If You Were In Charge

If You Were In Charge

If You Were In Charge with Sanam Naraghi Anderlini and Kavita Nandini Ramdas. A radical leadership podcast about people, power & possibilities from ICAN and ADA, told through a feminist perspective on leadership. Sanam and Kavita represent voices that are rarely heard in podcasting. Two powerful advocates for peace and social justice, women leaders with roots in India and Iran, who have led careers as global citizens at the highest levels. In a world increasingly led by autocratic superpowers, exploiting fear and uncertainty, the premise of If You Were In Charge is simple: for every major problem out in the world, there are ordinary people finding extraordinary solutions. This podcast focuses on those who know the truth of poet June Jordan’s words, “we are the ones we have been waiting for”. Join Sanam and Kavita, each week as they champion women's leadership and reimagine a better future with thought-provoking discussions and insights from leading global experts. If You Were In Charge is brought to you by ICAN (International Civil Society Action Network). This is an ADA Production.

Episodes

June 15, 2026 41 mins
London will host Climate Action Week from 20 to 28 June 2026, under the theme "Climate Cooperation in a Fractured World". As the world is beset by anxiety and upheaval fuelled by wars and the societal changes brought on by artificial intelligence, conversations around the climate crisis have receded into the background. But it continues to pose an existential threat to humanity. In this episode, we find hope on the front lines. ...
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In this short mid-season episode of the leadership podcast If You Were In Charge, Sanam Naraghi Anderlini puts on her peace negotiation hat and asks a simple question: if she were in charge, how would she end the conflict with Iran? A leadership podcast about people, power and possibilities. Drawing on thirty years in peacebuilding, Sanam argues that war is not working and economic sanctions are not working, which leaves only one...
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Feminist economist Naila Kabeer joins Sanam and Kavita on the leadership podcast If You Were In Charge to ask why we still measure success in GDP and what we could build if we counted care, peace and the planet. A clear-eyed, hopeful conversation about Beyond GDP, the absurd cost of the war in Iran for future generations, and the everyday agency that changes the world. A leadership podcast about people, power and possibilities....
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On the leadership podcast If You Were In Charge, Italian peace activist Raffaella Bolini was on the streets of the 80s peace movement against the Euromissiles. Forty years later, she's back, pushing back on a Europe planning to spend €6.8 trillion on armaments over the next decade. In conversation with Sanam Naraghi Anderlini and Kavita Nandini Ramdas, she makes the case for common security, the politics of care, and a multipolar E...
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April 28, 2026 49 mins
A leadership podcast about people, power and possibilities. What beliefs make people willing to commit violence, and what could change their minds? In this episode, we explore what makes individuals vulnerable to white supremacist beliefs, what it means when extremism becomes mainstream, the surprising permeability of these groups, and how to talk to people in your life who express racist ideology. Peter Simi is a professo...
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The internet is a monocrop. A plantation of knowledge in English, owned by a handful of mega corporations, built on the bones of colonial infrastructure. And we are no longer just the consumers and as ever we are the product, the training set, the data points. So who gets to imagine the future? A leadership podcast about people, power and possibilities. This week on If You Were In Charge, Sanam and Kavita sit down with Anasuya ...
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Hospitals in Iran are preparing to evacuate children. International institutions are issuing statements while bombs fall on petrochemical plants. And five women sit down in Berlin to ask: what radical ideas should actually be common sense? A leadership podcast about people, power and possibilities. This episode of If You Were In Charge opens with hosts Sanam Naraghi Anderlini and Kavita Ramdas in conversation about the Iran c...
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What does it mean when the world's largest progressive Jewish organisation says "not in our name"? This week on the leadership podcast If You Were In Charge, Sanam and Kavita sit down with Stefanie Fox, Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), to explore the growing movement of Jewish anti-Zionism in America and beyond. Stefanie walks us through how JVP now three times the size it was three years ago is organising hu...
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On the leadership podcast If You Were In Charge, we begin with Sanam and Kavita discussing the war in Iran. A leadership podcast about people, power and possibilities. Sanam shares what she is hearing from inside Iran as US and Israeli forces continue to strike across the country. Reflecting on the school strike, the sinking of a naval vessel by a US submarine, and the election of a new Supreme Leader. She considers where thi...
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A leadership podcast about people, power and possibilities. A world leader has been assassinated, schools and hospitals have been hit, and Donald Trump thinks that Keir Starmer is no Winston Churchill. It’s all kicking off as the US and Israel’s illegal war escalates across the Middle East. All of this with the open admission of no real plan for what comes next.  Struggling to absorb it all? Wondering if there&...
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Welcome back to a new season of If You Were in Charge, the leadership podcast about people, power and possibilities. This week, we sit down with Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's, who has built a life creating an ice cream empire while also becoming a passionate activist fighting against military spending, which he believes is irrational and immoral, and is used to keep ordinary people poor and oppressed. We explore ...
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February 17, 2026 1 min
Welcome back to a new season of If You Were in Charge The leadership podcast about people, power & possibilities from ICAN and ADA is excited to announce a new co-host! Kavita Nandini Ramdas, senior advisor to the International Planned Parenthood Federation and former head of the Global Fund for Women, joins host Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, founder of ICAN and a peace strategist who has worked with women in conflict zones fo...
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February 6, 2026 27 mins
On the leadership podcast If You Were In Charge, Sanam Naraghi Anderlini and Kavita Ramdas offer a feminist take on the pervasive issues of misogyny, the culture of impunity surrounding powerful men, and the systemic exclusion of women from influential spaces. The implications of the Epstein case, the normalization of sexual exploitation, and the backlash against feminism. The dialogue emphasizes the need for accountability and the...
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If You Were In Charge A leadership podcast about people, power and possibilities. In this special edition, Sanam Naraghi Anderlini and new co-host Kavita Ramdas take an incisive look at the current crisis in Iran, where economic collapse, renewed protests, and a brutal government crackdown have converged into a pivotal moment for the nation. Sanam examines the latest developments and the historical roots of dissent, including ...
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Welcome back to our special “If You Were in Charge” summer series with Sanam Naraghi Anderlini. Each week, we’re thematically pairing some of our favorite conversations and this time, we’ve brought together two powerful voices on wealth and generosity. A leadership podcast about people, power and possibilities. First, filmmaker and activist Abby Disney shares what it was like to grow up as an heiress t...
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As we gear up for Season 3 of If You Were in Charge, we’re revisiting some of Sanam’s most compelling conversations, curated into thematic pairings to offer deeper insights into the complex issues we explore. A leadership podcast about people, power and possibilities. This week, we bring you two powerful perspectives on building peace between Israelis and Palestinians—even in these dark and chal...
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Sir Richard Dalton, former British ambassador to Iran, joins Sanam Naraghi Anderlini on this week's episode of If You Were In Charge. They discuss the collapse of diplomacy following recent U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, examining how Trump's withdrawal from the JCPOA, Netanyahu's hardline policies, and the Ayatollah's defiance have escalated regional tensions. Dalton argues that without renewed multilateral engage...
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A personal reflection from Sanam on two weeks of war in Iran. What it is like watching the bombardment of her childhood neighborhood from afar. — A leadership podcast about people, power and possibilities. We also wanted to celebrate our former guests, Women of the Sun from Palestine, who won the 2025 Vigdís Prize for Women’s Empowerment. So we re-uploaded our conversation with Marwa Hammad of Women of the Sun ...
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A leadership podcast about people, power and possibilities. On the leadership podcast If You Were In Charge, Dr. Jessie Stone, a six-time U.S. freestyle team member, shares her journey of how an illness to one of her team during a kayaking trip led her to establish a health clinic in Uganda. Now she is on the front line as USAID cuts mean millions can no longer access life-saving care. Welcome to If You Were In Charge with Sanam ...
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The fall of the Assad regime came swiftly in the end, with far less violence than anyone imagined. How did this happen? Can Syria emerge from its decades of brutality and bloodshed to become a bastion of hope in the Middle East? A leadership podcast about people, power and possibilities. Sanam talks to Abir Hajibrahim, co-founder of Mobaderoon and one of Syria’s leading peacebuilders, who has built a network of dedicated ...
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