In this episode, Annalise Blum fills us in on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Blum, a policy fellow with the American Association for the Advancement Science, has worked for years on the technical and geopolitical aspects of hydropower. Host Daniel Raimi talks with Blum about the controversial dam project on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia, whose reservoir could begin filling as soon as this week. The Renaissance Dam has been the subject of international negotiations for years, and has even prompted some threats of armed conflict. The issues surrounding the dam are complex, important, and discussed infrequently here in the United States—but Blum and Raimi jump right into the topic.

References and recommendations:

"Timbuktu" film; https://www.reuters.com/article/us-awards-oscars-timbuktu/oscar-nominee-timbuktu-tackles-everyday-view-of-radical-islam-idUSKBN0LI0HV20150214

Aaron Wolf’s research about international agreements; https://www.texastribune.org/2017/07/11/q-aaron-wolf/

"William Mulholland and the Rise of Los Angeles" by Catherine Mulholland; https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520234666/william-mulholland-and-the-rise-of-los-angeles

"Chinatown" film; https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071315/