DW vodcast looks at security policy issues from the Western and Asian perspective

The creators of Global Eyes are dedicated to the idea that security policy and geopolitics are important for everyone, everywhere. The two hosts examine the very real effects security policy issues have on every individual person – from food prices to health, all the way to armed conflicts.

The vodcast not only deals with security policy issues from a western point of view, but also opens Asian perspectives. Global Eyes offers a broad range of information, expertise and personal stories from their guests, who come predominantly from the global South.

Getting out of the ivory tower

"The Global Eyes vodcast aims to draw the discussions about security policy issues out of government buildings, think tanks and academic institutions," said Nadja Scholz, Acting Managing Director of Programming. "The hosts break down complex, global subject matters into comprehensible facts while exploring connections with their guests that are often forgotten."

Host Isha Bhatia, from DW Programs for Asia, wants to prove with the vodcast that young people are interested in more than just TikTok and Instagram. Her goal is to discuss serious, complex topics so that they are interesting and do not sound like intellectual lectures. "From the G7 to the G20, from BRICS to OPEC, from Quad to SCO. What do these groups really mean? What implications do their decisions have? Global Eyes endeavors to answer these questions," says Bhatia.

Host Kate Brady, from DW's Analysis and Reports department: "It is easy to get bogged down in details when you are dealing with complicated security policy issues. We want to change that and, with support from experts, decipher how the big global topics affect our daily lives."

Controversial core questions to guide the debate

Each episode is centered on a provocative question that connects a security policy issue and the lives of users. The first episode examines how the war in Ukraine and the Western sanctions on Russia are affecting the lives of people in India. The opening question is "Will the war in Ukraine make your Chapatis cheaper?"

Energy expert Nandikesh Sivalingam, from Bangalore, and foreign policy expert Seema Sirohi, from Washington, help answer that question. By the end of the episode, it's not only Kate Brady and Isha Bhatia who will better understand the question, but also the listeners.

They are already planning further questions such as "Will the conflict in Taiwan create IT jobs in India?" or "What does India’s G20 presidency have to do with antibiotic-resistant bacteria strains?"

Video and Audio, YouTube and Spotify

The format was developed by editors working together with Digital Format Development at DW. The English-language vodcast is produced by DW and will appear monthly as both an audio and video production. The first season consists of ten episodes with a run time of between 40 and 45 minutes. The video versions will appear on a monthly basis on YouTube and Facebook with the audio versions on all major podcast platforms including Spotify and iTunes as well as on the India-based platform Jiosaavn.

Global Eyes will premiere on November 26 on the DW News YouTube channel, on the DW Asia Facebook account and on various podcast platforms.