The Mediator’s Studio: The cost of war, the price of peace – Season 8 now available

What keeps peacemakers going when every path to peace seems blocked?

From hostage negotiations and ceasefires to regional diplomacy and high-stakes statecraft, The Mediator’s Studio Season 8 takes listeners behind the scenes of the decisions, relationships and human moments that shape modern peacemaking.

Subscribe to The Mediator’s Studio on Apple, Spotify, or your favourite streaming platform to hear the latest episodes and explore previous seasons of conversations with the people working at the heart of global conflicts.

Recorded at the Oslo Forum in June 2026, four episodes of this new season go behind the scenes with state negotiators who have worked through some of the world’s most challenging crises – revealing the intuition, perseverance and human connections that can create openings even in the most entrenched conflicts.

This season’s guests include:

• Episode 1: Roger Carstens, former United States Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, on the hidden world of hostage negotiations, the search for “the key to the cell”, and the emotional moments that make the work worthwhile.

• Episode 2: Dr Manal Radwan, Special Envoy and Advisor of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia for Negotiations and Peace Efforts, on diplomacy during regional upheaval, the campaign for recognition of Palestinian statehood, and why words on paper can still shape realities.

• Episode 3: Pankaj Saran, former Deputy National Security Adviser of India, on four decades of diplomacy and why nations are more than maps.

• Episode 4: Anne-Claire Legendre, President of the Institut du Monde Arabe and former Middle East and North Africa advisor to President Emmanuel Macron, on finding space for dialogue amid some of the Middle East’s deepest conflicts.

The Mediator’s Studio is co-produced by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD).

We hope you enjoy Season 8 and the previous episodes.

Tell us what you think by tweeting at our host Adam Cooper @adamtalkspeace or filling in this quick survey https://0lotay3liy7.typeform.com/to/BszSNdLf.