Media Storm

We bring back Media Storm's episode on 'terrorism' to reflect on the escalating war in the Middle East, and ask how geopolitical biases are playing into this week's headlines and restricting our understanding of events. The episode features Lebanese reporter Zahera Harb, Afghan refugee Gulwali Passarlay, former UN Security Council President Kishore Mahbubani, South African freedom fighters from the LSWV, and ex-IRA convict Tony Doherty. Hosts: Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia) Music: Samfire (@soundofsamfire) Support Media Storm on Patreon - and help us out by sending your favourite episode to 3 of your favourite people! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nuclear weapons: peace in our times, or destruction in our future? What you think probably depends on where in the world you are - because what journalists write generally depends on where in the world they are. Here in the UK, nuclear weapons are a necessary deterrent, and that’s the end of the story. The coverage is coloured by geopolitical considerations and political voices, while scientific and humanitarian ones are absent. That’s why Media Storm is bringing in a Nobel-winning physicist and a Japanese peace activist to dig deeper. Dr Ira Helfand and Yumiko Sakuma join us for (heads up) our scariest Media Storm episode yet. What would survivors tell us if we gave them a voice? What hidden risks are going unreported? Who gets rich from fuelling the arms race? And what would actually happen if nuclear warfare broke out? Also: is there another way? Plus – your weekly Media Storms: Zombie knives and ninja swords, doubt in the details of a Telegraph article about benefits - and why Boris Johnson knows nothing about Bridget Jones. Also, sausages. Hosts: Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia) Music: Samfire (@soundofsamfire) Assistant Producer: Katie Grant Support Media Storm on Patreon - and help us out by sending your favourite episode to 3 of your favourite people! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Prince Harry’s 40th birthday, Kate Middleton back at work, and ANOTHER dramatisation of that Prince Andrew interview. Headlines about the Royals are frequent front pages - but is this actually news? The monarchy is given a fairly easy ride in the media - rarely questioned, often praised, history erased. But why don’t editorial guidelines about ‘due impartiality’ apply to the royal family, when 40% of Brits disagree with its existence? This week, storyteller Kelechi Okafor and author Dr Laura Clancy (who wrote Running the Family Firm: how the monarchy manages its image and our money) join us to talk about monarchy in the media. How much money does the taxpayer spend on the monarchy? What is the actual job of a royal correspondent - and why are they all called Ms England, or Mr Dymond, or Ms Bond? And what actually happened during Elizabeth II’s Empire? Plus, your weekly media storms. How the Trump campaign is playing the papers; how British tabloids got a pro-Palestine pregnant mother arrested for calling Sunak and Braverman ‘coconuts’; and what the Jewish Chronicle scandal reveals about our wider media's mistakes. Hosts: Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia) Music: Samfire (@soundofsamfire) Assistant Producer: Katie Grant Episode research: Camilla Tiana Support Media Storm on Patreon! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Content warning: rape, sexual assault, and gender-based violence Headlines about gender-based violence are sadly not rare. But over the last week, two harrowing stories have sent shockwaves around the world. In France, pensioner Dominique Pelicot stands trial for recruiting 72 men to join him in drugging and raping his now ex-wife, Gisèle, over the course of a decade.  And in Kenya, Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei burned alive after being set on fire by her ex-boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema.  There has been much reporting on these stories - and not all of it good. Joining us in the studio to pick apart the headlines is Daniel Guinness, Director of Beyond Equality - the UK charity working with boys & men; and writer, researcher, and workshop facilitator Nathaniel Cole. Men are being erased from the problem, and excused from the solution. So this week, Media Storm is flipping the script - because if violence against women begins with men, it can also end with men. We also speak to Bryony Ball and Meggan Baker, the co-founders of SLEEC - Survivors Leading Essential Eduction and Change. Plus, your week's media storms: the New Yorker article casting a shadow over the Lucy Letby inquiry, what news talkshows can learn from the Jeremy Kyle inquest, and how to judge AI findings of BBC anti-Israel bias.    Hosts: Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia) Music: Samfire (@soundofsamfire) Assistant Producer: Katie Grant Episode research: Camilla Tiana Support Media Storm on Patreon! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Headlines about wars in Ukraine and Gaza have flooded front pages - yet, the "world's biggest humanitarian crisis" is battling for media attention. Why?  In Sudan, a terrible war is raging. What started as a conflict between the Sudan Armed forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has exploded into chaos and bloodshed, with countless militias, ethnic massacres, and foreign proxy self-interest. Over 25 million people face acute hunger. Nearly 11 million have been displaced. And the death count is suspected to be as high as five times as high as in Gaza. But if you were to judge by how much international attention Sudan gets - either from the media, politicians, or humanitarian donors - you wouldn’t realise this is happening before the world's eyes.  Joining Media Storm this week is Sudanese activist and the man behind the social media platform Sudan Updates, Ameen Mekki. We are also joined by Sudanese refugee, public speaker, and charity worker Gaida Dirar, to discuss how British colonial history played a part in Sudan’s present-day difficulties - and why the war is as urgent to Western audiences as any other. Plus, your week's Media Storms: panic about a potential pub garden smoking ban, an extracted anecdote from Jess Phillips that apparently provided proof of a 'two-tier NHS', misleading claims about crime at Notting Hill Carnival, and the voices missing in Israel-Palestine coverage: though they may not be the voices you think.  Hosts: Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia) Music: Samfire (@soundofsamfire) Assistant Producer: Katie Grant Episode research: Camilla Tiana Support Media Storm on Patreon! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices