Meet the Team
'Global Governance Futures' is co-hosted and produced by Dr Tom Pegram (UCL Global Governance Institute) and a team of students and alumni from UCL's MSc Global Governance and Ethics programme.
Sam Colman (co-host and researcher)
Sam is currently a trainee solicitor, having graduated from the MSc Global Governance and Ethics programme at UCL in 2020. A cautious optimist, Sam recognises that the challenges facing our world cannot be solved in isolation. With a keen interest in what it might mean to ‘think globally’, he hopes the podcast can highlight ideas from diverse thought eco-systems and apply these as lens for solving global issues.
Sam’s Book Picks
- A Fine Balance, by Rohinton Mistry
- Wang Hui (and Shu Wei). 2012. ‘A Dialogue on The Rise of Modern Chinese Thought: Liberating the Object and an Inquiry into the Modern’, trans. Tani Barlow. Positions, 20(1), 287-306
- Capitalism in the Web of Life: Ecology and the Accumulation of Capital, by Jason Moore
- Open City, by Teju Cole
- Auguries of Innocence, by William Blake
Tom Hartley (co-host and researcher)
Tom is currently Environmental Affairs Intern at the UN Economic Commission for Europe. He is an alumni of the MSc Global Governance and Ethics programme (2020-2021) and also holds a degree in Politics and Philosophy. He is interested in the structural and epistemic inequalities that define many of today’s global problems. He maintains a strong sense of hope that through humble and honest discussion, these problems can be addressed.
Tom’s Book Picks
- The Antinomies of Antonio Gramsci, by Perry Anderson
- Beloved, by Toni Morrison
- The Right to Sex, by Amia Srinivasan
- Platform Capitalism, by Nick Srnicek
- The Trap, by Adam Curtis
Jessica Knezy (co-host and researcher)
Jess is an alumna of the MSc in Global Governance and Ethics programme (2019-2020). In the years since this podcast’s inception, she has veered steeply from rationalism into an understanding that knowledge derived from human reason is fundamentally incomplete, and to develop sustainable global governance practices we must take our cue from the natural world within which we live. Jess hopes to continue building this platform into a place where our guests can share innovative and exceptional thoughts on our present governance challenges, and future paths to a more harmonious relationship with one another and our Earth.
Jess’s Book Picks
- Let’s Meet at the Crossroads, by Bayo Akomolafe
- A User’s Guide to the Crisis of Civilization: And How to Save It, by Nafeez Ahmed
- Science and Technology for Development, by James Smith
- Soil Not Oil, by Vandana Shiva
- Non-Stop Inertia, by Ivor Southwood
Hannah Kroker (co-host and researcher)
Hannah is a current student on the MSc Global Governance and Ethics Programme, having recently graduated from the University of Exeter. She is particularly concerned about global systematic inequality and the implications of modern technology on this divide. She hopes that through better international collaboration and coordination, we are able to create a more equitable and sustainable future.
Hannah’s Book Picks
- Let’s Meet at the Crossroads, by Bayo Akomolafe
- A User’s Guide to the Crisis of Civilization: And How to Save It, by Nafeez Ahmed
- Science and Technology for Development, by James Smith
- Soil Not Oil, by Vandana Shiva
- Non-Stop Inertia, by Ivor Southwood
Julia Marszalkowska (co-host and researcher)
Julia is currently pursuing a degree in MSc Global Governance and Ethics after having graduated from King’s College London with a BA in International Relations. She is particularly interested in the intersection of various forms of inequality and injustice, as well as their manifestation on a global scale. With a passion for inclusive knowledge production, she hopes to use the podcast as a platform for stimulating and engaging debates that will make global governance accessible to everyone interested
Julia’s Book Picks
- A Paradise Built in Hell, by Rebecca Solnit
- Azadi, by Arundhati Roy
- Bananas, Beaches and Bases, by Cynthia Enloe
- Men Who Hate Women, by Laura Bates
- Radicals in Conversation Podcast, by Pluto Press
Oliver Parker (co-host and researcher)
Olly is a current Global Governance and Ethics MSc student at UCL. Fascinated by the intersection between culture and politics, Olly believes lasting cooperation requires balancing difference and commonality. He thinks the world could do with a lot more agreeable disagreement. Olly hopes the podcast stimulates thought about how governance structures can be reimagined to make better sense of increasing complexity.
Oliver’s Book Picks
- Culture and Imperialism, by Edward Said
- A Political History of the World: Three Thousand Years of War and Peace, by Jonathan Holslag
- Doughnut Economics, by Kate Raworth
- Only Man is Vile: The Tragedy of Sri Lanka, by William McGowan
- The Long Summer: How Climate Changed Civilization, by Brian Fagan
Tom Pegram (co-host and researcher)
Tom is Professor of Global Politics at the Department of Political Science, UCL and Director of the UCL Global Governance Institute. He is doing his best to reconcile his political realism/idealism in understanding how the world actually works, what has gone wrong, and what global governance has got to do with it.
Tom’s Book Picks
- Small Arcs of Larger Circles, by Nora Bateson
- On Global Order: Power, Values, and the Constitution of International Society, by Andrew Hurrell
- The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
- The Overstory, by Richard Powers
- Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change, by William R. Catton Jr.
Zoë Varenne (co-host and researcher)
Zoë has an MSc in Global Governance and Ethics and a BA in Philosophy and Literature. She currently works in public affairs. Zoë seeks to explore realistic but optimistic solutions in the realm of global governance through curious, open and frank conversations. She is particularly interested in the intersection of cultures.
Zoë’s Book Pick
- Four Futures: Life After Capitalism, by Peter Frase
- Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, by TS Eliot
- Capitalist Realism, by Mark Fisher
- The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy
- Season of Migration to the North, by Tayeb Salih