Regular cash transfers, no strings attached and no questions asked. What is their potential? Can it disrupt the power dynamic between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’? Will it lay the foundation of a caring economy, and caring society? Can it become the norm, not the exception?

Can basic income rewrite the narrative about poverty?

In this episode, I’m joined by two guests with first-hand experience of designing and implementing basic income interventions.

Melody Valdes is Chief Program Officer of United South End Settlements (USES) in Boston in the US. She leads the implementation of the S.T.E.P. guaranteed income intervention for vulnerable families.

Sarath Davala is Research Director of the WorkFREE project, a universal basic income pilot in the city of Hyderabad in India. He is also President of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), a large network of organisations and individuals working on basic income around the world.