Episodes
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Have you heard of Project 2025? If not, you better learn fast. It's the GOP's 900-plus page conservative manifesto aimed at dismantling the federal government and the Democratic Party has no answer for it. Here to talk about 2025 is Anne Nelson, who read the entire document and is traveling the country to educate communities about the dangers that lie ahead if Trump wins in November.
Host: Terrell Jermaine Starr
Guests: Anne Nelson
Producer: Mike Hull
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About the guest
Anne Nelson is a prize-winning journalist and author who has published extensive work on human rights and resistance to dictatorship. Her most recent book is Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right. She is a graduate of Yale University and a research scholar at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs.
Suggested reading
Here is a Project 2025 breakdown in case you don't have time to read the whole document (Washington Spectator)
Watch the Bad Faith documentary that delves into Project 2025 (interview with documentary filmmakers in Mother Jones)
Project 2025 Is An Attack On Black People (The Seattle Medium)
How a Second Trump Term Will Redefine Foreign Aid (Foreign Policy)
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Do HBCU students care about what’s happening in Gaza? Of course they do, but there are some distinct social-economic factors that play a role in how Black kids who attend HBCUs are protesting—or, in many cases, not at all.
Two-time HBCU president Dr. Walter Kimbrough joins the podcast this week to talk about how he’d handle some of the challenges HBCU presidents face when it comes to student protests regarding Gaza, the right-wing congressional attacks on college presidents over Israel, as well as Biden’s commencement speech at Morehouse and Xavier University’s rescinding U.S. UN Ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield’s invitation to deliver the school’s commencement address.
Host: Terrell Jermaine Starr
Guests: Dr. Walter Kimbrough
Producer: Mike Hull
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About the guest
A native of Atlanta, Dr. Walter M. Kimbrough was his high school salutatorian and student body president in 1985 and went on to earn degrees from the University of Georgia, Miami University in Ohio, and a doctorate in higher education from Georgia State University.
He has enjoyed a fulfilling career in student affairs, serving at Emory University, Georgia State University, Old Dominion University, and Albany State University. In October of 2004, at the age of 37, he was named the 12th president of Philander Smith College. In 2012 he became the 7th president of Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana, and served for ten years. Both institutions are HBCUs.
Kimbrough served as the interim executive director of the Black Men’s Research Institute at Morehouse College during the 2022-23 academic year. He was also named executive in residence for the University of Southern California Race and Equity Center. In early 2022 he was appointed by President Joseph Biden to the President’s Board of Advisors on HBCUs.
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Missing episodes?
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This week, Black Diplomats Podcast speaks with Christopher Shell, a fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment. At Carnegie, Christopher’s work studies how Black Americans feel about foreign policy issues. We talked about how Black folks feel about Ukraine, Gaza and other foreign policy issues, based on his research
Host: Terrell Jermaine Starr
Guest: Chris Shell
Producer: Mike Hull
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Read Some of Christopher’s work
The West Should Engage With Reparations for Slavery and Colonialism (World Politics Review)
Most Black Americans Want a More Active U.S. Role in Ending the War in Gaza and Protecting Palestinian Lives (Carnegie Endowment)
How Black Americans Feel About the Possible Use of Military Force in Ukraine and Taiwan (Carnegie Endowment)
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Today, I speak with two young Georgians under 30-years-old who have been hitting the streets every day in protest of their ruling government’s introduction of a “foreign agent” law that critics say will restrict the work of organizations and independent media that safeguard free and fair elections and other services that depend on foreign financial support.
Read more about the controversial bill here.
Ana Lazariashvili, 24 and Giorgi Vachnadze, 28, told Black Diplomats that it has mostly been young people who’ve been facing off aggressive police officers that target them with tear gas and rubber bullets. Both Ana and Giorgi say they will continue protesting even if the bill is signed into law.
Host: Terrell Jermaine Starr
Guests: Ana Lazariashvili and Giorgi Vachnadze
Producer: Mike Hull
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About the guests
Ana Lazariashvili and Giorgi Vachnadze are young Georgians who have been protesting for a European future for their country.
More on this topic:
Georgian Opposition See Opportunity in Tbilisi Protests (Black Diplomats Newsletter)
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This week, I spoke with two Ukainians who support Palestine and why they feel it is important for their countrymen and women to understand colonialism in other parts of the world. Rita Adel, a humanitarian analyst, and Vladyslav Starodubtsev, a socialist leader and historian, and I talked about Ukrainian socialism, what progressives in the west don’t get about Ukraine and NATO and why Ukrainians aren’t privileged because they are “white.”
Host: Terrell Jermaine Starr
Guests: Rita Adel and Vladyslav Starodubtsev
Producer: Mike Hull
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About the guests
Vladyslav Starodubtsev is a left-wing Ukrainian activist and historian. He specializes in the history of Central Eastern Europe.
Rita Adel, a humanitarian analyst. Rita is both of Ukrainian and Palestinian origin, having lived in Ukraine and Jordan. Currently based in Amman.
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Warning: This week’s episode will focus on sexual violence committed by Russian soldiers. Reader, listener and viewer discretion is advised
This week, I talk about Ukrainian civilians who survived sexual assault from Russian troops during the war. Ukraine is investigating nearly 300 cases of sexual assault, but that number is likely much higher. Today, I am talking with Nadiia Volchenska, co-founder of the Sylni foundation, which was founded soon after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 202s to support survivors of sexual assault.
Translating for Nadiia is Vira Stadnyk - communications manager at the Sylni Foundation.
FINANCIALLY SUPPORT Sylni’s work here.
Host: Terrell Jermaine Starr
Guest: Nadiia Volchenska
Producer: Mike Hull
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Venmo: @BlackDiplomats
CashApp: $BlackDiplomats
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Read about this subject
Reparations to be paid to survivors of wartime sexual violence in Ukraine (The Guardian)
Ukrainian survivors of sexual violence, torture say country will have to share burden of their trauma (CBC)
Exclusive: Ukraine accuses Russian snipers of abusing child, gang raping mother (Reuters)
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This week’s episode is about the ongoing protests in Georgia in response to the country’s ruling political party, Georgia Dream, moving forward with its “foreign agent.”
Officially titled “On the Transparency of Foreign Influence," the bill, if passed into law, would require organizations in the country receiving more than 20% of their funding from overseas to register as “foreign agents” or face large fines. Protesters say it is similar to laws spearheaded in Russia by Vladimir Putin.
Here this week to talk about the protests and why the bill is driving so many people to the streets around Georgia is Katie Shoshiashvili, Senior Corruption Researcher at Transparency International Georgia, who focuses on democracy reporting and research on democratization in the EU's Eastern Partnership region.
Host: Terrell Jermaine Starr
Guest: Katie Shoshiashvili
Producer: Mike Hull
Support us financially!
Venmo: @BlackDiplomats
CashApp: $BlackDiplomats
PayPal: https://paypal.me/blackdiplomatspod
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Links to read about this subject:
Georgia presses on with Putin-style ‘foreign agent’ bill despite huge protests (CNN)
2024 Is a Year of Opportunity for Georgia (National Interest)
Georgians Call for Ex-Leader's Release on Revolution Anniversary (VOA)
Georgians dream of EU membership as their leaders move closer to Putin (The Guardian)
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#ukraine #russia #putin #warinukraine #blackdiplomats #ukrainianhistory #history #harvard
Terrell J. Starr spoke with Havard Professor of Ukrainian History Serhii Plokhii about Putin’s obsession with fake Ukrainian history, Ukrainian resistance against Russian colonialism, Stepan Bandara, fighting Kremlin disinformation and more.
Host: Terrell Jermaine Starr
Guest: Serhii Plokhii
Producer: Mike Hull
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Venmo: @BlackDiplomats
CashApp: $BlackDiplomats
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Time stamps
00:00: Welcome
03:15: Mental Health Check-In
10:40: Teaching Ukrainian History At Harvard
15:32: Putin's Fake Ukrainian History
20:08: Similarities between Putin and Trump
26:00: Ukrainian Resistance Against USSR
31:40: Stepan Bandera
43:40: Russification Of Ukraine
49:20: How 2014/2022 Invasions Changed Ukraine
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#crimea #crimeantatars #ukraine #russia #ukrainianhistory #history
Terrell spoke with Tamila Tasheva, the Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea about liberating Crimea, human rights violations on the peninsula, Crimean history and what people get wrong about what’s happening there.
Host: Terrell Jermaine Starr
Guest: Tamila Tasheva
Producer: Mike Hull
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Time Stamps
00:00:Welcome
00:51: Mental Health
02:28: Who are Crimean Tatars?
05:15: How Ukraine Monitors Crimea During Occupation
14:14: Human Rights Violations Against Crimean Tatars
19:40: Disinformation Over Crimea
28:38: What Happens To Transferred Russians In Liberated Crimea
31:25: Why Khrushchev Transferred Crimea To Ukraine
35:28: Crimean Liberation Will Happen
41:50: Message To House Speaker Mike Johnson
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#ukraine #russia #putin #zelensky #warinukraine #blackdiplomats
Terrell J. Starr spoke with Ukrainian security expert Maria Avdeeva about Russia’s ongoing missile attacks against civilian targets, Germany’s reluctance to send Taurus missiles, why Russia doesn’t want peace, her own work documenting war crimes and so much more.
Host: Terrell Jermaine Starr
Guest:. Maria Adveeva
Producer: Mike Hull
Support us financially!
Venmo: @BlackDiplomats
CashApp: $BlackDiplomats
PayPal: https://paypal.me/blackdiplomatspod
Patreon: patreon.com/blackdiplomats
Time stamps
00:00: Welcome
01:30: Mental Health Check-In
07:30: Why Russia Targets Civilians
10:35: Russia Doesn't Want Peace
23:14: Attacks On Ukrainian Energy System
27:20: Why Ukraine Won't Stop Fighting
32:40: Ukrainian Military Surprised The World
46:10 Why Germany Won't Provide Taurus Missiles
58:20: Russian Opposition
01:04:34: Documenting War Crimes
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#ukraine #blackdiplomats #foreignpolicy #un #unitednations #nobelprize
Terrell Jermaine Starr speaks with Ukraine’s first Nobel Peace Prize Winner Oleksandra Matviichuk about her work as a war crimes documentor, the broken United Nations system, why it’s not possible to have peace with Russia and building solidarity with Africans and Palestinians.
Host: Terrell Jermaine Starr
Guest:. Oleksandra Matviichuk
Producer: Mike Hull
Support us financially!
Venmo: @BlackDiplomats
CashApp: $BlackDiplomats
PayPal: https://paypal.me/blackdiplomatspod
Patreon: patreon.com/blackdiplomats
Time stamps
00:00: Welcome
01:22: Mental Health Check-In
02:43: Path to Nobel Prize
09:09: Putin's Genocide Against Ukraine
12:55: Hopes For Palestinian and Ukrainian Solidarity
22:00: Making "Peace" With Russia
25:00: Maidan CIA Coup Myth
27:28: Ukraine's Democracy Since 2014
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I spoke with Christopher Shell and Nola Haynes about Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats, why Black people should care about foreign policy, Andrew Tate’s arrest, uncommitted voter movement and more.
Host: Terrell Jermaine Starr
Guests: Christopher Shell is a fellow at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Nola Haynes is a national security and foreign affairs analyst.
Producer: Mike Hull
Support us financially!
Venmo: @BlackDiplomats
CashApp: $BlackDiplomats
PayPal: https://paypal.me/blackdiplomatspod
Patreon: patreon.com/blackdiplomats
Time stamps:
00:00: Welcome
01:48: Mental Health Check-In
05:55: Putin's Latest Nuclear Strike Threat
15:20: Black People and Foreign Policy
32:36: Biden's Response To Gaza
44:04: Romania To Extradite Andrew Tate To UK
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ZY3_2uQzzrU
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#ukraine #russianinvasion #foreignpolicy #trump #nato
This week, Terrell Starr and Ukrainian journalist Olga Tokariuk discuss how Ukrainians are reacting to the possibility of Trump winning the U.S. election, her curiosity over Black support for Trump, NATO’s relationship with its Eastern European members and her trip to South Africa that convinced her Ukraine needs to build solidarity ties with Africa.
Host: Terrell Jermaine Starr
Guest: Olga Tokariuk
Producer: Mike Hull
Check us out on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@BlackDiplomatsOfficial
Support us financially!
Support us financially on Venmo: @BlackDiplomats
CashApp: $BlackDiplomats
PayPal: https://paypal.me/blackdiplomatspod
Patreon: patreon.com/blackdiplomats
Time stamp:
00:00: Welcome
00:50: Mental Health Check-In
09:22: Ukraine and the 2024 Presidential Election
27:00: How Ukrainians Can Build Solidarity With Africa
43:36: Trump and Black Support
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Terrell J. Starr and guest Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon discuss the second year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the African students who faced discrimination while fleeing the war, House Speaker’s Mike Johnson’s refusal to bring the U.S. Senate’s bill to the floor for a vote, how MAGA’s racism is blocking Ukraine military aid and Alexei Navalny’s death.
Host: Terrell J. Starr
Guest: Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon (Book her here)
Producer: Mike Hull
Support us financially on Venmo: @BlackDiplomats, CashApp: $BlackDiplomats, PayPal: https://paypal.me/blackdiplomatspod and Patreon: patreon.com/blackdiplomats
Time Stamps
00:00: Welcome
03:32: Mental Health Check-in
04:08: Two-Year Mark of SECOND Russian Invasion of Ukraine
08:57: African Students Who Fled the War
23:25: Mike Johnson Refuses Vote on Ukraine Aid
44:20: Navalny’s Death
How stalled U.S. aid for Ukraine exemplifies GOP’s softening stance on Russia (PBS)
Foreign students fled Ukraine as war broke out. Some remain in limbo, while others fear deportation (CNN)
More than 14 million people fled homes in Ukraine since Russia invasion: UN (Al Jazeera)
Navalny's body returned to mother, spokeswoman says (BBC)
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Greetings, everyone.
This week, I was a guest on Andrea Chalupa’s Gaslit Nation podcast, where we discussed Alexei Navalny’s death and how we should all be reflecting on it.
This recording is from her most recent episode.
We also talked about how New York State Attorney General Tish James and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis are defending American democracy from Donald Trump’s attacks on our democratic institutions.
Thanks for listening!
Show notes:
DEFIANT Fani Willis HITS BACK At Misconduct Claims In HEATED Testimony: ‘IT IS A LIE!’--Roland Martin Unfiltered (YouTube)
Fani Willis’ testimony evokes long-standing frustrations for Black women leaders (AP)
What we know about Alexei Navalny's death in Arctic prison (Reuters)
Body of Alexei Navalny to be held for two weeks for 'chemical analysis', family told (BBC)
We need to have a talk about Alexei Navalny (The Washington Post)
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This week, we’re replaying our May 10 show about Palestine. We’re pretty sure you’re aware of the terrorist attacks Hamas committed against Israeli civilians October 7 and Israel’s response. What is making matters worse is the massive disinformation that is going around on social media. Twitter is a cesspool of disinformation, where even the best and most seasoned reporters are being tripped up by false accounts and videos.
Black Diplomats wants to fight against the disinformation by resurfacing the May 10 episode we aired about Palestine.
It features Palestinian human rights lawyer Diana Buttu and independent journalist Sharif Abdel Kouddous. We were talking about the then one-year anniversary of Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing, but we got into Israel’s apartheid government and why the West tolerates it.
We hope this will add some much-needed context about what’s happening now. Thank you for listening and please stay safe.
News articles:
A timeline of Israel and Palestine’s complicated history (VOX)
This Gaza war didn’t come out of nowhere (VOX)We cannot stand by and watch Israel commit atrocities (The Washington Post)Muslim members of Congress face spikes in death threats (NBC)Verified Accounts on Musk’s X Spread 74 Percent of Israel-Hamas War Misinformation (Rolling Stone)Who was behind the Gaza hospital blast – visual investigation (Channel 4) -
The fifth and final episode of “Liberating Iran” features Priscillia Kounkou Hoveyda. She talks about being Black in Iran and the racism she and other Black Iranians face under Tehran’s brutal theocracy. This episode is one of the few pieces of reporting that deals with the lives of Black Iranians in any meaningful way.
There is pretty much no reporting on Black Iranians, but this episode does address some aspects of how they are experiencing the uprisings in Iran.
You can learn more about Priscillia’s work at the Collective for Black Iranians, which may very well be the only place where you can learn about Black Iranians.
Please support Black Diplomats! Give us 5 star ratings on Spotify, iTunes or wherever you listen to us. Also support our work financially on CashApp at $BlackDiplomats, Venmo @BlackDiplomats and on PayPal at paypal.me/BlackDiplomats.
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The fourth episode of “Liberating Iran” features Yegi Rezaian, who tells us about her life as a reporter in Iran and her efforts to free her husband Jason, with whom she was falsely imprisoned after he was accused of being a U.S. spy in July 0f 2024.
Please go and buy his book, “Prisoner: My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison―Solitary Confinement, a Sham Trial, High-Stakes Diplomacy, and the Extraordinary Efforts It Took to Get Me Out”
This is the fourth of five episodes that will publish each Saturday, with the final show airing September 9. Next week’s episode, the fifth and last of the series, will feature Priscillia Kounkou-Hoveyda., who’ll talk about being Black in Iran and how news around the protests have left Black Iranians voiceless.
Please support Black Diplomats! Give us 5 star ratings on Spotify, iTunes or wherever you listen to us. Also support our work financially on CashApp at $BlackDiplomats, Venmo @BlackDiplomats and on PayPal at paypal.me/BlackDiplomats.
Articles of note
#FreeJason: The inside story of The Post’s role in global efforts to free Jason Rezaian from Iran
Axis of Immigration TedTalk by Yegi Rezaian
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The third episode of “Liberating Iran” features Nahid Siamdoust, who takes us through the history of Iranian feminism and the decades of female musical expression that defines today’s protests in Iran.
Please go and buy her book, “Soundtrack of the Revolution: The Politics of Music in Iran.”
This is the third of five episodes that will publish each Saturday, with the final show airing September 2. Next week’s episode, the fourth of the series, will feature Yegi and Jason Rezaian , who’ll talk about the role of media in Iran. Jason’s story is well know, so Yegi will be the primary subject of the episode and discuss her behind-the-scenes role and helping to secure Jason’s freedom from Iranian imprisonment and how this impacted her life personally.
Please support Black Diplomats! Give us 5 star ratings on Spotify, iTunes or wherever you listen to us. Also support our work financially on CashApp at $BlackDiplomats, Venmo @BlackDiplomats and on PayPal at paypal.me/BlackDiplomats.
Some links to stories used in episode
She’s a Professional Iranian Singer But is Banned from Singing on Stage in Her Country (Center for Human Rights in Iran)What the Success of Women-Led Protests Tell Us About Iran’s Future (TIME)The History of Women's Rights in Iran (Brut America) -
The second episode of “Liberating Iran” deals with the 1953 CIA coup that overthrew Iran's leadership and how that event provides better context for Washington’s relationship with Tehran—not the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover.
Historian Pouya Alimagham helps us understand how devastating the West’s role in undermining has been to fostering better relations with Tehran’s leadership and why Americans have been fed a false narrative on Iranian people and its history.
Please go and buy Pouya’s book, “Contesting the Iranian Revolution: The Green Uprisings.”
This is the second of five episodes that will publish each Saturday, with the final show airing September 2. Next week’s episode will feature Nahid Siamdoust, who’ll talk about the role of women in Iranian history and the role music has played in the current protests.
Please support Black Diplomats! Give us 5 star ratings on Spotify, iTunes or wherever you listen to us. Also support our work financially on CashApp at $BlackDiplomats, Venmo @BlackDiplomats and on PayPal at paypal.me/BlackDiplomats.
Notable links to stories used in episode:
CIA involvement in 1953 Iranian coup (CNN)U.S. Secretly Gave Aid to Iraq Early in Its War Against Iran (NYT)Iran is surrounded by US military bases and facilities. Here's a snapshot (ABC) - Show more
