Breaking the Fever Alison Taylor & Jérôme Tagger

What’s the relationship between democracy and market performance?

Starting from his experience in Russia after the end of the Soviet Union, moving to his observations on ancient Greece, and then his work examining the role of women in societal success, Jim Leitner gives us many lessons and much to chew on the question of how markets tend to reward those states that make democratic reforms.

James Leitner serves as President of Falcon Management Corporation, a family office. He established the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School, an innovative Think-and-Do Tank that aims to make international human rights protections an everyday reality for marginalized communities worldwide.

Books recommendation by Jim:
Albert Herschman "Exit voice and loyalty"
Catharine A. MacKinnon "Butterly politics"

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Nell Minow has lived multiple lives. She is a film critic but also a lawyer and entrepreneur, and an expert on responsible business and corporate governance.

In this episode, Alison and Jerome engage Nell on politics, corporations and public opinion and discuss the trajectory of corporate governance since the 1980s.

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Breaking the Fever https://twitter.com/breaking_fever

If you enjoy the show please remember to rate it on Spotify or Apple podcast, if you have any recommendations on the show feel free to reach out to our producer Fiorella at fiorella@bevocal.eu

Movies on corporate governance recommended by Nell:
1 - The Solid Gold Cadillac by Richard Quine, 1956.
2 - Owning Mahoni by Richard Kwietniowski, 2003.
3 - The Big Short by Adam McKay, 2015.

In this episode Alison and Jérome speak with Desiree Fixler, former group sustainability officer at DWS where she was responsible for driving the firm’s overall sustainability strategy.

In her role, she made a number of presentations to the CEO and members of the board. But the last one she made in February 2021 - where she highlighted the discrepancies between its ESG claims and its internal procedures, and called for greater transparency and accountability in ESG investing - brought her to be fired by the company.

In the episode you will hear about Desiree's time at DWS and her experience as a whistleblower, but also about the evolution of Wall Street culture over two decades, and being a woman in finance.

Within the strategy of countering the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many states are targeting Russian oligarchs with economic sanctions and other restrictive measures.

But who are these oligarchs, and how do they live their lives? How did they build their wealth, and how did western capitalist elites benefit from their presence?

Alison and Jerome discuss it with Elisabeth Schimpfossl, a sociologist expert in Russian elites, power and social inequality.

Elisabeth lives in London and is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Policy at Aston University, Birmingham, UK. She also taught at a number of other universities in the UK (University College London, Liverpool University, Brunel University, University of Westminster), primarily in the field of Russian/Soviet politics and history.

Russian Philanthrocapitalism and her other publications can be found on her website: https://schimpfossl.com/category/academic-publications/

Breaking the Fever is produced by Fiorella Lavorgna - https://www.bevocal.eu/

Is there a contradiction between responsible corporate actions and maximizing investors' financial returns?

What if investors don't have only a single interest in one company? What if, instead, they have diversified portfolios of interests that include the well-being of future generations?

This is the theory behind the Shareholder Commons, an organization established by Rick Alexander, Alison and Jerome's guest in this episode.

Rick is a former corporate lawyer. In 2015, Rick became Head of Legal Policy at B Lab, where he worked to create sustainable corporate governance structures around the globe.

He left that position in 2019 to develop the concepts behind The Shareholder Commons.

Rick Alexander's website: https://frederickalexander.net/

His latest publication is available at this link: https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2022/05/04/one-small-step-from-financial-materiality-to-sesquimateriality-a-critical-conceptual-leap-for-the-issb/

You are invited to join the Breaking the Fever LinkedIn group, where you can continue the conversation and connect with people interested in the same issues https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12383430/

Breaking the Fever is produced by Fiorella Lavorgna - https://www.bevocal.eu/

The struggle for equality in the workplace has focused on getting more women on boards or in the political sphere for years. However, where this has led to some achievements, the way that we value some work over others continues to distort our economy and undermine equity and advancement for women.

Child care, volunteer work, and parental care are fundamental for the well-being of our society. Yet, first, these activities are usually relegated to women, which means they are undervalued. This in turn makes the economic gap between mothers and non-mother greater than the one between women and men. While #MeToo seemed to advance the role of women at work, more recently we seem to have taken two steps back.

In this episode, Alison and Jerome discuss gender equality and shifting power dynamics in the workspace with Laetita Vitaud.

Laetitia is a writer and speaker about the future of work with a feminist perspective.

The list of her publications, in English and French, and her latest book “En finir avec la productivité” are available on Laetita’s website: https://laetitiavitaud.com/

She is also the host of the podcast Nouveau Départ https://nouveaudepart.substack.com/

The list of her publications, in English and French, and her latest book “En finir avec la productivité” are available on Laetita’s website: https://laetitiavitaud.com/

You are invited to join the Breaking the Fever LinkedIn group, where you can continue the conversation and connect with people interested in the same issues https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12383430/

Breaking the Fever is produced by Fiorella Lavorgna - https://www.bevocal.eu/