Year of Elections: A new podcast series on how public opinion will shape the world

The National is launching the Year of Elections, a podcast series on how this is the year when public opinion will – more than any other time in recent history – decide the direction of travel for our world.

For the first time, more than 70 countries, together home to more than half of the world’s population, will go to the polls in a single year – in legislative elections, presidential elections and, in the case of the EU, supranational elections.

There is a lot on the line. The past decade has seen a rise in populism unlike any witnessed since the early 20th century. The social, political and economic global order built after the end of the Cold War is being turned upside down. Throw into that mix new wars, the aftershocks of a global pandemic and the rise of new technologies that are upending the way many of us live our lives, and the average voter – whether in South Korea or South Africa, India or Indonesia, Britain or the US – has a lot on their mind.

In each episode, The National’s Opinion Editor Sulaiman Hakemy will speak to a series of experts – diplomats, civil servants, writers and thinkers – to take you through the votes that will shape the world.

Tune in every other Monday from February 5, and follow and subscribe on all popular podcast platforms and apps.