The Listening Post

A new coronavirus variant has brought uncertainty back into the pandemic story. With scientists and journalists racing to understand Omicron, news audiences have been left with more questions than answers.

Contributors:

Kai Kupferschmidt - Contributing Correspondent, Science Magazine

Jon Allsop  - Writer, Columbia Journalism Review

Monica Gandhi  - Infectious Diseases Doctor, University of California San Francisco

Mosa Moshabela - Deputy Vice Chancellor Research & Innovation, University of KwaZulu-Natal

On our radar:

Russian state-funded news network RT threatens to sue Meduza, an independent media outlet, over a T-shirt. Producer Flo Phillips tells Richard Gizbert why the words "foreign agent" are at the centre of the dispute.

K-Drama: Riding the Korean Wave:

Binge-worthy content, slick production, romantic storylines - the story behind South Korea’s rise as a cultural superpower.

Contributors:

Lee Ki-hyuk - Chief Strategy Officer, Studio Dragon

Seok Kyeong Hong - Professor of Communications, Seoul University

Kyong Yoon - Associate Professor of Cultural Studies, University of British Columbia

Sudan’s flirtation with democracy ends in a coup d’etat - how far will its leaders go to control what we know about the story?

Contributors:

Mohanad Hashim - journalist

Jonas Horner - deputy director, Horn of Africa, Crisis Group

Yassmin Abdel-Magied, writer and broadcaster

Raga Makawi - editor, Africa Arguments

On our radar:

As Myanmar’s military courts sentence journalists arrested after the coup that removed democratically elected Aung San Suu Kyi, producer Nicholas Muirhead talks Richard Gizbert about the release of American journalist Danny Fenster.

Eric Zemmour: The political rise of France’s far-right polemicist

Far-right French journalist Eric Zemmour has yet to declare himself a presidential candidate - but has he already set the tone for next year’s election?

Contributors:

Rokhaya Diallo - contributor, C8 and The Washington Post newspaper

Christophe Deloire - secretary-general, Reporters Without Borders

Aurelien Mondon - associate professor of politics, University of Bath

As Ethiopia stares down the barrel of all-out civil war, a government-imposed communications blackout is allowing hatred and disinformation to thrive.

Contributors:

Berhan Taye - Digital researcher

Nima Elbagir - Senior international correspondent, CNN

Claire Wilmot - Research officer, LSE

On our radar:

This week, a routine news conference in Athens turned into a shouting match between a Dutch journalist and the Greek prime minister. Meenakshi Ravi tells Richard Gizbert about the media furore that ensued.

War and PiS: An attack on Poland’s biggest news channel:

Back from the brink, still on the air - the Polish 24-hour news channel that remains in the government’s crosshairs.

Contributors:

Brygida Grysiak - Deputy editor-in-chief, TVN24

Tomasz Lis - Former anchor, TVN & editor-in-chief, Newsweek Poland

Elżbieta Rutkowska - Journalist, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna

Beata Tadla - Former anchor, TVP & host, Onet.Pl

Climate change: News organisations, fossil fuel companies and audiences all need to do better on the story that could mean the end of us.

Contributors:

Meera Selva - deputy director of the Reuters Institute

Genevieve Guenther - founder and director, End Climate Silence

George Monbiot - author and columnist

David Gelber - co-founder, The Years Project

On our radar:

A year after war broke out in the northern Tigray region of Ethiopia, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government has declared a six-month state of emergency. Producer Flo Phillips joins Richard Gizbert to discuss the effect it is having on freedom of expression.

The hate crimes going viral in India:

Violence against Muslims, filmed by the perpetrators, is the latest ugly trend among India’s Hindu vigilantes.

Contributors:

Alishan Jafri - journalist, The Wire Hate Watch

Angana Chatterji - anthropologist, University of California, Berkeley and co-editor of Majoritarian State: How Hindu Nationalism is Changing India

Saba Naqvi - author of Shades of Saffron

00:00 Intro

02:15 The climate crisis

11:29 Ethiopia’s ongoing conflict

13:42 Violence against Muslims in India

23:48 End note

Aryan Khan, the son of one of India’s biggest movie stars, Shah Rukh Khan, was charged with possessing and trafficking drugs. We take a look at the drug bust that tells a story of the conflict between the Indian authorities and Bollywood.

Contributors:

Namrata Joshi - Journalist and film critic

Vivek Agnihotri - Film director

Sucharita Tyagi - Film critic

Tejaswini Ganti - Assistant Professor, Anthropology and Film Studies, NYU

On our radar:

Facebook is again in our news feeds, and once again for the wrong reasons. Richard Gizbert speaks to producer Nic Muirhead about the continuing fallout from the whistleblower that has a consortium of news outlets on the company’s case.

Alarm Phone: The refugee hotline and lifeline

We discuss Alarm Phone, the hotline for refugees at sea that is helping to get their stories heard.

Contributors:

Jacob Berkson - Activist, Alarm Phone

Giorgos Christides - Reporter, Der Spiegel

Giorgos Kosmopoulos - Greece researcher, Amnesty International

Notis Mitarachi - Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum

00:00 Intro

02:12 Bollywood in the dock in Modi’s India

11:17 Facebook whistleblower fallout

13:45 Alarm Phone: The refugee hotline & lifeline

24:05 End Note

Accountability for the blast that destroyed Beirut’s port proves elusive in Lebanon and journalists are not helping.

Contributors:

Lara Bitar - Editor-in-Chief, The Public Source

Alia Ibrahim - Co-founder and CEO, Daraj

Jad Shahrour - Journalist and writer; Communications Officer, Samir Kassir Foundation

On our radar:

Obituaries of former United States Secretary of State Colin Powell have been too kind.

'Foreign agents' and 'undesirables': Kremlin's media labels

Authorities in Russia have been systematically clamping down on journalism with the help of so-called “patriotic” activists.

Contributors:

Vitaly Borodin - Federal Security & Anti-Corruption Project

Roman Badanin - Founder & Former Editor-in-Chief, Proekt; John S. Knight Senior International Fellow, Stanford University

Lilia Yapparova - Special Correspondent, Meduza

For the first time in 85 years, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to two journalists. What does this tell us about the state of global journalism?

Contributors:

Rana Ayyub - Journalist

Agnes Callamard - Secretary General, Amnesty International

Julie Posetti - Global director of research, International Center for Journalists

Ilya Yablokov - Lecturer in Journalism and Digital Media, Sheffield University

On our radar:

Singaporean authorities have passed a new "foreign inference" law that has put journalists there on alert. Richard Gizbert speaks to producer Nic Muirhead about the law and its worrying implications.

Just a game?: The US military-gaming complex

War is not a game. But it is for the video games industry and it is proving to be a useful ally for the United States military.

Contributors:

Nick Robinson - Associate Professor of Politics and International Studies, University of Leeds

Matthew Gault - Reporter, VICE

Rami Ismail - Video game developer

A whistleblower, a system crash and the United States Congress on its case; Facebook goes under the microscope, yet again.

Contributors:

Pranesh Prakash - Co-founder, Centre for Internet and Society; affiliated fellow, Information Society Project, Yale Law School

Siva Vaidhyanathan - Professor, University of Virginia; author, Antisocial Media

Marianne Franklin - Professor of global media and politics, Goldsmiths, University of London

Mahsa Alimardani - Researcher, Oxford Internet Institute

On our radar:

The Pandora Papers - the largest investigation in journalism history - are reverberating through the financial world of the rich and powerful. Producer Flo Phillips tells Richard Gizbert about the biggest ever leaks of offshore data and who they have exposed.

The case of Egypt’s jailed TikTok stars

The Egyptian government has been progressively tightening its grip on cyberspace and female social media influencers are the new targets.

Contributors:

Yasmin Omar - Egypt legal associate, The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy; human rights lawyer

Joey Shea - Non-resident scholar, Middle East Institute

Dalia Fahmy - Associate professor, Long Island University, Brooklyn

An exposé detailing the CIA’s war on WikiLeaks - a Trump administration plan to silence Julian Assange and the organisation - has been published. But like so much of the Assange story, it's got nothing like the media coverage it deserves.

Contributors:

Michael Isikoff - Chief investigative correspondent, Yahoo News

Kevin Gosztola - Managing editor, Shadowproof.com

Carrie DeCell - Staff attorney, Knight First Amendment Institute

Rebecca Vincent - Director of international campaigns & UK bureau director, Reporters Without Borders

On our radar:

Project Amplify - Facebook’s PR initiative - backfires. Richard Gizbert speaks to producer Meenakshi Ravi about the scrutiny Facebook is under, yet again.

Lost in translation: How texts change as they travel

The translation of literature - from one language to another - is a tricky business. Translators become cultural mediators, balancing faithfulness to the original with the needs of a new audience. When translators fail, context can be sacrificed, and stereotypes can get reinforced.

Contributors:

Layla AlAmmar - Author, Silence is a Sense & Academic, University of Lancaster

Susan Bassnett - Translation theorist & emeritus professor, University of Warwick

Muhammad Ali Mojaradi - Translator & founder, @persianpoetics

Leri Price - Literary translator

End Note:

And, after 16 years of leading the country as its chancellor, Germany is saying goodbye to Angela Merkel. Puppet Regime - a comedy series produced and published by GZERO Media - pays tribute to her work, Kraftwerk style.

United States drone warfare is finally being exposed. But why did it take American news outlets so long to get to such a big story?

Contributors:

Emran Feroz, Founder, Drone Memorial

Christine Fair, Security Studies Program, Georgetown University

Spencer Ackerman, Author, Reign of Terror

Vanessa Gezari, National Security Editor, The Intercept

On our radar:

Producer Tariq Nafi and host Richard Gizbert discuss a voting app that was developed by Russian opposition activists to fight Vladimir Putin in the recent elections - but was censored by Big Tech.

100 Years Too Late: Canada’s Residential School Reckoning

Months after the story of mass graves at so-called residential schools in Cananda broke, the nation is still reckoning with the trauma of mass graves.

Contributors:

Cheryl McKenzie, Director of News and Current Affairs, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN)

Cindy Blackstock, Executive Director, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada

Connie Walker, Host, Stolen: The Search for Jermain

Wab Kinew, Leader, Manitoba New Democratic Party