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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) 

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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) 

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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) 

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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) 

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This week Media Storm hosts Mathilda and Helena answer all your questions - from tattoo regrets to the meaning of truth to who was shagging who in the newsroom. Variety.

Join our supporters to ask your questions (and give us essential Media Storm funds) via ⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!

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) 

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Welcome to Media Storm's News Watch, helping you get your head around the headlines.

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.

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

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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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Survivors of genocide in Gaza have called on the global community to launch criminal prosecutions of Western media professionals who they say carry blame for the murders of their colleagues, families and other victims of Israeli conquest.

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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