Pivotal States – Details, episodes & analysis

Winners and losers—every major transition has them. For the world to meet its climate goals, it needs to undergo a partial shift away from traditional meat and toward alternative proteins. But who would be the winners and losers of a global protein transition? In Episode 6, we investigate what this transition might look like and what it could mean for national security and geopolitics.

There’s a lot to learn from the lobster. Its transformation from disdained prison food to fine-dining delicacy reveals how culture shapes our palate and how people could start to get a taste for food that does less damage to the planet than a bacon cheeseburger. In Episode 5, we look to the future of alternative proteins—from bean burgers to lab-grown nuggets—and ask what it would look like to live in a world less centered on traditional meat production.

What is corruption in democracies? How has it changed over time? And, in what forms does it emerge in our society today? Episode 1, 'If Men Were Angels, We Wouldn't Need Government,' answers these questions through the lens of case studies in the United States, including the political scandal of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have eroded controls on influence-peddling, and other frequent tools used by leaders and groups to receive preferential treatment in the U.S. system of government. 

The soybean is more than just a humble legume—it’s a major geopolitical player that feeds the international meat market, shapes trade wars, and transforms economies. In Episode 4, we tell the story of how the soybeans that feed pigs around the world have shaped the geopolitical behavior of what some call “the Meat Triangle”: the United States, Brazil, and China.

You’ve probably heard of money laundering. But while some choose to launder dirty cash, others launder cows. Episode 3 tells the story of one Brazilian company’s entanglement with the smuggling and selling of illegal cattle throughout the Amazon—and explores how big meat companies around the world use their power to undermine climate goals.

Tractors blocking government buildings. Manure piled on highways. The birth of a populist political party. In the Netherlands, government regulations on agriculture’s nitrogen emissions have sparked backlash from Dutch farmers. In Episode 2, we tell the story of this quarrel. It holds lessons for all countries, in Europe and beyond, that are facing rising agricultural populism as they begin to implement stricter environmental regulations on farming.

In the United States, agriculture plays by a different set of rules than other sectors. With its lax child labor laws and lack of environmental restrictions, the American farming industry operates in a uniquely under-regulated environment. Why? Episode 1 explores the history of agricultural exceptionalism and how it impacts the lives of North Carolina residents living close to factory farms.

The third episode, "Trouble in the Blue House," dissects the corruption scandal often called "South Korea's Watergate." When former President Park Geun-hye was first elected in 2013, she held widespread conservative support and was internationally celebrated as the country's first female president. No one could have predicted that just 5 years later, she would end up embroiled in a corruption case that would leave her disgraced, impeached, and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Although not without its controversy, Park Geun-hye's impeachment shows how anti-corruption movements can pursue accountability and reform while protecting democratic norms. 

The second episode, "Seeing the Monster," explores what some call the biggest corruption scandal in history—Brazil's Lava Jato scandal. The story begins at a small gas station in southern Brazil, where a single arrest for bribery in 2013 unleashed a domino effect that would topple hundreds of business executives, imprison a former head of state, and impeach the sitting president. The aftermath of the scandal shows how important it is for anti-corruption movements to not only expose corruption, but also to provide constructive ways to address it.