Understanding Trump’s Executive Order on the Civil Service (It’s Much More Serious Than It Sounds)
Release Date: 01/22/2025
“When McKinsey Comes to Town”
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Michael Forsythe, co-author with Walt Bogdanich of “When McKinsey Comes to Town”, joins the podcast to talk about McKinsey’s work in support of autocratic regimes, its rampant conflicts of interest and the distance between its stated values and its work on the ground. This episode was originally published on 18 January 2023.
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Oliver Bullough at the TRACE London Forum
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Speaking at the 2022 TRACE London Forum, Oliver Bullough, author of Butler to the World, discusses the UK’s role as an enabler of financial crime, efforts toward accountability, the balance between transparency and privacy, and the weaponization of lawsuits in British courts to silence journalists. This episode was originally published on 26 October 2022.
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Doping at the Olympics
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Richard Conway of BBC Sports describes the vast state-sponsored Russian doping scandal and how the credibility of global sports is being undermined.
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The Corrupt Underbelly of Sport
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Declan Hill discusses the pervasive and sinister nature of match-fixing and how we can prevent sport from being turned into theater.
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Corruption, Sanctions and Putin’s War Regime
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In this episode, we hear from Leonid Volkov, who spoke at the 2022 TRACE London Forum. Leonid, former Chief of Staff to Alexei Navalny and current Political Director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF), discussed the role of corruption in Putin’s Russia, as well as the impact of sanctions and the toll that rampant corruption is taking on the country. This episode was originally published on 5 October 2022.
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Bill Browder at the TRACE London Forum
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Here’s our conversation with Bill Browder from the 2022 TRACE London Forum. Bill discusses his book and his ongoing quest for accountability and justice following the abuse and murder of his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky. This episode was originally published on 28 September 2022.
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Rugby, Amateur Sports and the Paris Olympics!
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Sally Dennis, former President of Rugby Canada and current Canadian representative on the Council of World Rugby, describes her role in the professionalization of sports governance, where challenges remain— and rugby's arguably unique invulnerability to match fixing! This episode was originally published on 17 July 2024.
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FIFA's Red Card: Ken Bensinger
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Ken Bensinger discusses his fascinating book, Red Card, and the decades of misconduct by FIFA eventually uncovered by the FBI. We play “violation bingo” as Ken describes the bribery, self-dealing, conflicts of interest and money-laundering that were business as usual at FIFA.
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DEI: Navigating the Semantic Minefield
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At the 2025 TRACE Forum, Misti Mukherjee, Partner at Extensio Law, and Debra Joy Pérez, Chief Equity Officer at United States Pharmacopeia (USP), explore the evolving expectations for diversity, equity, and inclusion in organizations. They share recommendations for implementing evidence-based equitable practices and emphasize that DEI should be embedded in the core of compliance programs—not treated as a side hustle.
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U.S.-Canada Relations: Undefended Border or Deepening Divide?
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At the 2025 TRACE Annapolis Forum, Gordon McKechnie, Executive President of Canadian Bank Note, explores the evolving dynamics between the U.S. and Canada. As Canada’s focus shifts toward Europe and Asia, Gordon discusses changing trade priorities, diverging foreign policies, and the impact of tariffs on both economies.
info_outlineThis inauguration week, we're revisiting a 2020 podcast on President Trump's assault on the civil service. In this episode, Harvard law professor, Matthew Stephenson, provides some context for understanding Trump's executive order on the civil service and then lists the three primary threats it poses for corruption. A more detailed discussion can be found on his Global Anticorruption Blog.
This episode was originally published on 4 November 2020.