Dr Lee Jones is a Professor of Political Economy & International Relations at the Queen Mary University of London. Dr Jones and I had a great conversation about China, covid policy (namely vaccine passports), and making the best of Brexit. I’ve become increasingly concerned that a lot of people in society are unable…
Category: Brexit
Chatter #172 – Gavin Esler On English Nationalism, Scottish Independence And The Breakup Of The UK
Gavin Esler is an award-winning television and radio broadcaster, novelist and journalist. He is the author of five novels and four non-fiction books, most recently How Britain Ends – English Nationalism and the Re-birth of Four Nations. It’s a forensic examination of the way in which resurgent English nationalism is pulling the United…
Chatter #153 – Emma Briant on Cambridge Analytica, Social Media, and Election Meddling
Dr Briant is one of the key researchers who uncovered the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018, with two books and two major documentary films, she is an internationally recognized expert on information warfare and propaganda. Films her research featured in include Oscar-shortlisted Netflix film The Great Hack and People You May Know. As…
We Have To Ban Political Advertising Online
Once upon a time a brand-new piece of technology appeared on the scene. One that would allow politicians to conceivably reach into every house in the nation, one with few rules on advertising or what could legally be said (this was a time before fact checkers). It was soon decided that this technology…
Our Divided Society – Chapter 4
Deep-seated inequalities continue to cast long jagged shadows over the map of England. – Alex Niven We’ve learnt how technology has helped advertisers and political campaigners alike to understand us and how social media is exacerbating societal divisions. We’ve also looked at how the press has helped exacerbate anti-immigrant and anti-EU sentiment and…
The Weaponized Propaganda Machine – Chapter 5
Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing. – George Orwell, 1984 As we’ve already seen, data gathered by companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter allows them to target adverts based on our every click. They can build detailed profiles about our personality,…
