PODAGANDA is back after a much-needed break from 2019 and ready to take on the new decade. In this episode, journalists Ben Cowles, Steve Sweeney and Bethany Rielly discuss: The Turkish government’s proposed changes to child sex laws (4:09) The 1,000 refugees pushed back to war-torn Libya in the first two weeks of 2020 (11:50) The protesters who tried to cut Israel’s fence around Gaza fence (20:58) As always, brace yourself for profoundly left-wing views and plenty of bad language Show notes The Evening Moon podcast was the pilot version of this here podcast. Check out episode three of the Evening Moon here if you like: youtube.com/watch?v=fb4cyfMHXkI&t=3s  You can send messages of support for the HDP women’s conference in Turkey here: hdpankarailyonetimi@gmail.com. Be sure to CC Steve on: international@peoples-press.com  Turkish troops mobilise for war in Libya: morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/turkish-troops-mobilise-for-libyan-war  Almost 1,000 refugees pushed back to war-torn Libya in the first two weeks of 2020: morningstaronline.co.uk/article/o/1000-refugees-pushed-back-war-racked-libya-2020-so-far-iom-says  Frontex blasted for boasting of decline of migrants into Europe as rescuers witness refugees pushed back to war-torn Libya: morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/frontex-blasted-for-boasting-of-decline-of-migrants-into-europe-as-rescuers-witness-refugees-pushed-back-to-war-torn-libya  Here’s CNN’s footage of African migrants being sold as slaves market in Libya: edition.cnn.com/2017/11/14/africa/libya-migrant-auctions/index.html  Here’s Ben’s interview with Italian researcher Matteo Villa debunking the idea that search and rescue operations are encouraging people to risk their lives at sea: morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/rescuing-drowning-migrants-no-pull-factor  Activists make unprecedented attempt to cut Gaza fence in protest of 13-year Israeli siege: morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/activists-breach-gaza-fence-in-protest  Israeli warplanes pummel Gaza: morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/israeli-warplanes-pummel-gaza  Here’s the Chomsky interview Ben mentioned. Nine minutes in he speaks about why it is not in the interests of the Arab states to help the Palestinian cause: youtube.com/watch?v=PVjVtg0WBgs&feature=emb_title  Israeli commandos kill activists on flotilla bound for Gaza: theguardian.com/world/2010/may/31/israel-kills-activists-flotilla-gaza  Here’s Green Day’s When I Come Around in case you never heard it: youtube.com/watch?v=i8dh9gDzmz8  Here’s the album grandad Steve chose to have on repeat for the rest of eternity: youtube.com/watch?v=unGEItr2gMo  Intro music by Jamie Thrasivoulou and Andrew De’Ath. Follow Podaganda, Ben Cowles, Steve Sweeney and Bethany Rielly on Twitter via: @PodagandaCast, @Cowlesz, @SweeneySteve and @b_rielly.

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Turkey's child rape bill, Libyan refugees and cutting the Gaza fence

IN this episode, Ben Cowles is joined by fellow journalists Ceren Sagir and Bethany Rielly to discuss:   The general election so far: The polls, the Lib Dems’ lies, Elizabeth Winsdor’s (aka the queen) speech fiasco, Tory Islamophobia (1:50)  This week’s anti-Nato protests (10:03) And the pro-Israeli settlements charity which held a meeting in London this week (18:32)   As always, brace yourself for profoundly left-wing views and plenty of bad language   Show notes   Legendary writer and educationalist Michael Rosen confronts the Labour antisemitism scandal and explains why he’s backing Corbyn, his friend of 30 years: mstar.link/2Pik8Nz    Verso publishers have put out a free e-book called Antisemitism and the Labour Party which is well worth checking out: versobooks.com/books/3215-antisemitism-and-the-labour-party   Have a read of Jewish Voice for Labour’s canvasser’s briefing on antisemitism in the Labour Party: jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/app/uploads/2019/10/Canvassers-briefing.jpg    Have a read of Ceren’s story on the open letter urging an investigation into Tory Islamophobia: mstar.link/34UaabS    Here’s the article Ben was talking about by Milan Rai, entitled Boris Johnson believes Britain’s wars fuel terrorism: bit.ly/2PjkH9Z  Here’s the footage of Jeremy Corbyn’s famous anti-Iraq war speech in 2003. If you’ve never seen it, you must check it out: mstar.link/38fwIpi    Bethany’s article on Regavim can be read here: bit.ly/33XGGs4    Here’s Bethany’s news story on the protest against Regavim: bit.ly/36axOAZ    Read Bethany’s eyewitness account of the Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem: mstar.link/2Rqnalx    Israel’s PM promised to annex the West Bank earlier this year. Read about that here: bit.ly/38eqM03    Check out Wikipedia’s article on Joe Sacco’s Footnotes on Gaza here: wikipedia.org/wiki/Footnotes_in_Gaza    Intro music by Jamie Thrasivoulou and Andrew De’Ath.  Follow Podaganda, Ben Cowles, Ceren Sagir and Bethany Rielly on Twitter via: @PodagandaCast, @Cowlesz, @cerenkardelen, and @b_rielly.

Standing up to Nato and the pro-Israeli settlement charity

IN this episode of Podaganda, David Starke, the general director of SOS Mediterranee speaks about the charity’s rescue missions onboard the Ocean Viking, Europe’s handling of the so-called ‘migrant crisis’ and the criminalisation of humanitarian rescue   Show notes Follow Podaganda, Ben Cowles and SOS Mediterranee on Twitter via: @PodagandaCast, @Cowlesz and @SOSMedIntl.    Doctors Without Borders (MSF) also works on board the Ocean Viking with SOS Mediterranee. Check them out here: @MSF_Sea.   Read Ben’s interview with the Ocean Viking’s communications manager Hannah Wallace Bowman here: mstar.link/33l2q0G. Intro music by Jamie Thrasivoulou and Andrew De’Ath.

Saving lives is not a crime: Interview with SOS Mediterranee's David Starke

IN this episode of Podaganda, Labour’s shadow minister for climate justice and green jobs Danielle Rowley tells us about how she became Labour’s youngest MP, her campaign to get re-elected as Midlothian's MP, the Lib Dem-Plaid Cymru-Green Party's alliance, the environment, period poverty and more.   As always, brace yourself for profoundly left-wing views and plenty of bad language   Show notes Follow Podaganda, Ben Cowles and Danielle Rowley on Twitter via: @PodagandaCast, @Cowlesz and @DaniRowley.    You can watch Danielle Rowley speaking about period poverty in Parliament here: bit.ly/32T8LjL    Intro music by Jamie Thrasivoulou and Andrew De’Ath. 

A once-in-a-generation opportunity: Interview with Labour's Danielle Rowley

IN episode nine of Podaganda journalists Ben Cowles and Steve Sweeney are joined by their Morning Star colleague Kadeem Simmonds to discuss: General Election 2019 (1.40) Footballers defending billionaires against Labour (16:36) Anti-neoliberal protests around the world (24:48) And the Joker from a leftwing perspective (Spoilers!)(37:48) As always brace yourself for profoundly left-wing views and plenty of bad language Show Notes   Check out Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson’s sketchy voting record here: bit.ly/2riwgFR    Read the Morning Star’s front-page story on former BBC radio host and Tory party candidate Nick Conrad here: bit.ly/2qD1abz    Here’s an audio clip of Nick Conrad in action: bit.ly/2NVsc5Z    Watch this video of a Jewish woman on BBC Question Time defending Jeremy Corbyn and Labour Party policies and calling out the rightwing press’ weaponisation of antisemitism: bit.ly/36LOIXJ    Check out our interview with Chilean exile Francisco Dominguez about the anti-government protests in Chile: bit.ly/36KtTvV    Chilean police accused of raping protester: bit.ly/2Csf9DP    Crackdown on protesters and opposition leaders in Ecuador gathers pace: bit.ly/2CsrEzw    Lebanon protesters on the streets 'for as long as it takes': bit.ly/2qCxkEs    Follow Steve’s Iraq coverage here: bit.ly/34LkToC     OPCW abandons Turkey chemical attack investigation: bit.ly/2Nreadr    Check out the trailer for Joker here: bit.ly/2K5iqxk    Follow Podaganda, Ben Cowles, Steve Sweeney and Kadeem Simmonds on Twitter via: @PodagandaCast, @Cowlesz, @SweeneySteve and @KadeemSimmonds   Check out Kadeem’s American Football podcast Nickel and Dime here: nickelanddimepod.libsyn.com as well as on Spotify and iTunes.    Intro music by Jamie Thrasivoulou and Andrew De’Ath. 

General Election; Footballers and billionaires; global fight against neoliberalism, and The Joker

In this episode of Podaganda journalists Ben Cowles and Steve Sweeney interview Chilean academic and activist Francisco Dominguez about the recent anti-neoliberal protests in Chile and the history which led to them.    As always brace yourself for profoundly left-wing views and plenty of bad language   Show Notes   Check out Francisco’s recent article for the Public Reading Rooms here: bit.ly/2WzH1PN    Read about the Chicago Boys here: bit.ly/337ijbZ    Find out more about Venezuela Solidarity Campaign here: bit.ly/2JGMhvT    Follow Podaganda, Ben Cowles and Steve Sweeney on Twitter via: @PodagandaCast, @Cowlesz and @SweeneySteve.

Chile vs Neoliberalism: Interview with Francisco Dominguez

In this special episode of Podaganda journalists Ben Cowles and Steve Sweeney interview investigative journalist and author Matt Kennard about:    The British intelligence services’ co-opting of the Guardian newspaper (11:37)    the establishment’s propping up of the brutal Saudi royal family (30:42)   and the Windsor’s connection to Bahrain’s absolute monarch (44:23)    As always brace yourself for profoundly left-wing views and plenty of bad language   Show Notes   Read the Guardian’s Edward Snowden NSA leaks here: bit.ly/2Bq8x8C    You can find Matt Kennard and Mark Curtis’s article How the UK Security Services neutralised the country’s leading liberal newspaper here: bit.ly/2MtqF83   Kennard and Curtis’s article Britain’s Secret Saudi Military Support Programme can be found here: bit.ly/2J3Jtsi    Their latest article, How the British establishment is working to keep Bahrain’s ruling family in power, can be read here: bit.ly/2MrpS7w    Remember when the Guardian published the ads praising Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman for empowering women? Read Ben’s article about it here: bit.ly/32xpHgs    You can read Ben’s article on the outcry from human rights campaigners to Elizabeth Windsor’s invitation to Bahrain’s absolute ruler King Hamad to the annual Royal Windsor Horse Show earlier this year here: bit.ly/31r7kZo    You’ll find Matt’s books Irregular Army: How the US Military Recruited Neo-Nazis, Gang Members, and Criminals to Fight the War on Terror and The Racket: A Rogue Reporter vs the American Elite here: bit.ly/2J2TAgK and bit.ly/32sXszj    Mark Curtis’s excellent book, Secret Affairs: Britain's Collusion with Radical Islam, can be found here: bit.ly/2pA8jJe    View former Labour MP John Woodcock’s record on the register of members’ interests, including his paid trips to Saudi Arabia, here: bit.ly/2pwcCFy    Read about former Labour MP Mike Gapes’s trip to Saudi Arabia here: bit.ly/2oTqXMk    Follow Matt Kennard, Podaganda, Ben Cowles and Steve Sweeney on Twitter via: @DCKennard, @PodagandaCast, @Cowlesz and @SweeneySteve.   Intro music by Jamie Thrasivoulou and Andrew De’Ath. 

The British state, the media and Middle Eastern regimes: Interview with Matt Kennard

Ben Cowles and Steve Sweeney were unable to record a show this week, due mainly to life and work getting in the way. And so Podaganda would like to present The World Transformed’s Crimes for Humanity panel at the Labour Party Conference from a couple of weeks ago.   In this brilliant conference that Ben went to, the awesome panelists discuss how Europe has treated them as criminals for saving migrant and refugee lives. The speakers include:   Sean Binder  Anouk Van Gestal Haidi Sadik Ben Smoke Jeremy Corbyn   Show notes Just to be clear, Podaganda nor our employer the Morning Star had anything to do with this event. All Ben did was show up with his dictaphone and press record.    Be sure to check out The World Transformed and all the awesome work they do: theworldtransformed.org.    Follow Podaganda, Ben Cowles and Steve Sweeney on Twitter via: @PodagandaCast, @Cowlesz and @SweeneySteve. 

Criminalising solidarity: Sean Binder, Anouk Van Gestal, Haidi Sadik, Ben Smoke and Jeremy Corbyn

IN this special episode of Podaganda journalists Ben Cowles and Steve Sweeney present the Morning Star’s fringe meeting, the Media War on Labour, at Labour Party Conference in Brighton last week. Speakers include: Carolyn Jones, vice-chair of the Morning Star’s management committee (2:23) Morning Star Editor Ben Chacko (6:22) Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott (13:00) Shadow chancellor John McDonnell (24:11) Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) general secretary Dave Ward (34:09) Bob Oram, chair of the Morning Star management committee (41:24) Unite general secretary Len McCluskey (42:02) Salma Yaqoob, Labour mayoral candidate for West Midlands Metro (55:20) Shadow justice secretary Ricard Burgon (1:04:33) RMT general secretary Mick Cash (1:17:59) Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard (1:1:25:00)   Brace yourself for profoundly left-wing views and some bad language   Show notes Follow Podaganda, Ben Cowles and Steve Sweeney on Twitter via: @PodagandaCast, @Cowlesz and @SweeneySteve. 

The media war on Labour: The Morning Star fringe event

In episode eight, journalists Steve Sweeney and Ben Cowles are joined by with Morning Star colleague Kadeem Simmonds and the Private Eye/Morning Star’s Solomon Hughes to discuss:    A bad week for journalism (Laura Kuenssberg, the S*n’s Ben Stokes story and the blackmail of Gareth Thomas)  (02:55) Solomon Hughes reports from the Lib Dem’s Conference (28:21) Turkey’s renewed attack on the HDP and women’s rights (54:10) ??? (1:05:46) Show notes:   You can read Solomon Hughes’s latest article for the Star “Lib Dems: building themselves up for another fall?” here: morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/lib-dems-building-themselves-another-fall  You can find the rest of Solomon’s work for the paper on this link: morningstaronline.co.uk/author/solomon-hughes    Kadeem’s story on the S*n’s Ben Stoke shame is here: morningstaronline.co.uk/article/s/personal-ben-stokes-story-leads-people-wanting-boycott-sun-newspaper    Read the International Federation of Journalists’ Global Charter of Ethics here: ifj.org/who/rules-and-policy/global-charter-of-ethics-for-journalists.html    RMT shop steward Eddie Dempsy’s response to the Guardian’s Owen Jones can be found here: medium.com/@eddiedempsey/a-reply-to-owen-jones-keep-it-comradely-32e034eeaa49   Phil Miller covered Boris Johnson’s disastrous visit to Whipps Cross University Hospital here: morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/johnson-humiliated-by-dads-fury-over-destroyed-nhs     You should find videos of the Lib Dems singing ‘Tony Blair and fuck off and die’ here: twitter.com/search?q=Lib%20Dems%20Fuck%20Tony%20Blair&src=typed_query    Steve’s articles on Turkey can be found here: morningstaronline.co.uk/author/6    To get involved in the HDP campaign, email: HDPcampaign@gmail.com    Follow Podaganda, Ben Cowles, Steve Sweeney, Kadeem Simmonds, and Solomon Hughes on Twitter via: @PodagandaCast, @Cowlesz, @SweeneySteve, @KadeemSimmonds, and @SolHughesWriter

Unethical journalism; Lib Dem conference, and Turkish state misogyny

In this special episode of Podaganda journalists Ben Cowles and Steve Sweeney interview the Electronic Intifada’s Asa Winstanley about Palestine, journalism, the so-called Labour anti-semitism crisis, and his ban from the Labour Party conference.    Brace yourself for profoundly left-wing views and plenty of bad language   Show notes:   Check out the Electronic Intifada’s brilliant journalism here: electronicintifada.net   Asa Winstanley’s work for EI can be found here: electronicintifada.net/people/asa-winstanley    Sign the petition calling on the Labour Party to reinstate Asa’s press pass for conference: http://bit.ly/2m9Dh9r     Read Asa’s story on Jon Lansman wanting to remove Jeremy Corbyn here: http://bit.ly/2kEibzy    Follow Podaganda, Ben Cowles, Steve Sweeney, and Asa Winstanley on Twitter via: @PodagandaCast, @Cowlesz, @SweeneySteve, @AsaWinstanley

Press Freedom and the Labour Party: Interview with Asa Winstanley

In episode 7 of Podaganda journalists Ben Cowles and Steve Sweeney are joined by their Morning Star colleagues Kadeem Simmonds and Lamit Sabin to discuss:   The Lib Dems helping Alexander "Boris" de Pfeffel Johnson’s no-deal Brexit  (2:36) Turkey’s President Erdogan’s latest brutal crackdown on the HDP (19:45) Why did an NGO migrant rescue ship captain turn down the Medal of the City of Paris? (35:34) And Twitter’s abysmal handling of racist abused aimed at black footballers (45:51)   Brace yourself for profoundly left-wing views and plenty of bad language   Show notes:   Read Lamiat’s report on Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson’s inadvertently supporting Boris Johnson here: mstar.link/31SvtbI    Keep up-to-date with Steve’s coverages of Turkey here: bit.ly/2KOp4J0    Find Ben’s story on Pia Klemp here: bit.ly/2PbQLjf and his other articles on the civil fleet here: bit.ly/2Z9WCtT    You can find Kadeem’s Sports articles here: mstar.link/2Pa3liX    Kadeem’s American Football podcast Nickel and Dime here: nickelanddimepod.libsyn.com as well as on Spotify and iTunes.    Follow Podaganda, Ben Cowles, Steve Sweeney, Kadeem Simmonds and Lamiat Sabinon Twitter via: @PodagandaCast, @Cowlesz, @SweeneySteve, @KadeemSimmonds, and @LamiatSabin   Intro music by Jamie Thrasivoulou and Andrew De’Ath. 

The Lib Dem's no-deal Brexit bungle; repression in Turkey; NGO ships saving lives, and football's twitter racism problem

IN this special bonus episode of Podaganda, Ben Cowles speaks with journalist Phil Miller about his investigative series exposing potential conflicts of interest at the highest levels of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and its probe into anti-semitism in the Labour party.    Show notes   Check out parts one to five of Phil’s EHRC Exposed articles below:    Part 1: Fears over conflicts of interest at top of watchdog probing Labour anti-semitism: bit.ly/2TxZ3Ay    Part 2: Chairman of watchdog probing Labour ‘profited from blacklisters’: bit.ly/2OT7MhM    Part 3: Watchdog probing Labour has board member who profited from May's hostile environment: bit.ly/2yXnduA    Part 4: ‘Impartial’ watchdog probing Labour plans to invite Tory spin doctors to board meetings: bit.ly/2ZZQ8Ku    Part 5: Chairman of ‘impartial’ watchdog probing Labour anti-semitism linked to refugee evictions: bit.ly/2N1qe5A    You can find all of Phil’s articles on the EHRC here: https://morningstaronline.co.uk/tags/ehrc-exposed    Corruption Watch UK can be found here: cw-uk.org   Be sure to watch Phil’s TV report Inside Harmondsworth: 'I don't want to die in here' bit.ly/2H6c4fD    Follow Podaganda, Ben Cowles, Steve Sweeney and Phil Miller on Twitter via: @PodagandaCast, @Cowlesz, @SweeneySteve, @pmillerinfo Intro music by Jamie Thrasivoulou and Andrew De’Ath.

EHRC Exposed: Interview with Phil Miller

Finally Steve Sweeney and Ben Cowles are back podcasting together after a summer of craziness.   In episode 7, Steve talks us through his recent trip to Nicaragua where he reported on the 40th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution and contrasts what he saw with the mainstream media.   Show notes    Here’s Wikipedia’s take on the Nicaraguan Revolution: bit.ly/2ZFP8Lo    Another interesting read on the revolution worth reading is Neil Faulker’s take here for Counterfire: bit.ly/2yFJ7m7    Here’s Wikipedia’s take on the Iran-Contra affair: bit.ly/2YIZYTL    Check out the Nicaraguan Solidarity Campaign here: bit.ly/2MczZyf    Here’s the link to Steve’s story on the armed uprising in Nicaragua last year: bit.ly/2YSQiG0    Steve’s report on Alvaro Leiva can be found here: bit.ly/2yLrAc1    For the rest of the Star’s coverage on Nicaragua, see here: bit.ly/2YN5hBz    Follow Steve on Twitter via @SweeneySteve and Ben via @Cowlesz.  Intro music by Jamie Thrasivoulou and Andrew De’Ath.

What's going on in Nicaragua?

IN this special bonus episode of Podaganda, Ben Cowles speaks with author, activist and veteran JOE GLENTON on how the British military resembles a far-right organisation.    We also discuss imperialism, class, and why Joe went Awol in Southeast Asia and fought for his right to be recognised as a conscientious objector.    Show notes   Follow Joe Glenton on Twitter here: @joejglenton.   You can buy Joe’s book, Solider Box: Why I Won’t Return to the War on Terror, here: bit.ly/2KfMYf9 (Try not to use Amazon).    Forces Watch investigates militarisation, military ethics and human rights concerns in Britain. Be sure to check out their website, here: forceswatch.net, and follow them on Twitter: @ForcesWatch    Read Forces Watch’s report Warrior Nation: War, militarisation and British Democracy by Paul Dixon here: bit.ly/2Zc1iLB    It’s worth researching about the following battles: Omdurman, Rorke's Drift, the India Rebellion and the Battle of Islandwanda here   Watch the trailer to the 1964 film Zulu here: bit.ly/2Mfs7v4    Check out the Football Lads and Lasses Against Fascism’s website here: flaf.org.uk   Boris Johnson sacked Penny Mordant on July 24th. The new defence secretary is Ben Wallace. Gavin Williamson is now  Education Secretary… unfortunately.    Check out Rudyard Kipling’s poem Tommy here:  bit.ly/32PqUQN    Intro music by Jamie Thrasivoulou and Andrew De’Ath.

Is the British military a far-right organisation? Interview with Joe Glenton

A weekly show from journalists Steve Sweeney, Ben Cowles and their Morning Star comrades, Podaganda is the podcast the corporate media warned you about: It's adversarial, sweary and profoundly left-wing.

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Podaganda

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