{"podcast":{"title":"Borders: Conversations on Global South Capital and Geopolitics","slug":"borders-conversations-on-global-south-capital-and-geopolitics-7872364","podcast_index_feed_id":7872364,"rss_url":"https://feeds.libsyn.com/610105/rss","website_url":"https://vesper.vc/borders/","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/4/0/0/e/400eadebb579460216c3140a3186d450/Borders_Podcast_Cover_-20260313-d105hb3s33.png","author":"Vesper","episode_count":15,"summary":"Hosted by Mr. Andrew J. Henderson, Borders is a long-form conversation series exploring how power, capital, and influence actually move across the world. Much of the modern global economy is being shaped far beyond the traditional centers of Western media attention. Across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Latin America, new markets, institutions, and power structures are quietly taking form. Each episode features a thoughtful conversation with founders, investors, policymakers, and operators working directly inside these environments; people building companies, infrastructure, financial systems, and cultural institutions in places where the future is being negotiated in real time. Rather than debate or commentary, Borders is structured as a calm, exploratory conversation. Episodes move deliberately, allowing guests to explain how markets, incentives, and societies actually function on the ground; often revealing dynamics that rarely appear in headlines. Guests range from frontier-market investors and bank executives to infrastructure developers, reform-minded policymakers, and founders building new industries across emerging regions. Each conversati…","last_synced_at":"2026-09-16T06:18:48.996211+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/borders-conversations-on-global-south-capital-and-geopolitics-7872364"},"episode":{"title":"Ep 8: Joshua Rotbart: The New Geography of Gold","slug":"ep-8-joshua-rotbart-the-new-geography-of-gold","published_at":"2026-06-25T16:21:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/borders-conversations-on-global-south-capital-and-geopolitics-7872364/ep-8-joshua-rotbart-the-new-geography-of-gold","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/borders-conversations-on-global-south-capital-and-geopolitics-7872364","url":"https://ad96190b-f614-4ba6-ac31-26ffbdc6d90b.libsyn.com/ep-8-joshua-rotbart-the-new-geography-of-gold","audio_url":"https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/ad96190b-f614-4ba6-ac31-26ffbdc6d90b/Borders_Podcast_-_Joshua_Rotbart_-_The_New_Geography_of_Gold_-_Revised.mp3?dest-id=5317560","summary":"Andrew Henderson sits down with Joshua Rotbart, founder of J. Rotbart & Co., to explore how gold is reshaping wealth preservation, geopolitics, and global capital flows as the world becomes increasingly multipolar. Using Asia's precious metals markets as a case study, Joshua explains why China has become one of the world's largest buyers of physical gold, why central banks are accumulating bullion at the fastest pace in decades, and how investors are increasingly prioritizing jurisdictional security alongside financial returns. They discuss the cultural role of gold across China, India, Thailand, and Vietnam, examining why physical ownership remains deeply embedded in societies shaped by inflation, political instability, and generational wealth preservation. Joshua explains why Singapore and Hong Kong have emerged as Asia's leading precious metals hubs, why Switzerland continues to command a premium despite growing competition, and how geopolitical tensions are changing where individuals and institutions choose to store their wealth. Along the way, they explore China's property slowdown, the evolution of precious metals infrastructure across Southeast Asia, Africa's growing role in the global gold supply chain, sanctions, commodity traceability, and why a more fragmented world is driving renewed interest in tangible assets. The conversation also examines how gold is evolving from a traditional store of value into a strategic asset at the center of international finance, sovereign reserves, and cross-border wealth protection. In this episode, Andrew and Joshua discuss: Why China has become one of the world's largest buyers of physical gold following its property market slowdown. How gold functions differently across Asia, serving as both an investment and a cultural sto…","meta_description":"Andrew Henderson sits down with Joshua Rotbart, founder of J. Rotbart & Co., to explore how gold is reshaping wealth preservation, geopolitics, and global…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2958,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/borders-conversations-on-global-south-capital-and-geopolitics-7872364/episodes/ep-8-joshua-rotbart-the-new-geography-of-gold/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/borders-conversations-on-global-south-capital-and-geopolitics-7872364/ep-8-joshua-rotbart-the-new-geography-of-gold.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}