Join us as we delve into the intricacies of the World Happiness Report with the distinguished Professor Emeritus John Helliwell. As a founding editor of the report, Professor Helliwell shares the origins of the report, the methodology behind measuring happiness, and the profound implications of the findings.

Discover the pivotal role of the 2011 UN Resolution supported by Bhutan, the importance of subjective well-being data, and how the report has evolved to influence global perspectives on happiness and well-being. Learn about the top-ranking countries and the factors that contribute to their success, as well as surprising findings from this year's report.

Professor Helliwell also explores the significance of social connections, trust, and benevolence, shedding light on how these elements impact our daily lives and national policies. This episode is a deep dive into the science of happiness and a call to integrate well-being into every aspect of decision-making.

Tune in to understand how we can all contribute to a happier, more compassionate world.

Resources

The World Happiness Report 2024: https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2024/

The Gallup poll:

https://news.gallup.com/poll/612125/happiest-country-earth.aspx

Sustainable Development Solutions Network:

https://www.gallup.com/analytics/247355/gallup-world-happiness-report.aspx

What's the happiest country in the world?

https://news.gallup.com/poll/612125/happiest-country-earth.aspx

The Wellbeing Research Centre, University of Oxford: https://wellbeing.hmc.ox.ac.uk/

Professor Helliwell’s book recommendation:

Gawande, A. (2014). Being mortal: Medicine and what matters in the end. Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt and Company.

https://atulgawande.com/book/being-mortal/

Where to listen to this episode

• Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-next-page/id1469021154
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/10fp8ROoVdve0el88KyFLy
• YouTube:

Content

Guest: John Helliwell

Host, producer and editor: Amy Smith

Recorded & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva

In this episode, Emil Seidenfaden, an historian presently undertaking postdoctoral research at the Saxo Institute, University of Copenhagen, joined us to talk about his recent book, Informing Interwar Internationalism.

This fascinating work combines international history and media history and explores the intersection of journalism and diplomacy at the time of the League of Nations.

Emil talks about the relationship between public information and legitimacy, and how the Information Section officials at the League negotiated the tensions between propaganda, public opinion and internationalism.

Resources

Seidenfaden, E. E. (2024). Informing Interwar Internationalism: The Information Strategies of the League of Nations. Bloomsbury Academic. Histories of Internationalism

Seidenfaden, E. E. (2020). Daniel Hucker, Public Opinion and Twentieth-Century Diplomacy. A Global Perspective. Leiden: Brill.

Potter, S. J. (2023). Broadcasting in the Cause of Peace: Regulating International Radio Propaganda in Europe, 1921–1939. The International History Review, 45(6), 843–864. https://doi.org/10.1080/07075332.2023.2224352

Sweetser, A. (1916) Roadside Glimpses of the Great War. Macmillan. London.

Covenant of the League of Nations: https://libraryresources.unog.ch/ld.php?content_id=32971179

The League of Nations Information Section: https://libraryresources.unog.ch/LONSecretariat/information

Emil’s book recommendation:

Cohen, D. (2023). Last Call at the Hotel Imperial. The Reporters Who Took On A World At War. Penguin Random House.

Where to listen to this episode

• Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-next-page/id1469021154
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/10fp8ROoVdve0el88KyFLy
• YouTube:

Content

Guest: Emil Seidenfaden

Host, producer and editor: Amy Smith

Recorded & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva

Pour cet épisode, nous sommes enchantés d’accueillir Pierre Van Den Dungen pour parler d’Henri La Fontaine, un homme intense et fascinant gratifié du prix Nobel de la Paix en 1913.

Pierre Van Den Dungen, docteur en Philosophie et Lettres (Histoire), a consulté la totalité des papiers personnels de La Fontaine au Mundaneum, à Mons, afin de rédiger la biographie intitulée « Henri La Fontaine, prix Nobel de la Paix 1913 : une vie » publiée aux Editions Samsa en 2022. Pierre Van Den Dungen nous présente les grandes lignes de la personnalité de La Fontaine, en mettant en lumière son entourage, ses réseaux et sa sphère intime. Il explore ensuite les convictions pacifistes et mondialistes de La Fontaine, ainsi que son long mandat de 36 ans à la présidence du Bureau international de la Paix. Il traite également de la période de la vie de La Fontaine durant la Première Guerre mondiale, de son implication au sein de la Société des Nations, pour finalement évoquer les dernières années de sa vie durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

Ressources

Van den Dungen, Pierre. (2022) Henri La Fontaine, prix Nobel de la Paix 1913 : une vie. Bruxelles. Editions Samsa. https://www.henrilafontaine.be/ouvrage/henri-la-fontaine-2/

Rencontre avec Pierre Van Den Dungen : https://www.henrilafontaine.be/2023/01/07/chaire-hlf-rencontre-avec-pierre-van-den-dungen/

Fondation Henri La Fontaine : https://www.henrilafontaine.be/la-fondation/

Mundaneum : http://www.mundaneum.org/fr

Discours d’Henri La Fontaine, 8ème séance plénière de la première Assemblée de la Société des Nations, 20 novembre 1920 (p. 171 du PDF) : https://archives.ungeneva.org/the-records-of-the-first-assembly-plenary-meetings

Description des archives du Bureau International de la Paix (1891-1951) : https://archives.ungeneva.org/international-peace-bureau

Où écouter cet épisode

• Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-next-page/id1469021154
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/10fp8ROoVdve0el88KyFLy
• YouTube: Henri La Fontaine, un enragé de la paix avec Pierre Van den Dungen (youtube.com)

Contenu

Invité : Pierre Van den Dungen

Hôte : Hermine Diebolt

Réalisation : Amy Smith

Enregistré et réalisé à la Bibliothèque & Archives des Nations Unies à Genève

Robert Bruce Adolph joined us for this short episode to talk about his book Surviving the UN: The Unexpected Challenge. Robert worked on assignments in many conflict areas in the world in the 1990s during his second career as a UN Chief Security Officer, following his retirement as US Army Special Forces Lieutenant-Colonel. He was present during the deadly bomb attack on the UN compound in Baghdad on 19 August 2003.

Over two decades later, as we approach the anniversary of that horrific event, Robert Adolph talks about why he wrote the book and about learning from failure.

Resources

Adolph, Robert Bruce. (2020). Surviving the UN: The Unexpected Challenge. New Academia Publishing/Vellum.

(Available at the UNOG bookstore)

Website: Robert Bruce Adolph - https://robertbruceadolph.com/

Bob's book recommendation

Pinker, Steven. (2012). The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined. Penguin Books.

Where to listen to this episode

• Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-next-page/id1469021154
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/10fp8ROoVdve0el88KyFLy
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/

Content

Host: Amy Smith

Speakers: Robert Bruce Adolph

Production and editing: Amy Smith

Recorded & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva

*This episode was recorded online and we apologize for the low sound quality.

The interns working at the UN Library & Archives Geneva gathered for a discussion with the Director of the Library & Archives, Francesco Pisano, on their thoughts on multilateralism, multiculturalism and working at the UN.

Raphaela, Lucas, Alicia, Mengna and Ashrul come from different countries, are studying at different institutions and have different academic backgrounds. They share with us inside tips on applying for UN internships, explain their own motivations and give a glimpse of what they have learned during their time at the Library & Archives and UN Geneva. Together, they explore what multilateralism, multiculturalism and multilingualism mean to them in their lives and work.

Resources

UN Internships: https://www.un.org/en/academic-impact/page/internships

UN Careers: https://careers.un.org/home?language=en

Where to listen to this episode

• Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-next-page/id1469021154
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/10fp8ROoVdve0el88KyFLy
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/

Content

Host: Franceso Pisano

Speakers: Interns at the UN Library & Archives Geneva

Ashrul Bin Mohammad Azmi

Raphaela Gutierrez

Alicia Grünert

Lucas Westphal Jensen

Mengna CHEN

Concept and editing: Mengna CHEN

Producer: Amy Smith

Recorded & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva

Ellie Hutterli is a Senior Swiss UN Youth Delegate for 2022-24 and her priority topics are sustainable cities and communities, digitalization, reduced inequalities with a special focus on gender equality, and youth participation and inclusion. Ellie joins us for this episode to talk more about the Youth Delegate programme, her priority topic on women’s rights and gender equality, as well her thoughts more broadly on youth participation in the United Nations.

Resources

Conseil Suisse des Activités de Jeunesse : https://www.sajv.ch/en/projects/youth-rep

Youth Delegate Programme: https://social.desa.un.org/issues/youth/un-youth-delegate-programme#:~:text=The%20roles%20of%20a%20youth,attending%20meetings%20and%20informal%20negotiations.

Youth: https://social.desa.un.org/issues/youth

Our Common Agenda: https://www.un.org/en/common-agenda

Where to listen to this episode

• Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-next-page/id1469021154
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/10fp8ROoVdve0el88KyFLy
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCxsgnF67Lw

Content

Guest: Ellie Hutterli, Swiss Youth Delegate

Host, producer and editor: Amy Smith

Recorded & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva

Thomas Hale is Professor in Public Policy (Global Public Policy) at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford. He also co-leads the Net Zero Tracker and the Net Zero Regulation and Policy Hub. His research explores how we can manage transnational problems effectively and fairly.

In this conversation, Professor Hale talks with Francesco Pisano, Director of the UN Library & Archives Geneva, about his new book: Long Problems: Climate Change and the Challenge of Governing Across Time. The book offers a fresh perspective on addressing climate change through the lens of political science.

They explore the challenge of long problems and Thomas Hale argues that political science must play a crucial role, alongside natural sciences, in finding solutions to existential threats like climate change through new frameworks for long-term policymaking.

Resources:

https://www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/people/thomas-hale

Hale, T. (2024) Long Problems: Climate Change and the Challenge of Governing Across Time. Princeton University Press.

Long Problems | Princeton University Press

Where to listen to this episode

• Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-next-page/id1469021154
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/10fp8ROoVdve0el88KyFLy
• YouTube:

Content

Guest: Professor Thomas Hale

Host: Francesco Pisano

Producer and editor: Amy Smith

Recorded & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva

Join us for the next episode in our ambassadors series in which H.E. Mr. CHEN Xu, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other International Organizations in Switzerland talks with the Director of the Library & Archives, Francesco Pisano. Ambassador Chen speaks of the history of China, its role in the Asian region and in the world, as well as in the United Nations.

Content

Speaker: Ambassador CHEN Xu

Host: Francesco Pisano

Producer and editor: Amy Smith

Recorded & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva