NIOD Rewind Podcast

In the NIOD Rewind podcast on war & violence, Anne van Mourik interviews scholars about the history of mass violence, genocide and war. A new episode appears every few weeks. What are the main issues and new insights in the field of war and violence studies? How does the history of violence relate to the current debate, events, and phenomena? The NIOD Rewind podcast looks into innovative research, interesting methods, and new publications. All episodes are available to listen via our Soundcloud account or in your favourite podcast platform

New: episode 43

In this episode, Anne van Mourik (NIOD) sits down with famine scholars Alex de Waal (Tufts University) and Ingrid de Zwarte (Wageningen University & Research) to discuss how hunger can be used as a political-military instrument of power—from the Dutch Hunger Winter of WWII to Sudan, Yemen, Ukraine, and Gaza today.

Was starvation in the Netherlands during WWII intentional? What role did food play in Dutch colonial violence in the Indonesian War of Independence? And in the present: What are Israel’s objectives in starving Palestinians? Why is the international community failing to act—even when famine unfolds in full view of the world?

This episode was made in the context of the event “Hunger as a Weapon of War & Genocide, from WWII to Sudan, South Sudan, and Gaza”, which took place on 3 April 2025 in SPUI25 Amsterdam. The event was organised by Solange Fontana (NIOD), Ayşenur Korkmaz (Meertens Institute and ACMES) and Rebeca Ibáñez Martín (Meertens Institute).

You can find more information on the website of the IPC.

From left to right: Anne van Mourik, Alex de Waal and Ingrid de Zwarte

Not sure what to listen next? Take a look at some of our favorites:

Episode 4: Negotiating Displacement (13-02-2020)
Episode 14: The Problems of Genocide (21-04-2021)
Episode 19: Political Apologies across Cultures (21-02-2022)
Episode 25: What is ‘Violence’? Debates and Directions (29-08-2022)
Episode 26: Bones of Contention: the Vietnam-American War (8-9-2022)
Episode 30: Revolutionary Worlds: Local Perspectives and Dynamics during the Indonesian Independence War, 1945-49 (6-2-2023)
Episode 35: Between lines and lives: using ego-documents to study war and violence (8-9-2023)

Overview of all episodes

The NIOD Rewind podcast has been on air since 2019 and was created by Anne van Mourik and Thijs Bouwknegt. Check out an overview of all episodes below.

Season 6 NIOD Rewind Podcast

Season 5 NIOD Rewind Podcast

Season 4 NIOD Rewind Podcast

Special series: Onzekere Tijden

In this special series of the NIOD Rewind podcast, NIOD researchers discuss the corona crisis and the uncertain times it brought. How do they experience the crisis themselves? And how, from the perspective of their research, do they analyse events in society? A special series in Dutch by: Anne van Mourik, Thijs Bouwknegt and Anne-Lise Bobeldijk.