...and some change

As the world’s attention shifts elsewhere, Gaza continues to face devastation, displacement and a humanitarian crisis of staggering proportions. So where has philanthropy been and what happens when the funding world turns away?

In this episode of ...and some change, Shafi Musaddique speaks with Hani Almadhoun, founder of Gaza Soup Kitchen, and Naila Farouky, CEO of the Arab Foundations Forum, about the failures of institutional philanthropy, the effects of speaking out for Palestine, and the grassroots networks keeping people alive.

From hot meals and clean water to the personal and professional costs of solidarity, Hani and Naila reflect on a sector wrestling with its values, its complicity and its future. As mutual aid fills the gaps left by traditional funders, could Gaza become philanthropy’s north star and a turning point for the sector?

Hosted by Shafi Musaddique (Alliance magazine, The Guardian, Al Jazeera)
Produced by Zibran Choudhury, Alliance magazine

This is a story about risk and discomfort. Of how one of Singapore's fiercest voices has managed to blend advocacy and journalism, risking it all for change, time and time again, in a part of the world where risk can get you in trouble.

Kirsten Han, from the Mekong Review, puts herself on the frontline - time and time again. She's an ardent campaigner calling for Singapore to abolish the death penalty. But her activism has come at a cost. She's faced police intimidation, harassment, smear campaigns, and has been publicly targeted by government officials.

An ugly fight is underway for the soul of one of the biggest and best-known ice cream brands.

Ben Cohen is attempting to wrestle back control of Ben & Jerry's, the ice cream he co-founded decades ago, from Unilever, the current multinational owner.

For decades, Ben & Jerry's managed to protect the brand's social justice, activist and philanthropic work independent from its parent company. That has all dramatically changed ever since Ben & Jerry's stood in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in what Cohen describes as attempts to censor and muzzle.

And the fight has just gotten uglier, with the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation closing its doors after its corporate owner ripped funding away.

But this isn't just a battle over Ben & Jerrys ice cream.

This is the story of one man's fight for social good, against the grain of corporate power and political censorship.

Long frozen under the grip of Viktor Orban, the winds of change are finally blowing in Hungary.

Just months after his election, prime minister Peter Magyar is leading an astonishing clean up job; sweeping in anti-corruption legislation, potentially removing the current president and plans to clamp the super-rich with a wealth tax. It would mean Hungary would become be the first current EU member to introduce a new wealth tax since the 1980s.

But that is just half of the story.

There is another, untold side; of how communities, under the shadow of oppression, swapped ideas and moved money, keeping independent media and grassroots organisations – often deemed far too radical for the government - afloat.

This is the story of how everyday people – through the act of giving - forged political resistance from the margins of society.