Pseudoscience, Fake News and How to Fight Back

https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts115/v4/6a/ae/56/6aae5634-739f-2740-eac9-380c1b29ccde/mza_452693925880800312.jpeg/600x600bb.jpg

Robert Pyrah and Marius Turda

7 episodes

9 months ago

Fake News is everywhere - but what to do about it?

Leading thinkers on politics and beyond in East-Central Europe discuss how history and science have become weaponized to support illiberal agendas. This is a lively, urgent contribution to the understanding of pseudoscience, and uses / abuses of history. In conversation with regional experts, Dr Robert Pyrah and Prof. Marius Turda. Supported by the Royal Institution, Open Society Foundation and Oxford Brookes University. New Episodes monthly.

Listen on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon or Acast.

Audio editing by https://www.audio-cleaning-online.com/

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

All content for Pseudoscience, Fake News and How to Fight Back is the property of Robert Pyrah and Marius Turda and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Fake News is everywhere - but what to do about it?

Listen on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon or Acast.

Audio editing by https://www.audio-cleaning-online.com/

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

Episodes (7/7)

Pseudoscience, Fake News and How to Fight Back

Timothy Garton Ash: Poland, Hungary and beyond

Timothy Garton Ash, an international authority on Central Europe and renowned 'historian of the present', joins Robert Pyrah in the closing episode of the series. This is a summative and wide-ranging conversation on the challenge of illiberalism in Poland, Hungary and beyond, covering topics such as the uses and abuses of history, media, the rule of law, culture and the role of the European Union. Professor Garton Ash offers listeners a detailed, nuanced and highly accessible view on the key issues facing the region today. The episode complements a reissue of his classic work, 'The Magic Lantern', which includes an essay reflecting on recent political developments more than 30 years later: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Magic-Lantern-Revolution-Witnessed-Budapest/dp/1838950702/tgabooks-21.

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

3 years ago

47 minutes 1 second

Pseudoscience, Fake News and How to Fight Back

‘Best of’: Lessons Learned

In this bonus episode, we look back at the interviews of the series so far, drawing out headline lessons for citizens, governments or other bodies in Europe and beyond.

Section 1 defines the shapes and patterns of illiberalism, via case studies on Central Europe from across the episodes.

Section 2 pulls together headline 'lessons' on how to fight back, starting at 32 min.

These are:

1. Be alert to emotion trumping fact;

2. Make science easier to access;

3. Education as illiberal attack / liberal defence;

4. Defend free speech;

5. Uncover the agenda;

6. Be wary of "mission creep";

7. Fight fire with light;

8. Persuasion vs. coercion.

Thank you for listening!

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

3 years ago

49 minutes 16 seconds

Pseudoscience, Fake News and How to Fight Back

'Fake News', the State and the Media in Hungary (Marius Turda / Mihály Szilágyi-Gál)

Why is "fake news" so popular today? What is the difference between misinformation and disinformation in politics? And how can we describe the increased state control of the media in Orbán's Hungary? These are some of the questions explored in this episode by Professor Marius Turda and his guest Dr Mihály Szilágyi-Gál.

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

4 years ago

34 minutes 29 seconds

Pseudoscience, Fake News and How to Fight Back

Overcoming History? The Growth of Civil Society in Ukraine

Ukraine is often headline news - but remains largely unknown to many in the West. Dr Robert Pyrah is joined by Prof. Jean-Paul Himka (and some insistent birds) in a wide-ranging, sensitive, and highly accessible overview of developments in this large, important young nation on Europe’s eastern border. Late to gain independence (1991), rocked by democratic revolutions, and locked in a 'frozen' conflict with Russia, Ukraine's complex geopolitics belie a dynamic and instructive story. Taking both present-day and Humanist views, we reveal a heterogenous, hopeful picture.

Note: the interviewee uses a dialect pronunciation for the city of Lviv ('L'view').

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

4 years ago

41 minutes 34 seconds

Pseudoscience, Fake News and How to Fight Back

Civic Culture in Romania during the Coronavirus pandemic

Has the political balance in Romania deteriorated since the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020? Has it favoured the emergence of aggressive forms of politics – chauvinistic, xenophobic, conspiracist, antivaxxer? In this episode, Professor Marius Turda discusses with Dr Ciprian Mihali the role of civil society in influencing politics in Romania today, while focusing on social equity and democratic participation.

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

4 years ago

40 minutes 13 seconds

Pseudoscience, Fake News and How to Fight Back

Historical obsessions and illiberalism in Poland (Robert Pyrah / Jan Grabowski)

This episode presents Jan Grabowski: both a leading thinker and actor in Poland’s ‘history wars’. Prof. Grabowski (Uni. of Ottawa) has faced legal action in Poland over his research into Holocaust history, but recently won (August 2021) a court case on appeal. We delve into his personal experience and the wider mechanisms behind Poland’s current illiberal drive in a wide-ranging conversation on history, memory and politics with Dr Robert Pyrah.

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

4 years ago

38 minutes 7 seconds

Pseudoscience, Fake News and How to Fight Back

Illiberalism in Hungary (Marius Turda with Ferenc Laczó)

In this first episode of the series, Prof Marius Turda (Oxford Brookes University) talks to Dr Ferenc Laczó (Maastricht University) about the many facets of illiberalism in Hungary today, including their historical sources and legitimacy, and current representations of history in the country's public sphere.

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

4 years ago

37 minutes 12 seconds