For Fact's Sake

On this week's edition of the For Fact's Sake podcast, Ali and Paul talk to Dr Ian Cawood from the University of Stirling about the long history of political sleaze in the UK.

Ian explains the parallels between corruption in the early 19th century and today, how the Covid-19 pandemic sharpened the focus on scandal, and whether there is a higher bar for politicians losing their jobs than before.

Elsewhere on the pod, Ali and Paul discuss the Rwanda migration plan and controversy over a cuddly octopus toy on University Challenge.

Show notes:

Dr Ian Cawood's piece in The Conversation about the history of sleaze can be found here: https://theconversation.com/a-history-of-british-political-sleaze-and-why-we-should-worry-about-the-johnson-government-160304

Populist leaders are gaining prominence across the globe, and Argentina is no different.

Javier Milei, a self-described "anarcho-capitalist" who gained fame as a staple on Argentinian TV, is set to face-off against Peronist candidate Sergio Massa on November 19.

He is an avowed admirer of Donald Trump, has been supported by Brazilian former president Jair Bolsonaro, and has used misinformation and wild claims to propel himself to the precipice of power.

We spoke to Olivia Sohr from Argentinian fact-checkers Chequeado about his rise to power, his use of right-wing tropes, and how misinformation has helped to define the current election.

Also on this week's pod, Ali and Paul discuss the Scottish Government WhatsApp controversy, and unpick the myth that alcohol warms you up.

Show notes:

On For Fact's Sake this week, we are looking at the role of fact-checking in the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Ali spoke to Lucy Swinnen, who is an editor at Bellingcat, which is using publicly available videos, images and data to tackle some of the propaganda and disinformation swirling around since October's escalation.

But with so many people online now using publicly available footage to attempt to debunk narratives in the conflict, is there a danger that open-source investigation can be used to mislead?

Elsewhere on the podcast, Ali and Paul look at Margaret Thatcher's alleged views on independence, and the disinformation spreading alongside bedbugs in France.

On episode 19 of For Fact’s Sake, Paul talked to freelance journalist Sian Norris about her work exposing disinformation around abortion and reproductive rights. 

Sian explained the growing threat to abortion rights around the world, how anti-abortion rhetoric can act as a ‘gateway drug’ into far-right and conspiracy views, and the pipeline that carries fringe views about reproductive rights from online spaces to the halls of power. 

Elsewhere, Ali explains why a recording of Keir Starmer from the Labour Party conference is almost certainly fake, and on Paul’s Curiosity Corner the boys discuss claims that the Covid-19 vaccine was going to turn millions of Americans into zombies. 

Show notes: 

You can read more of Sian Norris’ investigations on abortion and disinformation here and here

She is also the author of Bodies Under Siege: How the Far-Right Attack on Reproductive Rights Went Global

On this week’s edition of For Fact’s Sake, Ali and Paul talked to Daniel Jolley from the University of Nottingham about how experiencing workplace bullying can make people more likely to believe in conspiracy theories.

Daniel explained what psychologists consider conspiracy beliefs, the psychological impacts of bullying that can make people more prone to them, and why conspiracy theories are damaging to individuals as well as society at large.

Elsewhere, the boys discussed the ban on XL bully dogs, and looked at Rishi Sunak’s wild claim that Brits will soon need to have seven bins.

On this week's podcast we are talking online scams. Things have moved on from the generous Nigerian Prince offering to share his fortune with you, now there are lots of different ways that scammers can separate you from your money.

Ali spoke to Professor Oli Buckley, cyber security expert at the University of East Anglia, about the state of scams today, and how artificial intelligence is used by scammers to play on your deepest fears and anxieties.

Elsewhere on the podcast, Ali and Paul look at a Scottish Labour claim on child poverty, and examine the Tiktok phenomenom of mouth taping.

Show notes:

• Oli Buckley has written about scams and AI here.
• Our child poverty fact check is here

An independent film released in the UK this week has taken the US box office by storm, but has run into controversy.

Sound of Freedom is the story of anti-child trafficking campaigner Tim Ballard, who founded charity Operation Underground Railroad (OUR).

But the credibility of the claims made by Ballard and the organisation he once led have been called into question, and troubling links have been unearthed with conspiracy theories perpetuated by the US far-right.

Vice News journalists Anna Merlan and Tim Marchman have been digging into the facts behind Ballard and OUR for a number of years, and explained to Ali and Paul what is going on.

Elsewhere on the podcast, we explain why Ferret Fact Service fact-checked a video about Patrick Harvie, and Ali's credibility is tested in an impromptu quiz.

Show notes:

• Anna and Tim's work on OUR and Tim Ballard can be found here.
• Our fact check on the Patrick Harvie video is here.

As the World Cup reaches its climax, For Fact's Sake podcast looks at the abuse that some women footballers face online.

We spoke to Dr Beth Fielding-Lloyd from Sheffield Hallam University, an expert on women's sport and its representations in media.

She explained how abuse suffered by women footballers differs from men, how certain 'trigger' events can lead to misogynistic pile-ons, and why myths and misinformation about women's sport stoke the hateful abuse that athletes and pundits face.

Elsewhere in the podcast, Ali and Paul look at a dodgy claim about the education attainmemt gap in Scotland, and have a look at some myths about dieting and exercise.

Show notes:

• Dr Fielding-Lloyd's research on 'trigger events' that lead to pile-ons of gendered online abuse is here.
• Our fact check on the attainment gap is here.

After our fact-checking series, Scotland and the Climate Crisis, came to an end, Ali and Paul spoke to climate systems expert Professor Gabi Hegerl from the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh Climate Change Institute.

She explained how the climate is already being impacted by human-caused climate change, and how we can tell that the current impacts on the world are directly attributable to greenhouse gases pumped out by human activity.

Then, in Paul's Curiosity Corner, we looked at the controversy over the Ultra Low Emissions Zone in London, and how some of the opposition has been hijacked by conspiracy theorists.

Show notes:

• Professor Hegerl's University of Edinburgh research page.
• Our Scotland and the Climate Crisis work is here.

This week, The Ferret has been separating fact from fiction around climate change in our series, Scotland and the Climate Crisis.

But false narratives are being pushed on social and more traditional media everyday, with hashtags like #ClimateScam being used on thousands of posts promoting climate denial and junk science.

With the consequences of climate chage becoming more apparent, why is climate change scepticism so popular, and is it even increasing?

We asked Mikey Biddlestone, a researcher from University College London, about how climate conspiracy beliefs develop, and why they might even be more likely as the effects of climate change become more obvious.

Show notes:

• Mikey Biddlestone's Twitter is here.
• His article in The Conversation on how to combat climate misinformation is here.
• Check out the rest of Scotland and the Climate Crisis here.