Episode 21 of 20 Seconds Radio on Archipel Stations Community Radio, 88.4 Berlin/90.7 Potsdam.

20 Seconds editors Daniel Melfi and Timothy Isherwood present the magazine’s breadth of coverage in sonic shapes not possible in print, meandering through paths of medium-specific experimentation.

Broadcast live from Berlin

Tracklist:

Ben Fawkes – Foreign Screams (Part Dos, self-released, 2025)
Colin Fisher – Mundial Imaginalis (Suns of the Heart, We Are Busy Bodies, 2024)
Lea Bertucci – In This Time (The Oracle, Cibachrome Editions, 2025)
Saudara Tua – Saudara Tua (Saudara Tua, Public Eyesore Records, 2025)
Dan Fortin – Minty (feat. Karen Ng (Cannon, Elastic Recordings, 2024)
Jessica Moss – no where (Unfolding, Constellation Records, 2025)
Remo Helfenstein – Mal de Mer (Spite, Präsens Editionen, 2025)
Mohammad Reza Mortazavi – Dorna (Nexus, Latency, 2025)
Ruth Mascelli & Mary Hanson Scott – A Lover’s Theory of Value (Esoteric Lounge Music Now, Disciples, 2025)
Pray-Pax – Domani non c’e sarà più (The Lolita Years, Zel Zele, 2025)
ILYICH – Third Grain: For Those Who Are Born, Death Is Certain. For Those Who Die, Birth Is Certain. Feat. Susanne Sachsse (Sudnozavod, afterlife records, 2025)
Mira – Viola (Erica, Maple Death Records, 2025)

20 Seconds Radio - Episode 21 (4/11/25) on Archipel Stations

The incoming COP30 host, Brazil, has signalled it wants COP30 to mark the moment the UNFCCC transitions to a ‘post-negotiation’ phase, and that efforts should focus on action and implementation going forward. As part of its work to make this a reality, Brazil is reforming the UNFCCC’s ‘Action Agenda’, a process bringing together cities, regions, businesses, investors, civil society and governments to implement the Paris Agreement. 

To find out more about Brazil’s vision for the Action Agenda, co-hosts Anna and Bhargabi speak to Dan Ioschpe, Brazil’s High-Level Climate Champion for COP30.

In the introduction to the episode, Anna and her colleague Chris Aylett (Research Fellow at Chatham House) discuss the EU’s commitment to phase out Russian energy imports by 2028 and US efforts to block a plan for decarbonizing international shipping. 

What is Brazil’s vision for the ‘Action Agenda’?

Far-right Dutch leader Geert Wilders suffered a setback in Wednesday’s elections, with centrists poised to take back power.  

Rob Jetten, 38, leader of the centre-progressive Democrats 66 party, is set to become the Netherlands’ youngest leader in modern history after running on the upbeat slogan ‘Yes we can’. But the hard right remains influential.  

To discuss the outcome, and what it tells us about Europe beyond the Netherlands, guest host Grégoire Roos, Director of Chatham House’s Europe and Russia and Eurasia Programmes, is joined by Sébastien Maillard, a Chatham House Associate Fellow and special advisor to the Jacques Delors Institute. And, joining down the line, is Karien van Gennip, a former Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands.

Europe after the Dutch elections. Goodbye far right? Not so fast.

COP30 is about to begin. Where do we stand ahead of the conference? What are the key issues to watch, and how might the complex geopolitical context influence the discussions in Belém? To find out, Anna is joined by three Chatham House colleagues: Ana Yang (Director of the Environment and Society Centre), Bernice Lee (Distinguished Fellow and Senior Advisor) and Nick Bridge (Associate Fellow at Chatham House and former UK Special Representative for Climate change).&nbsp; For additional analysis, please see:    The expert comment ‘What can COP30 achieve, following US withdrawal and underwhelming climate plans’, available .   The explainer ‘What is COP30 and why does it matter for the climate?, available .   The expert comment ‘The UN climate process remains indispensable’, available .

COP30: Key issues to watch

Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York’s mayoral race this week – and other electoral successes – energized Democrats in the US and left-wing parties worldwide. The new standard-bearer of the American left is hailed by progressives as a generational shift of leadership – at 34 he will be the first Muslim mayor of New York, and one of its youngest ever. 

But he faces opposition from many quarters over his plans to raise taxes on the wealthy. Not least from President Donald Trump, who has threatened to hold back federal funds from the city where he was born.  

This week’s podcast assesses the significance of the first major elections of Trump’s second term, and what it means for the Democratic Party’s chances of winning back the House of Representatives in midterm elections next November. 

In the US, host Bronwen Maddox is joined by Laurel Rapp, director of the US and North America Programme, and Bruce Stokes, an associate fellow at Chatham House and a former director of global economic attitudes at the Pew Research Center. Joining from London is Stephen Farrell, head of News and Comment, who covered the 2013 New York City mayoral election for The New York Times. 

Mamdani won in New York. For Trump, was it a setback or backlash?

Nearly four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainian officials and analysts look at the prospects for a ceasefire, and at the military, economic and human cost that President Vladimir Putin’s campaign has inflicted on the country. 

They discuss the Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, intended to demoralise the civilian population, and what European allies should do to bolster its defence efforts, and to rebuild the country if there is a ceasefire. 

Host Bronwen Maddox is joined by Andriy Zagorodnyuk, a former Minister of Defence of Ukraine; Daryna Marchak, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture; Olha Aivazovska, Chair of the Board of the Opora Civic Network; Simon Smith, Chair of Chatham House’s Ukraine Forum and Dominic Nicholls, Associate Editor of The Telegraph. 

The discussion came as Chatham House hosted a conference - 'War in Ukraine: The battleground for the future of Europe'. https://www.chathamhouse.org/events/all/research-event/war-ukraine-battleground-future-europe

Read our latest analysis here: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2025/11/ukraines-best-defence-against-putins-energy-war-more-attacks-russias-oil-refining-sector

What does Ukraine need to get through the winter?

After the North Darfur capital El Fasher fell to the Rapid Support Forces, aid agencies and survivors talk of civilians being massacred in the streets. The international affairs podcast of Chatham House examines the human toll, and the dynamics of a war fuelled by regional powers and their proxies seeking to control Sudan’s territory, gold, natural resources, and access to key waterways.&nbsp; Host , is joined by , a Senior Research Fellow in Chatham House’s Africa Programme; , a Mo Ibrahim Foundation Academy Fellow; , director of the think tank Confluence Advisory, and , a researcher at the University of Sussex who focuses on migration, human rights, and humanitarian action. Read the Chatham House report . It covers how Sudan’s main warring parties – the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – were in competition for the country’s natural resources, and how the fight to control gold assets has been one of the drivers of the conflict. &nbsp; Read our latest:    Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by&nbsp;. &nbsp; &nbsp;🎧&nbsp; &nbsp;🎧 Subscribe to Independent Thinking wherever you find your podcasts - please listen, review, and subscribe.

Sudan – the internal and external forces tearing it apart

COP30 in Belém is over. What happened at the conference? What were the main outcomes? And what needs to happen next? &nbsp; To find out, Anna speaks to Jennifer Morgan (Senior Fellow at the&nbsp;Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University; Fellow at the Hertie School of Governance; and former State Secretary and Special Envoy for International Climate Action at the German Federal Foreign Office) and David Waskow (Director for the International Climate Initiative at the World Resources Institute).

What happened at COP30?

Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves published her – widely leaked – budget this week. How does it leave her ruling Labour Party positioned in Britain? And what do the calculations look like from overseas, where other countries have adopted different solutions to the problems facing them? For this discussion on Chatham House’s international affairs podcast, host  is joined by , Director of the UK in the World Programme. And, giving an international perspective on UK finances, are , an Associate Fellow in the Europe Programme and , a Senior Research Fellow for China and the World in the Asia-Pacific Programme. Read our latest:    Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by . &nbsp; &nbsp;🎧&nbsp; &nbsp;🎧 Subscribe to Independent Thinking wherever you find your podcasts - please listen, review, and subscribe.

Britain’s budget – a recipe for growth or decline?

Chatham House is an independent policy instute, based in London. We have been a source of independent analysis, trusted dialogue and influential ideas for one hundred years. Today, at the beginning of our second century, we continue to offer solutions to global challenges and actively seek to empower the next generation to change their world.

What happened at COP30?

Chatham House

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