Ending Human Trafficking Podcast
Studio: Sandra Morgan & Dave Stachowiak
Category: Higher Education
What It Is
The Global Center for Women & Justice at Vanguard University in California discuss issues surrounding human trafficking of all kinds with experts in the field and discuss pragmatic ways listeners can get involved in the fight.
Technical Details
A new episode comes out every two weeks. They run from thirty to forty-five minutes typically. The most recent hundred episodes are available on iTunes. For the rest (which isn’t many) visit the show’s website.
What About It
I think this podcast is an essential listen. Morgan and Stachowiak are great hosts; they talk about the issues surrounding human trafficking in a serious way, passionate but never hysterical or manipulative. They’re interested in facts, not in tugging at the heartstrings, though many of the episodes do that as well, just by virtue of the situations and circumstances the show explores. The show is dedicated to clearing up misconceptions, putting forward the real facts and motivating the listener to make changes in their own lives. Vanguard is a Christian university and these people are motivated by their faith, but it’s rarely brought up. You could listen to several episodes without getting any idea about the Christian faith of these folks at the GCWJ. I suppose they’d say that they’re too busy living their faith by serving others to spend much time talking about it and I’d bet anyone can respect that. It’s not always the most comfortable listening, though, as I said, the show isn’t about exploiting victims or shocking the listener, but it’s a serious issue facing the world today, one I think everyone should be aware of and informed about. The act of human trafficking is, to my mind, one of the most purely evil things going on in the world today and one that every right-thinking human being should want to see ended. And that, after all, is the mission here. The best episode of this show . . . well, it’ll be the last one.
4 stars.
Essential If
You want to understand the harsh truths and take action against them.
Avoid Like the Plague If
I was totally going to make a joke about “if you’re a human trafficker” or something right here, but I just don’t even feel like it.
Best Entry Point
I’m going to recommend a really good two-parter from a couple of years ago. The show did a great pair of episodes called A Dozen Myths About Human Trafficking that really got to the heart of a lot of misinformation surrounding the issues and how it’s best to help. Here’s part one & part two. If you think this issue is relevant mainly to those half a world away, check out Human Trafficking in American Schools to get the truth about just how close to home this issue actually is. And if you think you’re up for it, check out an episode that you won’t soon forget and you’ll be able to tell why from the title: Victims with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities. Yeah, I know. I know.