Coping with Dystopia: Coping with Falling Back to the '50s
In the fourth episode, we are coping with falling back to the ‘50s. The Freedom House has measured a steady decline in democracy and human rights since 2006. The USA is one of the countries that suffered the most significant decline between 2010 and 2020. Authoritarianism seems to be on the rise everywhere, and human rights are definitely under pressure. This does not concern abortion rights only, with the overturn of Roe v. Wade in the USA, but also LGTBQ+ rights. In this episode, we are joined by Dorottya Redai, a Hungarian academic at the Central European University Democracy Instituteand LGTBQ+ activist part of the Labrisz Lesbian Association.
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Coping with Dystopia: Coping with the Death of Press Freedom
In the third episode, we are coping with the death of press freedom. Press freedom can be defined as the right of newspapers and magazines to report the news without government control. By analysing data on abuses and acts of violence against journalists across 180 countries worldwide, the annual report of the World Press Freedom Index ranks each country according to how free it is. The 2022 report shows a decreasing trend worldwide, due to increased polarisation and disinformation narratives. In this episode, we are joined by Monica Baro Sanchez, an independent investigative Cuban journalist.
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The Queen’s conspiracies continue: an analysis of the online conversations surrounding the death of Queen Elizabeth II
The British Royal Family has often been the centre of tabloid drama, untrue rumours, and elaborate conspiracy theories. These conspiracy theories in particular have resurfaced, along with a flourish of new ones, in the wake of the Queen’s death. And with social media’s ability to spread a message all the way around the world in a matter of seconds, it is no wonder that some conspiracy theories and disinformation surrounding the death of the U.K’s longest reigning monarch, were able to go viral.
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Coping with Dystopia: Coping with Right-Wing Extremism
In our second episode, we are coping with right-wing extremism. According to the 2019 Global Terrorism Index, far-right terrorism has surged by 320% over the last 5 years. Far-right movements often originate and grow in the online world, most likely on fringe platforms where restrictions are much more blurred than on mainstream platforms. To help us cope, we met with Fabian Wichmann, from EXIT Deutschland in Berlin. EXIT provides support to people who want to leave extreme far-right movements. Fabian gave us five practical solutions on coping with right-wing extremism.
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Coping with Dystopia: Coping with Trolling
In the first episode of this new podcast series we are coping with online trolling. Online trolling can be defined as malicious online behaviour actively put in action to provoke, upset, and harm people through hate speech, violent messages, and death threats. We were joined by Ginger Gorman, an Australian investigative journalist, and author of ‘Troll Hunting’. Ginger Gorman has experienced online hate first-hand as a victim of online trolling. It is clear that online actions have offline consequences. To help us feel less powerless in front of this complicated phenomenon, Ginger gave us five practical solutions to tackle online trolling.
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Catalans Assembled: The story of a grassroots struggle for independence
Walking on the streets of Barcelona: you will find many Catalonian flags hanging on the balconies, transmitting the feeling of an ongoing separatist sentiment in the country. Catalonia has a long history of fighting for independence. After the 2017 referendum, and massive international media attention, Catalonian news slowly disappeared from the public debate. It was for this reason that we wanted to learn more about what the current state of the country is. We reached out to Assemblea Nacional Catalana, a grassroots organisation with the common goal of reaching independence in a democratic and peaceful way.
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