Seminars hosted by the BIPR are made available in various audio formats. 
The em—dash is one of the most versatile and underused punctuation marks. Depending on the context, (—) can take the place of commas, parentheses, or colons — in each case to slightly different effect. It is used in place of commas to enhance readability; when replacing parentheses, it becomes intrusive by drawing more attention to the content, and when it replaces a colon, it emphasizes the conclusion of the sentences.
The Em—Dash project seeks to apply these proprieties of the versatile punctuation mark: (1) enhance, (2) highlight, and (3) conclude, to create political information podcasts aimed to inform the audience of a current news-event and provide an in-depth analysis that goes beyond conventional news coverage.
This project was created by the BIPR podcast producers, Emma Riley (2021 MA) and Rrap Kryeziu (2020 MAIA).
March 2022 - Episode 9:
Den Haag Don't Work
Matthew Schleich (@matthewschleich) reports on the International Criminal Court, its history, and its contemporary flaws. Featuring: Johns Hopkins SAIS professor Dr. Obiora Okafor (@obioraokaforc) and Cornell professor Dr. Oumar Ba (@OumarKBa).
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February 2022 - Episode 8:
COP26: An Inflection Point?
COP26 was sold as a possible inflection point in the global fight against climate change. Yet, the agreements of the conference resulted in mixed reactions. To better understand the implications of the conference, Podcast Producer Joseph Fraley spoke to Dr. Simone Tagliapietra, Dr. Mark New, and SAIS student Jack Pokorny.
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February 2021 - Episode 7:
Financial Structures for Developing Countries Part 2: The Devil in the Details of Debt Management
In the second episode of the Financial Structure Series, Em-Dash turns its focus to Africa. During an enlightening and detailed conversation with SAIS Europe professor Andrea Presbitero, we talk through some of the main issues with debt management in Sub-Saharan Africa and what has been done to provide relief for countries with limited financial liquidity and mounting social costs. Our conversation touches on some of the financial solutions the international community can offer in renegotiating terms and how debt moratorium offers little consolation for countries with high debt/gpd ratio in the long-run.
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December 2020 - Episode 6:
Financial Structures for Developing Countries: Part 1: Asia's RCEP Trade Deal
The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed many countries to face a widening debt crisis as they try to protect their own health and social services. The impacts of the virus in many emerging markets has resulted in economic recession, unbalanced fiscal revenue and spending, and growing debt. In the first episode of this two part series, Em-Dash speaks with Professor and SAIS Europe Director Michael Plummer about the new Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement and its role in the covid-19 economic recovery plan. In our conversation, we seek to address RCEP renewed trust in international economic integration and its difficult task ahead to ensure debt sustainability and the improvement of fiscal mechanisms.
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November 2020 - Episode 5:
The 2020 US Presidential Election
The United States election has been like no other. The country has reported more than 200,000 deaths from covid-19, Americans are grieving from a series of events loaded with racial injustices, and covid-19 infection rates are higher than at the start of the pandemic. This Em-Dash episode explores the peculiarities of the American electoral system in the context of this pandemic and how international election monitoring assesses the current situation. Featured in the Episode, we spoke to experts in foreign election observation Don Bisson and Gavin Weise to gain insight of what we can expect from this year's election and how the system is prepared for what is to come.
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April 2020 - Episode 4:
Filippo Taddei comments on the 23rd April European Commission Meeting
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March 2020 - Episode 3:
SAIS Europe Class of Covid-19
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February 2020 - Episode 2:
Negotiating Brexit in Via Andreatta 3
In the wake of Britain's exit from the European Union, SAIS Europe students reflect on a simulation of an EU-UK secession negotiation they did during Professor Michael Leigh's "The European Union: Integration or Disintegration?" class.
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December 2019 - Episode 1:
The House Is on Fire
In our debut episode, we go to COP25 in Madrid and talk to students studying Energy, Resources and the Environment at SAIS Europe. We also interview Professor Simone Tagliapietra, Adjunct Professor of Energy, Resources and Environment at SAIS Europe, about his work at European economic think tank, Bruegel about the EU Green Deal.
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