New Podcast Episode, Featuring Dan Hough

A new episode of KickBack: The Global Anticorruption Podcast is now available.In this episode, host Liz Dávid-Barrett interviews Professor Dan Hough of the University of Sussex’s Centre for the Study of Corruption about his new book, Foul Play: Tackling Football’s Integrity Problem. Professor Hough discusses how he applies analytical frameworks from the corruption and governance fields to analyze the integrity challenges facing football, both on and off the pitch. The discussion also covers how debates over integrity in football connects to broader debates about how to encourage integrity in other areas.
You can find both this episode and an archive of prior episodes at the following locations:
KickBack was originally founded as a collaborative effort between GAB and the Interdisciplinary Corruption Research Network (ICRN). It is now hosted and managed by the University of Sussex’s Centre for the Study of Corruption. If you like it, please subscribe/follow, and tell all your friends!

New Podcast Episode, Featuring David Jancsics

A new episode of KickBack: The Global Anticorruption Podcast is now available.In this episode, host Liz Dávid-Barrett interviews Professor David Jancsics of the San Diego State University School of Public Affairs about about his his research on the sociology of corruption. Drawing on sociological and other theoretical insights, Professor Jancsics proposes classifying types of corruption using two cross-cutting dimensions–the type of resource transfer and the type of client–and uses these dimensions to develop a new typology of corruption that identifies for basic types: (1) market corruption, (2) social bribe, (3) corrupt organization, and (4) state capture. The discussion goes into particular depth regarding that fourth category, exploring the problem of state capture in Hungary. The interview also touches on another line of Professor Jancsics’ research, concerning corruption at borders.
You can find both this episode and an archive of prior episodes at the following locations:
KickBack was originally founded as a collaborative effort between GAB and the Interdisciplinary Corruption Research Network (ICRN). It is now hosted and managed by the University of Sussex’s Centre for the Study of Corruption. If you like it, please subscribe/follow, and tell all your friends!

New Podcast Episode, Featuring Tom Firestone and Scott Greytak

After a brief late-summer hiatus, a new episode of KickBack: The Global Anticorruption Podcast is now available.In this episode, host Liz Dávid-Barrett interviews Tom Firestone, a partner at the law firm Squire Patton Boggs, and Scott Greytak, the Director of Advocacy at Transparency International US, about the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA), a new and groundbreaking piece of US federal legislation that makes it a crime for any foreign official to demand or accept a bribe from an American or American company, or from any person while in the territory of the United States. The conversation touches on the scope of the act, how it relates to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the effects that the law may have on anticorruption enforcement efforts in other countries, and the challenges related to FEPA enforcement.
You can find both this episode and an archive of prior episodes at the following locations:
KickBack was originally founded as a collaborative effort between GAB and the Interdisciplinary Corruption Research Network (ICRN). It is now hosted and managed by the University of Sussex’s Centre for the Study of Corruption. If you like it, please subscribe/follow, and tell all your friends!

New Podcast Episode, Featuring Anna Petherick and Ortrun Merkle

A new episode of KickBack: The Global Anticorruption Podcast is now available.In this episode, host Liz Dávid-Barrett interviews Anna Petherick, Associate Professor of Public Policy at the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government, and Ortrun Merkle, a Research Fellow at the United Nations University-Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute. The interview focuses on gender and corruption, and in particular on the problem of sexual corruption–how to conceptualize this topic, and how to design effective policy responses to it. You can find both this episode and an archive of prior episodes at the following locations: KickBack was originally founded as a collaborative effort between GAB and the Interdisciplinary Corruption Research Network (ICRN). It is now hosted and managed by the University of Sussex’s Centre for the Study of Corruption. If you like it, please subscribe/follow, and tell all your friends!

New Podcast Episode, Featuring Lucio Picci

A new episode of KickBack: The Global Anticorruption Podcast is now available.In this episode, host Liz Dávid-Barrett interviews Lucio Picci, a professor of economics at the University of Bologna, about his recent work on rethinking the current anticorruption paradigm. Professor Picci explains why he thinks we need to pay more attention to potential “side effects” of anticorruption discourse, particularly the risk that the anticorruption agenda will be hijacked by populists to support political goals–as we have seen, he notes, in Brazil, Russia, and the United States. Professor Picci also discusses his earlier work on corruption measurement, including approaches to measuring corruption at the subnational level. You can find both this episode and an archive of prior episodes at the following locations: KickBack was originally founded as a collaborative effort between GAB and the Interdisciplinary Corruption Research Network (ICRN). It is now hosted and managed by the University of Sussex’s Centre for the Study of Corruption. If you like it, please subscribe/follow, and tell all your friends!

New Podcast Episode, Featuring Emmanuel Mathias

A new episode of KickBack: The Global Anticorruption Podcast is now available.(Actually, this one isn’t that new anymore–it was released a couple of weeks ago–but I was traveling then and wasn’t able to do the update. Sorry for the delay!) In this episode, host Liz Dávid-Barrett interviews Emmanuel Mathias, the Head of the Governance and Anti-Corruption Division at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The interview covers the main pillars of the IMF’s 2018 Framework for Enhanced Engagement on Governance, and provides insights into how the IMF approaches its anticorruption work.

You can find both this episode and an archive of prior episodes at the following locations:

KickBack was originally founded as a collaborative effort between GAB and the Interdisciplinary Corruption Research Network (ICRN). It is now hosted and managed by the University of Sussex’s Centre for the Study of Corruption. If you like it, please subscribe/follow, and tell all your friends!

New Podcast Episode, Featuring Ketakandriana Rafitoson

A new episode of KickBack: The Global Anticorruption Podcast is now available. In this episode, host Tom Shipley interviews Ketakandriana Rafitoson, the Executive Director of Transparency International Madagascar and the Vice Chair of Transparency International. The interview focuses on the problem of “state capture” in Madagascar, emphasizing how this problem has manifested in key sectors such as natural resources, and how outside actors (countries and international firms) have contributed to the problem, and how civil society actors are using innovative approaches to fight back against networks of corrupt actors. You can also find both this episode and an archive of prior episodes at the following locations: KickBack was originally founded as a collaborative effort between GAB and the Interdisciplinary Corruption Research Network (ICRN). It is now hosted and managed by the University of Sussex’s Centre for the Study of Corruption. If you like it, please subscribe/follow, and tell all your friends!

New Podcast Episode, Featuring John Penrose

A new episode of KickBack: The Global Anticorruption Podcast is now available. In this episode, Robert Barrington interviews John Penrose, a UK Member of Parliament who served as the government’s Anti-Corruption Champion from 2017-2022. Mr. Penrose explains the role and function of the Anti-Corruption Champion position and what he learned from his time serving in that position. He discusses the major developments and drivers behind UK anticorruption policy during this period, as well as his decision to resign from the position during Boris Johnson’s administration. The interview concludes with some discussion of what the UK’s anticorruption infrastructure could and should look like in the years to come. You can also find both this episode and an archive of prior episodes at the following locations: KickBack was originally founded as a collaborative effort between GAB and the Interdisciplinary Corruption Research Network (ICRN). It is now hosted and managed by the University of Sussex’s Centre for the Study of Corruption. If you like it, please subscribe/follow, and tell all your friends!

New Podcast Episode, Featuring Tom Burgis

A new episode of KickBack: The Global Anticorruption Podcast is now available. In this episode, host Liz Dávid-Barrett speaks to Tom Burgis, a journalist and author who has written extensively on corruption and kleptocracy around the world. The interview covers a range of topics, including is forthcoming book, Cuckooland, which grapples with some of the challenges for journalists in scrutinizing public figures in a “post-truth” society. You can also find both this episode and an archive of prior episodes at the following locations: KickBack was originally founded as a collaborative effort between GAB and the Interdisciplinary Corruption Research Network (ICRN). It is now hosted and managed by the University of Sussex’s Centre for the Study of Corruption. If you like it, please subscribe/follow, and tell all your friends!

New Podcast Episode, Featuring Richard Nephew

A new episode of KickBack: The Global Anticorruption Podcast is now available. In this episode, host Liz Dávid-Barrett speaks to Richard Nephew, the US Department of State’s Coordinator on Global Anti-Corruption. The conversation focuses principally on the US strategy on countering corruption, including the practicalities involved in implementing different pillars of the strategy, such as attempts to strengthen the multilateral anti-corruption architecture. The conversation also touches on the key outcomes to emerge from the recent UN Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). You can also find both this episode and an archive of prior episodes at the following locations: KickBack was originally founded as a collaborative effort between GAB and the Interdisciplinary Corruption Research Network (ICRN). It is now hosted and managed by the University of Sussex’s Centre for the Study of Corruption. If you like it, please subscribe/follow, and tell all your friends!