Warning: this episode mentions baby loss and birth trauma.

How many times have you read a headline that tells you UK maternity services are in ‘crisis’? And how many times have you really understood why they're in crisis?

A recent interim report into England's maternity and neonatal care had some brutal findings: hospital mistake 'cover-ups', negligent care from frontline workers, lack of staff and poorer maternal outcomes for ethnic minority women. But identifying the problems is just the beginning – understanding their root cause is harder, and something our press repeatedly fails to do.

Financial incentive schemes that reward units whose data meets certain 'safety' targets put the lives of pregnant people on the line – but midwives with low morale, burnout, unsustainable working hours and stress take the brunt of the blame in the media, even when their voices are notably missing from the coverage about them.

What's really behind headlines about a lack of staff? Is there really a woo-woo 'normal birth ideology' killing mothers and babies? And why are outcomes so different depending on skin colour?

Here to answer all those questions is Leah Hazard, NHS midwife and author of 'Hard Pushed: A Midwife's Story', and Illiyin Morrison, perinatal trauma specialist midwife and author of 'The Birth Debrief'.

You can sign Leah's petition for legal limits on midwives working hours here.

This episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Sri Lanka, Ukraine, South Sudan, Haiti, Greece, Zambia, The Latin America Lost Decade… prepare yourselves for a lesson in history . And in geography. And in (ew) economics! Today, we’re talking about debt.

You might not know it, but the world is in a spiralling global debt crisis. On average, low-income countries spend about a fifth of their entire national budget paying off foreign debt. To put that number into perspective, in 2014, it was just 5%. 3 billion people live in countries that spend more on interest payments than education or health.

And who are these interest payments going to? Bankers, billionaires, and the world’s wealthiest countries — incidentally, often former colonisers.

This is not the story we get told in the media. So to tell us the first-hand human impact of global debt – which is inextricably linked to the climate crisis – we are joined by one of Zambia’s most prominent debt cancellation and climate activists, Precious Kolbwana. Plus, spitting cold hard facts, Lead Economist at the NGO CAFOD, Maria Finnerty.

This episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Warning: this episode mentions rape, sexual assault and suicide.

The UK government is moving to cut jury trials, a right that traces back to the 1215 signing of the Magna Carta.. It’s a sharp U-turn for Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Justice Secretary David Lammy, who spent years arguing juries were a cornerstone of democracy.

Labour say they’re acting in the interests of women – lucky us! They say cutting juries will ease court delays for victims of misogynistic violence. The thing is… fewer than 3% of reported rapes lead to a trial in the UK. So are juries really the problem here? Is this anything to do with gender justice at all? Or are women being used – yet again – to whitewash political agendas? What is the government (and media) not telling us about why Starmer and Lammy have changed their minds on juries? Side note: Palestine Action activists got acquitted by a jury who went against the judge’s order...

Plus, Owen Jones has won the first battle in an ongoing libel suit filed against him by BBC Middle East editor, Raffi Berg. The court has ruled Jones’ piece was a piece of reasoned opinion, not factual reporting, making it easier to defend. But wait until you hear who’s representing Berg in a libel suit that’s airing a lot of the BBC’s dirty linen.

We also look at Trump’s bid to use national security laws to control news coverage of the war on Iran, and the impact of Brexit on international couples.

This episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

If you have been affected by sexual violence, you can contact: Rape Crisis (England & Wales) on 0808 500 2222

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There are at least 49 million enslaved people worldwide… and very little knowledge about how directly connected we are to them through supply chains (take the terrifying Slavery Footprint survey like Mathilda makes Helena do in this episode!)

Over 100,000 are enslaved inside the UK, and that number is growing. This is no surprise, if we look at the data through a Media Storm lens. It correlates with government and media efforts to criminalise asylum seekers and irregular migrants, whether or not they have been trafficked here.

Britain credits itself with pioneering the abolition of slavery. Yet it has a thriving underground labour market and imports billions of pounds-worth of goods every year produced with forced labour. British legislation is called “toothless” by activists. Asda, Morrisons, Tesco and Waitrose all sell tomato products that would be barred from America under anti-slavery import controls.

In this deep dive, we look at modern slavery at home and in overseas supply chains, buried in mainstream media despite underpinning almost every aspect of UK life. We’re joined by trafficking survivor and podcaster Ilja Abbattista, and migrant worker rights activist Andy Hall, who has fought for years to see Dyson to pay a settlement fee to workers who say they were enslaved, beaten and tortured in a Malaysian factory producing parts for the company. Dyson says the settlement is not an admission of liability. Stay tuned to hear how the media is silenced by threats from multinational corporations, and how hysteria over immigration is helping human trafficking to thrive.

This episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Last week’s by-election in Gorton and Denton saw massive losses for Labour and a massive win for Hannah Spencer of the Green Party, despite Reform's overconfidence. So did the Greens cheat, as Reform claim… or are Reform just really bad losers? They seem to think abusive Muslim husbands stole their vote, and that the definition of sectarianism is brown people voting for a white woman in a party led by a gay Jewish man. And perhaps worse - the mainstream media think these ideas are worth multiple headlines, articles and broadcast discussions.

Also: remember when Trump said he’d achieved 'everlasting peace' in the Middle East? Since he joined Israel in bombing Iran on Saturday; Lebanon, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Cyprus, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Oman are caught in the crossfires. Trump insisted the attack was an act of self-defence, and now US officials are scrambling to justify exactly how that’s true. Has the media learned from its devastating mistakes in 2003, when it circulated false intelligence of ‘weapons of mass destruction’ in Iraq? Or are they doomed to repeat the same mistakes?

This episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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CONTENT WARNING: Details about sexual violence.

Last week, we broke apart the Epstein Files following the US justice department’s dumping of three million documents about a man once described “the most dangerous sexual predator in the world”: Jeffrey Epstein. Survivors have been exposed and re-traumatised, their testimonies have been redacted and buried, and their justice has been continually denied.

So today, we put survivors back at the centre of this story.

It’s a story we probably wouldn’t even know about, were it not for their persistence and bravery in coming forwards despite terrifying efforts to silence them. So we’re honoured to be joined by two of them: artist and author Rina Oh, and educator and mum Teresa J. Helm. They tell us sides of the story the mainstream media is missing.

We also put sexual violence back at the centre of the story, by including a comprehensive outline of the abuse that victims have said was inflicted on them, as well as the names of men they have accused. It may be difficult to listen to, but we believe it is important to detail the sexual violence without burying in politics or euphemistic language — because that is what the legacy media has done for much too long.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

If you have been affected by sexual violence, you can contact:

Rape Crisis (England & Wales) 0808 500 2222

RAINN (USA) 800.656.4673

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Next week on Media Storm, we will be speaking to survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse, following weeks of coverage that has often focused on this as a political and financial scandal. Survivors have been too lost in the media storm. But there has been a hell of a lot to process - so for Part One of this week’s news watch, we break down the key geopolitical, financial and political you need to understand.

Then after the break: you've probably seen headlines about Nigel Farage talking about divorce rates, birth rates, tax rates, abortion rates, working from home rates, and the root of all evil according to Reform: child-free women. But what links all these sensationalist splashes? There's something much darker, deeper and scarier going on here, and it's an attack on women's bodily autonomy. We draw the parallels between Reform's potential policies and the policies of the Nazi's. Think we're being too dramatic? Just listen.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok ⁠⁠⁠⁠

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In December, Australia enforced a world-first, nationwide ban prohibiting children under 16 from holding accounts on major social media platforms, including Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X, and YouTube. And now, the UK could be following suit. 

But are concerns over "child safety" really behind the ban, or is this a smokescreen for state surveillance and control? 

For many teenagers, social media is where they first encounter global news, social justice movements, and political debate - especially if they don’t have access to formal education or traditional news environments. Is the social media ban a blessing for traditional media gatekeepers? 

Will it even work, or will the digital native generation simply find a way around it? Shouldn't we be regulating content, not children? Will the government ever stand up to Big Tech? And is the legacy media completely out of touch with young people? 

To discuss the perspectives missing from the mainstream, we're joined by two Gen Z's with big voices. Fiona Lali is the youth organiser for the Revolutionary Communist Party, delivering political analysis and explainers to hundreds of thousands of people across her social media platforms. Tamara Himani is journalist and analyst reporting on politics in the US and the Middle East for Middle East Eye, an outlet built on social media. 

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok ⁠⁠⁠⁠

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In January alone, Donald Trump abducted the Venezuelan President, listed himself as President of Venezuela on Wikipedia, almost launched another tariff war after demanding Greenland, directly threatened Colombia, Mexico and Cuba, told Honduran vote counters there’d be “hell to pay” if his favourite candidate didn’t win, and dropped bombs on Caribbean boats that killed more than a hundred people. Yet at the World Economic Forum in Davos the same month, he launched his ‘Board of Peace’. Make it make sense!

But is Trump's new world order really that new? In a postwar world of covert regime change, privatised ownership of natural resources, and sanctions designed to strangle uncooperative economies, was the international rules-based order just a lie all along? 

Plus: headlines told us that "Non-consensual sexualised deepfakes were created by the AI chatbot Grok"  and that "Grok AI made sexualised images of children". But who gave Grok the prompt to do it? Missing from the headlines, as is so often the case when it comes to stories about sexual abuse against women and girls, is MEN. We discuss why no one can seem to name the problem - so much so, our government used a SNAKE to represent male violence in a recent advert (end snake violence against women and girls!)

And we end with our new segment: Holding Onto Hope.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Content warning: sexual assault, mentions of suicide, gunshots

Welcome back! Since we were last here, presidents have been abducted, Greenland became the pride of Europe and millions of Epstein Files flooded the matrix.

Believe it or not, we’re only one month into 2026! But we simply couldn’t fit it into a single episode. So here’s part one of a double-whammy News Watch, in which we round up the looniest headlines of the longest January ever.

We start with the deadly ICE circus unfolding in the US: if the government tells you not to believe your own eyes, should the newspapers reprint their orders? Plus: there’s two ICE-related deaths you’ve surely heard of… but did you read about the other seven? Or do only white citizens deserve headlines?

Over to Iran where the flailing government’s brutal repression and internet blackout has made it difficult to hear the voices on the ground - at a time when Iranians urgently need the international community. But others are also doing a good job at drowning them out: some very loud and very polarising pundits dominating the debate. We do our best to navigate the world’s moral dilemma of How To Help Iranians, by tuning into the quieter voices. And just listening.

To end: our new segment, Holding Onto Hope.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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The Telegraph is for sale. Why? A couple of billionaire brothers ran it into debt, and now a few more billionaires are lining up to buy it. Spoiler alert: most of them already own the mainstream media! But just because our news is owned by billionaires, that doesn’t make it biased towards them… right?!

On Media Storm podcast, we break down hidden biases behind the week’s headlines - everything from immigration to geopolitical conflict to healthcare. And we find lots of common problems: clickbait, missing voices, polarisation. But there’s one problem to rule them all, and it helps to explain where all the others are coming from: MONEY.

All roads lead to Capitalism. And so for today’s deep-dive episode, economics reporter Jessica Burbank (@kaburbank) and critical theory scholar Louisa Munch (@louisamunchtheory) join Mathilda and Helena to talk about how profit perverts journalism. We look at the week’s headlines in the USA and UK, and ask if the wealthy are weaving the story their way.

Economics is hard and boring, we get it. But both our guests are experts in making economics accessible, and as they tell us, until the public understands how the economy works, we can never make it work for us. The good news is, it’s not nearly as complicated as most media make it out to be - so get listening!

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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We’re taking on the right-wing hit job on the BBC. Why has one of the world’s most trusted news organisations capitulated to dodgy accusations of lefty, pro-trans and anti-Israel bias, when it gets just as many accusations from the other side? Learn about power structures inside global news and the battles for narrative control – while minorities continue to pay the highest price.

After the break: ever thought we'd be talking about football on Media Storm? Maccabi Tel Aviv played Aston Vila in Birmingham. We highlight buried police intelligence showing overlaps between Israel’s hooligan and military forces, and breakdown how Sky News manufactured the key headline (‘no-go area for Jews’) that came to shape political events. Listen and learn to spot misinformation in realtime.

The episode ends with Eyes on Genocide. Updates from Gaza, where the so-called ceasefire has entered its second month amid hundreds of Palestinian casualties; and from Sudan, where satellite imagery sparks fears that paramilitary forces are burning victims’ bodies in bulk.

Like this episode? Support Media Storm on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Margaux Blanchard is a widely published journalist. She has written everything from essays about motherhood to investigations about disused mines. But what her editors didn’t realise? Margaux Blanchard doesn’t exist. At least, not as a human being.

A company called Inception Point AI is using artificial intelligence to publish 3,000 podcast episodes a week at the cost of $1 a piece. Reviewers call it ‘AI sludge’ – is it coming for our jobs (and brains)?

Big Tech firms are using journalists’ work without permission to train AI to do their jobs. The AI summaries often get the facts wrong while putting human news publishers out of business. Where does this leave us in an era of disinformation warfare?

Can the mainstream media blame AI when it’s already churning out sensationalist clickbait and poorly fact-checked news? And could AI ever be used to improve chronic problems in our news, instead of exploiting them?

Press Gazette editor Charlotte Tobitt and tech journalist Rob Waugh join Media Storm to breakdown the best and worst impacts of AI on the news.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

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Is criminal prosecution possible? Would it even be fair?

We put these questions to Palestinian and Western journalists, legal experts and other witnesses, to take the conversation about media complicity – which has featured on the podcast repeatedly over the past two years – to its next step. Where there is complicity, shouldn’t there be accountability

Guests include Palestinian journalists Ahmed Alnaouq and Abubaker Abed, US journalist Katie Halper, Israeli anthropologist Jeff Halper, Norwegian frontline medic Dr Mads Gilbert, and professor of law Penny Green.

This episode was recorded at the Gaza Tribunal in Istanbul, a people’s trial collating evidence alleging crimes against humanity in Palestine.

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Money trailing into Far-Right groups connects European aristocrats with US Christian evangelicals and Russian propagandists. Together, these vastly different interest groups support joint campaigns undermining migrant rights with one hand, and abortion rights with the other.

Connecting the dots between them, is a debunked White Supremacist conspiracy theory called ‘The Great Replacement’. It argues that White Europeans and Americans are being deliberately seditiously replaced by non-white migrant populations, and that the solution is not just closing borders, it's forcing up White birth rates— and forcing down abortions.

Sian Norris is an investigative journalist exposing these dirty money trails, and she joins us on Media Storm. She says that while wealthy European aristocrats, hardline American Christians and Russian disinformationists may seem very different on the surface, each is incentivised to subscribe to a fascistic mythic past in which White people were superior to others and women’s bodies were controllable and for childbirth. As a result, absurd and extremist worldviews have entered mainstream politics.

How normalised is White Supremacism today? How does it threaten women’s bodily autonomy? How have legacy news outlets helped to make extremism mainstream? This week’s episode brings together the different fights against two far-right frontiers: immigration and abortion.

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The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

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Some current affairs are covered, including the Manchester synagogue attack and an update on the flotilla detainees. But we also dive into personal, professional and even philosophical questions.

Plus, we even put on our Agony Aunt hats and advise on listener dilemmas: from trying not to look like a ‘conspiracy-theory-nut’, to taking on teachers at your children’s school.

We didn't have enough time to cover all your questions so there will be a Q&A PART TWO very soon, we promise. If you want to submit a question, you can do so by signing up to our ⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Israeli military vessels attacked the humanitarian boats with water canons, before boarding vessels and capturing passengers. Captives are expected to be taken to Ketziot prison in the Negev desert.

This was a forcible prevention of the flotilla's lawful aim to carry aid to Gaza as it endures a manmade famine and genocide. Under maritime law, it was an act of piracy. It was also enabled by international news media.

Here's how.

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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What can we do about this?

This week, Media Storm showcases the people and platforms working to end gender-based violence, buy calling out and correcting misogyny in the media.

First up: an in-depth interview with Eliza Hatch. She’s the founder of Cheer Up Luv, the UK-based platform dedicated to ending gender-based violence, discrimination and bias through education, art and storytelling. Helena and Eliza chat about working in the VAWG sector, bringing men into the conversation, and the crucial point headlines are missing when they talk about young men "falling behind" women in education and academia.

And after the break: hear about This Ends Now's new campaign, Take It As Read, which will help us all to challenge misogynistic and victim blaming language around male violence against women and girls.

Interested in this topic? Listen to Media Storm's episodes on domestic abuse reporting, rape justice, and why 'violence against women' is a man's problem.

The episode is hosted and produced by Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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This week we start by looking at Trump’s new Caribbean front in the ‘war on terror’, and rising authoritarian usage of “anti-terror” laws in the West.

Helena reflects on the unreported stories from a weekend of nationalist protests in the UK: people of colour trapped inside their houses. 100,000 people joined the march, which was led by far-right Tommy Robinson and riddled with racist violence. We consider the root causes of rapidly rising radicalism in the UK, and the lessons that populist press and politicians are all-too-slow to learn.

To listen to our episode 'Radical thinking: How to fight the far-right', click here.

Next - Charlie Kirk was an American right-wing political activist who campaigned against gun controls, before he was shot and killed in yet another political assassination in the US. His shooting gave rise to many conspiracy theories, but the one peddled across mainstream media was that the suspect was motivated by “transgender ideology”. Here’s everything wrong with that.

Finally, we turn to Gaza, where genocide has just been declared by a UN commission. The expert panel examined actions and statements made publicly by Israeli leaders and soldiers, and concluded that genocidal intent is “the only reasonable inference”. So why haven’t most Western media reached the same conclusion?

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

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Ordinary people have made extraordinary sacrifices to make the journey toward Gaza, and establish a humanitarian corridor to get much needed aid into Palestine. Some people have left young children behind, others have risked their livelihoods to make the journey possible. But they stand firm in the belief that humanity and solidarity are their most important values.

Media Storm brings you the voices missing from the mainstream: activists from the Global South, and ordinary civilians who believe there is nothing more important than solidarity with Gaza right now. We also hear from Greta Thunberg, and grandson of Nelson Mandela, Mandla Mandela.

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and edited by Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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This week saw the 10 year anniversary of the death of Alan Kurdi, the four-year-old refugee child who died attempting to flee the Syrian war along with his family. A photo of his tiny body washed up on the beach came to symbolise the global refugee crisis as a tragedy of humanity. But 10 years later, have we lost our compassion again?

As the Reform party dominates political discourse, its players stir up anti-migrant sentiment, and the press helps to pump up misinformation, the far-right are weaponising feminism and women’s safety, to further their anti-immigration agenda… again. We say: not in our name.

And beloved TV presenter Rylan rehashes far-right talking points on daytime television - we look at the most common immigration myths and why they're spreading so easily in the media.

And as Mathilda prepares to set sail covering the actions of the Global Sumud Flotilla, we go behind the scenes of the biggest civilian fleet yet fighting to get humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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UK university students pay almost £10,000 per year, and international students about four times the amount. Tuition fees have skyrocketed over the past generation. So has the number of higher-paying, international students attending.

So where is all the money going? Has the quality of education improved with the cost? Have more staff been hired to cope with the workload? Or are existing staff being paid more to carry it?

According to tutors at SOAS, PhD students are being exploited for cheap labour, and are often expected to work for free or without valid contracts. Meanwhile, growing profits are reportedly being used to shut down those pointing out injustice.

This week, we investigate an unreported story that shines light on today’s fractional labour movement, the commodification of education, and the paradoxes of economic migration.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠).

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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A series of incidents with a male colleague in her call handling team back in 2023 has sent her on a two year journey to try and find justice. Issy has not only been fighting for justice, but fighting for media attention for her story.

She has since founded community organisation Speak Up Now, which supports whistleblowers in public and emergency services. 

Issy's story is one about standing up against misogyny, and against long enforced power structures. To find out more, follow her here.

The Met Police said: "The concerns Isabelle raised about the meeting with the Director have been assessed and found not to amount to misconduct. The conduct of the Appeal panel has also been assessed and found not to amount to misconduct".

The episode is hosted and produced by Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Keir Starmer announced earlier this year that he would reduce the aid budget to 0.3% of national income, from 0.5%, to fund increased spending on defence. But according to the government’s own impact assessment, Labour’s deep aid cuts will hit children’s education and reduce spending in women’s health.

Why are women worse affected by aid cuts? Because crisis is sexist. When disaster strikes, women are 14 times more likely to die than men. In Gaza, UN analysis showed close to 70% of verified victims over a six-month period were women and children. But women are also underrepresented in decision-making about how aid is distributed, and so the solutions rarely reflect this.

In this episode recorded 2023, Media Storm partnered with the International Rescue Committee to platform the lived experience of women in disaster zones— not just as victims, but as leaders of solutions. The IRC makes a conscious effort to place women at the centre of emergency responses, and has connected us with pioneers in Yemen, Pakistan and the world’s biggest refugee camp: Kakuma, in Kenya. We also hear voices from Afghanistan, Nigeria and North American indigenous communities, who reveal how conflict and climate change disproportionately impact women and girls.

We were then joined in the studio by actress and Amnesty ambassador Nazanin Boniadi, to look at how a male-dominated mainstream media and Eurocentric headlines can hide the realities facing women of the world. We look at the unique case of Iran, where women have revolted following the state murder of Mahsa Amini in 2022, and the press’ crucial role in fighting for human rights for everybody.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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This week on News Watch: Spot the omissions and exaggerations in right-wing coverage of NHS doctors’ strikes. Why are some outlets pushing misleading narratives, and what has it got to do with the wealth tax? We seek out the voices missing from The Telegraph’s reports (doctors), and revisit our interview with trade union Secretary General Mick Whelan on how class works in our media.

Next: Zohran Mamdani’s been caught out by the New York Post… or has he? We look at the rampant Islamophobia surfacing after the mayoral candidate’s Democratic nomination, and ask why anti-Muslim hatred is one of the most socially permitted forms of bigotry in the Western world.

Plus - did you read about the Afghan data leak that endangered some 100,000 people living under Taliban rule? More likely, you read about the 'secret scheme' threatening covert immigration to the UK. Here’s how the British press made it all about them.

And Japan’s far-right Sanseito party made unprecedented gains in Sunday’s election. Journalist Shiori Clark reacts to their ‘Japanese First’ campaign mantra, and the counter-movement behind Japan’s first ever participation in World Refugee Week.

The episode ends with Eyes on Palestine: Why does Sky News keep publishing Israeli army excuses for mass child killings as fact?

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Now tell us - have you ever heard of a fixer? Could you name a single one?

This episode, Media Storm dives into the complex ethics and murky dynamics of war reporting with former foreign correspondent Phoebe Greenwood and Palestinian journalist and former fixer, Abeer Ayyoub.

When mostly white, middle class, overseas journalists get more pay, more recognition, and more protection than local collaborators, but often take on less risk and work, is that any better than racism?

Is there a value to detached, outsider perspectives, or an inability to truly understand the lived realities of war? How sinister is western bias in the context of foreign conflict? And what does it say when the story is more important than the people left behind to live it?

From the abandonment of Afghan interpreters, to the overlooked mass murder of Palestinian journalists; from kidnaps in Tigray, to smuggler violence in Dunkirk - we look at the dark side of a profession that is rightly held in high regard for its services to truth, but whitewashed, glamourised, and little understood.

You can buy Phoebe Greenwood's new novel, Vulture, here.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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After the break, welfare is taking a bashing on both sides of the Atlantic. But did you know the UK and US already fall far down the rankings when it comes to state benefits? Labour has been ridiculed for yet another ‘U-turn’, as benefit cuts are reversed and Rachel Reeves’ crying face is plastered on every front page. Is it the ableism of the U-turn coverage, or the sexism or the Reeves coverage, that’ll win this week’s media storm prize?

We end with Eyes on Palestine - has the world had the wool pulled over its eyes by Netanyahu's "new aid plan"?

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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The question that has plagued British media and politicians over the past decade culminated in a Supreme Court ruling that declared ‘womanhood’ was based on biological sex. Now, finally, WE KNOW WHAT A WOMAN IS.

Headlines told us this was a historical moment for women and feminism, but with misogyny becoming more and more mainstream and male violence on the rise, what has the ruling actually achieved? Three months on, Media Storm compares the real-life impact of the Supreme Court ruling and the impact promised by the British press - and assesses whether this biological definition has brought clarity or chaos.

Bridging the binary divide between cis and trans women presented in mainstream media, Helena and Mathilda are joined by Katy Montgomerie, YouTuber, metalhead, and trans rights activist.

What is a woman? Why is this question so dominant in today’s political climate? When did the obsession begin? Who has gained a lot… and who has gained nothing?

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

Researchers: Lily Erwood and Teagan Gray

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠

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After the break: ‘NOTHING IS OFF LIMITS’ in Johnny Depp’s new exclusive with the Sunday Times… except the most important question. How this ‘poor me’ piece legitimises abusers’ victimhood narratives, and attempts to delegitimise the Me Too movement.

And finally, the UK government has moved to proscribe ‘Palestine Action’ as a terrorist organisation for spray-painting RAF planes. Media Storm questions why we need anti-terror laws on top of regular anti-crime laws, and whether politicising justice can ever be in the public interest.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠) 

Assistant producer: Lily Erwood

The music is by⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠

Support us on⁠⁠⁠ Patreon⁠⁠⁠!

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We’re joined in the studio by Ugandan model and transgender refugee rights activist, ⁠Amanda Kamanda⁠, and Iranian Refugee Olympic athlete, ⁠Dorsa Yavarivafa⁠. They tell us about the importance of LGBTQ+ refugee protection and the power of sport to create community. In contrast, we cover the rise of homophobia and transphobia in the West, and specifically in media coverage of migration.

After the break, we turn our focus onto the US where anti-ICE protests embody the theme of this week’s Refugee Week: ‘Community as a Superpower’. And as we approach the one-year anniversary of UK riots after the Southport stabbing, our guests also respond to Keir Starmer’s ‘Island of Strangers’ speech. 

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠

Support us on⁠⁠⁠ Patreon⁠⁠⁠!

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Locals face-off law enforcement in LA, as Trump sends the military to flatten (or fan up) protests. Meanwhile, Western media are dodging terms like ‘authoritarian’ better than their reporters are dodging police bullets.

Assisted dying is back in the headlines as legalisation goes through UK and France’s parliaments. Disabled people and terminally ill people are often pitched on opposite sides of the debate: how do we elevate both communities’ voices, without pitting minorities against each other?

Freedom Flotilla or "selfie yacht"? Humanitarian aid or vanity stunt? Whatever you think of Greta Thunberg and the Madleen crew, it doesn’t change the fact that Gaza is under siege. If the media’s so sick of Greta’s selfies, perhaps they could cover the story behind the ‘stunt’?

ALSO: tune in to hear about Helena’s smear test and the show’s working titles before it became ‘Media Storm’...

Buy Rachel Charlton-Dailey's book, Ramping Up Rights.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠

Support us on⁠⁠ Patreon⁠⁠!

Follow us on⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠,⁠⁠ Bluesky⁠⁠, and⁠⁠ TikTok

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This week, something different: we dive deep into social justice theory and question how to actually achieve it.

Media Storm brings missing expert voices into the conversation. These are normally people with lived experience, but as politics becomes evermore polarised, we sought out a world-class philosopher to help us rise above partisanship and understand the core questions driving division.

AC Grayling is Master of the New College of the Humanities and has written and edited over 30 books. But he does not see philosophy as an ivory tower practice, rather a useful subject for real life implementation. We put that to the test.

The episode is produced and presented by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall). The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

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This is not a new topic. The News Agents called it a "lefty cop-out" to blame the media for the rise of Reform. But what about the media cop-outs? What about the media's refusal to change, even as the Far-Right returns to the mainstream?

The truth, Media Storm argues, is this: our media did not just fuel the rise of Reform, they cashed in on it.

So on this week's episode, while Mathilda struggles with corrupted live show audio (sorry), we bring you a special audio article on the topic instead, and introduce you to the Media Storm column in Byline Times - out every Friday.

This episode is produced and presented by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall). The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

Support Media Storm on Patreon, and follow the column on Byline Times.

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Three years ago, we brought you the story of a Nigerian fishing community suing Shell in UK courts over oil spills. This year marks 10 years since their battle began, and the year it finally goes to trial.

The Niger Delta is one of the ten most important wetland ecosystems in the world, home to some 31 million people. But the river that sustains so many lives of so many species has become poisoned over decades by oil.

Environmental justice is a long and winding road, but communities are standing firm in their bids to hold the world’s most powerful corporations to account. They rely on media coverage to keep their fights in the limelight, yet they often struggle to be seen. Why is that?

In this episode, we are joined by Lazarus Tamana, UK president of the Movement For The Survival of The Ogoni People , and Dr Emem Okon, Executive Director of community-led NGO Kebetkache Women Development & Resource Centre. They help us unpick the media’s coverage of the climate crisis - examining undisclosed relationships between news outlets and corporations, a failure to understand national vs. ‘World’ news, and telling choices of media language.

Follow Amnesty UK’s ‘No Clean Up, No Justice’, read Dr Emem Okon’s research, with the Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre and Both Ends.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠@mathildamall⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠@helenawadia⁠) , with Lily Erwood as Assistant Producer.

The music is by ⁠@soundofsamfire⁠

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Media Storm is back for SERIES 6! And we’re here to help you get your head around the headlines (however unhinged they are).

But this week, we had a little identity crisis… should we be using the term ‘mainstream media’ when it’s become such a conspiracy buzzword? And if not, how do we point out all the mainstream media mishaps?! Let us know your thoughts...

Stories we delve into this week include: Two post-Brexit trade deals got very different reactions in the UK media. Spoiler: we think race has something to do with it. We look at the UK-India trade deal, and the UK-US trade deal - and ask why one got too much scrutiny, and the other almost none at all.

Next up, Gérard Depardieu was convicted for two counts of sexual assault. So why are much of the media labelling him as a 'legend' - and why is The Telegraph telling us 'all is not lost' for him? And we break down Keir Starmer’s now infamous immigration speech, likened by his own party members to Enoch Powell’s xenophobic ‘rivers of blood’. This is headline politics at its worst.

As usual, we end with Eyes on Palestine. Follow the Committee to Protect Journalists here.

Click here to complain to the BBC about their interview with Palantir.

Read the report by Doctors of the World UK and Médecins Sans Frontières about Wethersfield.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠@mathildamall⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠@helenawadia⁠) 

The music is by⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠

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Kim, an asylum seeker from Zimbabwe, lives on £7-a-day while supporting a newborn in cockroach-infested accommodation… HOW is she supposed to pay the £10,000 NHS bill she received after giving birth?

This week, Kim shares her story, and the Media Storm team unpack the mainstream media myths that feed the wider healthcare, migration and gender injustices behind it.

Myths like:

• ‘Why are all asylum seekers MEN?!’
• Don’t they come for free healthcare?’
• ‘Illegal migrants are living in luxury hotels’
• ‘The asylum backlog is out of control!’

We pick apart some current, culpable headlines, and compare the stories they tell with the first-hand experiences of the people living it.

Also joining us in the studio is Judith Dennis, head of policy at Maternity Action, which works for the rights of pregnant women and new parents irrespective of migration status, and is campaigning for changes alongside the National Childbirth Trust.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

The music is by @soundofsamfire

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Time for another weekly news debrief: we pick apart the most unhinged headlines and try to make sense of the mainstream media, helping you consume the news critically.

This week, Katy Perry was blasted - into space, and in the media (4:50). As news broke that the Supreme Court ruled the legal definition of a woman is based on 'biological sex' (a ruling that didn't consult a single transgender person), we look at the rollbacks of queer rights around the world (10:20).

Plus, how three front pages defined differently an attack on prison officers at HMP Frankland by the Manchester arena bomber's brother (22:32), a rebuttal against an ableist Daily Mail column on stammering (31:53), and why one article about asylum seekers living in 'luxury hotels' fails on facts (36:34).

To keep Eyes on Palestine (41:02), we look at the case of Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian student at Columbia university abducted by ICE in the US, and discuss a small but mighty change in a BBC headline.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia) 

The music is by @soundofsamfire

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Tickets are available at 10am today via AEG Presents HERE! Paid Patreon subscribers get access to tickets ONE HOUR EARLIER at 9am

What’s the bigger threat to free speech: the ‘woke mob’, or the MAGA word police? Where’s the line between free speech and hate speech? How can you have free market of ideas - when most of the media is owned by political suck-ups? Is free speech actually free if some people have more free speech than others?

And with ‘free speech crusaders’ censoring anyone whose views they dislike… WHAT DOES ‘FREE SPEECH’ EVEN MEAN ANYMORE?

Journalist and political activist Femi Oluwole joins Helena Wadia and Mathilda Mallinson to put the mainstream media’s ‘free speech’ debates under the microscope: from the arresting of keyboard criminals, to the abduction of students calling attention to Palestine, to the hypocrisy of MAGA leaders, and the social media algorithms shaping public discourse.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

The music is by @soundofsamfire

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Tickets available at 10am on Friday via AEG Presents HERE 

Paid Patreon subscribers get access to tickets ONE HOUR EARLIER at 9am - support us on Patreon and get early access!  

Content warning: Rape and sexual assault. If you need support you can contact Rape Crisis on 0808 500 2222

Time for another weekly news debrief: we pick apart the most unhinged headlines and try to make sense of the mainstream media, helping you consume the news critically.

This week, some million people in the US protested for democracy and against the Trump administration - but you wouldn’t know it from the front pages (3:10). One grievance on the protest agenda was against Trump’s tariffs, described as ‘reciprocal’ in the media - but it turns out they're anything but (10:25). 

Plus - can we do anything about Meta’s AI stealing over 7 million books? (9:12) (Sign the petition from The Society of Authors here!) Why did The Telegraph call Lucy Connolly, jailed for calling on rioters to set fire to asylum seeker hotels on X, a political prisoner? (21:03) And why intersectional reporting is so important in the case of serial rapist Zhenhao Zou. (31:11)

Finally, keeping Eyes on Palestine, we look at the compliant reporting even the face of evidence that Israel's army killed 15 Palestinian paramedics and civil emergency responders. (39:14) 

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia) 

The music is by @soundofsamfire

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Reports of image-based sexual abuse in the UK have increased tenfold over the past few years. Women are five times more likely to be victims of intimate image abuse. The true scale of the problem is probably larger, as many victims do not come forward.

But sensationalist headlines about so-called 'revenge porn' are doing a disservice to survivors. The term 'revenge' welcomes victim-blaming, the term 'porn' undermines the severity of the crime. Articles about apparent new protections for victims are written from Government press releases, with fact-checking thrown out the window, leaving tired survivors to take on crucial work as campaigners.

Legal frameworks also can't seem to keep up with rising technology - AI generated image-based sexual abuse, also known as 'deepfakes', increased 400% between 2022 and 2023.

Is the media failing to point to a culture of misogyny behind this crime? What steps can we take to combat IBSA? And how can we put survivors first every step of the way?

Joining Media Storm this week is Elena Michael, co-founder and director of #NotYourPorn (you can sign their open letter to address the critical gaps in current legislation), and founder of anti-share technology Image Angel, Madelaine Thomas.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

The music is by @soundofsamfire

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So many media storm’s blowing up our radar this week! The ICE abduction of a Turkish PhD student in the US (01:17); a coordinated effort by the Times, Telegraph, TalkTV, GB News, and Robert Jenrick to mislead the public about new sentencing guidelines (5:02); meanwhile, Marjorie Taylor Greene and her MAGA friends blame migrants, Biden, and everyone but themselves for the Signal group-chat security scandal (17:56).

Plus - and this is where it gets awkward AF - Sky New's Sophie Ridge confuses two Muslim MPs for each other (22:00); a double stabbing in Bournemouth reveals how sensationalist media can play unwittingly into the hands of murderous men (26:05); and did you know - Adolescence is a true story? (34:24) And if you have concerns about the knee-jerk reaction of showing Adolescence in schools, here's the open letter you can sign.

Finally, for Eyes on Palestine, we report on the discovery of a mass grave of Palestinian doctors that has reignited accusations of Israeli war crimes. (38:20)

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

The music is by @soundofsamfire

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Activists often call on their leaders to sanction foreign governments they see as breaking human rights laws. We’re told that sanctions help protect civilians from their own, and neighbouring, oppressive regimes.

But when civilian voices are left out of the conversation, and coverage constantly fails to examine the impact on the ground, how do we know if this is really what’s happening? How do we learn from mistakes?

Because there are mistakes. Venezuelan sanctions today, like Iraqi sanctions in the 1990s, are estimated to have caused the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent people. Yet just this week, we’ve seen more introduced.

Media Storm speaks to civilians from countries around the world, and discusses the real-life consequences of sanctions with one of the leading reporters on the topic - and the few to have consistently centred civilian voices - Murtaza Hussain from Drop Site News.

The episode also features Ilona Oleksiuk, from Ukrainian anti-fossil fuel group, Razom We Stand; Tata Chikviladze, Georgian journalist and protester; and Danielle Bett, Scottish-Israeli pro-democracy activist with Yachad.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

The music is by @soundofsamfire

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Tickets for Unchained Nights here!

Time for another weekly news debrief: we pick apart the most unhinged headlines and try to make sense of the mainstream media, helping you consume the news critically.

This week, the TV show on everyone's mind: Adolescence. We discuss our reaction to the Netflix hit, whether showing the series in schools will do anything to change minds on misogyny, and how we can involve boys in the conversation without stigmatising them. (21:25)

Also this episode: Drag Race icon The Vivienne's cause of death was revealed to be cardiac arrest caused by the effects of taking ketamine. A campaign has started to raise awareness of the dangers of ketamine, and to move the drug from Class B to Class A. But while the media uncritically supports the move, they fail to report on the wider context: that the more we have pursued a war on drugs, the more drug use, drug fatalities, and racialised inequality has risen. (04:01)

Next, former president of Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, was arrested by the International Criminal Court (ICC) - but why did he call it 'white man's justice'? The uncomfortable truth about inconsistent international law. (14:25)

And, we discuss the irony that a new four-lane highway is being built in the Brazilian city of Belém, cutting through tens of thousands of acres of protected Amazon rainforest - all in aid of easing traffic at the climate summit COP30. You couldn't write it, but it's true. Read more from Ione Well's reporting here, and hear why we need to put the lived experience of indigenous voices at the forefront of the climate solution. (33:51)

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

The music is by @soundofsamfire

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"When a court sentences a pregnant woman to prison, they sentence her to a high risk pregnancy"

There are hundreds of pregnant women in UK prisons - a third of them yet to actually be convicted of a crime. Babies born to women in prison are 7x more likely to be stillborn than the norm.

In recent years, two babies died when their incarcerated mothers went into labour and their calls for help were ignored. Last month, harrowing stories emerged of women at HMP Bronzefield being unlawfully handcuffed to male officers during childbirth.

Media Storm asks: will prison ever be a safe place to be pregnant? And if not, does the media care? And why, when debating this issue, did one LBC presenter get fixated on lamb chops?! (19:25)

Plus, Helena delves into far more detail than anybody asked for when talking about the EastEnders storyline which saw the iconic character Sonia Fowler pregnant in prison - an example of pop culture's influence on real-life issues.

Joining Media Storm this week is co-director of gender justice group Level Up, Janey Starling, and 'Anna' - co-founder of the Level Up campaign No Births Behind Bars, who was first sent to prison when 6 months pregnant.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia) 

The music is by @soundofsamfire

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Walk with us through the week’s top stories and learn how to critically consume the mainstream media, spot the missing contexts and voices, and get a better understanding of what’s happening in our world.

UPDATE: Since recording, Gaza's death toll has continued to rise and has now surpassed 500 deaths since Tuesday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)  

The music is by @soundofsamfire

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Are welfare reforms Labour’s only hope of saving money ahead of the Spring Statement? Who are the hundreds of Venezuelans who have been forcibly removed from the US? And what is the media getting wrong when it comes to reporting on femicide by an intimate partner?

We join Tortoise's Deputy Editor Giles Whittell and reporter Claudia Williams for The News Meeting.

You can listen to the full episode here!

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It all started when our intern, a student at LSE, told us about student activism stirring at her university, after a dozen sexual misconduct allegations against one male professor resulted in no disciplinary action for him - and several female staff resigning in protest.

It’s not a secret that women drop out of academia at disproportionate rates to men. The female-male ratio slips from over 50/50 at postgraduate studies to 30/70 at the highest rank of professor – giving the sector the reputation of a “leaky pipeline”.

But staff sexual misconduct (and universities’ failures to address it), is rarely, if ever, explored as a reason.

We investigated. And to borrow the resigning words of one female professor, what we found, at times, “reads like a textbook on how to turn a complaints process into a gauntlet, into a warning to women not to challenge the behaviour of men and the institutions that protect them”.

The episode was co-produced by Mathilda Mallinson and Camilla Tiana, and hosted by Mathilda Mallinson and Helena Wadia. The music is by Samfire.

Academic resources:

·       Eradicating Sexual Violence in Tertiary Education (UCU, 2021)

·       Power in the academy: staff sexual misconduct in UK higher education (NUS, 2021)

·       Misconduct Disclosure Scheme proposal (1752, 2024) 

·        ‘How Do Institutional Gender Regimes Affect Formal Reporting Processes for Sexual Harassment? A Qualitative Study of UK Higher Education,’ by Anna Bull, and Erin Shannon (Law & Policy, 2024)

Response from The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) spokesperson:

“LSE is committed to a working and learning environment where people can achieve their full potential free of all types of harassment and violence. We take reports of sexual harassment extremely seriously and encourage any member of the LSE community who has experienced or witnessed this to get in touch via one of our many channels. Further, if a complaint of misconduct is received against any member of our faculty, staff or student body we will always investigate fairly and fully, following our policies and procedures.

“LSE has developed, and continues to develop, a number of measures to ensure any allegation of misconduct receives a trauma-informed, robust and compassionate response. 

“These measures include the new Report + Support system- an online tool where staff and students can report issues of concern and which provides information about support, policies and procedures and campaigns. This enables us to address issues more quickly and consistently across the School and vastly improve our approach to case management and communication with all involved. In line with sector best practice, we also plan to make greater use of external investigators in the future. 

"We have commissioned Rape Crisis South London and Survivors UK to run an Independent Sexual Violence Advisory service for the School. This provides practical and emotional support for any student or staff member who needs it and supports them through a reporting process and/or the criminal justice process if they wish. This service is available to access online without a waiting list. This represents a step-change in the level of specialist support we're offering our students. 

“We have also implemented a tailored all-staff online training course on addressing harassment and sexual misconduct affecting students, developed with Advance HE. This is being rolled out as required training across the School." 

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The UK has the least generous paternity leave entitlement in Europe, currently set at a measly two weeks. On the surface, maternity leave looks generous in length - but compared to OECD countries, the rate of pay is one of the lowest.

As the government and media put culture wars over real-life policies, spread muddled misinformation about benefits that are designed to be difficult, and gender equality faces major cultural setbacks.... we ask young parents campaigning for change: why? (And how they're doing it while 5 months' pregnant?!)

Joining us this week are the founders of Dope Black Dads - Marvyn Harrison, and of Nugget Savings - Katie Guild. 

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia) 

The music is by @soundofsamfire

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THAT Zelensky-Trump press conference set the tone for world news this week, as Western leaders rolled out red carpets and tried to decipher diplomatic rationale from clickbait MAGA politics. So who was the rude reporter that set the wheels in motion? And what should we make of the pantomime that’s become of the White House’s press room?

Imagine, instead, if Netanyahu had been in the hot seat (we play it out for you): warned by Trump and Vance that he is gambling with World War Three. That he has no cards to play, if the US wants a ceasefire. Instead of applying such pressure, the US government pushed through an emergency arms sale to Israel this week - days before imposing new terms on the ceasefire with Hamas. But is that how the press reported it?

Now for something NOT TRUMP. Ever heard of joint enterprise? The little-known law putting Black boys in prison has failed to attract much press scrutiny, so we dive in.

And finally, Mathilda’s secret aristocratic background has been exposed by the Daily Mail! Find out why Helena’s so disappointed.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

The music is by @soundofsamfire

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For the first time since they wrapped filming, Mathilda, Jess, & Nathan from Channel 4's four-part documentary Go Back To Where You Came From are reunited!

In the documentary, Mathilda traced a common refugee route from Somalia to the UK - alongside Jess, from a small town in Wales, and Nathan, a trucker from Barnsley. At the start of their journey, Nathan & Jess had very strong anti-immigration views. But by the final episode of the show, after talking to migrants and seeing firsthand the situations that refugees flee, the audience sees their views change - and an unlikely friendship develop between the group.

How do we apply the lessons learnt from this documentary to our lives? How do we fight dehumanisation, and build bridges with those who think differently to us?

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

The music is by @soundofsamfire

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Time for another weekly news debrief: we pick apart the most unhinged headlines and try to make sense of the mainstream media, helping you consume the news critically.

One murder trial unfolding in the US has all the ingredients for a media storm: a child’s 'grandfather-like' figure becoming his fanaticised murderer. But the killer was motivated by anti-Palestinian radicalisation, and for that the mainstream media itself should be on trial. Perhaps that’s why there’s not a whisper about the case in our press.

But the death of Wadea Al-Fayoume is no less tragic than the death of every child in this war. We compare news coverage of different child fatalities, depending on whether they’re Israeli or Palestinian. And we question the BBC’s ‘spineless’ decision to pull a documentary covering the lives of Palestinian children. ‘Gaza: How To Survive A War Zone’ was taken offline after intervention from UK and Israeli government officials.

Germany’s general election results shocked many due to an ‘unprecedented’ spike in votes for the far-right AfD. But zoom out on the history timeline, and a very familiar pattern emerges. Scroll through the interactive history Mathilda’s loving HERE.

The Pope is ill: cue a scramble for power in the Vatican, avidly followed by Western media. But why are they so unfazed about the very same patriarchy they vehemently damn in non-Western religions?

And finally: “Queen of Woke” Ash Sarkar rejects identity politics in a “spectacular Damascene conversion” - at least according to the Telegraph. And yet, their account of her new book doesn’t include a single direct quote...

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

The music is by @soundofsamfire

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But as many provocateurs turn antisemitism into a political weapon, the root causes of racism are being overlooked and enabled. All the while, the mainstream media has become a weapon of mass destruction in the war of words - often failing to spotlight the biggest drivers of hate.

Is it possible to be anti-Zionist without being antisemitic? What does Israel’s war mean for Jewish protection worldwide? Are Elon Musk and Kanye West’s competing for the most “Nazi swag”? These are all questions we’ll put to our guests - Andrew Feinstein, son of a Holocaust survivor and former comrade of Nelson Mandela in the war against Apartheid, white supremacy and antisemitism in South Africa. And Alex Kane, senior reporter at the historic, post-Nazi Jewish Currents in the US.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

The music is by @soundofsamfire

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The UK agreed to hand the Chagos Islands “back” to Mauritius. But colonial history makes this decision complicated - and crucially, Chagossians were excluded from the discussions… much like Ukraine this week, who were left out of US-Russia peace negotiations. This news made every front page, except for the Daily Mail who wrote about wokeness and the Daily Star who wrote about... sausages.

Other stories we cover: more than 65,000 people have complained to Ofcom over a GB News comment comparing queerness to (prepare yourself) paedophilia. We discuss this record-breaking number, and the doubled-down defence of the presenter.

And finally, why anti-migrant sentiment led to Sweden's worst mass shooting - and whether the media does a better job at reporting crises, or creating them.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

The music is by @soundofsamfire

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So what about those who have no interest in it? 'Ace' is an umbrella term used to describe people who experience little, fluctuating, or no sexual attraction. There are also aromantic people - who experience little to no romantic attraction. Asexuality is often widely misunderstood, including within the LGBTQ+ community.

Asexual people are also not recognised in legislation, such as under the UK Equality Act, and Stonewall found asexual people may be at a higher risk of conversion therapy than gay, lesbian and bi individuals. But when asexual activists take to the media to raise these issues, they are met with a chorus of criticism, ignorance, and insults: they're vying for victimhood, or they're offered the enlightening advice to simply "get laid".

Here to help us understand why exactly the media are so angry is Yasmin Benoit, model, academic and activist.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire)

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This week’s political news reads like a playbook in fascist propaganda - and rule number 1 is throwing minorities under the bus. Whether it’s Trump’s America, Merz’s Germany or Starmer’s Great Britain, leadership apparently now means bowing to the myths of the masses - myths the media has miserably failed to correct.

Is there really a ‘migrant crime wave’? We review worldwide data to equip listeners with the facts missing from the mainstream media.

What about ‘the war on women’s sports’? How many transgender athletes does it take for the Trump administration to ceremoniously sign a national ban? (Apparently, just 10 - we wonder what Musk’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ makes of that use of federal funds.)

And guess who predicted Hamas’ hesitation over hostage releases, following Trump’s plans to “take over” Gaza? The families of those hostages. So why did their concerns barely make the press?

We finish News Watch with Eyes On Palestine: new frontiers of war emerge in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

The music is by Samfire (@samfire)

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FGM stands for Female Genital Mutilation - the deliberate cutting or removal of a female's external genitalia. It is currently documented in 92 countries around the world, the highest share in Africa - countries including Somalia, Egypt, Mali, Sudan and Ethiopia. It is also found in Asian and Middle Eastern countries, and in diaspora communities in the West.

Over 200 million women globally have been subjected to FGM. This should be a media storm. But instead, there’s near silence. So we've asked FGM survivors why the coverage is lacking, what they need from the media, and what we can do to help.

Joining us is Dr Leyla Hussein, psychotherapist and award-winning international campaigner leading the fight against FGM, and Ifrah Ahmed, Somali-Irish humanitarian worker, activist, and founder of the Ifrah Foundation, a charity with the aim of the absolute abandonment of FGM in Somalia.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

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Then it's onto our weekly news debrief: we pick apart the most unhinged headlines and try to make sense of the mainstream media, helping you consume the news critically.

This week's news - like last week's and probably next week - is the Trump show. But how much are the media playing into his hands by making all world news about Trump's actions? And how do we sort the fascism from the frenzy? We also decipher Trump's call for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, which is dressed up as compassion.

Other stories we cover: Why is everything except male violence to blame for the actions of Southport killer Axel Rudakubana? Plus, we look at reporting on the rebel M23 forces who have seized the eastern city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo - and why this reporting under the 'Africa' tab of your news page is not as far from home as you think. Finally, why all reporting corrections should be splashed on the front page...

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

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In our final News Watch before Christmas, we pick apart an outrageous claim in The Telegraph that the NHS 'catering to' transgender people is making more pregnant women die - a claim that is an opinion, but presented as fact. Plus, Trump is Time's Person of the Year - and he takes the time to speak about transgender 'bathroom issues' - though what he says might surprise you. Next, a shooting spree in Dunkirk that you probably didn't read about in the media. Is the media ignoring the targeting of two migrants? And finally, we have to talk about Luigi Mangione mania - the man who shot the UnitedHealthcare CEO - which has given cause to criticise across the political spectrum.

Donate to Mobile Refugee Support in Dunkirk

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

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Join Mathilda and Helena on their weekly news debriefs! We pick apart the most unhinged headlines and try to make sense of the mainstream media - helping you consume the news critically.

This week, we point out a gaping blind spot in the international press: Georgia, a country at the intersection of Europe and Asia and on the southern border of Russia, is on fire politically. And its people need the world to care. We hear from journalists on the ground, and spotlight how and why this story has been underreported, and its global significance downplayed. Next, serious allegations of sexual misconduct against the founders of PinkNews have been uncovered, thanks to over 30 former and current staff members at the outlet. But some media outlets and personalities have capitalised on victims' testimonies to promote transphobia - and they think they can get away with it. And finally, one day after the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, the UK has paused decisions on Syrian asylum claims. We discuss why this announcement is politically trigger happy: focused on cheap domestic wins, not international emergencies. Also... Helena holds more space for Wicked.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

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This week, Gregg Wallace turned his back on his target audience ("middle-class women of a certain age") while issuing a statement that will surely go down in history as a top PR nightmare. It's all off the back of multiple serious allegations against him - both uncovered AND undermined by The Telegraph. Next, we step outside of the Western worldview to look at events in Syria, as Aleppo has been captured by the armed rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham from government forces. Plus - under a world-first law, sex workers in Belgium will be giving the same rights as any other worker, and is The Times being hypocritical with its article about 'Sickfluencers'?

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia).

The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

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This week, it’s hypocritical calls for another general election (while legitimate calls for another Brexit referendum were ignored), Musk interfering in UK politics (we've moved from X to Bluesky, follow us!), a BBC headline about the ICC arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu that failed to dig deeper, accusations of discrimination against Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities from Greater Manchester Police, and Helena tries (and fails) to explain Wicked to Mathilda.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia).

The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

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Join Mathilda and Helena on their weekly news debriefs! We'll pick apart the most unhinged headlines and try to make sense of the mainstream media - helping you consume the news critically.

This week, it’s farmers (protesting the UK’s new inheritance tax), football fans (bringing the Israel-Palestine conflict to the streets of Amsterdam), and food (sandwich fillings just too woke for the Daily Mail to handle). It’s also Trans Awareness Week - so we’ll highlight some vital stories about transgender rights that the mainstream media must have *accidentally* missed. And finally: things to think about when reading headlines on the murder of Harshita Brella.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia).

The music is by Safire (@soundofsamfire).

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What you think probably depends on where in the world you are - because what journalists write generally depends on where in the world they are.

Here in the UK, nuclear weapons are a necessary deterrent, and that’s the end of the story. The coverage is coloured by geopolitical considerations and political voices, while scientific and humanitarian ones are absent.

That’s why Media Storm is bringing in a Nobel-winning physicist and a Japanese peace activist to dig deeper. Dr Ira Helfand and Yumiko Sakuma join us for (heads up) our scariest Media Storm episode yet.

What would survivors tell us if we gave them a voice? What hidden risks are going unreported? Who gets rich from fuelling the arms race? And what would actually happen if nuclear warfare broke out?

Also: is there another way?

Plus – your weekly Media Storms: Zombie knives and ninja swords, doubt in the details of a Telegraph article about benefits - and why Boris Johnson knows nothing about Bridget Jones. Also, sausages.

Hosts: Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

Music: Samfire (@soundofsamfire)

Assistant Producer: Katie Grant

Support Media Storm on Patreon - and help us out by sending your favourite episode to 3 of your favourite people!

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The monarchy is given a fairly easy ride in the media - rarely questioned, often praised, history erased. But why don’t editorial guidelines about ‘due impartiality’ apply to the royal family, when 40% of Brits disagree with its existence?

This week, storyteller Kelechi Okafor and author Dr Laura Clancy (who wrote Running the Family Firm: how the monarchy manages its image and our money) join us to talk about monarchy in the media. How much money does the taxpayer spend on the monarchy? What is the actual job of a royal correspondent - and why are they all called Ms England, or Mr Dymond, or Ms Bond? And what actually happened during Elizabeth II’s Empire?

Plus, your weekly media storms. How the Trump campaign is playing the papers; how British tabloids got a pro-Palestine pregnant mother arrested for calling Sunak and Braverman ‘coconuts’; and what the Jewish Chronicle scandal reveals about our wider media's mistakes.

Hosts: Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

Music: Samfire (@soundofsamfire)

Assistant Producer: Katie Grant

Episode research: Camilla Tiana

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Headlines about gender-based violence are sadly not rare. But over the last week, two harrowing stories have sent shockwaves around the world.

In France, pensioner Dominique Pelicot stands trial for recruiting 72 men to join him in drugging and raping his now ex-wife, Gisèle, over the course of a decade. 

And in Kenya, Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei burned alive after being set on fire by her ex-boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema. 

There has been much reporting on these stories - and not all of it good. Joining us in the studio to pick apart the headlines is Daniel Guinness, Director of Beyond Equality - the UK charity working with boys & men; and writer, researcher, and workshop facilitator Nathaniel Cole.

Men are being erased from the problem, and excused from the solution. So this week, Media Storm is flipping the script - because if violence against women begins with men, it can also end with men.

We also speak to Bryony Ball and Meggan Baker, the co-founders of SLEEC - Survivors Leading Essential Eduction and Change.

Plus, your week's media storms: the New Yorker article casting a shadow over the Lucy Letby inquiry, what news talkshows can learn from the Jeremy Kyle inquest, and how to judge AI findings of BBC anti-Israel bias. 

Hosts: Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

Music: Samfire (@soundofsamfire)

Assistant Producer: Katie Grant

Episode research: Camilla Tiana

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In Sudan, a terrible war is raging. What started as a conflict between the Sudan Armed forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has exploded into chaos and bloodshed, with countless militias, ethnic massacres, and foreign proxy self-interest.

Over 25 million people face acute hunger. Nearly 11 million have been displaced. And the death count is suspected to be as high as five times as high as in Gaza.

But if you were to judge by how much international attention Sudan gets - either from the media, politicians, or humanitarian donors - you wouldn’t realise this is happening before the world's eyes. 

Joining Media Storm this week is Sudanese activist and the man behind the social media platform Sudan Updates, Ameen Mekki. We are also joined by Sudanese refugee, public speaker, and charity worker Gaida Dirar, to discuss how British colonial history played a part in Sudan’s present-day difficulties - and why the war is as urgent to Western audiences as any other.

Plus, your week's Media Storms: panic about a potential pub garden smoking ban, an extracted anecdote from Jess Phillips that apparently provided proof of a 'two-tier NHS', misleading claims about crime at Notting Hill Carnival, and the voices missing in Israel-Palestine coverage: though they may not be the voices you think. 

Hosts: Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

Music: Samfire (@soundofsamfire)

Assistant Producer: Katie Grant

Episode research: Camilla Tiana

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But is it enough? There were 10 million tickets available for the Olympics - and only 3 million for the Paralympics. What does it mean that the Paralympics will be broadcast on Channel 4, rather than our state broadcaster BBC (where extensive Olympics coverage takes place). Is this a question of reduced public interest and 'relatability'? Or an underlying bias against disability?

Joining us to discuss perplexing media coverage and perpetuating stereotypes of the Paralympics are two para athletes. Wheelchair tennis silver-medallist-turned-fashion expert Samanta Bullock is in the studio, and two-time Paralympian blind footballer Keryn Seal tunes in from Paris. 

Plus, your week's Media Storms: the shocking truth behind attention-grabbing headlines about crime at Notting Hill Carnival, journalists band together to denounce Israel's assault on a free press, and why numbers CAN lie when it come to how much immigrants really cost the country... 

Hosts: Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

Music: Samfire (@soundofsamfire)

Assistant Producer: Katie Grant

Episode research: Camilla Tiana

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‘A CHILD IS STRIP-SEARCHED EVERY 14 HOURS’

‘SCORES OF CRIMINALS COULD BE FREED IN DAYS’

Headlines this week spotlight the UK’s criminal justice system, as prison overcrowding triggers emergency measures. Amazingly, serious talks about prison reform have entered the mainstream media - but a key voice is missing from the coverage: prisoners themselves.

This week, people with inside knowledge of the system join Helena and Mathilda for the week’s top stories. Lady Unchained and David Navarro talk prison overcrowding, child strip-searching, and the new prisons minister, James Timpson. We also ask: was this really all caused by Keir Starmer’s ‘clampdown’ on far-right rioters?

Plus, other Media Storms of the week: Superyacht shipwreck, migrant ‘superheroes’, and Steven van de Velde's post-Olympics interviews.

Hosts: Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

Music: Samfire (@soundofsamfire)

Assistant Producer: Katie Grant

Episode research: Camilla Tiana

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Just Stop Oil have made many headlines since 2022, be it by stopping traffic or throwing powder on Stonehenge in their token orange shade. Last month, five members were sent to prison with the longest sentences ever given for peaceful protest in the UK. But what does the group actually want? If it weren't for the name, Just Stop Oil's aims would be largely absent from press reports, which focus on the public nuisance caused by the group rather than the climate change message behind it.

Are the horror stories of blockaded ambulances all to be believed, or is the media misrepresenting the group? If so, why? Why do the public apparently hate them so much? And why hasn't this stopped them?

We're joined by Just Stop Oil spokesperson Adrian Johnson and climate journalist Diyora Shadijanova.

Plus, your round-up of the headlines through a Media Storm lens: exposés of NHS strike 'plots', the reasons for inaccuracies coming out of Gaza, an Islamophobic Daily Mail front page, and... dogs? 

As a take home message, we also speak to Emma Webber, mother of Nottingham attacks victim Barnaby Webber, about victims' consent in true crime and her reaction to the riots that followed the Southport stabbings.

Hosts: Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

Music: Samfire (@soundofsamfire)

Assistant Producer: Katie Grant

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Anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant riots sprung up across the UK, with no factual basis in the incident that triggered them - a stabbing attack that killed three young girls in Southport last Monday, founded on a widespread fake news story that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker who arrived ‘illegally’ by boat.

But some mainstream news outlets seemed to have trouble naming the problem. Riots were labelled ‘protests’. Attacking a mosque was called ‘disorder’. And the word Islamophobia? That was nowhere to be found.

This week we are joined by Rizwana Hamid, award-winning journalist and the director of The Centre for Media Monitoring - which promotes accurate, fair and responsible reporting of Muslims & Islam. We discuss longstanding Islamophobia in the British media, the treatment of Zarah Sultana MP on Good Morning Britain, and smash tropes and stereotypes including accusations of grooming gangs and extremism.

You’ll also hear from Sabah Ahmedi, aka @theyoungimam, who invites those who disagree with or fear his faith to step out of their comfort zone, visit a mosque, and see for themselves.

Plus, your round-up of the headlines through a Media Storm lens, including tackling the disinformation surrounding the ‘gender eligibility’ of two Olympic boxers - Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting.

Hosts: Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

Music: Samfire (@soundofsamfire)

Assistant Producer: Katie Grant

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A community, and a country, are in shock. Even though male violence against women and girls is commonplace, it can be hard to understand in these particular set of circumstances. 

A 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been arrested on suspicion of murder. That is all we know about the boy who carried out this attack. 

But - alternative narratives were formed online, and they spread quickly.

On Tuesday evening, rioters believed to include English Defence League (EDL) supporters, formed outside the Southport mosque, screaming abuse and smashing windows. They broke garden walls, and threw bricks, bottles, and rocks. They set a police van alight. 27 police officers were hospitalised.

The 17-year-old has no known links to Islam, but those behind the violence had been fired up by social media posts which incorrectly suggested an extreme Islamist link to the stabbings.

What makes somebody hijack the grief of a community, and instead use it as an excuse to spread racism, Islamophobia, and more violence? How do people get radicalised into the far-right?

In this Media Storm investigation, we speak to reformed Neo-Nazis, far-right grooming victims and undercover counter-extremists. We investigate the recruitment tactics of violent terrorists attempting to spread hatred, and uncover proof that mainstream media and politicians may be playing into their hands. We're finding out what pushes people to the far-right, and crucially, how we can pull them back.

Hosts:

• Helena Wadia @helenawadia
• Mathilda Mallinson @mathildamall

Speakers:

• Julia Ebner @julie_renbe
• Dr Rajan Basra @rajanbasra

Music:

• Samfire @soundofsamfire

Exit Hate UK offers non-judgemental support for individuals & families impacted by far-right extremism. For support please contact info@exithate.org

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“Race is always seen as Black men's issue, gender is always seen as white women's issue. So Black women always fall through the cracks.”

Preferential acceptance rates for White women applying to UK police forces have given a false impression of gender equality, hiding acute discrimination against Black women, Media Storm data shows. This reveals the importance of understanding intersectional discrimination - and one version in particular. ‘Misogynoir’: the ingrained prejudice against Black women.

This episode heroes Black women speaking about the particular prejudices they face. In a long-form interview, Mina Smallman - teacher, pastor and mother of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, whose murders exposed racist police neglect and abuse - shares the pain, passion and learnings that went into her new book, A Better Tomorrow: Life Lessons in Hope and Strength.

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

Speakers:

• Dr Marina Hasan, criminologist
• Marcia Ore, Diversity, Equality and Inclusion consultant & former West Midlands Police Officer
• Mina Smallman, pastor & author

Resources:

• Order Mina Smallman’s book, A Better Tomorrow
• Request Media Storm’s policing data 
• Support Media Storm on Patreon

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Hopefully not by relying too heavily on our mainstream media. Listen to this episode to find out why!

It’s a dose of media literacy that is so essential, especially in this year of elections. We speak to CEO of independent press regulator Impress, Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana, and TikTok journalist Sophia Smith Galer, about the party politics of our papers, the cringiest MPs rapping on TikTok to try and sway a Gen-Z vote, and how actually engage young people in politics.

Plus, no-filter host of Saving Grace podcast GK Barry joins Media Storm to talk about her latest project 'The Turnout'. Take note, if enough young people vote, Alastair Campbell will be forced to watch an episode of Love Island with her.

Hosts: Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

Music: Samfire (@soundofsamfire)

Assistant Producer: Katie Grant

Support us on Patreon!

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Luckily, there’s also lots to laugh about! From hilariously hopeless Pride ads to everything that comes out of Olga Koch’s mouth - and lots to gossip about too, with celebrity “queerbaiting” up on the agenda.

We pick our way through Pride’s best and worst reporting, including vital LGBTQIA+ investigations that went under the radar - with QueerAF editor Jamie Wareham, and comedian Olga Koch.

This week’s lived experience comes from teachers and trans youth, who share firsthand insights on headlines about “gender ideology”, as both the Conservatives and Labour pledge to rigidly censor gender-related education ahead of the general election.

Plus, your round-up of the headlines through a Media Storm lens, including debunking myths of a Labour "supermajority", Just Stop Oil's stonehenge protest, and Rwanda refugee watch.

And finally… GETTING READY FOR GLASTONBURY?! Find out how Traveller culture has shaped modern-day music festivals, and how you can celebrate them as you celebrate Glastonbury.

Hosts: Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

Music: Samfire (@soundofsamfire)

Assistant Producer: Katie Grant

Support Media Storm on Patreon 

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World Refugee Day feels especially relevant at Media Storm, because refugees make one of the strongest cases for this podcast’s existence. They are one of the groups characterised most frequently and most voicelessly in our mainstream media, and consequently, clouded by myth.

Joining us to bust some of the biggest myths about refugees are two people with lived experience - Journalist, Editor-in-Chief at Egyptwatch, and host of the podcast Untold Stories, Osama Gaweesh - and Afghan journalist, newsreader, and women's rights activist, Zahra Shaheer.

We talk about what the mainstream news media so sorely lacks - the focus on inclusion, positivity, and solutions. Plus, we discuss the biggest story in UK immigration and election news - the Tories' Rwanda deportation deal.

Find out more:

• Mobile Refugee Support
• Refugee Journalism Project
• IMIX

Follow us:

• Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)
• Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall)
• Media Storm (@mediastormpod)

Music: Samfire @soundofsamfire

Assistant Producer: Katie Grant

Support Media Storm on Patreon.

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Warning: strong language

Media Storm’s first series featured an investigation into ‘Rape justice: ‘What happens to the 98%?', when we discovered the fates of the many reported rapes that never make it to trial.

Today, we speak to “the lucky ones” - the 2% of victims who get the chance to go to court. Or do they? Many are pushed to leave the courtroom and miss the bulk of their trial… and then they must pay tens of thousands of pounds to find out what happened inside.

Are government contractors getting rich off of victims’ suffering? Or is someone trying to hide something?

This is an investigation into the transparency of the UK’s justice system, and the treatment of women and victims during rape and sexual assault trials.

Links:

• Discover the campaign: ‘Open Justice For All’
• Listen to our original investigation
• Support Media Storm investigations on Patreon

Speakers:

• Juliana Terlizzi @juterlizzi
• Charlotte @charlottschreu
• Open Justice For All @openjustice4all @openjusticeforall

Hosts:

• Mathilda Mallinson @mathildamall
• Helena Wadia @helenawadia

Music:

• Samfire @soundofsamfire

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The Labour Party candidate selection committee called into question tweets that Faiza had 'liked', some from 10 years ago. But behind the apparent distractions of old tweets is something far more sinister: what Faiza has described as “a systematic campaign of racism, Islamophobia, and bullying".

Are people of colour held to a higher standard in public and in the media? We discuss this, how the routine dehumanisation of brown skinned people has lead to desensitisation when it comes to coverage of Palestine, and why we need to push beyond 'representation'.

Plus, your round up of the headlines through a Media Storm lens - Government policies putting a dampener on Pride Month, a hidden story about Israeli interference in the ICC that didn't make it to the mainstream, does the media gives Nigel Farage a free pass, and was the viral AI-generated 'All Eyes on Rafah' image 'slacktivism'?

Joining Helena this week is GUEST HOST Coco Khan (Pod Save the UK)

We are joined in the studio by Sharan Dhaliwal, founder of feminist South Asian magazine Burnt Roti, and Shaista Aziz, ex-Labour councillor, journalist, and director of The Three Hijabis.

Hosts: Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

Music: Samfire (@soundofsamfire)

Assistant Producer: Katie Grant

Support Media Storm on Patreon.

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Last season, former UN Security Council President Kishore Mahbubani criticised the "arrogance" of the UK media and its failure to expose people in 'the West' to how 88% of the world's population see things differently to them.

South Africa gives us some clues as to why. Their coverage of the raging conflict in Gaza paints a far more black-and-white narrative of events, condemning Israeli "apartheid" and "genocide" against Palestinians. Meanwhile, coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine muddies the stark solidarity expressed in Western media.

We speak to South African Political Analyst Mpumelelo Mkhabela, comedian Tats Nkonzo, and South African former politician Andrew Feinstein about Israel-Palestine and Russia-Ukraine. And we hear from South Africans spanning classes, genders, races, ages to hear how their voting today – collectively, their testimonies tell us as much about our own democracies as theirs.

Hosts: Helena Wadia (@helenawadia) and Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall)

Music: @soundofsamfire

Support us on Patreon! patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast

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This episode was recorded just before the general election was announced! Register to vote here.

This week, it was reported the number of Met police officers being dismissed reached a new peak. A police officer has been handed a guilty sentence for assault, after arresting and handcuffing a Black woman over an apparent bus fare evasion. And last year the Casey Review found the Met Police was institutionally sexist, racist and homophobic.

Have we made any progress? And is reform possible? If one bad apple spoils the barrel...

Joining Helena this week is GUEST HOST Coco Khan (Pod Save the UK)

This week, we are joined by Patsy Stevenson - the campaigner, equal rights activist, and writer who was awarded damages by the Met Police after being forcibly arrested in 2021 at the Clapham Common vigil for Sarah Everard.

We're also joined by Dr Leyla Hussein - psychotherapist and activist, specialising in supporting survivors of sexual abuse. She's the founder of the Dahlia Project, the first counselling service specifically for survivors of female genital mutilation (FGM), and the co-founder of Safe Spaces for Black Women.

Plus, your round-up of the headlines through a Media Storm lens - we discuss the Government's new sex education proposals (have your say here), a failed crackdown on protesting, and a hidden climate headline you might have missed.

Hosts: Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

Music: Samfire (@soundofsamfire)

Assistant Producer: Katie Grant

Researcher: Sophie Clark

Support Media Storm on Patreon.

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One climate-related story has haunted UK news cycles for almost five years: The London mayor’s controversial Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). Yet it's not reported as a climate story at all - so much as a political one.

This week, we're joined by Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, mother of the Ella, the only person in the world with pollution listed as her legal cause of death. She tells us air pollution is a human story, not a political one.

We're also joined by Akshat Rathi, award winning climate reporter at Bloomberg Green, host of the podcast 'Zero', and author of Climate Capitalism, to discuss solutions-focussed climate reporting.

Plus, your round up of the headlines through a Media Storm lens - we discuss Rwanda, Voter ID, the power of boycotts at Eurovision and The Great Escape festival, and why no journalist should doorstop national treasure Rylan's mum.

Hosts: Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

Music: Samfire (@soundofsamfire)

Assistant Producer: Katie Grant

Support Media Storm on Patreon patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast

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Our key voices today are people with terminal illnesses - as we discuss the late Kris Hallenga’s legacy beyond 'CoppaFeel!' and the debates on assisted dying laws unfolding across the British Isles. And - we reveal the inside scoop on a controversial BBC documentary dropping next week on ‘assisted suicide’.

Plus, your round up of the headlines through a Media Storm lens - if you read right-leaning papers you’ll have gotten an eyeful, but left-leaning readers are left in the dark… We pick apart a divisive story about a Holocaust Memorial Day protest in Poland. It’s a story that tells us more about the media than what’s actually happening on the ground.

This episode features lived experience speakers Jenny Carruthers, Kit, Gareth, Anne and Warwick. Plus Lord Charlie Falconer, comedian and host of Conversations in Company Isabelle Farah, and Sarah Wootton from Dignity in Dying. Access their open letter here.

Hosts: Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)

Music: Samfire (@soundofsamfire)

Assistant Producer: Katie Grant

Read our Q&A in PodBible!

Support Media Storm on Patreon.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Get a taste for what is to come from your essential guide to today’s chaotic clickbait climate.

It's your weekly current affairs round-up - but not as you know it. Featuring cross-platform comparisons, shrewd bullsh*t-radars, and finding the facts behind the fear-mongering, Media Storm is guaranteed to leave you with plenty to talk about.

Out weekly, every Thursday from May 2nd.

Follow us @mediastormpod @helenawadia @mathildamall

Become a supporter: patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Helena Wadia & Mathilda Mallinson sit down in conversation with journalist Masuma Ahuja on Little Revolutions, a podcast by Freeda.

Little Revolutions is a series of conversations about the double standards, societal problems, and systemic injustices that feel bigger than any one of us. Every week, guests share relatable little revolutions they’re making in their own lives and the ways in which we can all be changemakers.

Helena & Mathilda discuss setting up Media Storm, what they would say to their younger selves, and give you juicy stories from working inside the mainstream media.

Follow us!

• Freeda @freeda_en
• Masuma Ahuja @masumaahuja
• Mathilda Mallinson @mathildamall
• Helena Wadia @helenawadia
• Media Storm @mediastormpod

We've launched a Patreon. If you want to support us for a small monthly fee, head to patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Warning: This episode contains mentions of suicide

Justyna Wydrzyñska is appealing a criminal conviction in Poland for sending abortion pills to a desperate woman in an abusive relationship. She joins us in an exclusive interview about feminist solidarity, hope in hard times, and the empty promises of political campaigns.

As almost every country in the world moves to steadily liberalise abortion access and women’s reproductive rights, four male presidents have done the opposite, making radical antidemocratic maneuvers to clamp down on women’s bodily autonomy.

Among them, the USA, where the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade and deprived a generation of women of a constitutional right they had always known.

And Poland, where the Law and Justice Party has infiltrated the courts and virtually eradicated legal access to abortion. But October’s historic election overturned their majority, as women and young people flocked to the polls in record numbers. Abortion was centre stage in the campaigns and one woman’s case was at the heart of it all.

As well as Justyna, we hear from Amnesty International UK’s lead for Women’s Human Rights, Chiara Capraro, and US abortion rights activist Renee Bracey Sherman, about worldwide trends and mainstream media misinformation.

This episode is brought to you as part of Amnesty International’s Write for Rights campaign – get involved: https://tinyurl.com/3usebvje

The episode was created by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

Subscribe to our Patreon for access to FOI data, extended video interviews and more: https://www.patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast

Sources

• Impact of Poland’s 2020 abortion restriction: https://tinyurl.com/2whhc5tf
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights: https://tinyurl.com/yeykpstx

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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The war in Gaza involves everyone, as the global community is drawn onto a battlefield of competing sympathies - sympathies that should coexist.

Propagandists, Islamophobes and antisemites alike are pushing black-and-white narratives that feed violence and hate. The independent press should be a bulwark against this.

But we do not think the press are doing enough. Western news media is failing to educate the public about geopolitical biases, and to expose us to worldviews that challenge our own.

We cannot hand our listeners the truth, but we can better equip you to identify it.

In this investigation, Media Storm uncovers firsthand stories of militancy in Northern Ireland and Apartheid South Africa which shine new light on terror and resistance: Tony Doherty, the son of a Bloody Sunday victim who sought justice through the IRA, and Black South African freedom fighters who waged war against the Apartheid. Testimonies of "terrorism" are largely absent from mainstream news. We believe that seeking out human perspectives to explain resistance and radicalism is not only a journalist’s right, but a journalist’s imperative.

We have very special guests joining for our season 3 finale. They challenge listeners to look beyond the Western worldview and teach us how to spot propaganda in the news: former UN Security Council President, Kishore Mahbubani; Lebanese war reporter and journalism professor, Zahera Harb; and Afghan author and political refugee, Gulwali Passarlay.

The episode is created by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire). Tayyibah Apabhai assisted as researcher.

Learn more

• Download Kishore Mahbubani’s free e-book, along with 3.3 million other users: https://mahbubani.net/the-asian-21st-century/
• Read Tony Doherty’s autobiography, This Man’s Wee Boy…
• …and Gulwali Passarlay’s: The Lightless Sky

Speakers

• Tony Doherty @tonydutchdoc
• Liberation Struggle for War Veterans, South Africa
• Kishore Mahbubani @mahbubani_k
• Zahera Harb @HarbZ1
• Gulwali Passarlay @gulwali_passarlay

More on Media Storm

• Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
• Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
• Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@mediastormpod
• Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MediaStormPod
• Email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• Website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Media Storm first launched from the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is part three of Media Storm's LIVE SHOW at London Podcast Festival!

Join us as we look back at the biggest media storm's from 2023 - this week, we talk about the ongoing sexism row in Spanish football, after Luis Rubiales 'kissed' football player Jenni Hermoso without her consent following Spain's World Cup win.

With special guests Times journalist Manveen Rana and comedian Athena Kugblenu.

Follow:

•Manveen Rana @ManveenRana

•Athena Kugblenu @athenakugblenu

•Helena Wadia @helenawadia

•Mathilda Mallinson @mathildamall

•Samfire @soundofsamfire

Get in touch:

•Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod

•or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod

•or Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@mediastormpod

•like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MediaStormPod

•send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com

•check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Media Storm was launched by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is part two of Media Storm's LIVE SHOW at London Podcast Festival! 

Join us as we look back at the biggest media storm's from 2023, including the Titan submersible implosion - and next week, the ongoing sexism row in Spanish football. 

With special guests Times journalist Manveen Rana and comedian Athena Kugblenu. 

Follow:

•Manveen Rana @ManveenRana

•Athena Kugblenu @athenakugblenu

•Helena Wadia @helenawadia

•Mathilda Mallinson @mathildamall

•Samfire @soundofsamfire

Get in touch:

•Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod

•or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod

•or Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@mediastormpod

•like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MediaStormPod

•send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com

•check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Media Storm was launched by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is part one of Media Storm's LIVE SHOW at London Podcast Festival!

Join us as we look back at the biggest media storm's from 2023, including the Huw Edwards scandal and - in the next two weeks - the Titan submersible implosion and the ongoing sexism row in Spanish football.

With special guests Times journalist Manveen Rana and comedian Athena Kugblenu.

Follow:

• Manveen Rana @ManveenRana
• Athena Kugblenu @athenakugblenu
• Helena Wadia @helenawadia
• Mathilda Mallinson @mathildamall
• Samfire @soundofsamfire

Get in touch:

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
• or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
• or Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@mediastormpod
• like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MediaStormPod
• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Media Storm was launched by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A few weeks ago we released an episode about temporary accommodation, social housing, and how the media reports on it - if you haven't heard it, scroll back and search for "Housing crisis: A lifetime in 'temporary' accommodation".

In this bonus episode, you'll hear us discussing an article that we couldn't quite fit into the main episode - from the Daily Mail, the headline reads "Fury as migrants allowed out of RAF asylum accommodation 'riddled with scurvy and scabies' to stay with relatives - with some even being 'moved back to taxpayer funded hotels'"

Our guest, Kwajo Tweneboa, is a social issues campaigner leading the charge for meaningful housing reform. But another social issue he cares deeply about is refugee rights. And in this bonus episode, we’re going to see how the two meet - how those in insecure housing and refugees are often pitted against each other, to distract us from the real problem.

Follow:

• Kwajo Tweneboa @Kwajotweneboa
• Helena Wadia @helenawadia
• Mathilda Mallinson @mathildamall
• Samfire @soundofsamfire

Get in touch:

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
• or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
• or Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@mediastormpod
• like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MediaStormPod
• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Media Storm was launched by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week - though an 'open secret' in the media industry - it was revealed by the Times, the Sunday Times, and Channel 4 Dispatches that Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault, and emotional abuse. 

Four women have alleged sexual assaults between 2006 and 2013, others have made a range of accusations about Brand’s controlling, abusive and predatory behaviour. More women have come forward since the article and documentary aired. Brand denied the allegations and said his relationships have all been consensual, and said there is a mainstream media conspiracy theory to take him down.

In this bonus episode, we address Brand's announcement of a 'mainstream media conspiracy', plus other reactionary statements including 'Why didn't she say anything before?', 'What about false accusations?', and - often the biggest statement when rich and famous men are accused of sexual assault - 'Innocent until proven guilty!'.

To address the crucial context of systemic failures that’s often missing from the conversation on rape convictions, we then revisit our Series 1 investigation: "Rape Justice: What happens to the 98%?"

The charge rate of rape is less than 2%. The investigation features rape survivors not just from the UK, but from the US and Europe too: however varied their experiences or assault, silence and injustice are themes that shape them all. They attest to the multitude of reasons why victims may not go to the police; and why even when they DO go to the police, they may come to regret it.

Sources:

• CPS Q3 and Q4 reports for 2022-2023

Speakers:

• Alison Turkos @alisonturkos
• Pieke Roelofs @pieke_r www.photoandgrime.com
• Verity Nevitt @veritynevitt www.thegeminiproject.org
• Dame Vera Baird, Victim’s Commissioner @VictimsComm
• Sarah Crew, National Police Chiefs Council @aspsarah_crew
• Siobhan Blake, Crown Prosecution Service @CPSUK @crownprosecutors

Your hosts are @helenawadia and @mathildamall.

Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire.

We've launched a Patreon. If you want to support us for a small monthly fee, head to patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast

Media Storm was launched by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Join Media Storm LIVE at Kings Place, London, Saturday 16th Sep, 7pm: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/media-storm-2/

This is the final instalment of Media Storm’s three-part investigation into racially discriminatory police recruitment: and it’s time to talk solutions.

What needs to be done to ensure that Black applicants to UK police forces are no longer 60% more likely to be rejected than White ones? Is internal reform enough, or are more radical measures needed?

This episode investigates positive action schemes and revolutionary models of community policing. The hosts brainstorm with the UK’s best-performing police force when it comes to minority pass rates, Dyfed-Powys in Wales, as well as former and serving police officers with expertise in recruitment and lived experience of racial profiling and discrimination.

The episode is created by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

Subscribe to Media Storm on Patreon for access to our FOI data: https://www.patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast 

Guests

• Karen Geddes, The Thin Black Line @KarenGeddesQPM
• Karyn Howells, Dyfed-Powys Recruitment Lead
• Nia Rees, Dyfed-Powys Positive Action Officer
• Dr Pete Jones, psychologist @fatwhitebloke
• Brendan O’Brien, Bluelight founder
• Charles Ehikioya, Metropolitan Black Police Association @ChazzzaCr

Contact us

• Twitter, Insta, TikTok, Facebook: @mediastormpod
• Email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com

Media Storm first launched from the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Join Media Storm LIVE at Kings Place, London, Saturday 16th Sep, 7pm: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/media-storm-2/

Last week, Media Storm made national headlines after uncovering proof that UK police recruiters were rejecting ethnic minorities at discriminatory rates. Today we ask: why?

What stages of the recruitment process are causing this disparity? What social factors besides ethnicity are playing a role?

We put these questions to seniors in the National Police Chiefs Council, Black Police Association and Metropolitan Police, police officers who’ve been through the process, and research experts. Join us for a thorough autopsy of the assessment process, a process Black applicants are 60% more likely to fail than White ones.

The episode is created by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

Buy the team a coffee on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast 

Guests

• Brendan O’Brien, Bluelight
• Janette McCormick, Uplift and National Police Chief’s Council @jem7069
• Andy George, President of National Black Police Association @andygeorgeni
• Dr Pete Jones, psychologist @fatwhitebloke
• Leroy Loga, Black Police Association co-founder @LeroyLogan999
• Charles Ehikioya, Metropolitan Black Police Association @ChazzzaCr
• Karen Geddes, The Thin Black Line @KarenGeddesQPM

Sources

• Subscribe to Media Storm on Patreon for access to FOI data: https://www.patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast 
• Baroness Casey report: https://www.met.police.uk/SysSiteAssets/media/downloads/met/about-us/baroness-casey-review/update-march-2023/baroness-casey-review-march-2023a.pdf

Contact us

• Twitter, Insta, TikTok, Facebook: @mediastormpod
• Email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com

Media Storm first launched from the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Join Media Storm LIVE at Kings Place, London, Saturday 16th Sep, 7pm: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/media-storm-2/

This is the first in a three-part Media Storm investigation into institutional racism in UK police forces. In it, we provide statistical evidence of institutional racism at a recruitment level and, with the help of lived experience, identify where it is occurring and how to fix it.

This investigation follows the conclusion of Police Uplift, a three-year initiative by the Conservative Government to recruit 20,000 new police officers. This was a once-in-a-generation opportunity to ensure police forces represent the communities they serve, an opportunity that the government and National Police Chief’s Council promised would be seized.

Yet Media Storm’s data falsifies a key assumption informing their diversity schemes, one that is also used to excuse slow progress: the idea that People of Colour are less likely to apply to be police officers than people of White British ethnicity. For Police Uplift, Media Storm reveals, Minority Ethnic groups were over-represented among police candidates, but underrepresented among those appointed.

This proves that the problem lies not with communities but with the assessment process, during which minorities are eliminated at discriminatory rates. Join Media Storm and guest experts for an in-depth dive into what is going wrong, as we ask the question: What does “institutional racism” actually mean?

The episode is created by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

Buy the team a coffee on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast 

Guests

• Dr Pete Jones @fatwhitebloke
• Chris Donaldson, co-founding member of National Black Police Association @trojan1963
• Andy George, President of NBPA @andygeorgeni

Sources

• Subscribe to Media Storm on Patreon for access to FOI data: https://www.patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast 
• Police Uplift appointment data (can beaccessed quarterly): https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-officer-uplift-quarterly-update-to-march-2023
• Police Uplift announcement: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/national-campaign-to-recruit-20000-police-officers-launches-today
• Ethnic representation preceding Uplift: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/955182/police-workforce-mar20-hosb2020.pdf

Media Storm first launched from the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Media Storm will be LIVE at London Podcast Festival, Saturday 16th September at 7pm. BOOK your tickets now: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/media-storm-2/

Content warning: This episode features mentions of domestic abuse, self-harm, and addiction.

The definition of temporary is ‘lasting for only a limited period of time; not permanent’. Yet in the UK, more and more families are finding themselves in temporary accommodation which feels anything but short-lived.

With reports of people living for multiple years in so-called 'temporary' housing, just last month, government statistics showed that the number of households in temporary accommodation in England had hit a 25-year high: nearly 105,000 households, including more than 131,000 children. And that's not all - we've heard from families who have lived together in one hotel room for months on end, who have stayed in places with damp, mould, a lack of heating, or worse.

So how is this ever worsening crisis solved? This week, Media Storm sets out to speak to people who have lived in temporary accommodation and ask them what they think the solutions are. Plus, we hear from the chair of the London Housing Panel about bringing lived experience into policy-making, and from London's Deputy Mayor for Housing Tom Copely.

We are joined in the studio by social issues campaigner and presenter Kwajo Tweneboa, who, after experiencing the UK housing crisis first-hand, is leading the charge for meaningful housing reform.

Featured:

With thanks to Aishah Siddiqa at Heard heard.org.uk, the charity working with people and the media to inspire content and communication that changes hearts and minds, for putting us in touch with Rebecca, Aga, and Jenni.

• @londonrentersunion
• @tomcopley
• trustforlondon.org.uk/what-we-do/housing/london-housing-panel/
• @kwajotweneboa

Sources:

• English Housing Survey data https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-housing-survey-2015-to-2016-headline-report 
• Latest figures on temp housing https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statutory-homelessness-in-england-january-to-march-2023/statutory-homelessness-in-england-january-to-march-2023

Your hosts are @helenawadia and @mathildamall. Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire.

Media Storm was launched by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/media-storm-2/ 

If you're a Lord of the Rings fan, you may know Nazanin Boniadi from her portrayal of Bronwyn in the Rings of Power. If you follow her online, you may be aware of her determined activism. 

Since 2008, Nazanin has represented Amnesty International’s campaigns for the restoration of stolen human rights. In the aftermath of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Nazanin's parents fled Iran for safety in London. Her fight may have started in her mother's womb, but it certainly didn't end there. 

Since September 2022, a new revolution has been ongoing in Iran after Mahsa Amini, a 22 year-old woman, died in police custody. Her crime? Allegedly violating Iran’s strict rules requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab. Nazanin has been fighting for the voices of Iranian women & girls to be heard worldwide.

In this bonus episode, we speak to Nazanin about how to report on Iran - and crises around the world - without demonising foreign cultures.  

Buy the team a coffee on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast 

This episode is created by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). The music is by @soundofsamfire.

Follow Media Storm at @mediastormpod.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aid budgets have been hit hard by Covid and economic upheaval. But the hardest hit of all are women and girls. Just last week, UK headlines revealed the government’s slashes to humanitarian aid mean hundreds of thousands more women will face unsafe abortions and deaths from pregnancy - by their own assessment.

Why are women worse affected?

Because crisis is sexist. When disaster strikes, women are 17 times more likely to die than men. But they are underrepresented in decision-making about how aid is distributed, and so the solutions rarely reflect this.

For World Humanitarian Day, Media Storm has partnered with the International Rescue Committee to platform the lived experience of women in disaster zones— not just as victims, but as leaders of solutions. The IRC makes a conscious effort to place women at the centre of emergency responses, and has connected us with pioneers in Yemen, Pakistan and the world’s biggest refugee camp: Kakuma, in Kenya. We also hear voices from Afghanistan, Nigeria and North American indigenous communities, who reveal how conflict and climate change disproportionately impact women and girls.

We are joined in the studio by Amnesty ambassador Nazanin Boniadi (who also fights for justice in Middle Earth - see The Rings of Power), to look at how a male-dominated mainstream media and Eurocentric headlines can hide the realities facing women of the world. We look at the unique case of Iran, where women have revolted following the state murder of Jina Mahsa Amini, and the press’ crucial role in fighting for human rights for everybody.

Buy the team a coffee on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast 

The episode is created by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

Featured

• Shabnam Baloch, IRC country director in Pakistan (@Shabnambalouch1)
• Rachel Heaton, Mazaska Talks (@MazaskaTalks)
• IRC (@RESCUEorg)
• Amnesty (@AmnestyUK, @amnesty)
• Nazanin Boniadi (@NazaninBoniadi)

Sources

• Intro: https://www.undp.org/blog/women-are-hit-hardest-disasters-so-why-are-responses-too-often-gender-blind 
• Kakuma: https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/796 
• UK aid cuts: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9663/ ; https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/climate-and-people/uk-g7-country-cut-aid-covid-pandemic/ 

Contact us

• Twitter, Insta, TikTok, Facebook: @mediastormpod
• Email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com

Media Storm first launched from the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For this week's bonus episode, two podcasts have joined forces: Media Storm and Immigrantly!

Immigrantly is a podcast that discusses deeply personal conversations around race, identity, and the immigrant experience, hosted by Saadia Khan.

Media Storm host Helena was on Saadia's podcast a few weeks ago to discuss her life as a second generation immigrant in London. You can hear that episode here, but first, Mathilda and Helena sat down with Saadia to find out more about her, her life from Pakistan to America, and why she set up Immigrantly.

Get in touch:

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
• or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
• or Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@mediastormpod
• like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MediaStormPod
• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Find out more about Immigrantly: immigrantlypod.com

Follow Saadia Khan @kh_saadi

Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. 

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Around the world, El Niño is causing extreme weather events and soaring global temperatures to alarming levels.

Meanwhile in the UK, Labour is playing internal blame-games after a by-election defeat in Boris Johnson’s old seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip.

What do these two stories have in common?

Running through the UK’s political factionalism is a debate over London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s plan to expand ULEZ. This is a debate about climate policy, but climate is missing from its coverage.

In this bonus episode, Mathilda and Helena discuss the week’s top headlines and the missing links between them. We’ll then revisit a studio discussion with climate podcast producer Thimali Kodikara, to examine what the mainstream media could be doing better.

Buy the team a coffee on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast 

This bonus episode is created by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

More on Media Storm

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
• or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
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• like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MediaStormPod
• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Media Storm was first launched the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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LIVE SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT: Media Storm will be LIVE at the London Podcast Festival this September, on Saturday 16th at 7pm! Book tickets now to join us as we breakdown the craziest headlines of 2023: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/media-storm-2/

Are trans rights a threat to women? Or is that narrative itself the real threat?

Actor, author and activist Charlie Craggs joins Helena and Mathilda in the studio for this week's bonus episode, to pick apart mainstream media efforts to pitch cis women against their trans counterparts: where has it come from, who is it serving, and how is it being weaponised against women themselves?

The hosts also spill the beans from their trip to Parliament, which took an unexpected turn for the transphobic.

Buy the girls a coffee on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast 

This bonus episode is created by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

More on Media Storm

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
• or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
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• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Media Storm was first launched the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Scotland recently joined approximately 30 countries in implementing a progressive gender self-identification law. The Gender Recognition Reform Bill, aiming to streamline the process of transgender people obtaining a Gender Recognition Certificate, passed by 86 votes to 39. But the celebrations were short-lived. 

The British government - or, one member of that government, the Scottish Secretary of State Alister Jack, - blocked the Bill in an unprecedented move and constitutional first. Fears were cited that legislation could have an adverse impact on the Equality Act 2010, and therefore across the UK in areas like single sex spaces.

Transgender people do not need a Gender Recognition Certificate to access any single-sex spaces. But across the media, Scotland’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill was linked with transgender access to single-sex spaces.

So what happened? What changes did the Bill actually propose? This week, Media Storm speaks to transgender people who have applied for Gender Recognition Certificates, about what the changes mean in real life, and asks what we can learn from other countries like Iceland and Ireland that already have progressive Self-ID laws in place.

We're joined in the studio by author, actress, and activist Charlie Craggs to discuss media representation of the transgender community and gender self-ID. 

Speakers:

• Arthur Webber @BernieTranders 
• Asher Gibson @gibson_asher @A_B_Gbsn
• Ugla Stefanía Kristjönudóttir Jónsdóttir (Owl) @uglastefania
• Aoife Martin @aoifemrtn
• Charlie Craggs @charlie_craggs

With thanks to Heard heard.org.uk

The voice of 'Sarah' is Theo Stinson 

Sources:

• Scotland Ministerial Statement https://www.scottishparliament.tv/meeting/ministerial-statement-challenge-to-the-uk-governments-section-35-order-on-the-gender-recognition-reform-scotland-bill-april-19-2023 
• Statement of reasons related to the use of section 35 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statement-of-reasons-related-to-the-use-of-section-35-of-the-scotland-act-1998
• Gender Recognition Reform Bill factsheet https://www.gov.scot/publications/gender-recognition-reform-scotland-bill-more-information/
• Scotland's trans self-ID bill no risk for women https://www.reuters.com/article/britain-scotland-lgbt-idUSL8N33949W
• Mermaids’ research into newspaper coverage on trans issues https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/news/exclusive-mermaids-research-into-newspaper-coverage-on-trans-issues/

Your hosts are @helenawadia and @mathildamall. Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire.

Media Storm was launched by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Helena & Mathilda were in the halls of Westminster to speak to MPs and Parliamentarians about misogyny in the media: how the media can responsibly report on domestic abuse and gender-based violence, and why lived-experience should be at the heart of reporting. 

We were invited by Hacked Off (@hackedoffcampaign), the group calling for reform of UK press self-regulation. We were joined by Impress (@impress_org), a self-regulatory body for UK publishers, The Fawcett Society (@fawcettsociety), the UK's leading charity campaigning for gender equality and women's rights, and Melanie Skyes (@msmelaniesykes), TV presenter and Editor-in-chief of the The Frank Magazine. You can also buy Melanie's new book 'Illuminated' now!

In this bonus episode, you can hear from the amazing women who spoke in Parliament, and then listen back to part of Media Storm's third ever episode - where we spoke with two gender equality activists, Dr Leyla Hussain and Gina Martin, about how the mainstream media upholds misogyny and depicts victims of sexual assault - and what we should do about it. 

If you are a victim of domestic violence, you can call Refuge for free on 0808 2000 247

Get in touch

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
• or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
• or Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@mediastormpod
• like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MediaStormPod
• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. 

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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The Conservatives succeeded in their manifesto pledge to recruit 20,000 new police officers by 2023. But with growing awareness of sexism, racism and violent offending within the police, is this for better or worse? Media Storm has uncovered early evidence that racist recruitment practices were at play, with Black applicants more than 40% more likely to be rejected than White applicants.

This finding is consistent with data from the College of Policing that spans forces across England and Wales, as well as averages taken across the 12 individual forces that provided Media Storm access to their records.

A spokeswoman from the College of Policing responded: “Policing is currently more diverse than it has ever been before. Our data which is based on all 43 forces within England and Wales shows an increase of 15.9% of Ethnic Minority and 19.3% of Black candidates passing the assessment process since May 2020, ensuring we are now better able than ever to represent the communities we are serving.

"College of Policing encourages all forces to interview candidates following success at the online assessment process. We provide guidance on the interview process to ensure all recruits are consistently and fairly assessed to the same high standards.

"Whilst we are proud that policing is the most diverse it has ever been, we recognise that there is more to be done to be a fully inclusive organisation. We are working hard alongside forces to understand all aspects of the recruitment process and how to ensure it is as fair and consistent as possible.”

Media Storm is off in search of police officers who will tell us what’s going on behind the PR machine. They shine a light on internal problems ranging from grassroots cultures to leadership structures, and external problems like politics and (yes, you guessed it) the mainstream media.

Mathilda and Helena are joined in the studio by Dr Leroy Logan MBE (@LeroyLogan999), founding member of the Black Police Association and one of the original officers to testify to institutional racism during the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, and Chantelle Lunt (@chantellelunt), Merseyside police officer-turned-BLM Leader. They pick apart mainstream media mistruths and policing PR and discuss how we can work together to bring about positive change.

The episode is created by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

Learn more:

• Watch “G’s” story in the BAFTA-winning short film, The Black Cop, online at The Guardian
• Listen to Oliver Laurence’s Protect and Serve wherever you get your podcasts
• Read The Thinner Blue Line, by Sophie A. Matthews

Speakers:

• Dr Pete Jones @fatwhitebloke
• Gamal ‘G’ Turawa @PurpleWisdom
• Sophie A Matthews @sophieamatt
• Owen West @PolicingCrowds
• Adam Pugh @AdamPugh
• Oliver Laurence @Protect_ServeUK

Media Storm was first launched the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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It’s World Refugee Week and the results are in: join us as we crunch the latest numbers on global displacement, to see how Europe and the UK are ranking on the hospitality charts.

Spoiler: it’s not very well.

This bonus episode combines new data with lived experience testimonies, as we revisit some of the stories from our first ever episode, ‘El Dorado: Why do refugees love the UK?’

The episode is created by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

Sources:

• UK asylum seekers: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn01403/
• EU asylum seekers: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_asyappctza/default/table?lang=en
• National population data: https://population.un.org/wpp/

More on Media Storm

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
• or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
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• like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MediaStormPod
• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Media Storm was first launched from the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What words come to mind when you hear the word 'strikes'? Delays, cancellations, chaos? With 'misery for ordinary people!' brandished across our headlines, it’s easy to see strikes as a general nuisance. But this week's episode of Media Storm looks beyond the everyday grumblings of train delays and travel chaos, to ask the question “what have trade unions ever done for me?”

Spoiler alert - quite a lot it seems.

Focussing on three key areas of union achievements - health & safety rights, wage increases, and equal pay - we speak to strikers standing on the shoulders of the first trade unionists. Hear from a Bristol midwife struggling with poor conditions who felt balloting for industrial action was the only answer, the then 23-year-old leader if the 2017 McStrike (who got the date tattooed on her arm!), and one of the warriors that won Glasgow women back almost three quarters of a billion pounds of stolen wages.

In the studio, we have General-Secretary of the ASLEF union Mick Whelan - who is no stranger to tough media rounds, to dissect the myths and latest headlines about strikes, unions, and workers - and tell us whether he really did schedule a rail strike over Eurovision...

Speakers:

• Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs
• Sophie Inman @midwives_rcm @MidwivesRCM
• Rhea Wolfson @rheawolfson
• Shen Batmaz 
• Mick Whelan @ASLEFunion

Sources:

• Scottish coal mining death rates eprints.gla.ac.uk/210374/7/210374.pdf 
• Working class journalists pressgazette.co.uk/media-audience-and-business-data/journalists-class-backgrounds/ 
• Royal College of Midwives rcm.org.uk 
• Glasgow council equal pay dispute gmbscotland.org.uk/assets/media/documents/unionline/ULS-News-October-2018.pdf 
• The McStrike waronwant.org/our-work/mcstrike

Get in touch:

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
• or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
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• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Your hosts are @helenawadia and @mathildamall. Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. 

Media Storm was launched by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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This is a chance for us to build a community space for our Media Storm listeners, where we can discuss ideas, share bonus material and get to know you all a little better! It’s also a chance for you to contribute to the work being done at Media Storm, if and how you can.

In this bonus episode, we’re also trialling some new bonus material as requested by listeners. You’ll hear an uncut interview from last week’s investigation about 'Medical cannabis and the criminalisation of chronic pain'. If you haven’t yet heard it, we encourage you to go back and listen first.

This raw material features our full-length interview with Dr Steve Hajioff, who will tell you all you need to know about how cannabis regulation works in the UK, and how cannabis interacts with the body to produce medicinal effects. It should also gives you some sense of just how much interview time goes into a single one of our investigations - which typically contain five or more interviews like this, all cut together in a 20-minute adventure!

Get in touch and let us know what kind of bonus material you’d like to see - whether it’s raw material like this, more episodes of our ‘This Is How You Do It’ interview series featuring media change makers, offcuts from studio discussions, Q&As with listeners, or anything else at all. You can reach us at mediastormpodcast@gmail.com or on social media @mediastormpod.

The episode is created by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

More on Media Storm

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
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• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com
• 
  

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

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The UK prescribes more opioid pain killers per capita than any other country in the world. This is in spite of NHS guidelines warning against its use for chronic pain. It is also in spite of a US opioid crisis that has plagued the nation with half a million fatal overdoses.

But opioids are not the only option. Medical cannabis has been legal in the UK for almost five years, yet fewer than five people have ever been prescribed it on the NHS for chronic pain. Private clinics, by contrast, have issued over 89,000 prescriptions for unlicensed cannabis medicines not available on the NHS.

Those who cannot afford private healthcare are left with a difficult choice: legal opioids, or illegal cannabinoids. And over a million are choosing the latter. Join us as we explore the UK’s thriving black medical market, meeting patients, police officers, doctors and dealers.

We also hear from those driving the UK's legal market in the face of many barriers, such as Arthur Wakeley, Managing Director of Celadon Pharmaceuticals Plc, and patients on their breakthrough clinical trial, who are fighting to spread awareness and acceptance of a plant that has been medically celebrated around the world for centuries, but painted as the world's worst drug in our own.

Mathilda and Helena are joined in the studio by football pro and chronic pain warrior Stevo (@stevothemadman: also known for his unhinged comedy stunts storming social media!). They examine the mainstream media’s approach to medical cannabis, asking questions of accuracy, balance and blatant mistruths. 

The episode is created by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

Guests

• Maria Kalinowska @m.a.kamera
• Arthur Wakeley @CeladonPharmaceuticals (LinkedIn)
• Jon Robson @mamedicauk
• Stevo the Madman @stevothemadman

Sources

• Chronic pain figures: https://bmjopen.bmj.com/ https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130105021744/http:/www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/AnnualReports/DH_096206
• Licensed cannabis medicines UK https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-source/improving-care/better-mh-policy/position-statements/ps05_19.pdf?sfvrsn=2db968d3_2
• Unlicensed cannabis prescription figures UK https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2023-01-06.117459.h&s=cannabis
• UK opioid prescriptions https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(21)00479-X/fulltext#%20
• US opioid deaths https://www.cdc.gov/opioids/basics/epidemic.html
• NHS chronic pain guidelines https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng193/chapter/Recommendations#managing-chronic-primary-pain
• Scale and cost of UK black market https://news.sky.com/story/rise-in-people-using-cannabis-to-treat-health-conditions-but-doctors-warn-patients-are-putting-themselves-at-risk-12828381
• Cannabis addiction rates https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2797098/

More on Media Storm

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
• or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
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• like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MediaStormPod
• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Our guest, Nigel Bromage, was once a member of a far-right group - and now, he runs Exit Hate UK, the charity helping people walk away from far-right extremism. Here, he tells us how they help to alert victims of radicalisation to dangerous fake news.

In this bonus episode, we discuss the collapse of trust in the mainstream media, and the explosion of alternative 'news' platforms - and in what ways this feeds the far-right. 

You can hear our full investigation into the radicalisation of Andy Leak, the man who bombed a Kent migrant centre last October, and the role played by mainstream news and politics, in the full episode on this topic. Scroll down a little and click on the episode titled 'Radical Thinking: How to fight the Far-Right'. 

Get in touch

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
• or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
• or Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@mediastormpod
• like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MediaStormPod
• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire.

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

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Why? Because migrant victims with insecure status have ‘no recourse to public funds’ - meaning they cannot access refuges, income support and other state benefits to help them escape abusers. Meanwhile, 'hostile environment' legislation is used to threaten them into silence. The result? Many migrant victims of abuse are stuck in a catch-22: stay with their abuser, or face destitution and deportation.

The bill's shortcomings have been put to the government. But in 2021, an amendment was rejected that would extend protections to all migrant women. Two years on, Media Storm speaks to survivors of immigration abuse, and those still fighting for legal reform, to see the real-life results of this omission.

We are joined in the studio by Janey Starling, award-winning feminist activist, writer and co-director of gender justice organisation Level Up, to discuss what the media can do better when reporting on domestic abuse. Janey spearheaded the UK’s first media guidelines on responsibly reporting domestic homicide, which are now backed by all press regulators and multiple newsrooms - find them below!

Speakers: 

• Somiya Basar @BasarSomiya
• Elizabeth Jiménez-Yáñez, Latin American Women's Rights Service @elizajiya @lawrsuk
• Nicole Jacobs @CommissionerDA
• Dr Hannana Siddiqui, Southall Black Sisters @hannanasiddiqui @SBSisters
• Janey Starling @janeyjstarling @we_level_up @levelup_uk

With thanks to Heard heard.org.uk

If you are a victim of domestic violence, you can call Refuge for free on 0808 2000 247

Sources:

• Media guidelines for reporting domestic homicide https://www.welevelup.org/active-campaigns/media-guidelines-domestic-abuse/ 
• Safety before Status: The Solutions: https://domesticabusecommissioner.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Safety-before-status-The-Solutions.pdf  
• UK police referred victims of domestic abuse to immigration authorities https://www.thedetail.tv/articles/uk-police-forces-referred-thousands-of-migrant-victims-of-crime-to-immigration-authorities
• Southall Black Sisters respond to Domestic Abuse Bill https://southallblacksisters.org.uk/news/the-struggle-continues-sbs-responds-to-gov-rejection-of-amendments-to-protect-migrant-women/ 

Get in touch

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
• or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
• or Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@mediastormpod
• like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MediaStormPod
• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. 

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Lack of awareness, late referrals and widespread stigma mean people are being denied life-saving diagnoses and treatments. That's why 12th May shall henceforth be known as Get Lippy day! A campaign by The Eve Appeal is determined to get us talking about gynaecological cancer. So in this bonus investigation episode from Media Storm, we meet medical professionals and patients with lessons that could save lives.

The episode is hosted by journalist Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall), and features Dr Aziza Sesay (@talkswithdrsesay), Lydia Brain (@lid_jar), Karen Hobbs (@karen_hobbs) and Dr Anita Mitra (@gynaegeek).

It was produced by Helena Wadia (@helenawadia) and Mathilda Mallinson. The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

Learn more: listen to Media Storm’s investigation into men and HPV.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

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As political polarisation stretches us to breaking point, co-hosts Mathilda and Helena head to the shadowy fringes of society to find out what pushes people to the far-right, and how we can pull them back.

For its season launch, Media Storm puts these questions to reformed Neo-Nazis, far-right grooming victims and undercover counter-extremists. We investigate the recruitment tactics of violent terrorists attempting to spread hatred, and uncover proof that mainstream media and politicians may be playing into their hands.

The episode features a deep-dive into a terrorist attack that no one remembers… the bombing of a Dover migrant centre late last year, that came with comments by the UK Home Secretary about an “invasion on our southern border”. Dr Rajan Basra unveils the untold story of the radicalisation of Andy Leak: what should’ve been a lesson for us all, but was lost to a 24-hour news cycle.

For part two, we're joined in the studio by former neo-Nazi, turned founder of Exit Hate UK, Nigel Bromage, to pick apart what the mainstream media could do better to tackle extremism.

Exit Hate UK offers non-judgemental support for individuals & families impacted by far-right extremism. For support please contact info@exithate.org

Speakers: 

• Julia Ebner @julie_renbe
• Dr Rajan Basra @rajanbasra
• Nigel Bromage @EXITUK1

Sources:

• Media guidelines for reporting on extremism: https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2021-10/ran_reporting_about_violent_extremism_pcve_challenges_journalists_17082021_en.pdf
• US press review: https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650220971142
• Dover fake news story: https://www.euronews.com/2023/04/20/debunk-did-migrants-throw-rocks-to-block-a-road-near-english-channel-crossing
• Home Office data on ethnicity and grooming gangs, 2020: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/944206/Group-based_CSE_Paper.pdf 

Get in touch

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Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. 

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

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Investigations will take us into the worlds of far-right radicalisation and international freedom fighters, elevate the voices of strikers and domestic abuse survivors, and investigate the problematic worlds of medicinal cannabis and UK policing… and that’s just a taste.

Make sure you’ve clicked follow so you don’t miss any releases!

Get in touch:

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In this special feature to launch our NEXT SEASON, Helena and Mathilda break down the different funding models that make up our mainstream media. They look at the ongoing warfare between ethical interests and economic ones and ask what it really means to be independent in journalism today.

We also hear all their plans for the coming new season! Watch. This. Space.

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Vote here: https://visionaryarts.org.uk/awards/vote/

From diversity and inclusion, to mental health awareness and the climate crisis, the Visionary Arts Awards showcases that people can create a positive change through arts and culture. So if you think Media Storm has made a social impact, we'd love your vote!

Plus, we're working on Series 3! We'll be back with a bonus episode next week explaining what we’ve been up to during our series break, and addressing some of the problems facing the journalism industry in keeping independent, ethical reporting alive and well.

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
• or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
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• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Your hosts are @mathildamall and @helenawadia

Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire.

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network

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In this bonus episode, Mathilda and Helena welcome comedians Deborah Frances-White and Isabelle Farah to discuss comedy's cultural power, comedians getting 'cancelled', and if and when jokes can go 'too far'...

For more information on The Guilty Feminist and other episodes:

• visit https://www.guiltyfeminist.com
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Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

The Guilty Feminist theme by Mark Hodge and produced by Nick Sheldon. Photo by Viktor Erik Emanuel/Kings Place

Media Storm music by Samfire (@soundofsamfire)

Thank you to our amazing Patreon supporters.

To support the podcast yourself, go to https://www.patreon.com/guiltyfeminist

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This week’s episode features the BBC World Service’s first global gender and identity correspondent, Megha Mohan (@meghamohan). Her reporting on women's rights, LGBT communities, race and ethnicity has global reach across 41 different languages, has taken her to six continents and includes exclusive interviews with Finland’s all-women coalition government, Samoa’s first woman Prime Minister and pop star Billie Eilish. We discuss global reporting of transgender rights, differences in 'identity politics' in the Global North and South and meritocracy in the media.

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia).

For more information on The Guilty Feminist and other episodes:

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Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

The Guilty Feminist theme is by Mark Hodge and produced by Nick Sheldon. Media Storm music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

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It happens to everybody but nobody wants to talk about it: the irony is, it's often the not talking about death that makes it such a terrible thing.

For our season finale, we bring you a special-length investigation into the real-life consequences of silence and stigma around dying. Doctors are restricted by it, patients isolated and otherised for it, families unable to prepare and grieve properly, and those who want choice about how they die are denied it and even criminalised. Media Storm speaks to families and individuals affected by terminal illness and grief about the choices and conversations they’d like to have more of.

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia), with research by Eliza Mellor. The music is by @soundofsamfire. With special thanks to On Road Media. 

Guests: 

• Ellie Ball @wee_ellster
• Dignity in Dying @dignityindying
• Dr Finella Craig, Great Ormond Street Hospital @GreatOrmondSt
• Simon Blake @simonblake
• Hospice UK's Dying Matters Campaign @hospiceuk @DyingMatters
• Aongola's Story https://bit.ly/3uDnX4N 

Resources:

• On Road Media's Children's Palliative Care project: https://bit.ly/3FyNdiY
• Jessie May Children's Hospices at Home: jessiemay.org.uk
• Together For Short Lives: https://bit.ly/2s8yYuu
• Simon Blake's blog https://bit.ly/3izLxNa
• Sisters & Brothers: Stories about the death of a sibling, by Julie Bentley and Simon Blake https://amzn.to/3VCFcPG

Sources:

• Terminal illness and 'suicide' https://bit.ly/3XZpPmd
• ONS findings https://bit.ly/3PgtmZd
• Brits assisted dying in Switzerland https://bit.ly/3BgRGEE
• Palliative care funding https://bit.ly/3iLIDoL
• Palliative care access https://bit.ly/3W0Qo8w
• Palliative care and life expectancy https://bit.ly/3FBCZP7
• British public opinions https://bit.ly/3iLIUrN
• YouGov poll https://bit.ly/3uuyboj

Get in touch:

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
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Media Storm hosts Mathilda and Helena meet their mainstream media matches! In this crossover bonus series with The Guilty Feminist, they interview journalists trying to make an imperfect industry a little bit less so, about their noble goals and - you guessed it - the hypocrisies and insecurities that undermine them! Brought to you by The Guilty Feminist, every other Thursday.

This week’s episode features all-around broadcast queen Leanne Alie (TW: @leannealie / IG: @leannealie_). The host and creator of Coiled - an award-winning documentary podcast about Black hair - also pulls the strings behind-the-scenes as a podcast commissioner for BBC Sounds, where she advocates to bring unheard voices into the mainstream media. She spills the beans on the Black hair industry, shares some surprising stories she’s brought to the table in her role as BBC commissioner, and explains why more Black joy is needed in our news.

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia).

For more information on The Guilty Feminist and other episodes:

• visit https://www.guiltyfeminist.com
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Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network. 

The Guilty Feminist theme is by Mark Hodge and produced by Nick Sheldon. Media Storm music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

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Welcome to The Menopause Revolution! A new era for a bodily phenomenon we were once too scared to call by name. Menopause is starting to show its face in our mainstream media, but how accurate is the coverage that has emerged? How much of it is stigma-smashing, and how much of it is scaremongering? And has all this talk resulted in any actual change?

This week, Media Storm speaks to older women in the workplace, with a close inspection of the regularly-reported story that 900,000 women in the UK population have been driven out of work due to menopause. We’ll meet some of the people behind those numbers, assess the reliability of its source, and question whether anything besides the midlife mistress is to blame. Working women often speak of feeling invisible, overlooked and unconfident as they get older, despite becoming increasingly knowledgeable and experienced in their fields. So is it menopause - or good old fashioned ageism and sexism? 

We are joined in the studio by Menopause Whilst Black host Karen Arthur and Effin' Hormones host Emma Goswell to talk about how the media covers menopause, rethink the representation of women in midlife, and pick apart some hare-brained headlines on hormone replacement therapy and more.

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia), with research by Eliza Meller. 

Guests:

• Sally Leech @MenopauseClub, Henpicked @T4W_Henpicked
• Rachel Lankester, Magnificent Midlife @MagnifMidlife
• Lisa Nicholls, Fair Treatment for the Women of Wales @FTWW_Wales 
• Riannon Palmer @lemuhn_
• Emma Goswell @emmagoswell @effinhormones
• Karen Arthur @thekarenarthur @menopausewhilstblack

Sources:

• BUPA Research https://bit.ly/3u0EFuR
• Channel 4 survey https://bit.ly/3UXkF8d
• Workplace menopause policies https://bit.ly/3EE3UI2
• Fastest growing workplace demographics https://bit.ly/3EI26y6

Resources:

• Henpicked free resources: https://henpicked.net/menopause-hub/resources/
• Rachel Lankester's book https://magnificentmidlife.com/book/
• Fair Treatment For The Women of Wales Menopause Campaign
• Map your symptoms with the Balance App
• Where to find a menopause clinic in your area 

Get in touch:

• Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @mediastormpod
• Email us mediastormpodcast@gmail.com

Media Storm is an award-winning podcast brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network. The music is by @soundofsamfire.  

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Following on from Media Storm's episode about polyamory, the law, and the mainstream media, Media Storm co-hosts bring you this bonus episode with Leanne Yau from the hugely popular Poly Philia blog to discuss how non-monogamy is portrayed onscreen - looking at depictions of love triangles, Chandler's polyamorous lover in Friends, and reality TV shows like The Ultimatum. 

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia).

For more information on The Guilty Feminist and other episodes:

• visit https://www.guiltyfeminist.com
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For more information on Media Storm:

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• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
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Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

The Guilty Feminist theme by Mark Hodge and produced by Nick Sheldon.

Media Storm music by Samfire (@soundofsamfire)

Thank you to our amazing Patreon supporters.

To support the podcast yourself, go to https://www.patreon.com/guiltyfeminist

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Imagine getting fired for your relationship status. Imagine a nosy neighbour deciding they knew what was better for your children. This is the reality for polyamorous people across the UK and abroad. Should we be legislating against their discrimination, rather than their perceived ‘deviation’?

This week, Media Storm speaks to polyamorous people who are trying to love within the limits of the law. We hears from top experts in the field, including Dr Sheff's 25-year-long study on polyamorous families, and the newly-formed UK Polyamory Association on changing the Equality Act. 

Helena and Mathilda are joined in the studio by Leanne Yau - aka ‘Poly Philia’ - to discuss how polyamory is represented in the media, demystify the common stereotypes (they're not always having orgies all the time!), and dissect some of the latest headlines about apparently mythical ‘throuples’ and ‘threesomes’.

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia), with research by Eliza Meller. The voice of 'Jane' is Olivia Baker. The voice of 'John' is Shaun Wood.

Guests:

• Leanne Yau @polyphiliablog
• Matthew Neale @matthewgneale
• Giulia Smith and Eunice, UK Polyamory Association facebook.com/UKPolyamoryAssociation
• Dr Elisabeth Sheff linktr.ee/DrEliSheff 
• Jessica Levity Daylover @remodeledlove remodeledlove.com

Resources:

• Donate to UK Polyamory Association here ukpolyamory.org

Sources:

• Most of the world doesn’t practise monogamy – so when will UK law recognise polyamory instead? https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/polyamory-meaning-monogamy-uk-law-b2172833.html
• Legal Protections for People in Polyamorous Relationships https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/the-polyamorists-next-door/202007/legal-protections-people-in-polyamorous-relationships
• Polyamory and the law https://clinics.law.harvard.edu/blog/2021/08/polyamory-and-the-law/
• The Five Most Common Legal Issues Facing Polyamorists https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/the-polyamorists-next-door/201401/the-five-most-common-legal-issues-facing-polyamorists
• The privilege of perversities: race, class and education among polyamorists and kinksters https://elisabethsheff.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/the-privilege-of-perversities-20111.pdf
• There's a dark side of polyamory that nobody talks about https://www.insider.com/dark-side-of-polyamory-2019-2

Get in touch:

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
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Media Storm is an award-winning podcast brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network. The music is by @soundofsamfire

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Is it just a question of economics, or is it a question of prejudice?

This bonus episode from The Guilty Feminist and Media Storm looks at the role of pop culture, class, geopolitics and history in shaping misconceptions and creating simplistic stereotypes of diverse cultural identities.

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia).

Guests

• Alex Bulat @alexandrabulat
• Kasia Tee @KasiaTee @cursedobjectsuk
• Dr Dagmar Myslinska @DagmarMyslinska
• Marzena Zukowska and Magda Fabianczyk @polishmigrants
• Jelena Sofronijevic @jelsofron
• Eliza Meller

Sources

• Hate crime stats http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/racism-hate-crimes-increase-brexit-eu-referendum-a7113091.html

 Production

Researcher: Eliza Meller

Media Storm music: Samfire @soundofsamfire

The Guilty Feminist theme: Mark Hodge, Nick Sheldon

Chopin played by: Anait Karpova 

More on Media Storm

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
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Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

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Official figures show a rise in reports of modern slavery and labour exploitation. While the Home Secretary has blamed this on fake claims by Albanians, we look for answers in the UK’s troubled labour market. Is today’s “low-skilled” economy a higher-wage world for British workers, or a lower-wage world for undocumented ones?

Helena and Mathilda are joined in the studio by Alex Bulat - Labour Councillor and co-founder of the Migrant Democracy Project - to discuss how Central and Eastern Europeans are represented by politicians, pop culture and the press. We dissect headlines on the Home Secretary Suella Braverman's beef with Albanians, and ask whether the BBC is too scared to say ‘Brexit’.

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia).

Guests:

• Lucila Granada, @lulagranada FLEX @FocusOnLabour
• Dora-Olivia Vicol, Work Rights Centre @WORCrights
• Marzena Zukowska @MarzenaZukowska and Magdalena Fabianczyk @MFabianczyk, POMOC @polishmigrants
• Dr Kasia Tee @KasiaTee
• Dr Alexandra Bulat @alexandrabulat

Sources:

• Impact of the end of free movement on the low-wage labour force https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/reports/how-is-the-end-of-free-movement-affecting-the-low-wage-labour-force-in-the-uk/
• Low-skilled labour supply after Brexit https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/reports/exploiting-the-opportunity-low-skilled-work-migration-after-brexit/
• Post-Brexit work visa data https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/work-visas-and-migrant-workers-in-the-uk/
• Employer survey: wage-raises https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/work/trends/skills-labour-shortages#gref; signing-up bonuses https://business.leeds.ac.uk/downloads/download/269/labour_mobility_post-brexit
• Seasonal Worker Visa (SWV) data https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-june-2022/why-do-people-come-to-the-uk-to-work
• Review of 2019 Seasonal Workers pilot https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/seasonal-workers-pilot-review/seasonal-workers-pilot-review-2019
• FLEX assessment of SWV exploitation risks https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/seasonal-workers-pilot-review/seasonal-workers-pilot-review-2019
• Low democratic participation of EU migrants in the UK https://www.jrrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/

Production:

• Researcher: Eliza Meller
• Theme music: Samfire @soundofsamfire
• Song: Bill Lloyd
• Piano: Anait Karpova http://anaitkarpova.com; https://www.facebook.com/anait.karpova

Get in touch

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Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

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Recorded the day after #WorldMentalHealthDay, Media Storm co-hosts sat down with author and activist Scarlett Curtis, and journalist and podcast producer Kamilah McInnis, to discuss how to look after your mental health when you work in - or even just read - the news, and the pros and pitfalls of sharing your mental health on social media. 

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). 

For more information on The Guilty Feminist and other episodes:

• visit https://www.guiltyfeminist.com
• tweet us https://www.twitter.com/guiltfempod
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For more information on Media Storm:

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• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

The Guilty Feminist theme by Mark Hodge and produced by Nick Sheldon.

This Is How You Do It theme by Samfire (@soundofsamfire)

Thank you to our amazing Patreon supporters.

To support the podcast yourself, go to https://www.patreon.com/guiltyfeminist

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Recently, doctors have recognised a strange phenomenon: patients turning up with mental health diagnoses in hand. And they all have something in common: social media.

A search of the hashtag #depression on Instagram returns more than 25.3 million posts. On TikTok, the hashtag #BPD (borderline personality disorder) has 3.7 billion views, #ADHD has 14.5 billion views, and #DID (dissociative identity disorder) another 1.5 billion. 

This week, Media Storm asks why people are turning to TikTok for help with their mental health, what happens if you get inside an algorithm bubble, and why misdiagnosis can be so dangerous. Plus, host Helena Wadia shares her personal experiences with mental health for the first time.

Author Scarlett Curtis and journalist Kamilah McInnis join in the studio, to discuss the media's portrayal of mental health, the dos and don'ts of reporting on suicide, and why it can feel so good to speak out.

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia), produced and researched by Zeynab Mohamed (@zeynabmohamed_) 

Guests:

• Zoe Aston @zoeastondotcom 
• Thea Rickard @thearickard @thelastnightpodcast
• Lauren Bradley @jointheofficials
• Zeynab Mohamed @zeynabmohamed_ 
• Scarlett Curtis @scarcurtis 
• Kamilah McInnis @KamilahMcInnis 

Resources:

• Samaritans.org or call 116 123
• mind.org.uk @mindcharity 
• Kiddycharts.com, resources to help with kids’ mental health

Sources:

• Young Women Are Self-Diagnosing Personality Disorders, Thanks To TikTok, by Zeynab Mohamed https://www.elle.com/uk/life-and-culture/a39573245/young-women-self-diagnose-personality-disorder-tiktok/
• Media reporting on mental illness, violence and crime needs to change https://theconversation.com/media-reporting-on-mental-illness-violence-and-crime-needs-to-change-144856
• Mindframe guidelines on media reporting of severe mental illness in the context of violence and crime https://mindframemedia.imgix.net/assets/src/uploads/MF_Guidelines_Violence_and_Crime_spread_FINAL.pdf
• Mind violence and mental health factsheet https://www.mind.org.uk/media-a/4968/violence-and-mental-health-mind-factsheet-2018.pdf
• Gresham College Press Coverage of Mental Health and Suicide https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/press-coverage-mental-health-and-suicide
• TikTok and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Study of Social Media Content Quality https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/07067437221082854
• NHS failing patients with mental health problems https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/news-and-blog/news/nhs-failing-patients-mental-health-problems
• Mental health pressures in England, BMA https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/nhs-delivery-and-workforce/pressures/mental-health-pressures-data-analysis

Get in touch:

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
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Presented by journalists Mathilda Mallinson and Helena Wadia, Media Storm is a news podcast that starts with the people who are normally asked last. From migrants to sex workers, trans to indigenous people, convicted criminals to Romani communities— Media Storm puts people with lived experience at the centre of their stories.

In this bonus episode, Mathilda and Helena welcome Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy and political reporter Nadine Batchelor Hunt to discuss elitism in Westminster and the discrimination undermining UK democracy.

It is often said that Britain has its “most diverse” Parliament ever, at least in terms of gender and race. But it falls short of reflecting the population, while working-class people face growing exclusion from Westminster’s imposing halls. The governing Conservative party trails behind in minority representation and formally denies the existence of institutionalised racism, and “identity politics” have become a viciously divisive political battleground on both the Left and Right. So how do we advance equality in politics for the sake of everyone in society? And what role does the media play in challenging the status quo?

Recorded 18 September at King’s Place, London.

Guests

• Bell Ribeiro-Addy @BellRibeiroAddy
• Nadine Batchelor-Hunt @nadinebh_

Sources

• https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn01156/
• https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7483/
• https://www.ippr.org/publication/closing-the-gap
• https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50808536 

Production

• Researcher: Izzie Addison
• Media Storm theme: Samfire @soundofsamfire
• The Guilty Feminist theme: Mark Hodge and Nick Sheldon
• Cover image: Viktor Erik Emanuel/Kings Place
• Producers: Tom Salinsky and Deborah Frances-White 

Get in touch

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
• or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
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• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
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Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

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We often think of ‘progress’ as an enemy of ‘prejudice’, but when it comes to prejudice towards Gypsy, Roma and Travellers, the opposite is true. YouGov polling shows a decline in British society’s attitudes towards their nomadic members, as the UN flags a rise in hate speech and violence towards the ethnic minority across Europe.

Why is this happening? Is it down to changes in reality, or simply changes in perception?

We speak to activists and actors about the role of politics and pop culture in creating an increasingly hostile environment, and unveil the masked mental health crisis that is endemic among Traveller youths. Mikey Walsh - author (and protagonist) of ‘Gypsy Boy’ - joins us to talk about the news media’s complicity in creating a society clouded more in fiction than fact. We look at headlines on ‘Traveller crime’ and opinion pieces in mainstream papers pleading to phase out the ethnic minority.

The episode is accompanied by traditional Romani music performed and produced by Bill Lloyd. Enjoy and share his translated version of Djelem Djelem HERE.

Read the fantastic analysis of GRT media coverage by Leeds GATE and London Gypsies and Travellers HERE. Many thanks to Rachel Trafford for help producing this episode.

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia), with research by Izzie Addison. 

Guests:

• Charlotte James, Community Health and Wellbeing Coordinator, LeedsGate
• Tom Manders, actor, writer and producer
• Jonathan Lee, European Roma Rights Centre @ERRCtweets @errcinsta
• Leeds Gypsy & Traveller Exchange @leedsGATE
• London Gypsies and Travellers @LondonGypsyTrav @londongypsytraveller
• Sherrie Smith @SherrieRomany
• Mikey Walsh @thatbloodymikey  

Sources:

• University of Birmingham study on UK public attitudes
• UK GRT population size
• My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding viewing figures
• Suicide rates among GRT populations

Get in touch:

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
• or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
• or Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@mediastormpod
• like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MediaStormPod
• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Media Storm is an award-winning podcast brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network. The music is by @soundofsamfire. 

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

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Media Storm hosts Mathilda and Helena meet their mainstream media matches! In this crossover bonus series with The Guilty Feminist, they interview journalists and activists trying to make their imperfect industries a little bit less so, about their noble goals and - you guessed it - the hypocrisies and insecurities that undermine them! Brought to you by The Guilty Feminist, every other Thursday.

This week’s episode features the sweet-talking, sex-loving, shame-smashing duo behind Come Curious, hosts of the F**ks Given podcast and OnlyFans sensations… Reed Amber (@reedamberx) and Florence Bark (@florencebark)! These two intimacy and relationship experts work dedicatedly to educate the world about sexuality, sensuality, and excavating their deepest desires. In this episode, we discuss how the mainstream media gets in the way of that mission: through sex censorship, outdated stigmas, and the sensationalism and stereotyping of sex work. All the S’s!

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia).

For more information on The Guilty Feminist and other episodes:

• visit https://www.guiltyfeminist.com
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For more information on Media Storm:

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• or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
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• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

The Guilty Feminist theme by Mark Hodge and produced by Nick Sheldon.

This Is How You Do It theme by Samfire (@soundofsamfire)

Thank you to our amazing Patreon supporters.

To support the podcast yourself, go to https://www.patreon.com/guiltyfeminist

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

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Most people will get the most common STI at some point in their life. It's called human papillomavirus, or HPV, and has more than 100 different strains. Some strains of the virus cause genital warts, and some cause abnormal cell changes that can lead to cancer. 

You might know that HPV causes cervical cancer and you might have noticed a huge drive to get women vaccinated. What you probably don’t know is that men can also get HPV, can pass HPV on, and are at risk of penile, anal & throat cancers. So why don’t we don’t talk about this?

This week, Media Storm hears from men who are living with the effects of HPV, and those who used their experiences to change the vaccination process for boys and men - after a long battle with the UK Government. Plus, broadcaster, writer, shagony aunt, sex educator and script consultant on Netflix's Sex Education Alix Fox joins us in the studio to discuss how STIs are represented in the press, the complicated reporting of Monkeypox, and why TV shows and films have such a big responsibility to portray STIs accurately. 

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). Research by Camilla Tiana. Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire.

Speakers: 

• Jamie Rae @TCF_Foundation @throatcancerfoundation 
• Steve Bergman @steveb2025
• George Light @georgelight74 
• Jason Mendelsohn @SupermanHPV supermanhpv.com
• Dr Tanaya Narendra @dr_cuterus  
• Alix Fox @AlixFox

Resources:

• Throat Cancer Foundation throatcancerfoundation.org
• The Swallows Head & Neck Cancer Support Group theswallows.org.uk
• HPV Action hpvaction.org

Sources:

• HPV Vaccine and College-Age Men: A Scoping Review https://bit.ly/3Q4Igkf
• JCVI Interim Statement on Extending HPV Vaccination to Adolescent Boys https://bit.ly/3Rt8oGx
• JCVI statement on HPV vaccination of men who have sex with men https://bit.ly/3wJWnoa 
• HPV and Men – Fact Sheet https://bit.ly/3R7cS5G 
• HPV vaccine set to be extended to boys, after pressure on equality grounds https://bit.ly/3CLwA2O

Get in touch:

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
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• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
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Media Storm is an award-winning podcast brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

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In this crossover bonus episode for The Guilty Feminist and Media Storm, Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) explores the importance of Indigenous leadership in climate action. She speaks to Rachel Heaton, founder of Mazaska Talks, an Indigenous-led boycott of fossil fuel financing in the US. Thimali Kodikara, producer of Mothers of Invention podcast, explains how the colonial roots of climate change indicate decolonial solutions.

Media Storm is the Guilty Feminist's investigative podcast. Book tickets to see Media Storm live at the London Podcast Festival: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/media-storm/ 

Guests

• Rachel Heaton, Mazaska Talks @MazaskaTalks
• Thimali Kodikara IG: @oneloudbellow, TW: @apathySUCKS

Production

• Researcher: Isabella Crispino
• Fact-checking: Camilla Tiana
• Music: Samfire @soundofsamfire

Get in touch

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
• or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
• or Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@mediastormpod
• like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MediaStormPod
• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

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WATCH MEDIA STORM’S DEBUT LIVE RECORDING AT KING’S PLACE, 17/09, 7PM: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/media-storm/

Scorching heatwaves and ‘red weather warnings’ have brought climate change onto our doorstep and into our headlines. But hidden from view - be it by distance, dense jungles or disinformation - the effects of the eco-disaster have already taken hold.

This week, we hear from communities on the frontlines of fossil fuel extraction. The king of Ogale in Nigeria tells us why his community is taking Shell to court, and villagers along the Niger Delta describe the impact of oil pollution—environmental, cultural and political.

Are the companies behind this production guilty of ‘greenwashing’? Is that even legal? And could the media be doing more to hold them to account? Mathilda and Helena discuss all this and more with Thimali Kodikara, the producer of Mothers of Invention podcast.

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia).

Guest handles

• Leigh Day International @leighdayintl
• Caroline Dennett @GreenGodless
• Sophie Marjanac @SMarjanacCE, Client Earth @ClientEarth
• Thimali Kodikara IG: @oneloudbellow, TW: @apathysuckseggs

Production

• Researchers: Isabella Crispino, Mafalda Lorijn, Izzie Addison
• Fact-checker: Camilla Tiana
• Sound technician in Nigeria: Okoro Onyekachi Emmanuel @KachiUndiluted, http://www.majinigeria.org/.
• Music: Samfire @soundofsamfire
• Producers: Tom Salinsky and Deborah Frances-White

Sources

• Adverts viewed per day: https://www.redcrowmarketing.com/2015/09/10/many-ads-see-one-day/
• Global advertising revenue, 2021: https://www.statista.com/topics/990/global-advertising-market/#dossierKeyfigures
• Saudi Arabia GDP, 2021: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD
• Guardian advertising revenue: https://www.theguardian.com/help/insideguardian/2020/jan/29/why-the-guardian-will-no-longer-accept-fossil-fuel-advertising

Get in touch

Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod

or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod

or Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@mediastormpod

like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MediaStormPod

send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com

check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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This week, we speak to Amelie, Layla, and Scarlet from Bristol Sex Workers Collective (@BristolSWC), about the end of a two year battle to keep Bristol city centre's strip clubs open. Media Storm first reported on the proposed ban of the venues in a Series 1 episode - so make sure you pop back and have a listen if you missed it! The dancers tell us about celebrating the decision, what they would change about media reporting on sex work, and why community is so important in the industry. 

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia).

For more information on The Guilty Feminist and other episodes:

• visit https://www.guiltyfeminist.com
• tweet us https://www.twitter.com/guiltfempod
• like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/guiltyfeminist
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• or join our mailing list http://www.eepurl.com/bRfSPT

For more information on Media Storm:

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
• or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
• or Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@mediastormpod
• like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MediaStormPod
• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

The Guilty Feminist theme by Mark Hodge and produced by Nick Sheldon.

This Is How You Do It theme by Samfire (@soundofsamfire)

Thank you to our amazing Patreon supporters.

To support the podcast yourself, go to https://www.patreon.com/guiltyfeminist

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Read the transcript here: https://mediastormpodcast.com/2022/08/30/2-4-masculinity-and-body-image-why-dont-men-seek-help-with-scottee/

Recent analysis from the Royal College of Psychiatrists has revealed that hospital admissions for people with eating disorders have risen 84% in the last five years - with boys and young men increasingly affected. Body dysmorphia is now thought to affect men and women in equal numbers. So why is there still a lack of resources and support groups to help men? 

This week, Media Storm hears from men who have been affected by bulimia, body dysmorphia and exercise addiction, about why they felt they couldn't seek help. We hear from a peer support group for men about how far we've come in tackling stigma - and how far there is to go. Plus, we dip into the rise of muscularity-orientated disordered eating, and hear how the 'big, strong, tough' masculinity stereotype affects the body image of men - especially for Black men. 

We’re joined in the studio by writer and artist Scottee, to discuss the intersections of masculinity, class, and queerness, reclaiming fatness, and the impact of the Love Island legacy. 

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). Research by Isabella Crispino and Mafalda Lorijn. The voice of 'Lawrence' is by Shaun Wood. Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire.

Speakers: 

• Sam Thomas @sam_thomas86
• Tom Quinn @tomquinn1 @BeatED
• Danny Bowman @DannyBowman10
• Brad Powell @MaleVoicED
• Dr Jason Nagata @jasonmnagata
• Scottee @scotteeisfat

Resources:

• Beat: The UK's eating disorder charity https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/ 
• MaleVoicED: A charity dedicated to the voice of males who have experienced or are experiencing eating, exercise, or body-image related difficulties and co-morbid conditions. Find out more about their Peer Support Groups: https://www.malevoiced.com/peer-support 
• Samaritans: https://www.samaritans.org/ 

Sources:

• Predictors of muscularity-oriented disordered eating behaviors in U.S. young adults https://bit.ly/3zsKDH6 
• Hospital admissions for eating disorders increased by 84% in the last five years https://bit.ly/3d4iI8M 
• Millions of men in the UK affected by body image issues – Mental Health Foundation survey https://bit.ly/3vBLu7h 
• Body Dysmorphic Disorder Foundation https://bit.ly/3vCyo9Q 
• How do stereotypes prevent Black people from seeking help for eating disorders? https://bit.ly/3d3A7hQ 

Get in touch: 

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
• or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
• or Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@mediastormpod
• like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MediaStormPod
• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Media Storm is an award-winning podcast brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Media Storm hosts Mathilda and Helena meet their mainstream media matches! In this crossover bonus series with The Guilty Feminist, they interview journalists trying to make an imperfect industry a little bit less so, about their noble goals and - you guessed it - the hypocrisies and insecurities that undermine them! Brought to you by The Guilty Feminist, every other Thursday.

Today’s guest is Jamie Wareham, the creator of Queer AF, a free weekly LGBTQIA+ newsletter that mentors and commissions queer creatives and reporters. He has worked for Forbes, Gay Star News, Attitude Magazine, and On Road Media, earning accolades such as a Radio 30 Under 30 and British Podcast Award. We talk about values-based journalism, business models that break from advertising, and trans fear-mongering by political elites.

Subscribe to Queer AF here: https://www.wearequeeraf.com/subscribe/

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). The music is by Samfire @soundofsamfire.

Get in touch

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
• or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
• or Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@mediastormpod
• like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MediaStormPod
• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Read the transcript here: https://mediastormpodcast.com/2022/08/08/2-3-unoffending-pedophiles-clinical-or-criminal/

How can we prevent pedophilic acts from happening?

Pedophilia is a clinical disorder before it becomes a criminal act. It's estimated to affect as many as 1-5% of the global male population. Does our failure to acknowledge its existence - and introduce preventative outreach - ultimately harm children?

With first-hand sources, our exclusive investigation reveals that young boys undergoing pedophilic puberty are being routinely abused on the dark web, teenage girls with pedophilia can find no evidence that their disorder even exists, and medical professionals have been forced into hiding for trying to help.

In the UK and US, therapy is only offered for pedophilia after criminal abuse has occurred, but non-offenders seeking help risk being handed over to authorities. Germany offers a world-only fully-funded, confidential therapy for pedophilia. Its founder, Professor Klaus Beier, takes us through 15 years of successful abuse prevention. In the face of a “global pandemic”, with child pornography exploding online and the vast majority of abuse escaping criminal justice, he says most countries have ignored the evidence and refused to introduce preventative healthcare.

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia).

Production

• Researcher: Sarika Gandhi
• Fact-checker: Mafalda Lorijn
• Music: Samfire @soundofsamfire
• Producers: Tom Salinsky and Deborah Frances-White

Get in touch

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
• or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
• or Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@mediastormpod
• like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MediaStormPod
• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Today's guest is Rachel Charlton-Dailey (@RachelCDailey), award-winning journalist and activist, who founded The Unwritten (@TheUnwrittenPub) - a publication for disabled people to share their stories “without them being reduced to trauma or inspiration”. Just last week, she collaborated with the Daily Mirror to edit the series 'Disabled Britain', investigations and features about disability that break from mainstream news norms to centre the lived experience of disabled people. We chat about the series, her favourite story to work on, and thoughts on what our future Prime Minster could do for disabled people.

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia).

For more information on The Guilty Feminist and other episodes: 

• visit https://www.guiltyfeminist.com
• tweet us https://www.twitter.com/guiltfempod
• like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/guiltyfeminist
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• or join our mailing list http://www.eepurl.com/bRfSPT

For more information on Media Storm: 

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
• or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
• or Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@mediastormpod
• like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MediaStormPod
• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

The Guilty Feminist theme by Mark Hodge and produced by Nick Sheldon.

This Is How You Do It theme by Samfire (@soundofsamfire) 

Thank you to our amazing Patreon supporters.

To support the podcast yourself, go to https://www.patreon.com/guiltyfeminist

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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The news has been dominated by the decision - but how many of us here in the UK know that abortion is a crime in England, Scotland, and Wales? This week, Media Storm speaks to doctors, activists, people who have had abortions, and leading abortion care providers in the UK, to find out just how restrictive the system here actually is. Plus, we hear from reproductive rights activists in Northern Ireland, about why decriminalisation without the services to match it means nothing. 

We’re joined in the studio by Renee Bracey Sherman, founder of We Testify, and hailed as the ‘Beyoncé of Abortion Storytelling', to discuss the why abortion is still seen as a taboo in the mainstream media, the history of the 'debate', and how a minority of anti-abortionists got so loud. 

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia).

Speakers: 

• Katherine O'Brien, British Pregnancy Advisory Service @katherine__ob @BPAS1968
• Maya Oppenheim @MayaOppenheim
• Catriona Rennison, Doctors for Choice UK @CatrionaRennis1 @DrsforChoice_UK
• Bethany Moore @bethanysmm
• Sophia Smith Galer @sophiasgaler
• Renee Bracey Sherman @RBraceySherman @reneebraceysherman @AbortionStories

Sources:

• Pro-choice UK poll https://bit.ly/3uvZqz7
• UK abortion statistics 2020 https://bit.ly/3yLUZ5N 
• 2012 Abortion raids https://www.bmj.com/content/344/bmj.e2313 
• Anti-abortion advocate told Congress that abortions power street lamps https://bit.ly/3yisyLr
• Women accused of illegal abortions in England and Wales after miscarriages and stillbirths https://bit.ly/3RiR6fN
• I had an abortion – and my experience shows how broken the UK system truly is https://bit.ly/3AwaY9u
• US Donors Are Helping Push Anti-Abortion Agendas in UK schools https://bit.ly/3RscT55  

Get in touch

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Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. 

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

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Media Storm hosts Mathilda and Helena meet their mainstream media matches! In this crossover bonus series with The Guilty Feminist, they interview journalists trying to make an imperfect industry a little bit less so, about their noble goals and - you guessed it - the hypocrisies and insecurities that undermine them! Brought to you by The Guilty Feminist, every other Thursday.

Our first guest is Naomi Larsson Piñeda, award-winning journalist and editor at gal-dem, Forbes 30 Under 30 alumna, and musician-by-night (@naomilars / @naomiinblue). Naomi speaks about reporting on Chile's social uprising, ongoing gender inequality in the music industry, and second jobs. 

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). 

For more information on The Guilty Feminist and other episodes: 

• visit https://www.guiltyfeminist.com
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For more information on Media Storm: 

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Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

The Guilty Feminist theme by Mark Hodge and produced by Nick Sheldon.

This Is How You Do It theme by Samfire (@soundofsamfire) 

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In March, the NHS finally recognised the existence of chronic UTI, a debilitating condition affecting 1.7 million people - mostly women - in the UK. But months later, our exclusive research reveals sufferers are spending up to hundreds of thousands of pounds treating themselves, while NHS healthcare guidelines fail to mention the condition at all.

This week, Media Storm dives deep into underfunding, lack of research, misdiagnosing and medical gaslighting impacting healthcare for women and minority groups. We’re joined in the studio by Athena Lamnisos, CEO of The Eve Appeal, and Dr Christine Ekechi, obstetrician & gynaecologist, to discuss the roots of this “gender health gap”, the intersections within it, and the role of the mainstream media in reforming - or reinforcing - the status quo.

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia).

Guests:

• Athena Lamnisos @eveappeal @athenalamnisos1
• Dr Chirstine Ekechi @DrEkechi (T) @dr_christine­_ekechi (IG)

Sources:

• Chronic UTI UK statistics: https://cutic.co.uk/what-is-chronic-uti/
• Outdated urine testing: https://bit.ly/3ybEvn6 
• Endometriosis diagnoses (UK): pslhub.org/learn/patient-safety-in-health-and-care/womens-health/appg-on-endometriosis-inquiry-report-2020-endometriosis-in-the-uk-time-for-change-october-2020-r3279/#:~:text=Summary,care%20at%20the%20right%20time. (note 2009): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19196878/
• Medical student gender ratios (UK): https://bit.ly/3beU58B
• US news analysis May 2021: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.644284/full

Get in touch

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Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. 

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

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This season takes listeners from London and Berlin, to the frontlines of the climate crisis, to the depths of the dark web, in its quest to seek out unheard voices. Polyamory, abortion, paedophilia, radicalisation… brace yourself to head back into the eye of the storm.

From Thursday 23 June we’ll be back on your weekly feed bringing you headlines and investigations from a different perspective. Make sure you’ve clicked follow so you don’t miss any releases!

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Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. Artwork by Simba Baylon @simbalenciaga.

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In this bonus episode we recount our experiences of awards night, who we met, what it was like to be in a category with radio giant nominees (hello imposter syndrome!), and what we'll be listening to next. 

We also wanted to say a huge thank you to the people who came on Media Storm series one and let us platform their insights and experiences. Our voices are just an accessory to yours - so this award goes out to you.

On that note... Media Storm series 2 will be out in June! Hit subscribe and follow to stay updated - we have so many new and exciting investigations to delve into, so get in touch and tell us who you want to hear from!

Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod

or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod

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like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MediaStormPod

send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com

check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Your hosts are @mathildamall and @helenawadia 

Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. 

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network

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Get in touch

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Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. Artwork by Simba Baylon @simbalenciaga.

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

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 The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia), with Helena Da Silva Merron and Maria Kalinowska as researchers.

Guests (in order of appearance)

• Roxanne Steel @roxannesteelofficial (IG)
• Maria Kalinowska @m.a.kamera (IG)
• Alanna Richards
• Emma Vogelmann @emma.vogelmann @disabilitylawservice @scopecharity (IG) @emma_vogelmann @DSL_Law @scope (TW) 
• Izzy Jani-Friend @isabellejanifriend (IG)

Get in touch

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• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
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Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. Artwork by Simba Baylon @simbalenciaga.

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

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Warning: Some swearing

Disabled workers are over twice as likely to be unemployed as non-disabled workers — even not counting those who are ‘economically inactive’ due to health or other reasons. Countless testimonies point to ableism at every stage of the employment game, from applying to jobs to being made redundant. And yet legally-speaking, there is almost no trace of disability discrimination in UK workplaces, with only 72 disability employment tribunals happening in the latest published annual period (2019-20).

If not for discrimination, why are disabled people struggling disproportionately to access work? And if there is discrimination, why is no one paying for it?

This week, we dig up the canyon of workplace ableism that has been buried in confidential settlements, or faced no reckoning at all. We look at the myriad of ways that ableism manifests in workplaces, and the loopholes and limitations of the law designed to prevent it.

Joining us in the studio are two very special guests: Triple Cripples podcast host Jumoke Abdullahi and campaigner-consultant Ellen Jones. We discuss the mainstream media’s coverage of disability, and how the Covid-19 pandemic cast an uncomfortable light on society’s valuation of different people’s lives.

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia), with Helena Da Silva Merron and Maria Kalinowska as researchers.

Guests:

• Keryn Seal @KerynSeal4 
• Izzy Jani-Friend @isabellejanifriend 
• Emma Vogelmann @emma.vogelmann @disabilitylawservice @scopecharity @emma_vogelmann @DSL_Law @scope 
• Roxanne Steel @roxannesteelofficial 
• Maria Kalinowska @m.a.kamera 
• Jumoke Abdullahi @jayonlife @herroyalj @triplecripples
• Ellen Jones @ellen__jones 

Sources:

• Disabled and non-disabled employment rates, UK (calculated from the most recent quarterly data, for October-December 2021): https://bit.ly/36GtoY7 
• Disability Employment Tribunals - number and amounts awarded: https://bit.ly/3D9Nwy3 - these give annual figures only for the year 2019-2020; we were unable to access more recent figures due to the handling of that data being moved to new case managements systems within the government, and therefore being delayed in publication (as detailed here: https://bit.ly/3iA05Jn)
• Reasonable adjustments explained: https://bit.ly/3L9DcJ9 
• Access to Work provisions: https://bit.ly/3577Vaj 
• Disabled people in employment in the UK: https://bit.ly/37YXtTu
• PIP cuts: https://bit.ly/3Dbegyk 
• ‘Economically inactive’ populations, UK (calculated from the most recent quarterly data, for October-December 2021): https://bit.ly/3wzRA9C 
• Disability representation in UK TV industry: https://bit.ly/3wwfB1e   

Get in touch by following the show on social media @mediastormpod or emailing us mediastormpodcast@gmail.com

Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. Artwork by Simba Baylon @simbalenciaga.

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

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But what might a 'decriminalised future' look like? This week, Media Storm heads to a new exhibition at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts, featuring artwork and installations by sex workers themselves, to find out.

Two of those involved, Yarli Allison and Letizia Miro, join Media Storm to talk about their semi-fictional documentary 'This is Not For Clients', which features in the exhibition, exploring labour conditions and survival. 

Guests:

• Yarli Allison @yarliallison
• Letizia Miro @MissLetiziaMiro @letiziamiro

ICA exhibition 'Decriminalised Futures': https://www.ica.art/decriminalised-futures 

Get in touch:

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Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. Artwork by Simba Baylon @simbalenciaga.

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

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Warning: Some strong language and references to sex

Transcript: https://mediastormpodcast.com/2022/07/06/1-9-sex-workers-ignored-and-under-threat/

Online or offline, the stigma that comes with being a sex worker is pervasive. But sex work is not just stigmatised - it's criminalised. Laws that ban certain aspects of sex work force workers into unsafe, unregulated environments, where they become even more vulnerable. 

This week, Media Storm heads to Bristol, where strip clubs face being outlawed by the council - in similar scenes to Chester, Swansea, and Blackpool. Critics of strip clubs seem to blame sex workers for the systematic problems of gender-based violence, yet our data research showed otherwise. Media Storm meets workers in the sexual entertainment industry who feel unheard and stuck in a limbo, following them to the Sex/Work Strike in London's Leicester Square on International Women's Day. Niki Adams from the English Collective of Prostitutes joins us in the studio to talk about decades advocating for full decriminalisation, and the common conflation of sex trafficking and sex work, with headline talk from Ukraine and around the world. 

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia), with Helena Da Silva Merron and Priyanka Raval as researchers. The voice of the sex worker from Swansea is Kamilah McInnis.

Guests:

• Chloe @bxby.777 @chloeebris
• Amelie @afrenchstripper
• Scarlet @halfgothgf 
• Niki Adams @NikiAdamsLondon @ProstitutesColl @ecp_org 
• Bristol Sex Workers Collective @bristolswc
• DecrimNow @ukdecrimnow @decrimnow
• Women’s Strike Assembly @Women_Strike @womenstrike.britain

Sources: 

• Bristol Sex Establishments Policy consultation 2021 https://bristol.citizenspace.com/bristol-city-council/sex-establishments-policy-consultation-2021/
• Bristol crime assessment by venue https://democracy.bristol.gov.uk/documents/s50308/Appendix%206%20Avon%20and%20Somerset%20Constabulary%20Response.pdf
• Sex Work Projects briefing on “Nordic model” https://www.nswp.org/sites/nswp.org/files/Criminalisation%20of%20Clients-c.pdf

Get in touch:

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Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. Artwork by Simba Baylon @simbalenciaga.

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

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So if the war on drugs has failed, what comes next?

This week, we look at harm reduction: a different approach to drugs. We’re joined in the studio by Niamh Eastwood, Executive Director of the advocacy group Release, and Juan Fernandez, from the ‘Support. Don’t Punish’ campaign.

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia), with Helena Da Silva Merron as researcher. 

Guests:

• Niamh Eastwood @niamhrelease @release_drugs
• Juan Fernandez @jfernandezochoa @supportdontpunish

Sources:

• Drug fatalities England and Wales: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsrelatedtodrugpoisoninginenglandandwales/previousReleases
• Scotland drug fatalities vs. Europe: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files/statistics/drug-related-deaths/20/drug-related-deaths-20-pub.pdf

Get in touch

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• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
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 Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. Artwork by Simba Baylon @simbalenciaga.

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

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Warning: Strong language, drug use

‘DRUG TRAGEDY’, ‘DRUG CRIME’, ‘DRUG FEARS’— these are common tabloid staples. But are drugs the problem? Or is it in fact the war on drugs?

Data that links drug use to crime and death rates are often used to justify militant political crackdowns. But historical trends reveal a disturbing pattern: the more we have pursued a war on drugs, the more drug fatalities have risen.

This week, Media Storm speaks to people who buy and sell illegal drugs. We uncover the true depths of drug culture in the UK and the impact of a 50-year war that has ravished marginalised communities, with analysis from Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Dr Kojo Koram. We’re joined in the studio by Niamh Eastwood - Executive Director of the advocacy group Release - and Juan Fernandez - leader of the ‘Support. Don’t Punish’ campaign - to look at recent headlines on Rylan Clark and our fascination with alleged celebrity drug use, front pages on festival fatalities, and to ask whether the media is trailing behind the cultural conversation.

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia), with Helena Da Silva Merron as researcher. The voice of the dealer is Josh Finan.

Guests

• David Lammy @DavidLammy
• Dr Kojo Koram @KojoKoram
• Niamh Eastwood @niamhrelease @release_drugs
• Juan Fernandez @jfernandezochoa @supportdontpunish

Sources

• Drug fatalities England and Wales: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsrelatedtodrugpoisoninginenglandandwales/previousReleases
• Scotland drug fatalities vs. Europe: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files/statistics/drug-related-deaths/20/drug-related-deaths-20-pub.pdf
• The David Lammy Review, 2017: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/643001/lammy-review-final-report.pdf

Get in touch

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Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. Artwork by Simba Baylon @simbalenciaga.

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

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Bonus Episode: Homelessness and how to help, by people who've been there

Last episode, Media Storm investigated homelessness behind closed doors: the hidden figures in hostels, cafes, on nightbuses or couch-surfing. This week, we look at the homelessness on our streets: the people we can see, how they get treated, and what we the public could do better. The answers are brought to you by people in the know - people who've been in that position. This is what to do when you see a homeless person, by people who've been homeless themselves.

Your hosts:

Mathilda Mallinson @mathildamall

Helena Wadia @helenawadia  

Speakers:

Kerri Douglas @KerriDouglas18

Earl Charlton @EarlCharlton2

Chase Archer Evans @HomelessAss

Get in touch:

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Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. 

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

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Official homelessness statistics are a fraction of the numbers that charities claim to exist. Is someone sugarcoating the data? Is it a genuine mistake? Or are we looking in wrong places?

With fines and sentences for sleeping on the streets, the UK and many other countries make no apologies for targeting rough sleeping. Temporary accommodation facilities earn private contractors hundreds of millions in state benefits every year. But are they actually helping, or just keeping the problem behind closed doors?

This week, Media Storm speaks to people who are and have been homeless. They expose some disconcerting truths about these state-supported lodgings, systemic attempts to remove vulnerable people from public view, and the catastrophic levels of homelessness lying hidden in the wings. Comedian Kai Samra joins us in the studio to take a look at some of the latest headlines on homelessness, and discuss what reporting on the topic often gets wrong.

Your hosts:

• Mathilda Mallinson @mathildamall
• Helena Wada @helenawadia

Your guests:

• Kai Samra @kaisamra
• Benjay Crossman @benjaycrossman
• Earl Charlton @earljc78 @nehest2014
• Kerri Douglas @kerridouglas18
• Paul Atherton @LondonersLondon

Sources:

• Introductory statistics: (official 1) https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rough-sleeping-snapshot-in-england-autumn-2020/rough-sleeping-snapshot-in-england-autumn-2020 ; (official 2) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1050291/Statutory_Homelessness_Stats_Release_July-September_2021.pdf ; (Crisis) https://www.crisis.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/227-000-households-across-britain-are-experiencing-the-worst-forms-of-homelessness/)
• Profits for accommodation providers: https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/27/hostels-from-hell-the-supported-housing-that-blights-birmingham
• Care leavers: (Guardian) https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/nov/11/we-are-failing-children-in-care-and-they-are-dying-on-our-streets ; (official) https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8429/CBP-8429.pdf
• Vagrancy Act: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7836/
• Prison releases: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1006474/2021_Q4_CPT_publication.pdf

Get in touch

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• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
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• Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. Artwork by Simba Baylon @simbalenciaga.
• Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

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"New Year, New You": that’s the message you've probably heard in the mainstream media for the last month. On last week’s episode Fatphobia: Healthcare by Size, we dissected how the mainstream news media helps the diet industry profit off of our insecurities. But - the conversation doesn’t end here, and that’s because fatphobia doesn’t affect all plus-size people in the same way. Various intersections, such as race, or gender identity, or queerness, can change the way people experience body image. We asked author & journalist Stephanie Yeboah and author & artist Essie Dennis to tell us more about their experiences of body image and intersectionality. Stephanie spoke about the Body Positive movement's erasure of plus-size black women and why she feels the movement no longer represents her, and Essie told us about her new book Queer Body Power and finding positivity in a world that tells you to just be smaller...

Stephanie Yeboah (@stephanieyeboah) is a content creator, journalist, and the author of Fattily Ever After.

Essie Dennis (@khal_essie) is an artist and owner of the art shop Queer In Colour. She is also the author of Queer Body Power, out on March 21st.

Get in touch:

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
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• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire.

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

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Read the transcript: https://mediastormpodcast.com/2022/02/08/1-6-fatphobia-healthcare-by-size-with-stephanie-yeboah-and-essie-dennis/

Content warning: Fatphobia, disordered eating

Being told to lose weight is almost unavoidable. The news, TV shows, films, adverts and your family & friends mostly prescribe to the same school of thought: that being fat is 'bad', and that being thin is 'good'. But it turns out: that's not true. This episode, we look into weight bias in healthcare and how fatphobia in medical settings is putting the lives of plus size people in danger - especially those with the reproductive condition endometriosis. Plus, we're joined in the studio by Stephanie Yeboah and Essie Dennis to discuss how the mainstream media depicts plus size people and what needs to change, and how we can stop diet culture from stripping away the joys of everyday life. 

Speakers (in order of appearance): 

• Helena Burton-Jones @helena_mbj
• Katherine Irene @katherineirenecoaching
• Professor Rachel Batterham @ProfBatterhamMD @ObesityEmpower
• Stephanie Yeboah @stephanieyeboah
• Essie Dennis @khal_essie

Sources:

• Royal College of Physicians course: https://store.rcplondon.ac.uk/product?catalog=Raising-the-topic-and-discussing-obesity-with-patients
• US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health: https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=4&lvlid=25 
• The epidemiology of overweight and obesity: public health crisis or moral panic https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/35/1/55/849914
• Why are there race/ethnic differences in adult body mass index–adiposity relationships? A quantitative critical review https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4968570/ 
• Endometriosis UK: https://www.endometriosis-uk.org/endometriosis-facts-and-figures 

Get in touch:

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Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. 

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

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If you’ve read UK news over the past year, you’ll likely have heard of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill making its way through Parliament. It’s a "tough-on-crime" piece of policy - a phrase the government use readily. And it’s back in the headlines this week, as The House of Lords voted against its plans to clamp down on disruptive and noisy protesters.

Part of the Policing Bill's promise is sending more criminals in prison for longer. Yet, judging by some headlines, being locked up isn’t even punishment enough. Prisons are frequently criticised for being too luxurious and too lenient. Is this really the case?

We asked Paula Harriott, who spent four years in prison, to tell us the truth about so-called 'luxury prisons'. 

Paula Harriott (@paula_harriott) is Head of Prisoner Engagement at the Prison Reform Trust (@PRTuk). 

Get in touch:

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
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• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. 

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

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Read the transcript: https://mediastormpodcast.com/2022/02/07/1-5-criminal-justice-does-prison-work-with-the-secret-barrister-and-paula-harriott/

Plans to lock up 20,000 new prisoners, a Home Secretary who wants criminals to “literally feel terror”, and the highest incarceration rate in Western Europe…

This is the UK’s ‘tough on crime’ mantle, and a political battleground fought all over the world. Media outlets vilify ‘thugs’ and ‘terrorists’ while politicians auction for the ‘law and order’ vote. But with no clear correlation between incarceration and crime rates, are we keeping people safe, or just keeping them scared?

This week, your hosts sit down with The Secret Barrister and former prisoner Paula Harriott to talk all things crime - from prisons to Prince Andrew - after heading behind bars to answer one simple question: does prison work?

Your hosts

• Mathilda Mallinson @mathildamall
• Helena Wada @helenawadia

Your Guests

• The Secret Barrister @barristersecret https://thesecretbarrister.com/
• Paula Harriott @paula_harriott https://weareagenda.org/board/paula-harriott-2/ 

Sources

• Priti Patel op-ed https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7316055/I-want-criminals-terrified-says-Priti-Patel-Home-Secretary-restore-confidence-Britain.html
• European incarceration rates: https://www.statista.com/statistics/957501/incarceration-rate-in-europe/ 
• UK incarceration rate: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn04334/ 
• Policy: https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN05646/SN05646.pdf 
• Prison population projections: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1035682/Prison_Population_Projections_2021_to_2026.pdf 
• Ofsted review of prison education: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/launching-our-prison-education-review
• Police, Crimes, Sentencing and Courts Bill:
• Mental health in prisons: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/7455/documents/78054/default/
• 1976 Bail Act in action: https://howardleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/APPG-For-their-own-protection-FINAL.pdf 
• Domestic abuse in UK prisons: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/female-offender-strategy 

Get in touch

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
• or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
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• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
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Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. Artwork by Simba Baylon @simbalenciaga. Prison sounds from Cody Lachey @ExOffenderCodyy.

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

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Content warning: Suicide, self-harm

Episode 1.4: Transgender healthcare: A waiting game - with Laura Blake and Shivani Dave 

Read the transcript: https://mediastormpodcast.com/2021/12/30/1-4-transgender-healthcare-a-waiting-game/

The mainstream media might have us all thinking changing genders is a piece of cake - that hormones are being readily prescribed and surgeries booked in swiftly. But with people waiting years for the first ever appointment - that's simply not the case. Cancellations, discrimination from healthcare staff and semi-decade long waiting lists - this is the reality for gender diverse people. NHS England’s Gender Identity Development Service are currently seeing people referred in 2018. For other clinics, it’s 2017. Media Storm investigates the lack of healthcare for trans people, finds out what it’s like to be stuck in the waiting game, and sits down with The Good Law Project, who are taking the NHS to court. We’re joined in the studio by Laura Blake (she/her) and Shivani Dave (they/them), to discuss the mainstream media’s depiction of transgender and non-binary people, plus look at some of the week’s headlines on conversion therapy and trans people.

Speakers (in order of appearance):

• Felix Mufti @felixmufti
• Eva Echo @EvaEch0
• Jo Maugham @JolyonMaugham @GoodLawProject
• Cleo Madeleine @quidtumcicero @Genderintell
• Shivani Dave @ShivaniDave @dah_vey
• Laura Blake @heylaurablake

Sources:

• GIDS waiting times: https://gids.nhs.uk/how-long-wait-first-appointment-gids
• GIC waiting times: https://gic.nhs.uk/appointments/waiting-times/
• Gender GP survey on bridging hormones: https://www.gendergp.com/bridging-hormones/
• The Transgender Issue, Shon Faye: https://www.queerlit.co.uk/products/the-transgender-issue-an-argument-for-justice 

Get in touch:

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
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• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. 

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

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Content warning: Rape, sexual violence, FGM

Episode 1.3: Rape Justice: What happens to the 98%? - with Leyla Hussein and Gina Martin

Read the transcript: https://mediastormpodcast.com/2021/12/15/1-3-rape-justice-what-happens-to-the-98/

Authorities declined to reveal the true rape conviction figures in a Freedom of Information request by Media Storm, after we discovered that the reported numbers - which hit a record low in 2020 at 1,109 - are over-inflated. It follows Guardian revelations that 98% of rape investigations are dropped by police.

But this is not an exclusively British problem. Judging by public data, US police drop 95% of rape investigations; Swedish 96%; Belgian 94%. So how do you begin to diagnose an issue that is so far-reaching? Media Storm sets off across the pond and back, sits down with national police and prosecution chiefs, and follows an unravelling battle in Parliament, to find out why the overwhelming majority of rapists walk free on our streets. We are also joined in the studio by Dr Leyla Hussein, women's rights activist and founder of Safe Spaces for Black Women, and Gina Martin, writer and the campaigner who made upskirting illegal. We discuss how the mainstream media depicts victims of sexual assault, how male-perpetrated violence litters our pop culture, and discuss the latest reporting on the case of Alice Sebold. 

• Donate to Dr Leyla Hussein’s Safe Spaces for Black Women: https://www.gofundme.com/f/safe-spaces-for-black-women
• Subscribe to Gina Martin’s newsletter: https://ginamartin.substack.com/

Speakers (order of appearance):

• Alison Turkos @alisonturkos
• Pieke Roelofs @pieke_r www.photoandgrime.com
• Verity Nevitt @veritynevitt www.thegeminiproject.org
• Dame Vera Baird, Victim’s Commissioner @VictimsComm
• Sarah Crew, National Police Chiefs Council @aspsarah_crew
• Siobhan Blake, Crown Prosecution Service @CPSUK @crownprosecutors
• Dr Leyla Hussein @LeylaHussein @SafeSpaces4BW
• Gina Martin @ginamartin

Sources:

• UK prosecution: https://www.cps.gov.uk/publication/cps-data-summary-quarter-4-2020-2021
• UK police charges: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/may/23/fewer-than-one-in-60-cases-lead-to-charge-in-england-and-wales
• UK crime survey: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/natureofsexualassaultbyrapeorpenetrationenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2020
• USA prosecution: https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/cv19.pdf

Get in touch:

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
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• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. Artwork by Simba Baylon @simbalenciaga.

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

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Episode 1.2 Pandemic of hate: We need to talk about anti-Asian abuse - with Zing Tsjeng and Hussein Kesvani

Transcript: https://mediastormpodcast.com/2021/12/13/1-2-pandemic-of-hate-we-need-to-talk-about-anti-asian-abuse/

With reports anti-Asian hate speech surged by 1,662% during the pandemic, and many accounts of rising hate crimes against Asian communities, Media Storm hears from those personally affected. It seeks to find out the impact of the pandemic on Asian people, and investigate the accuracy of the data that emerged over the Covid-19 crisis. Vice UK editor Zing Tsjeng and podcaster & producer Hussein Kesvani join us in the studio to discuss the way the mainstream media reported on the pandemic and the 2021 Atlanta Spa shootings, East & South Asian representation on screen, and the latest coverage of cricketer Azeem Rafiq's accusations of racism and bullying at Yorkshire. 

• https://www.ditchthelabel.org/research-papers/hate-speech-report-2021/ 
• https://stopaapihate.org/national-report-through-september-2021/

Get in touch

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Media Storm is part of The House of the Guilty Feminist

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With headlines reporting ‘record numbers of migrants’ reaching the UK in dinghies, Media Storm heads across the Channel to find out why they’re coming. Reports this week show the government declined a Freedom of Information request to reveal their research on this very topic. It raises questions over the government’s repeated claim that accepting asylum seekers creates a ‘pull factor’ and encourages more people to come. With moves underway to criminalise the crossing, contain people in island camps thousands of miles away, and launch potentially fatal ‘turn-back’ operations at sea, we look at whether this ‘pull factor’ is really what’s causing the crisis. Writer, actor, co-founder of Refugee Media Centre, and real life refugee Steve Ali also joins us in the studio to discuss his experiences of seeking asylum and why he thinks the mainstream media reports on refugees the way it does - with a deep dive into some of this week's newspaper headlines.

National asylum figures

• https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets (UK)
• https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Asylum_statistics (Europe)

Get in touch

• Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/mediastormpod
• or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mediastormpod
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• send us an email mediastormpodcast@gmail.com
• check out our website https://mediastormpodcast.com

Media Storm is part of The House of the Guilty Feminist

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Episode 0. Deborah Frances-White

Read the transcript: https://mediastormpodcast.com/2021/11/24/0-deborah-frances-white-meets-mathilda-and-helena/

Mathilda and Helena talk to Deborah about their new podcast, what it aims to do and how they came up with the idea.

Follow us on Twitter

• https://twitter.com/helenawadia
• https://twitter.com/MathildaMall
• https://twitter.com/DeborahFW

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Where fact-checking meets fun, reporting meets road-trip and the mainstream media meets its match, Media Storm is a news podcast that starts with the people who are normally asked last. "Migrants", "criminals" and "sex workers" are some of the biggest stars in the headlines, yet we rarely actually hear from them. There’s no right of reply – and that’s just bad journalism. Here, from the house of The Guilty Feminist, Media Storm hands the mic to people with lived experience, to shed new light on old stories and roast the headlines that love to roast them.

Presented by Mathilda Mallinson and Helena Wadia

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

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