

In this episode, Vincent interviews Jacob Kohnstamm - a former parliamentarian, senator and State Secretary of the Netherlands, about his role in the Dutch art restitution policy, relating to Nazi looted art. 

Early in his career, he switched from being a lawyer to being a civil servant because the limitation of the former was that he could only help one person at a time - whereas politics allowed him to change the system. A central theme in his career is the constant assessment of the relationship between the state and the individual citizen, and about the trust that people can have in each other, and in the laws and organisations that influence their lives. 

About the exceptional character of art restitution, Jacob Kohnstamm still is crystal clear: “It is not a civil legal case (...) there is a moral basis underneath restitution policy”.

Recommendation of the week Jacob Kohnstamm recommends a story about the iconic artwork of Gustav Klimt, that gives a good impression of the impact and gravity of the historical looting of art. Good news, you can choose whether you prefer a book or a movie to learn all about this Austrian example of art restitution…. 

• Lady in Gold, written by Anne-Marie O'Connor 
• Women in Gold - directed by Simon Curtis  

We end the episode with a classic music piece: Obade from Marius Flothuis, a Dutch composer, musicologist and music critic. It is played by flautist Eleonore Pameijer, who is the founder of the Leo Smit Foundation. The foundation gives composers, who were silenced during the War because of their Jewish descent, their rightful place in music history. 

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In each episode of Radio Vinternational, host Vincent Hoffmans dives into one fascinating and hopefully informative international topic with a passionate expert. The mission is to showcase original and interesting perspectives on actual and historic international affairs, and to have fun!

This episode of Radio Vinternational is about one country in particular: Tunisia! Specifically, Vincent talks to Ben Bracciano about Tunisia's so-called 'exceptionalism' - a term used by academics to describe Tunisia's remarkable political, social and economic status in the Arab world. We discuss how these factors influenced the democratisation process following the Arab Spring, and how Tunisian civil society played a crucial role in this process - culminating in the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet. And Ben looks at whether this positive image is still relevant and accurate - given the country's current economic struggles and the constitutional coup by the current president. 

My guest, Ben Bracciano, is currently finishing his Masters degree at the Florence School of Transnational Governance, and has a long personal history with Tunisia. He lived there from 2003 until 2014, with his Italian father and English mother. In his own words, he ‘never shuts up about Tunisia’, and he wrote his thesis about the factors that influenced the democratisation process in the country. Beyond his passion for Tunisia, he is broadly interested in international politics. Previously, he has done an internship at the World Bank, and has studied international politics in Bath. 

Recommendations of the week 

During our conversation, Ben mentioned numerous interesting sources for people that want to learn more about Tunisia or the Arab world in general. One example is the Arabbarometer, which is a research network that provides insight into the social, political, and economic values and attitudes of citizens in the Arab world. Another example is the Freedom House, which tracks democracy-indicators across the globe. Both these sources enable you to play around with data for varying countries! 

If you want to get a glimpse of ‘the daily life’ in Tunisia, the Al Jazeera Documentary ‘A Tunisian Family: High hopes, desperate lives’ is really impressive as well. If you want to know more about the Arab Spring in general, Ben recommends ‘The Arab Spring: Pathways of Repression and Reform’ by Jason Brownlee as a good explainer. If you want to get a feel for the chaos and abrupt revolution, the BBC has made a truly remarkable mini-documentary about the leaked tapes of former Tunisian president Ben Ali’s last flights and his calls with his generals and high-advisors. You can truly hear when the man realises that he will never return to his own country. And, last but not least: if you ever visit Tunisia, Ben recommends visiting his former home town Sidi Bou Said. With the looks of Santorini and the vibes of Tunisia, it’s an ideal place to visit as a tourist! And if you do, make sure that you listen to the Tunisian funk song Tunisiann Funk Song ‘Alech’ from the band Carthago! 

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In each episode of Radio Vinternational, host Vincent Hoffmans dives into one fascinating and hopefully informative international topic with a passionate expert. The mission is to showcase original and interesting perspectives on actual and historic international affairs, and to have fun!

n sixteenth-century Spain, Elena/o de Céspedes exerted so much heat during childbirth that she grew a penis and became a man. Two hundred years later, a decorated French war hero who previously had been the official ambassador to the Russian court, turned into a woman when (s)he lived in London. These remarkable stories, which were long hidden in the archives, show the longevity of gender-discussions.

In this episode of Radio Vinternational, historian Mónica Morado Vázquez elaborates on the historical and societal dimensions of sex, gender, and identity. She elaborates on how the scientific development of medicine influenced the binary division between male and female, and why some societies were much more accepting of gender-ambiguous people than others.

Recommendation of the week 


Mónica’s passion for gender studies started by reading work from Anne Fausto-Sterling - and it really kick-started her academic endeavours in the field. However, her ‘official’ recommendation of the week is the movie ‘Una Mujer Fantastica, directed by Sebastián Lelio’. It is a Chilean movie that won the 2018 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The success was used as a point of discussion for Chilean LBGTQ activists in passing a gender identity bill! As a last tip, she also mentions the (very accessible) Netflix-show ‘The principles of Pleasure.

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In each episode of Radio Vinternational, host Vincent Hoffmans dives into one fascinating and hopefully informative international topic with a passionate expert. The mission is to showcase original and interesting perspectives on actual and historic international affairs, and to have fun!

While the trenches of the First World War were still filled with soldiers, French government officials were already dreaming of a different kind of guest: wealthy American tourists. It was a first sign that tourism would become a dominant political and economic issue in the 20th century. But when did tourism become a major priority of nation states? And who were the driving forces in its emergence?

The guest of this episode is historian Anna Breidenbach, who studies the politics of tourism from 1909 till 1938. This era is marked by war, pandemics, rising passport controls, refugees, forced migration and extreme inflation - but it is also a period in which tourism starts to institutionalise and thrive. Vincent and Anna discuss the birth of international tourism organisations, the lobby from hoteliers in London, and the nomadic travel spirit that might be within all of us!

Recommendation of the week 


Anna recommends the book Grand Hotel Europa, written by the Dutch writer Ilja Leonard Pfeiffer. She actually has not read it yet herself! However, as the book was a staggering success in the Netherlands, it so happened that I read it a while ago - and I absolutely loved it. It is available in almost any European language. 

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In each episode of Radio Vinternational, host Vincent Hoffmans dives into one fascinating and hopefully informative international topic with a passionate expert. The mission is to showcase original and interesting perspectives on actual and historic international affairs, and to have fun!

To many, the 1936 Nazi Olympics are the 'mother of sports washing events'. When Hitler came to power in 1933, the Nazi regime was initially uninterested in the costly organisation of the Olympics. However, the 1936 Games would forever be remembered as the biggest and most successful Nazi propaganda operation. What was the key to Germany's success? And why did the world let it happen?

In this episode, Vincent talks to Michel Blanco Cocho about the historic 1936 Olympics and the politics of sport today. Miguel draws parallels between various World Cups and the Olympics, and suggests possible solutions and policies to increase the viability and accountability of sports tournaments.

If you want to know more about the politics of sports, Miguel recommends three documentaries: 

• FIFA Uncovered, by Daniel Gordon
• Berlin 1936 - Olympic Games Under the Swastika
• Icarus, by Brian Fogel 

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In each episode of Radio Vinternational, host Vincent Hoffmans dives into one fascinating and hopefully informative international topic with a passionate expert. The mission is to showcase original and interesting perspectives on actual and historic international affairs, and to have fun!

Why and how did Amazon's hiring algorithm turn out to be discriminatory? And can you sue an algorithm if your sexiness score on Tinder is too low? But, more importantly: if society is unhappy with the results of Automated Decision Making (ADM)-decisions, should we change the algorithm or ourselves?In this episode, Vincent speaks with data scientist researcher Jose Alvarez about fairness in AI, and more specifically in Automated Decision Making (ADM) models. They talk about the philosophical meaning of fairness and the commercial push behind the boom of large language models.

Jose did not bring one recommendation, but came up with a whole list for those that want to dive into this topic! 

• Movie: Coded Bias (Shalini Kantayya),
• Movie: Her (Spike Jonze) 
• Book: Invisible Women, by Caroline Criado Perez 
• Book: The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, by Shoshana Zuboff 
• How to do Nothing, by Jenny Odell

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In each episode of Radio Vinternational, host Vincent Hoffmans dives into one fascinatin and hopefully informative international topic with a passionate expert. The mission is to showcase original and interesting perspectives on actual and historic international affairs, and to have fun!

Historian Marek Maj and Vincent analyse three recent European films, that all tell a story of migration in Europe. From his passion for cinematography, Marek enlightens the audience on sound design, music, dialogue, scenery and character building - and also draws the question whether films are the best medium to tell stories of newcomers, resentment and relocation.The films discussed are 'As Bestas', 'The Other Side of Hope' and 'Western'.

Marek’s Recommendation of this episode is the movie ‘Lazzaro Felice’ (Happy as Lazaro) from director Alice Rohrwacher. If this one is as good as the films we watched before this episode.... Go see it! 

The other films that Marek (positively) mentions, are: Le Havre (Aki Kaurismäki), Green Border (Agnieszka Holland), Fallen Leaves (Aki Kaurismäki), Io Capitano (Matteo Garrone), Toni Eardmann (Maren Ade) & The Old Oak (Ken Loach). 

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Do you know what Panda-Diplomacy is? Have you ever heard of the greatest female diplomat of the 18th century? Or do you know why it’s safe to say that Globalisation is officially over?In each episode of Radio Vinternational, host Vincent Hoffmans dives into one fascinatin and hopefully informative international topic with a passionate expert. The mission is to showcase original and interesting perspectives on actual and historic international affairs, and to have fun!