Welcome to “Going Viral”, the fourth episode of “Ok Doomer!” the podcast series by The European Leadership Network’s (ELN) New European Voices on Existential Risk (NEVER) network. Hosted by the ELN’s Policy and Impact Director, Jane Kinninmont, and the ELN’s Project and Communications Coordinator, Edan Simpson, this episode will examine the existential and global catastrophic threats posed by new biological technologies.

Jane kicks off the episode in “What’s the Problem?” Where we also hear from Jasper Götting, a research fellow in the biosecurity team of Convergent Research and a member of our NEVER network, whose work focuses on road mapping technical biosecurity interventions, and technological mitigation techniques against biological risks, such as how we could potentially disinfect the air to guard against future pandemics. Jasper breaks down the different types of biological risks, including natural versus engineered pathogens, natural spillovers, accidental releases, and deliberate releases, as well as a discussion on what previous pandemics, including SARS and COVID, taught us when preparing for potential future pandemics.

Edan’s “How To Fix It” panel features Angela Kane, a member of the ELN’s Senior Network with over 35 years of experience working for the United Nations, most recently as the assistant secretary general for political affairs and the High Representative for disarmament. Angela now works as a senior advisor to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, primarily supporting them on their bio initiatives to reduce global catastrophic biological risks. She’s joined by NEVER member Anemone Franz, a physician with experience in pandemic preparedness and biosecurity. Anemone is an Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Fellow at John Hopkins Centre for Health Security and has previously worked on vaccine platform development. Lastly, Dr. Emil Iftikhar rounds up the panel. He recently graduated from his PhD and is currently working as a political affairs intern at the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs at the Implementation Support Unit of the Biological Weapons Convention in Geneva, Switzerland. The panel discusses whether or not world leaders have learnt the right lessons from COVID-19, the current state of global biological threat governance at organisations such as the UN, and what’s needed in terms of public sector, private sector, and governmental collaborations to properly screen and mitigate the existential risks posed by biological threats – especially in the context of other technologies like AI and synthetic DNA.

Moving on to “Turn Back The Clock”, where we look back to a time in history when humanity was faced with a potential existential threat but pulled back from the brink of destruction. On today’s episode, Jane is joined by Bekki Field, a Senior Associate Fellow at the European Leadership Network and a former head of pandemic preparedness for the UK government. They discuss the links between pandemics and existential threats, observations on disinformation and public trust, as well as the political, societal and economic benefits of pandemic prevention and preparedness.

Finally, as always, the episode is wrapped up in “The Debrief,” where Jane and Edan review the episode and all their guests to make sense of everything covered. Catch up on previous episodes, and make sure to subscribe to future episodes of ‘Ok Doomer! Follow the ELN on:

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Welcome to the third episode of “Ok Doomer!” The podcast series by The European Leadership Network’s (ELN) New European Voices on Existential Risk (NEVER) network. Hosted by the ELN’s Policy and Impact Director, Jane Kinninmont, and the ELN’s Project and Communications Coordinator, Edan Simpson, this episode will look at the question of climate change - arguably the existential risk that people around the world are mobilised by the most.

We set the episode up in “What’s the Problem?” and hear from Olivia Blake, Member of Parliament for Sheffield Hallam (UK), on how the issue of climate change resonates for voters on the doorstep in Britain and how politicians can link global and local concerns. Olivia discusses the effects of natural habitat destruction, such as moorland burning in the UK’s Peak District national park, her work running Citizen Assemblies to create policies needed to combat the climate crisis, and shares her advice for young people on how to make a difference.

This is followed by our “How to fix it?” panel discussion hosted by Edan.

This week, Edan is joined by Ziya Meral, Senior Associate Fellow at the European Leadership Network. Ziya is a researcher, advisor and programmes director specialising on global trends shaping defence, security and foreign policy in the Middle east and Turkey. He's also the co-leader of the Climate Change and (In)security project, run by Oxford University and the British Army’s Centre for Historical and Armed Conflict Research.

Joining Ziya is NEVER member Jakob Gomolka - a researcher at Berlin-based sustainability think tank Adelphi. Jakob is primarily interested in the catastrophic risks associated with climate change, as well as the second order and long-term effects of climate change, such as the governance of geoengineering technologies, and how a warming world will affect geopolitical competition

Alongside Ziya and Jakob, we are joined by NEVER member Jieqiong Duan, a PhD student at the University of Ghent. Jieqiong’s research centres on the relationship between the European Union and China, primarily relating to climate diplomacy and the effects of great power competition on existential risk.

NEVER member, Katie Duffy completes this week’s panel. Katie is the Programme Manager on climate resilience and infrastructure at British Expertise International and focuses mainly on the socio-economic effects of climate change as well as advising private sector clients on how best to approach the green transition.

The panel discuss topics including whether the increasingly noticeable effects of climate change provides an incentive for governments to cooperate and work together, especially when they are divided on so many other topics. They also cover whether the scientific solutions that are currently being developed are being utilised sufficiently by governments and policymakers, and what those working in other areas of existential risks can take from the climate change movement, especially from the angle of mobilising young people and the general public.

After our panel discussion, we “Turn Back the Clock” where Jane is joined by atmospheric chemist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Professor Susan Solomon. Professor Solomon served on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the team of scientists whose atmospheric research informed the UN’s Montreal Protocol – one of the few UN protocols to be universally ratified, and the success of which means that the hole in the ozone layer should seal at some point in the middle of the century.

Finally, the episode is wrapped up in “The Debrief”, where Jane and Edan look back on the episode and their guests to make sense of everything covered.

Catch up on previous episodes, and make sure to subscribe to future episodes of ‘Ok Doomer!"

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Nuclear War, What is it good for?” is the second episode of “Ok Doomer!” the podcast series by The European Leadership Network’s (ELN) New European Voices on Existential Risk (NEVER) network. Hosted by the ELN’s Policy and Impact Director, Jane Kinninmont, and the ELN’s Project and Communications Coordinator, Edan Simpson, this episode will look at the question of nuclear war - the original man-made existential threat to humanity.

What would it mean for the world if a nuclear war broke? How close we are to one? And how worried should we be?

As always, we set the episode up in “What’s the Problem?” and in this episode, we hear from Dr Rishi Paul, Senior Policy Fellow at the ELN and Dr Oliver Meier, Policy and Research Director at the ELN, on the basics of how nuclear deterrence works and an introduction to nuclear arms control.

Joining Edan on this episode’s panel discussion are John Pope from the USA. John is the Chief Audience Officer at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the organisation that has maintained the Doomsday Clock since 1947 in response to the advent of nuclear weapons.

Valeriia Hesse, a NEVER member from Ukraine, is research coordinator at the Central European University in Vienna and a fellow at the Odesa Centre for Non-proliferation (OdCNP), where she focuses on nuclear policy and risk reduction.

The final panel guest is ELN Policy Fellow Dr Olamide Samuel from Nigeria. Olamide leads the ELN’s work on bolstering the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and is also an honorary fellow at the University of Leicester.

The panel discuss risk reduction, what it is and how it works in practice. They also discuss whether nuclear disarmament is still possible in today’s environment, the role that ordinary people can play, and how they can use their voice.

Jane is joined by Sahil Shah, Senior Fellow and Programme Manager at the Council on Strategic Risks for ‘Turn Back The Clock’, where we explore an example from history when humanity avoided an existential risk.

Finally, the episode is wrapped up in “The Debrief”, where Jane and Edan look back on the episode and all their guests to make sense of everything covered.

Catch up on previous episodes, and make sure to subscribe to future episodes of ‘Ok Doomer!

Risk Reduction Classification by Wilfred Wan at UNIDIR

UNIDIR = United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research

ICAN = International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons

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