QF’s Doha Debates Unveils New Podcast Series at Sundance Film Festival

Doha Debates' new podcast series, Course Correction, made its live audience debut at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. 

Each episode unpicks a pressing global problem through the lens of an expert or opinion leader who is actively working to make a difference.

In a special episode of Course Correction, host Nelufar Hedayat spoke with a Time Person of the Year 2018, Maria Ressa and filmmaker Ramona Diaz, whose documentary about Ressa, A Thousand Cuts, had its world premiere at the renowned film festival.

The documentary chronicles Ressa's courageous and truth-telling journalistic enterprise despite death threats and government-instigated criminal charges against her.

The film's director and producer, Diaz, is an award-winning Asian American filmmaker best known for her compelling character-driven documentaries.

The podcast calls on its listeners to "Challenge yourself to change the world." 

Hedayat does her part by tackling the world's most pressing problems in engaging, hands-on ways on topics ranging from climate change to the gender pay gap — like trying to live for a week on only 50 liters of water a day.

Hedayat believes Course Correction can be a changemaker. “I’m hoping through this powerful and emotional podcast series people can see that individually and collectively we can change things, overcoming enormous challenges,” she said. 

The podcast has garnered listeners in 148 nations and territories since mid-January, with the largest audience being based in the US. Doha Debates will unveil new episodes weekly through till the end of April, when the Sundance bonus episodes will debut. 

Doha Debates, a production of Qatar Foundation, launched Course Correction as part of Doha Debates' revitalization and expansion, which includes a live event debate series, digital videos, blogs, and a Doha Portal facilitating live video conversations with people around the world. 

Since its relaunch last year, the revitalized Doha Debates has resonated globally, with hundreds of millions of video views and millions of social media followers among 228 nations and territories.

Course Correction is available at DohaDebates.com/Listen.