Media Storm

We've been nominated for PODCAST OF THE YEAR at the Visionary Arts Awards 2023!

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.

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

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

Coming to you from the London Podcast Festival: The Guilty Feminist presents Media Storm’s debut show, live from King’s Place! 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 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:

For more information on Media Storm:

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

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 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 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:

For more information on Media Storm:

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).

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

Warning: Discussions around suicide and assisted dying. If you need someone to talk to, call the Samaritans on 116 123. 

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: 

Resources:

Sources:

Get in touch:

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

Warning: Some strong language

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:

For more information on Media Storm:

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).

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

Warning: Some strong language 

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:

Sources:

Resources:

Get in touch:

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.

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

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

Warning: Some strong language 

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:

For more information on Media Storm:

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

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

Warning: Some strong language 

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:

Resources:

• Donate to UK Polyamory Association here ukpolyamory.org

Sources:

Get in touch:

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.

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

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

Media Storm’s latest investigation looks at a new, post-Brexit era of exploitation targeting Central and Eastern Europeans in the UK. Today’s bonus episode looks at the attitudes behind this exploitation, and asks why a workforce who have proven invaluable were dismissed as undesirable “low-skilled” workers.

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

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

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.

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

A post-Brexit Britain has halted visas to low-paid, so-called “low-skilled,” foreign workers - primarily coming from Central and Eastern Europe. Policymakers hoped to increase wages and decrease unemployment for Britain’s own workforce. Yet in some sectors, demand for labour is now outstripping supply.

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:

Sources:

Production:

Get in touch

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.

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