In late 2024, the international football association (FIFA) announced that Saudi Arabia would host the 2034 World Cup. This means the world’s largest sporting event will be taking place in a country where the government imprisons scores of activists and dissidents for peaceful criticism, denies women fundamental civil and human rights, and cheats migrant workers out of their pay, after treating them brutally.

There’s a word to describe countries notorious for human rights abuses hosting major sporting events: “sportswashing.” Host Ngofeen Mputubwele traces the history of sportswashing from the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany to Saudi Arabia’s hosting of the World Cup. What can fans and athletes do to fight back against sportswashing? Listen to find out.

Minky Worden: Director of Global Initiatives at Human Rights Watch

John Hird: Co-founder of Newcastle United Fans Against Sportswashing

Now that Maung has learned about the history of the Rohingya community, he begins working towards an escape route. He hopes to leave the refugee camp and get an education so that he can advocate for his community. But his freedom of movement is limited and educational resources are scarce. This week, host Ngofeen Mputubwele charts Maung’s journey out of the refugee camp in Bangladesh and into New York City.

But even when Maung, and other refugees like him, settle into their new homes, the human rights abuses they have suffered linger. How is mental health impacted not only by past atrocities, but also by the current systemic mistreatment of refugees? And with refugees becoming political flash points across the world, what can be done to support refugee communities around the globe?

Maung Sawyeddollah: Agent of Change, Rohingya Muslim

Philippe Bolopion: Executive Director, Human Rights Watch

Nadia Hardman: Researcher, Refugee and Migrant Rights Division at Human Rights Watch

Emina Ćerimović: Associate Director, Disability Rights Division at Human Rights Watch

Spyros Orfanos: Director, New York University’s Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis

Now that he’s arrived in Bangladesh, Maung finds himself stuck in an in-between. He’s safe from the violence he faced in his home state of Rakhine, Myanmar, but there are restrictions on his freedom of movement, limiting his education and leaving him to grapple with the history that brought his community to the world’s largest refugee camp.

In this episode, host Ngofeen Mputubwele traces this history. Within the story of ethnic cleansing and apartheid enacted upon the ethnic Rohingya community, other big themes rise up. Witnesses and experts recount the role that social media played in Maung’s trajectory, and point to other communities facing this crisis across the globe.

Maung Sawyeddollah: Agent of Change, Rohingya Muslim

Matt Schissler: Lecturer in history and anthropology at the University of Melbourne

Htaike Htaike Aung: Director of the Myanmar Internet Project

Kaamil Ahmed: Journalist for The Guardian; author of "I Feel No Peace"

Shayna Bauchner: Researcher, Asia Division at Human Rights Watch

Maria Ressa: Nobel Peace Prize laureate; co-founder and CEO of Rappler