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Women Leaders

Women Leaders

Written by: Women Leaders - European Leadership Network
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The podcast that discusses global current affairs with women leaders!


Ilana Bet-El chats with wonderfully qualified women experts from around the world in informal but in-depth conversations that explain, analyse and highlight events of the day.


Women Leaders brings incredibly well-informed perspectives to world events: not the news, but what the news means! From geopolitics to security, defence and wars, and from economics to journalism, media and disinformation, we bring context and insight to the rapid changes in the world.


  • Contribute to the conversation or share your topic wishes with a comment & a 5-⭐️
  • Reach us on our Instagram and follow for updates @women_leaders_podcast
  • Proudly partnered with European Leadership Network, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and website
  • Supported by a grant from the Foundation Open Society Institute in cooperation with the Open Society Foundations

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Women Leaders Economics Management Management & Leadership Political Science Politics & Government
Episodes
  • Gisèle Pelicot and opposing objectification with Katrin Bennhold & Elisa Braun

    Gisèle Pelicot and opposing objectification with Katrin Bennhold & Elisa Braun
    Feb 20 2026
    Gisèle Pelicot’s memoir has just been published, and the Jeffrey Epstein files continue to become public. While the admirable Ms Pelicot has become a modern heroine, the two stories have forced a strong focus upon a core common reality: women remain the ultimate objects, to be subjugated by men.Ms Pelicot, the survivor of multiple rapes while rendered unconscious by her husband, recovered her own agency by refusing to remain anonymous, and by demanding that shame shift to the other side, to the perpetrators, to the men who raped her. The survivors of the Epstein abuse have not been so lucky: attention has been largely upon the powerful and famous men involved in this long running story of rape and abuse of minors, of young underage women.Many women, and men, feel deep outrage about both these appalling events, but it isn’t always easy to talk about them. However, Katrin Bennhold of the New York Times and Elisa Braun of Euractiv, both senior investigative reporters and experienced journalists, explain so much about how these stories are reported, and express measures of disgust that enhance our own deep-felt emotions in the face of these criminal misogynistic abuses.A fascinating, flowing and necessary discussion.This episode was recorded on 19 February 2026ChaptersContrasting stories: Pelicot vs. EpsteinCivil courage and accountabilityWhen Justice is deniedInvestigative journalism: trust and traumaConspiracy theories and institutional trustMentionsThe World newsletter - The New York TimesThe Rapporteur newsletter - EuractivGisèle Pelicot’s bookCongressional hearing on Epstein files Grooming girls in Rotherham by Katrin BennholdEpstein files 101 with Matt GoldsteinMarina Hyde on the Epstein filesFollowKatrin Bennhold LinkedInElisa Braun LinkedInIlana Bet-ElInstagram @women_leaders_podcastListen this episode on our YouTube channelOur partner European Leadership Network Twitter LinkedIn Facebook websiteCreditsProduction: Florence FerrandoMusic: Let Good Times Roll, RA from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/ra/let-good-times-rollLicense code: ZXIIIJUU2ISPZIJTContribute to the conversation with a comment & a 5-⭐️Reach us on our Instagram and follow for updates @women_leaders_podcastWatch now our episode on Youtube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    48 mins
  • Iran at a crossroads with Roxane Farmanfarmaian

    Iran at a crossroads with Roxane Farmanfarmaian
    Feb 6 2026
    Iran is at a boiling point. In January mass protests broke out across the country and many thousands of people were wounded and killed — by their own government. US President Trump appeared to egg the protesters on, though no tangible aid or succour materialised. On the other hand the US has now moved an aircraft carrier and a number of destroyers close to Iran in a military threat which remains unclear in its aims.The immediate reason for the demonstrations was money: the Iranian economy is dire, and sliding still further into the abyss. But the context is broader and more complex: an autocratic and dictatorial regime that cares only for itself and its survival; and a regime unwilling to engage with the world efforts to curb its nuclear ambitions, and the resulting heavy sanctions burden.To untangle these and many other threads, and to gain a sense of the broader Iranian position — and the evolving regional interests — Ilana Bet-El welcomes back Iran specialist Roxane Farmanfarmaian, Senior Associate Fellow at ELN, for a deep and fascinating examination of Iran at a crossroads.This episode was recorded on 5 February 2026ChaptersUnderstanding the Iranian protestsThe role of the Revolutionary GuardsEconomic factors and aspirations of the Iranian peopleHow the Iranian regime functionsMentionsNew York Times opinion “In Counting the Dead in Iran, a Picture of Ferocity”Military.com “US Forces Headed to the Middle East as Tensions with Iran Rise"ELN “Europe and the end of New START Treaty”FollowDr. Roxane Farmanfarmaian LinkedIn and articles on European Leadership Network websiteIlana Bet-ElInstagram @women_leaders_podcastListen this episode on our YouTube channelOur partner European Leadership Network Twitter LinkedIn Facebook websiteCreditsProduction: Florence FerrandoMusic: Let Good Times Roll, RA from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/ra/let-good-times-rollLicense code: ZXIIIJUU2ISPZIJTContribute to the conversation with a comment & a 5-⭐️Reach us on our Instagram and follow for updates @women_leaders_podcastWatch now our episode on Youtube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    37 mins
  • When dignity dies with Almut Möller & Signe Biering

    When dignity dies with Almut Möller & Signe Biering
    Jan 23 2026
    The world is at a point of extreme discomfort, even pain. The first year of the second Trump administration was brutal, undermining the structures of democracy within the US and actively seeking to destroy the post WWII global order everywhere else. In the global south the cuts to US aid are clearly biting but also allowing a strong presence of.China and Russia. In Iran and Ukraine people feel abandoned by the US, as do the Kurds in Syria. And in Europe, historically the US’ strongest ally, there is a sense of betrayal: of trust, of shared values, of allied promises.Donald Trump poses a problem in himself: he is publicly rude about his allies — as people, as states — and he ignores protocol. He demands adulation, even when it is not due. He makes respect difficult, not least when he threatens to invade an allied state or demands territories as a matter of pure ownership. He denies dignity, not an easy prospect in international affairs and diplomacy.Almut Möller is Director for European and Global Affairs at EPC and Signe Biering is a former senior Danish diplomat And an expert on moderation and facilitation. Their combined experience and wonderful insights allow for a deep and fascinating reflection on how Europe is placed and feeling in this time of extraordinary change, and what it needs to seek going forward — as people, as states, as Europeans, as allies.This episode was recorded on 22 January 2026ChaptersCultural perspectives in EuropeWhy dignity in diplomacy is importantNavigating modern diplomacyThe changing landscape of European alliancesMentionsMark Carney’s Davos speechBart de Wever at DavosFollowSigne Biering website & LinkedInAlmut Möller LinkedIn & ECP websiteIlana Bet-ElInstagram @women_leaders_podcastListen this episode on our YouTube channelOur partner European Leadership Network Twitter LinkedIn Facebook websiteCreditsProduction: Florence FerrandoMusic: Let Good Times Roll, RA from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/ra/let-good-times-rollLicense code: ZXIIIJUU2ISPZIJTContribute to the conversation with a comment & a 5-⭐️Reach us on our Instagram and follow for updates @women_leaders_podcastWatch now our episode on Youtube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    46 mins
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