KickBack - The Global Anticorruption Podcast

KickBack

This podcast series features in-depth interviews with a wide range of corruption experts, on questions such as: What have we learned from 20+ years of (anti)corruption research? Why and how does power corrupt? Which theories help to make sense of corruption? What can we do to manage corruption? How to recovery stolen assets?

  1. 145. Maria Nizzero on the kleptocratic enterprise

    FEB 26

    145. Maria Nizzero on the kleptocratic enterprise

    Despite significant volumes of illicit finance flowing through the UK, asset recovery from kleptocratic networks remains limited. In this episode, regular KB host Robert Barrington speaks with Maria Nizzero, the Head of Sanctions Policy at UK Finance and Honorary Research Fellow at Exeter University, about her recent research that proposes reconceptualizing kleptocracy as a transnational criminal enterprise. Through comparative analysis of anti-racketeering legislation across multiple jurisdictions, the research identifies five distinctive features that enable more effective prosecution and asset recovery. These include targeting organizational structures rather than individuals, establishing liability through patterns of conduct, employing flexible evidentiary standards, and justifying intervention based on societal harm. The conversation examines how these frameworks address persistent challenges in kleptocracy cases, particularly the problem of tracing assets to historical predicate offenses in uncooperative jurisdictions, and explores the implications of situating illicit finance within national security frameworks rather than traditional corruption paradigms. Links to related papers: Nizzero, M., Heathershaw, J., and Mayne, T. 2026. The Kleptocratic Enterprise: Lessons from organised crime to target transnational corruption and strengthen asset recovery in the UK. GI ACE Working Paper. Brighton: University of Sussex. https://giace.org/resources/the-kleptocratic-enterprise/ Heathershaw, J., Prelec, T. and Mayne, T., 2021. Indulging kleptocracy: British service providers, postcommunist elites, and the enabling of corruption. Oxford University Press. https://academic.oup.com/book/58173 Nizzero, M. (2023). How to Seize a Billion: Exploring Mechanisms to Recover the Proceeds of Kleptocracy. SOC ACE Research Paper No. 16. Birmingham, UK: University of Birmingham.https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/external-publications/how-seize-billion-exploring-mechanisms-recover-proceeds-kleptocracy

    30 min
  2. 144. Peter Hain on liberation and corruption

    FEB 9

    144. Peter Hain on liberation and corruption

    Why do liberation movements that fight for freedom so often succumb to corruption once in power? In this episode, Liz David-Barrett speaks with Lord Peter Hain about his new book Liberation and Corruption: Why Freedom Movements Fail. Drawing on his personal connection to South Africa's anti-apartheid struggle and examining cases from Nicaragua to India, Peter explores how movements that come to power with inspiring values end up replicating the corruption of their predecessors. The conversation examines the role of global finance, professional enablers, and neoliberal pressures in facilitating grand corruption, while also highlighting South Africa's remarkable ability to confront state capture through mechanisms like the Zondo Commission. Peter also reflects on what individuals can do to resist systemic corruption and the personal costs of standing up against it. Peter Hain- Liberation and Corruption: Why Freedom Movements Fail https://www.peterhain.uk/p/liberation-and-corruption-why-freedom

    35 min
  3. 143. Rachel Davies and Tom Shipley on the UK's new anticorruption strategy

    JAN 22

    143. Rachel Davies and Tom Shipley on the UK's new anticorruption strategy

    After a three-year gap, the UK finally has a new anti-corruption strategy. To discuss, Robert Barrington is joined by Rachel Davies from Transparency International UK and Tom Shipley from the Centre for the Study of Corruption. They assess what the December 2025 strategy gets right, where it falls short, and whether it will actually make a difference. The discussion examines the strategy's strengths, including new commitments on professional enablers and domestic corruption, alongside notable weaknesses in areas like political integrity and defence procurement. With major tests ahead, the conversation explores whether the UK can credibly claim global leadership on anti-corruption while addressing serious domestic vulnerabilities. The mentioned papers are linked below: UK Anti-Corruption Strategy: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-anti-corruption-strategy-2025 Tom Shipley's research paper on international approaches to monitoring anti-corruption programmes: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-approaches-to-recording-and-monitoring-corruption Rachel Davies's blog evaluating the Strategy: https://www.transparency.org.uk/news/strategy-action-what-uks-new-anti-corruption-plan-gets-right-and-where-it-falls-short

    35 min
  4. 142. Anna Persson on systemic corruption and political will

    JAN 8

    142. Anna Persson on systemic corruption and political will

    For our first episode of 2026, regular host Liz David-Barrett is joined by Anna Persson, associate professor and senior lecturer at the Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg. Anna draws on extensive field research to challenge simplistic understandings of political will, and explore systemic corruption as a complex collective action problem. Anna examines how moral hazard and adverse selection shape leadership behaviour, and how corruption becomes "expected behaviour" in societies where the high individual costs of resisting systemic corruption make transparency measures insufficient. The episode also challenges the "coherent state" model, examining how competing authorities and variations in state effectiveness within countries impact anticorruption efforts. Links to Anna's research: Why Anticorruption Reforms Fail—Systemic Corruption as a Collective Action Problem https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1468-0491.2012.01604.x?saml_referrer The Power of Ideational Reach: A New Approach to State Capacity https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gove.70020 Responsive and Responsible Leaders: A Matter of Political Will? https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/abs/responsive-and-responsible-leaders-a-matter-of-political-will/DD7C9258D3E95E8B79CB70FA10126275

    39 min
  5. 141. Naomi Roht-Arriaza on grand corruption & human rights

    12/11/2025

    141. Naomi Roht-Arriaza on grand corruption & human rights

    Liz David-Barrett speaks with human rights and international law expert Naomi Roht-Arriaza, about the intersection of grand corruption and human rights. Naomi shares how her decades of work on transitional justice led her to confront the blocking of post-conflict progress by state capture, often involving alliances between organized crime, political elites, and economic interests. The discussion examines how corruption violates a broad range of human rights, why giving victims legal standing in corruption cases matters, and what reparations beyond financial compensation might look like. Naomi also addresses the inadequacy of current international legal frameworks that assume states will combat their own corruption, and calls for breaking down silos between human rights, anti-corruption, and environmental advocates to tackle these interconnected challenges. Links to Naomi’s research: Fighting Grand Corruption: Transnational and Human Rights Approaches in Latin America and Beyond - https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/fighting-grand-corruption/4B738654046BEA6F0F2FF336BEA12112 The right to be free of corruption: A new frontier in anti-corruption approaches through national courts - https://cdn.sanity.io/files/1f1lcoov/production/863973678d954b32539d37b070dbf556776b8e67.pdf

    44 min
  6. 140. Emily Elia on gender and electoral accountability in Latin America

    11/14/2025

    140. Emily Elia on gender and electoral accountability in Latin America

    Why do voters sometimes support corrupt politicians? And can putting forward women candidates help parties recover from corruption scandals? In this episode, regular host Liz David-Barrett speaks with Emily Elia about her experimental research on voter behaviour and corruption in Latin American democracies. The conversation delves into the "feminization strategy", examining the level to which deploying women candidates after corruption scandals actually works to restore party credibility. The conversation also explores emerging questions about who becomes an anti-corruption fighter in politics and whether voters can tell genuine reformers from those just paying lip service to clean government. Read more about Emily's research into gender stereotypes and electoral accountability here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11109-024-09943-9 And on the role of ideological proximity to the opposition in "corruption voting" here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0261379422001019?via%3Dihub

    38 min
  7. 139. Áron Hajnal & József Péter Martin on systemic corruption in Hungary

    10/17/2025

    139. Áron Hajnal & József Péter Martin on systemic corruption in Hungary

    Hungary, once seen as a democratic success story is now widely recognized as one of the EU's most corrupt member states. Regular KB host Liz David-Barrett sits down with József Péter Martin and Áron Hajnal to examine how Viktor Orbán built a system of state capture, and why the EU struggled to respond. They discuss their research evaluating the effectiveness of EU conditionality measures, the challenges of tackling corruption when it's built into the regime itself, and what might happen in Hungary's crucial April 2026 elections. Find Áron and József’s article here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10999922.2025.2554409?scroll=top&needAccess=true#d1e186

    44 min
  8. 138. Devi Pillay on the role of consulting firms in state capture

    10/02/2025

    138. Devi Pillay on the role of consulting firms in state capture

    How do multinational consulting firms enable state capture? In this episode, regular KB host Liz David-Barrett chats with Devi Pillay about her research on the role of McKinsey & Co.'s involvement in the capture of South Africa under President Zuma. Drawing on evidence from the Zondo Commission, Devi describes how consulting firms worked with politically connected local partners to extract billions in fees from state-owned enterprises, while providing misleading advice that facilitated further corruption. Liz and Devi also discuss the vital role of investigative journalists and whistleblowers in exposing these arrangements, the devastating impact on South Africa's infrastructure and economy, and the mixed accountability outcomes for the firms involved. Find Devi Pillay’s working paper for GI ACE here: https://giace.org/resources/consulting-firms-corruption-and-state-capture/ Find similar themes on South Africa's state capture in episode 129. This research is part of the Governance & Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence (GI ACE) programme which generates actionable evidence that policymakers, practitioners and advocates can use to design and implement more effective anti-corruption initiatives. This GI ACE project is funded by UK International Development. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the UK Government’s official policies.

    42 min
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5
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18 Ratings

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This podcast series features in-depth interviews with a wide range of corruption experts, on questions such as: What have we learned from 20+ years of (anti)corruption research? Why and how does power corrupt? Which theories help to make sense of corruption? What can we do to manage corruption? How to recovery stolen assets?

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