Ruth Ben-Ghiat joins the podcast to discuss her book Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present, which examines 100 years of authoritarian rule. She describes the characteristics of a strongman and the strange virility cult surrounding these leaders before turning to the central role of corruption in the autocrat&rsquos playbook.

Etelle Higonnet with the National Wildlife Federation takes us through the complex and intersecting problems raised by the cocoa industry: environmental degradation, child labor and extreme financial disparities that prevent most cocoa farmers from ever tasting the chocolate they grow. (This episode was originally published in February 2021.)

Drago Kos joins the podcast to talk about the work of the OECD Working Group on Bribery, its ambitious Revised Recommendation, what he hopes the group will accomplish in his final year with the WGB and the search to find his replacement.

Casey Michelwith the Hudson Institute's Kleptocracy Initiative joins the podcast for a very lively discussion about his new book,American Kleptocracy: How the U.S. Created the World&rsquos Greatest Money Laundering Scheme in History. Casey discusses America&rsquos role in the problem of global kleptocracy and shares some optimism about the path ahead.

Michael Sallah, senior investigations editor with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, joins the podcast to talk about his &ldquoDirty Dollars&rdquo investigation into how foreign corruption swamped the very center of America where huge sums were laundered at the expense of the local community.Note: While the sound quality of this episode isn't ideal, we hope you'll stick with the interview for Michael's extremely important insight.