Neha Wadekar

Two Journalists, Two Regimes, Two Trumped-Up Arrests – Project Brazen (image)

Two Journalists, Two Regimes, Two Trumped-Up Arrests – Project Brazen

July 5, 2023Radio

We recently released a podcast about Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal correspondent who was arrested by Russian authorities back in March. Evan was falsely accused of espionage, and he’s being held in a Moscow prison until his trial date in August.

In that episode, we explored questions around press freedom, journalist safety and security, and the future of foreign correspondence in an increasingly polarized and hostile world. For this bonus episode, I spoke to another journalist – one who probably can relate to Evan’s situation better than anyone.

Jason Rezaian moved to Tehran in 2009 and became the Washington Post correspondent and Tehran bureau chief there. In 2014, Jason and his wife – who is also a journalist – were arrested on charges of espionage. Jason was held for 544 days and convicted of espionage,  before finally being released and returning to the United States.

He has documented his experience in a book, as well as his podcast, 544 Days. It’s a gripping story that also includes Jason’s reflections on and analysis of the events – hyperlocal, regional, and global – that surrounded his arrest.

Sudan’s Failed Democracy Is a Disaster for Women – Foreign Policy (image)

Sudan’s Failed Democracy Is a Disaster for Women – Foreign Policy

August 4, 2023Articles

Women helped bring down the country’s Islamist dictator—and are still stuck with fundamentalism.

‘Women bear the biggest brunt of climate change,’ says climate scientist Susan Chomba – The Guardian (image)

‘Women bear the biggest brunt of climate change,’ says climate scientist Susan Chomba – The Guardian

June 21, 2023Articles

She leads a team of 100 at a non-profit with operations across Africa and says climate has been seen through a male perspective for too long.

Free Evan Gershkovich: How a US reporter was imprisoned in Putin’s Russia – Project Brazen (image)

Free Evan Gershkovich: How a US reporter was imprisoned in Putin’s Russia – Project Brazen

May 18, 2023Radio

How did Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich end up wrongfully imprisoned in Russia, and what happens now? On March 29, Russian authorities arrested Evan and accused him of spying on Russia on behalf of the US government. Evan was imprisoned in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, where he remains today. In this special episode from Project Brazen, you’ll hear from those close to Evan — his friends, newsroom colleagues, even his former soccer coach — about his shocking arrest, efforts to bring him home, and how he became the journalist he is today. Evan is the first American reporter to be charged with espionage in Russia since the Cold War. The charge, which The Journal vehemently denies, can carry a sentence of up to 20 years.

Dynamite Doug Bonus: Kenya Wants Its Missing Artifacts Back – Project Brazen (image)

Dynamite Doug Bonus: Kenya Wants Its Missing Artifacts Back – Project Brazen

April 19, 2023Radio

In this bonus episode of Dynamite Doug, I traveled to Kenya to see how it is responding to the loss of its own cultural heritage to traders and colonizers. More than 32,000 Kenyan cultural artifacts, ranging from drinking gourds to tribal belts and ceremonial shields, live in museums around the world, and are largely inaccessible to Kenyan people. Kenyan artists and technologists are working to digitally catalog these items and bring them to life through 3D printing and virtual reality – but critics say it’s no replacement for repatriation.

A IS FOR ABUSE – The Intercept (image)

A IS FOR ABUSE – The Intercept

March 23, 2023Articles

Two Harvard Grads Saw Big Profits in African Education. Children Paid the Price.

For six months, The Intercept’s Ryan Grim and I investigated horrendous child sex abuse allegations at Bridge International Academies, a chain of low-cost, for-profit private schools started by two former Harvard graduates and funded by Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Pierre Omidyar, as well as the International Finance Corporation, the lending arm of the World Bank.

Refugees, art and healing with Me We International – Project Brazen (image)

Refugees, art and healing with Me We International – Project Brazen

February 16, 2023Radio

In this bonus episode of Kabul Falling, I interviewed Mohsin Mohi Ud Din, the founder of Me We International, an international organization that uses art – like poetry, creative writing, song, dance, and theater – to help refugees heal from trauma and author their futures.

Thailand Is a Global Capital of (Illegal) Sex Work – Foreign Policy (image)

Thailand Is a Global Capital of (Illegal) Sex Work – Foreign Policy

February 15, 2023Articles

Thailand has long been one of the world’s major sex tourism destinations. Estimates of sex work’s contribution to GDP vary widely because the industry operates almost entirely underground. But in 2015, the black market research company Havocscope valued it at $6.4 billion per year—about 1.5 percent of the country’s GDP that year.

Despite earning billions annually, the industry is effectively illegal, controversial among Thais, and highly stigmatized. Now, the debate over sex work is spilling into public forums, with a progressive lawmaker introducing a bill in parliament to legalize it. Its proponents argue that criminalization has deprived sex workers of basic labor rights and protections enjoyed by other workers, making them more vulnerable to health risks, harassment, exploitation, and violence—while making sex work itself no less visible.

Kabul Falling: Bonus: Building a New Life After Escaping Afghanistan – Project Brazen (image)

Kabul Falling: Bonus: Building a New Life After Escaping Afghanistan – Project Brazen

November 10, 2022Radio

Neha Wadekar, Associate Producer of Kabul Falling, speaks with Rahman, a former acting general in the Afghan army, and Carly Sparkes, operations manager at Azadi Charity, about what it’s like to leave behind the only life you’ve ever known and resettle in a foreign country to rebuild anew.

International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) – Plenary Moderation (image)

International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) – Plenary Moderation

December 9, 2022Press

At the IACC 2022, I moderated the plenary entitled Fighting Greed, Kleptocracy, Oligarchs, Money Laundering and their Enablers. My intro starts at 24:15 in the video. The esteemed panelists did an amazing job, and the discussion got heated. Check out their perspectives by clicking on the link!