S4E13 Why is no one talking about Sudan? Plus Jess Phillips NHS claim and pub garden smoking ban

Media Storm

#Politics #News #Helena Wadia #Mathilda Mallinson #News Talk #Media Storm #Current Affairs #Investigative #True Crime #Feminism #Activism #Podcasting Education

22:08

Host Francesca Amiker sits down with directors Joe and Anthony Russo, producer Angela Russo-Otstot, stars Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt, and more to uncover how family was the key to building the emotional core of The Electric State . From the Russos’ own experiences growing up in a large Italian family to the film’s central relationship between Michelle and her robot brother Kid Cosmo, family relationships both on and off of the set were the key to bringing The Electric State to life. Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts . State Secrets: Inside the Making of The Electric State is produced by Netflix and Treefort Media.…

about a year ago 59:31

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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

121 episodes

Media Storm

S4E13 Why is no one talking about Sudan? Plus Jess Phillips NHS claim and pub garden smoking ban

Media Storm

56 subscribers

published about a year ago

MP3•Episode home

Headlines about wars in Ukraine and Gaza have flooded front pages - yet, the "world's biggest humanitarian crisis" is battling for media attention. Why?

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.

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

121 episodes

#Politics #News #Helena Wadia #Mathilda Mallinson #News Talk #Media Storm #Current Affairs #Investigative #True Crime #Feminism #Activism #Podcasting Education

All episodes

Media Storm

1
S5E6 Pregnant in prison: The case to stop births behind bars 41:42

1 day ago41:42

41:42

Content warning: baby loss "When a court sentences a pregnant woman to prison, they sentence her to a high risk pregnancy" There are hundreds of pregnant women in UK prisons - a third of them yet to actually be convicted of a crime. Babies born to women in prison are 7x more likely to be stillborn than the norm. In recent years, two babies died when their incarcerated mothers went into labour and their calls for help were ignored. Last month, harrowing stories emerged of women at HMP Bronzefield being unlawfully handcuffed to male officers during childbirth. Media Storm asks: will prison ever be a safe place to be pregnant? And if not, does the media care? And why, when debating this issue, did one LBC presenter get fixated on lamb chops?! (19:25) Plus, Helena delves into far more detail than anybody asked for when talking about the EastEnders storyline which saw the iconic character Sonia Fowler pregnant in prison - an example of pop culture's influence on real-life issues. Joining Media Storm this week is co-director of gender justice group Level Up , Janey Starling , and 'Anna' - co-founder of the Level Up campaign No Births Behind Bars , who was first sent to prison when 6 months pregnant. The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson ( @mathildamall ) and Helena Wadia ( @helenawadia ) The music is by @soundofsamfire Support us on Patreon ! Follow us on Instagram , Bluesky , and TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

Media Storm

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News Watch: Labour's benefit-bashing, Gaza & Yemen airstrikes, and a new nuclear era for Europe 39:23

2 days ago39:23

39:23

Time for another weekly news debrief: Europe’s surging defence budgets and the hidden realities of the nuclear armament debate (03:09), the attack on benefits in our government and media - which are cutting more disability voices from the debate, than actual costs from the budget (10:07), and the overlooked importance of US airstrikes in Yemen (24:51). Plus, how Gaza’s ceasefire ended long before this week’s devastating airstrikes (30:39). Walk with us through the week’s top stories and learn how to critically consume the mainstream media, spot the missing contexts and voices, and get a better understanding of what’s happening in our world. UPDATE: Since recording, Gaza's death toll has continued to rise and has now surpassed 500 deaths since Tuesday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson ( @mathildamall ) and Helena Wadia ( @helenawadia ) The music is by @soundofsamfire Support us on Patreon ! Follow us on Instagram , Bluesky , and TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

Media Storm

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TRAILER: The News Meeting x Media Storm 2:54

4 days ago2:54

2:54

Introducing...The News Meeting from our friends at Tortoise. Your Media Storm hosts Mathilda & Helena were invited on Tortoise's podcast to pitch a story we think should lead the news. Are welfare reforms Labour’s only hope of saving money ahead of the Spring Statement? Who are the hundreds of Venezuelans who have been forcibly removed from the US? And what is the media getting wrong when it comes to reporting on femicide by an intimate partner? We join Tortoise's Deputy Editor Giles Whittell and reporter Claudia Williams for The News Meeting. You can listen to the full episode here ! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

Media Storm

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Abuse in academia: Are universities protecting predatory professors? 42:35

9 days ago42:35

42:35

This week, Media Storm investigates how universities handle sexual misconduct cases - when their prestigious professors are at the centre of the scandal. It all started when our intern, a student at LSE, told us about student activism stirring at her university, after a dozen sexual misconduct allegations against one male professor resulted in no disciplinary action for him - and several female staff resigning in protest. It’s not a secret that women drop out of academia at disproportionate rates to men. The female-male ratio slips from over 50/50 at postgraduate studies to 30 /70 at the highest rank of professor – giving the sector the reputation of a “leaky pipeline”. But staff sexual misconduct (and universities’ failures to address it), is rarely, if ever, explored as a reason. We investigated. And to borrow the resigning words of one female professor, what we found, at times, “reads like a textbook on how to turn a complaints process into a gauntlet, into a warning to women not to challenge the behaviour of men and the institutions that protect them”. The episode was co-produced by Mathilda Mallinson and Camilla Tiana, and hosted by Mathilda Mallinson and Helena Wadia. The music is by Samfire. Academic resources: · Eradicating Sexual Violence in Tertiary Education (UCU, 2021) · Power in the academy : staff sexual misconduct in UK higher education (NUS, 2021) · Misconduct Disclosure Scheme proposal (1752, 2024) · ‘ How Do Institutional Gender Regimes Affect Formal Reporting Processes for Sexual Harassment ? A Qualitative Study of UK Higher Education,’ by Anna Bull, and Erin Shannon ( Law & Policy , 2024) Response from The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) spokesperson: “LSE is committed to a working and learning environment where people can achieve their full potential free of all types of harassment and violence. We take reports of sexual harassment extremely seriously and encourage any member of the LSE community who has experienced or witnessed this to get in touch via one of our many channels . Further, if a complaint of misconduct is received against any member of our faculty, staff or student body we will always investigate fairly and fully, following our policies and procedures. “LSE has developed, and continues to develop, a number of measures to ensure any allegation of misconduct receives a trauma-informed, robust and compassionate response. “These measures include the new Report + Support system - an online tool where staff and students can report issues of concern and which provides information about support, policies and procedures and campaigns. This enables us to address issues more quickly and consistently across the School and vastly improve our approach to case management and communication with all involved. In line with sector best practice, we also plan to make greater use of external investigators in the future. "We have commissioned Rape Crisis South London and Survivors UK to run an Independent Sexual Violence Advisory service for the School. This provides practical and emotional support for any student or staff member who needs it and supports them through a reporting process and/or the criminal justice process if they wish. This service is available to access online without a waiting list. This represents a step-change in the level of specialist support we're offering our students. “We have also implemented a tailored all-staff online training course on addressing harassment and sexual misconduct affecting students, developed with Advance HE . This is being rolled out as required training across the School." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

Media Storm

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S5E5 Maternity and paternity leave: Why parents are so angry at politics 48:16

15 days ago48:16

48:16

This week, Media Storm delves into a vastly underreported topic - and one of the biggest potential barriers to gender equality, child welfare and family security. The UK has the least generous paternity leave entitlement in Europe, currently set at a measly two weeks. On the surface, maternity leave looks generous in length - but compared to OECD countries, the rate of pay is one of the lowest. As the government and media put culture wars over real-life policies, spread muddled misinformation about benefits that are designed to be difficult, and gender equality faces major cultural setbacks.... we ask young parents campaigning for change: why? (And how they're doing it while 5 months' pregnant?!) Joining us this week are the founders of Dope Black Dads - Marvyn Harrison , and of Nugget Savings - Katie Guild. The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson ( @mathildamall ) and Helena Wadia ( @helenawadia ) The music is by @soundofsamfire Support us on Patreon ! Follow us on Instagram , Bluesky , and TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

Media Storm

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News Watch: Trump v Zelensky, Gaza ceasefire sabotage, and the law putting Black boys in prison 38:00

16 days ago38:00

38:00

Time for another weekly news debrief: we pick apart the most unhinged headlines and try to make sense of the mainstream media, helping you consume the news critically. In this episode, we take you through the Media Storm mission: we’re not about conspiracy, we’re about media literacy. THAT Zelensky-Trump press conference set the tone for world news this week, as Western leaders rolled out red carpets and tried to decipher diplomatic rationale from clickbait MAGA politics. So who was the rude reporter that set the wheels in motion? And what should we make of the pantomime that’s become of the White House’s press room? Imagine, instead, if Netanyahu had been in the hot seat (we play it out for you): warned by Trump and Vance that he is gambling with World War Three. That he has no cards to play, if the US wants a ceasefire. Instead of applying such pressure, the US government pushed through an emergency arms sale to Israel this week - days before imposing new terms on the ceasefire with Hamas. But is that how the press reported it? Now for something NOT TRUMP. Ever heard of joint enterprise? The little-known law putting Black boys in prison has failed to attract much press scrutiny, so we dive in. And finally, Mathilda’s secret aristocratic background has been exposed by the Daily Mail! Find out why Helena’s so disappointed. The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson ( @mathildamall ) and Helena Wadia ( @helenawadia ) The music is by @soundofsamfire Support us on Patreon ! Follow us on Instagram , Bluesky , and TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

Media Storm

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S5E4 How to fight polarisation: With Jess & Nathan from Channel 4's Go Back To Where You Came From 39:32

22 days ago39:32

39:32

Warning: strong language For the first time since they wrapped filming, Mathilda, Jess, & Nathan from Channel 4's four-part documentary Go Back To Where You Came From are reunited! In the documentary, Mathilda traced a common refugee route from Somalia to the UK - alongside Jess, from a small town in Wales, and Nathan, a trucker from Barnsley. At the start of their journey, Nathan & Jess had very strong anti-immigration views. But by the final episode of the show, after talking to migrants and seeing firsthand the situations that refugees flee, the audience sees their views change - and an unlikely friendship develop between the group. How do we apply the lessons learnt from this documentary to our lives? How do we fight dehumanisation, and build bridges with those who think differently to us? The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson ( @mathildamall ) and Helena Wadia ( @helenawadia ) The music is by @soundofsamfire Support us on Patreon ! Follow us on Instagram , Bluesky , and TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

Media Storm

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News Watch: Palestinian child murder trial, BBC Gaza doc, and is history repeating in Germany? 43:42

23 days ago43:42

43:42

Vote for Samfire to perform at Tramlines festival! Time for another weekly news debrief: we pick apart the most unhinged headlines and try to make sense of the mainstream media, helping you consume the news critically. One murder trial unfolding in the US has all the ingredients for a media storm: a child’s 'grandfather-like' figure becoming his fanaticised murderer. But the killer was motivated by anti-Palestinian radicalisation, and for that the mainstream media itself should be on trial. Perhaps that’s why there’s not a whisper about the case in our press. But the death of Wadea Al-Fayoume is no less tragic than the death of every child in this war. We compare news coverage of different child fatalities, depending on whether they’re Israeli or Palestinian. And we question the BBC’s ‘ spineless ’ decision to pull a documentary covering the lives of Palestinian children. ‘Gaza: How To Survive A War Zone’ was taken offline after intervention from UK and Israeli government officials. Germany’s general election results shocked many due to an ‘unprecedented’ spike in votes for the far-right AfD. But zoom out on the history timeline, and a very familiar pattern emerges. Scroll through the interactive history Mathilda’s loving HERE . The Pope is ill: cue a scramble for power in the Vatican, avidly followed by Western media. But why are they so unfazed about the very same patriarchy they vehemently damn in non-Western religions? And finally: “Queen of Woke” Ash Sarkar rejects identity politics in a “spectacular Damascene conversion” - at least according to the Telegraph. And yet, their account of her new book doesn’t include a single direct quote... The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson ( @mathildamall ) and Helena Wadia ( @helenawadia ) The music is by @soundofsamfire Support us on Patreon ! Follow us on Instagram , Bluesky , and TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

Media Storm

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S5E3 Antisemitism: Israel, Anti-Zionism, and the politics of hate 47:49

29 days ago47:49

47:49

Between the rise of the far-right and Israel’s ongoing warfare, today’s world is a feeding frenzy for antisemitism, and many Jewish people are afraid of prejudice and attack. But as many provocateurs turn antisemitism into a political weapon, the root causes of racism are being overlooked and enabled. All the while, the mainstream media has become a weapon of mass destruction in the war of words - often failing to spotlight the biggest drivers of hate. Is it possible to be anti-Zionist without being antisemitic? What does Israel’s war mean for Jewish protection worldwide? Are Elon Musk and Kanye West’s competing for the most “Nazi swag”? These are all questions we’ll put to our guests - Anthony Feinstein, son of a Holocaust survivor and former comrade of Nelson Mandela in the war against Apartheid, white supremacy and antisemitism in South Africa. And Alex Kane, senior reporter at the historic, post-Nazi Jewish Currents in the US. The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson ( @mathildamall ) and Helena Wadia ( @helenawadia ) The music is by @soundofsamfire Support us on Patreon ! Follow us on Instagram , Bluesky , and TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

Media Storm

1
News Watch: Chagos Islands, GB News queerphobia, and Sweden's mass shooting victims 30:58

4 weeks ago30:58

30:58

Time for another weekly news debrief: we pick apart the most unhinged headlines and try to make sense of the mainstream media, helping you consume the news critically. The UK agreed to hand the Chagos Islands “back” to Mauritius. But colonial history makes this decision complicated - and crucially, Chagossians were excluded from the discussions… much like Ukraine this week, who were left out of US-Russia peace negotiations. This news made every front page, except for the Daily Mail who wrote about wokeness and the Daily Star who wrote about... sausages. Other stories we cover: more than 65,000 people have complained to Ofcom over a GB News comment comparing queerness to (prepare yourself) paedophilia. We discuss this record-breaking number, and the doubled-down defence of the presenter. And finally, why anti-migrant sentiment led to Sweden's worst mass shooting - and whether the media does a better job at reporting crises, or creating them. The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson ( @mathildamall ) and Helena Wadia ( @helenawadia ) The music is by @soundofsamfire Support us on Patreon ! Follow us on Instagram , Bluesky , and TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

Media Storm

1
S5E2 Why does asexuality make the media so angry? 36:54

5 weeks ago36:54

36:54

It's Valentine's Day! A day full of overpriced chocolates, high expectations, and focus on how much sex you're going to have. So what about those who have no interest in it? 'Ace' is an umbrella term used to describe people who experience little, fluctuating, or no sexual attraction. There are also aromantic people - who experience little to no romantic attraction. Asexuality is often widely misunderstood, including within the LGBTQ+ community. Asexual people are also not recognised in legislation, such as under the UK Equality Act, and Stonewall found asexual people may be at a higher risk of conversion therapy than gay, lesbian and bi individuals. But when asexual activists take to the media to raise these issues, they are met with a chorus of criticism, ignorance, and insults: they're vying for victimhood, or they're offered the enlightening advice to simply "get laid". Here to help us understand why exactly the media are so angry is Yasmin Benoit , model, academic and activist. The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson ( @mathildamall ) and Helena Wadia ( @helenawadia ) The music is by Samfire ( @soundofsamfire ) Follow us @mediastormpod Support us on Patreon! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

Media Storm

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News Watch: Trump’s ‘war on women’s sports’, hostage handovers, and is Labour Reform-ing? 31:38

5 weeks ago31:38

31:38

! JOIN US AT SAMFIRE’S EP LAUNCH PARTY TONIGHT ! This week’s political news reads like a playbook in fascist propaganda - and rule number 1 is throwing minorities under the bus. Whether it’s Trump’s America, Merz’s Germany or Starmer’s Great Britain, leadership apparently now means bowing to the myths of the masses - myths the media has miserably failed to correct. Is there really a ‘migrant crime wave’? We review worldwide data to equip listeners with the facts missing from the mainstream media. What about ‘the war on women’s sports’? How many transgender athletes does it take for the Trump administration to ceremoniously sign a national ban? (Apparently, just 10 - we wonder what Musk’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ makes of that use of federal funds.) And guess who predicted Hamas’ hesitation over hostage releases, following Trump’s plans to “take over” Gaza? The families of those hostages. So why did their concerns barely make the press? We finish News Watch with Eyes On Palestine: new frontiers of war emerge in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia) The music is by Samfire (@samfire) Follow us @mediastormpod Support us on Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

Media Storm

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S5E1 Female Genital Mutilation: Can we achieve zero tolerance with zero coverage? 33:50

6 weeks ago33:50

33:50

This week, we’ve decided to cover a topic that’s hugely underreported in the mainstream media: FGM. Yesterday was FGM Zero Tolerance Day , so you may have seen a (very small) flurry of articles about the topic - but this week's guests say that it needs to be covered all year round. FGM stands for Female Genital Mutilation - the deliberate cutting or removal of a female's external genitalia. It is currently documented in 92 countries around the world, the highest share in Africa - countries including Somalia, Egypt, Mali, Sudan and Ethiopia. It is also found in Asian and Middle Eastern countries, and in diaspora communities in the West. Over 200 million women globally have been subjected to FGM. This should be a media storm. But instead, there’s near silence. So we've asked FGM survivors why the coverage is lacking, what they need from the media, and what we can do to help. Joining us is Dr Leyla Hussein , psychotherapist and award-winning international campaigner leading the fight against FGM, and Ifrah Ahmed , Somali-Irish humanitarian worker, activist, and founder of the Ifrah Foundation, a charity with the aim of the absolute abandonment of FGM in Somalia. The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson ( @mathildamall ) and Helena Wadia ( @helenawadia ) Follow us @mediastormpod Support us on Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

Media Storm

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News Watch: Trump’s bid for Gaza, Congo’s conflict, Axel Rudakubana's missed misogyny 41:46

6 weeks ago41:46

41:46

Welcome to the first episode of Media Storm series 5! Helena questions Mathilda about her motivations in taking part in a Channel 4 documentary about polarised immigration opinions, called Go Back To Where You Came From. Then it's onto our weekly news debrief: we pick apart the most unhinged headlines and try to make sense of the mainstream media, helping you consume the news critically. This week's news - like last week's and probably next week - is the Trump show. But how much are the media playing into his hands by making all world news about Trump's actions? And how do we sort the fascism from the frenzy? We also decipher Trump's call for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, which is dressed up as compassion. Other stories we cover: Why is everything except male violence to blame for the actions of Southport killer Axel Rudakubana? Plus, we look at reporting on the rebel M23 forces who have seized the eastern city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo - and why this reporting under the 'Africa' tab of your news page is not as far from home as you think. Finally, why all reporting corrections should be splashed on the front page... The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson ( @mathildamall ) and Helena Wadia ( @helenawadia ) Follow us @mediastormpod Support us on Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

Media Storm

1
ARCHIVE What is the refugee 'crisis'? Plus: Media Storm Series 5 announcement 48:51

7 weeks ago48:51