Episodes

  • Trailer: Free to Think Podcast with Encieh Erfani

    Trailer: Free to Think Podcast with Encieh Erfani
    Mar 18 2025
    We've teamed up with Scholars at Risk, a global network advocating for academic freedom and supporting threatened scholars, to bring you a special episode of their Free to Think podcast, featuring Iranian cosmologist Encieh Erfani.
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    1 min
  • Academics for Peace: Eylem Camuroglu Cig on Turkey, Political Persecution, and Academic Resistance to Oppression

    Academics for Peace: Eylem Camuroglu Cig on Turkey, Political Persecution, and Academic Resistance to Oppression
    Dec 17 2024
    In 2016, Eylem Camuroglu Cig took a stand by signing the “Peace Petition” which called for an end to violence in southeastern Turkey. President Erdoğan condemned the signatories as “terrorists”, leading to Camuroglu Cig loosing her job at the university. After the attempted coup in the summer of 2016, the political pressure intensified further. To escape persecution, Eylem Camuroglu Cig fled to Germany at the beginning of 2017. The Turkish government revoked her passport and numerous basic rights, and it is currently impossible for her to return. Nevertheless, Eylem Camuroglu Cig remains committed to academic freedom and critical thinking. In this interview, conducted by Frank Albrecht, Eylem Camuroglu Cig shares her insights on the political situation in Turkey, on academics for peace and her life in exile.
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    53 mins
  • Beneath the Mask: Azadeh Ganjeh on Iran, Universities as Spaces for Activism, and the Power of Art

    Beneath the Mask: Azadeh Ganjeh on Iran, Universities as Spaces for Activism, and the Power of Art
    Dec 14 2024
    Azadeh Ganjeh advocated for more academic freedom and the rights of her students as a professor in Tehran - despite growing political pressure. Her support for student activism and her critical stance against oppression came at a high price: the loss of her income, ongoing threats, and severe restrictions on her academic work. In 2022, she left her home country and came to Germany to continue her research and advocacy. Today, she works at the University of Hildesheim and HKS Ottersberg and remains passionately committed to academic freedom and diversity of opinion. In this interview, conducted by Mareike Ilsemann, Azadeh Ganjeh talks about the power of performance art, universities as a space of discourse and activism and her life in exile.
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    39 mins
  • From Kabul to Exile: Suhailah Akbari on Navigating Academic Freedom and the Fight for Women’s Rights

    From Kabul to Exile: Suhailah Akbari on Navigating Academic Freedom and the Fight for Women’s Rights
    Dec 6 2024
    The Taliban in Afghanistan are denying girls and women access to education and science. After the Taliban took power in August 2021, the security situation for female researchers deteriorated dramatically. Dr Suhailah Akbari, a legal scholar, was also directly threatened and had to leave the country with her two daughters. After enduring days of uncertainty and fear at Kabul airport, she managed to escape to Germany with the assistance of the German Bundeswehr, ultimately finding refuge there.
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    47 mins
  • (Episode in German) Zerbrochene Brücken: Sergei Mikhailov* über Wissenschaftsfreiheit und den Krieg in der Ukraine

    (Episode in German) Zerbrochene Brücken: Sergei Mikhailov* über Wissenschaftsfreiheit und den Krieg in der Ukraine
    Nov 7 2024
    *Zum Schutz seiner Identität wurde der Name des Wissenschaftlers geändert und seine Stimme mithilfe künstlicher Intelligenz verfremdet. Seit Jahren wird die Wissenschaftsfreiheit in Russland durch Wladimir Putins Regime eingeschränkt. Mit Beginn des Krieges in der Ukraine verschärfte sich die Lage gerade für Forschende, die nicht mit dem Krieg einverstanden sind. Angesichts der Repressionen in seiner Heimat konnte der Rechtswissenschaftler Sergei Mikhailov* nach einem Forschungsaufenthalt in Deutschland nicht nach Russland zurückkehren.
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    37 mins
  • Escaping Oppression: Vasil Navumau on Belarus, Living in Exile, and Academic Freedom

    Escaping Oppression: Vasil Navumau on Belarus, Living in Exile, and Academic Freedom
    Jul 23 2024
    The massive state repression following the widespread protests in Belarus in 2020 forced the sociologist Vasil to leave his home country. In this interview he talks about the 2020 protests, his journey to Germany and life as a scientist in exile.
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    44 mins