This week your intrepid co-hosts enter BBC Radio 4's flagship forum for ethical debate, The Moral Maze and talk about its February 12th episode 'The Moral Purpose of the BBC'. Confronted with the labyrinth of the BBC's assumptions and dogmas, its lopsided balance and general inability to think or see what's in front of its nose, Tom and Dan soon realise that there is no easy way out. At the beginning of the show Media Democracy explains who you should vote for in the forthcoming elections for leader of the Labour Party. Music by Makaih Beats.

Media Democracy Pod

3.8 In a way, the BBC is the real maze

This is the second part of our interview with Juliet Jacques. In the intro, Tom and Dan talk briefly about Rebecca Long Bailey's recent proposals to reform the BBC and the response of liberal intelligentsia: why think through what public media should look like in the digital age when you can fixate instead on court gossip? Music by Makaih Beats.

3.7 Trans-forming Media (ft. Juliet Jacques) Part 2

In the first instalment of a two-parter, this week Tom and Dan talk with author and critic Juliet Jacques about the depiction of trans people in the media, the trouble with liberal pluralism, and whether or not a secret cabal of Norwich City fans is pulling the strings of the British power elite. Music by Makaih Beats.

3.6 Trans-forming Media (ft. Juliet Jacques) Part 1

Dan and Tom return to podcasting after the Christmas break to discuss the media's behaviour in the General Election and the implications for the Labour Party of trying to operate in a communicative space that is as deceptive as it is hostile. Along the way we touch on some familiar themes - the awfulness of PPE, the awfulness of the New Statesman, liberalism's inability to distinguish between basic sociology and conspiracy theory, and much, much more. Peter McColl's article on deliberative democracy as a superior alternative to technocracy and market forces can be found at his blog: https://petermccoll.wordpress.com/2019/09/02/from-the-crisis-of-meaning-to-challenge-focused-democratic-economy/ Shout out to Andy McDonald, Labour's Shadow Transport Secretary, for pointing out that 'the conduct of broadcasters in this election demonstrates the urgent need to debate democratic reforms to our media.' https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/labours-unfair-treatment-shows-broadcasters-21222653.amp Music by Makaih Beats.

3.5: 17-19: A Podcast Comes of Age

On 22 October Peter Oborne broke the silence that surrounds Westminster journalism with a damning article on the relationship between Downing Street’s press operation and senior correspondents like Robert Peston, Tim Shipman and Laura Kuenssberg. We talk about the article, the responses from Robert Peston and Amol Rajan, and what the reaction tells us about the state of UK journalism. Peter Oborne’s original article - https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/british-journalists-have-become-part-of-johnsons-fake-news-machine/ - Robert Peston’s hilarious response - https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/my-job-draw-back-veil-robert-peston-responds-peter-oborne/ and Amol Rajan’s pretend-brave interview with Oborne https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0009lhr Music by Makaih Beats.

3.4 Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Officially Sourced

Barely days after Facebook began trialing a news feature on its app Tom and Dan talk about the journey the company is on, from content agnostic charnel house to halfway convincing approximation of a civil public sphere. What does the platforms' emerging compromise with elected politicians, legacy media and the secret state look like? And how do we stop it? We also talk about Ofcom’s recent review of the BBC, the difference between quantity and quality in news coverage, balance in theory and practice, and Rupert Murdoch, the GOAT in the production and dissemination of fake news. We end with a bungling attempt to persuade our listeners to like and subscribe. Music by Makaih Beats.

3.3 Positively 4th Estate

This week Tom and Dan talk with Jodie Nesling of the Isle of Thanet News, an awarding winning monthly newspaper covering Margate, Broadstairs, Ramsgate and a handful of villages inland in East Kent. Jodie began her career as a journalist in one of the corporate conglomerates and she talks about her experiences there and about the challenges facing a start-up aiming to give its community the reporting it deserves. The Isle of Thanet News is published as a free monthly newspaper and its reporting is also freely available online at https://theisleofthanetnews.com. Music by Makaih Beats.

3.2 The Centre is Everywhere: Local News on the Edge of England

This week Tom and Dan are joined by author and activist Tamasin Cave of Spinwatch. We talk about the Climate Crisis and the individuals and institutions determined to preserve business as usual, whatever the cost. We explore the geography of the Westminster Village, the politics of proximity, and the gap between the lobbyists' outward facing propaganda and their growing internal anxiety about the threat of democracy. For the avoidance of doubt, at one point Dan makes a joke. Tamasin will be at Extinction Rebellion from Monday October 7th. For more information, follow her on Twitter at @CaveTamasin. Check out Influence Map: https://influencemap.org to find out more about the geography of lobbying. For more about the Climate Emergency and what to do about it, check out Desmog https://www.desmog.co.uk/. Spinwatch works to promote transparency in the lobbying sector Spinwatch.org. Music by Makaih Beats.

3.1 The Working Breakfast Club

In a one-off special to promote the Media Democracy Festival on March 16th, Tom and Dan fail utterly to mention said event. Instead they noisily take credit for the BBC's nervous flirtation with the audience-as-editor and the New Statesman's tentative moves away from pallid centrism. Along the way there is talk of Jordan Peterson, the role of experts in democratic reasoning, and these notorious thugs of the hard left identify the next target of their 'reforming ambition'. Music by Makaih Beats. Entering the secret castle: A small step towards democratic public media? https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/entering-secret-castle-small-step-towards-democratic-public-media/

2.18 It's Too Much Winning

Tom and Dan are back after a long break throughout which the media class have behaved with scrupulous professionalism and disinterested rationality. This week we talk a little about Tom Watson's recent speech on digital policy before moving on to the main order of business, an interview with Trebor Scholz. Trebor Scholz is an associate professor at the New School in New York and in April of this year Trebor will launch the Institute for the Cooperative Digital Economy there. His publications include Uber-Worked and Underpaid: How Workers are Disrupting the Digital Economy. Music by Makaih Beats.

2.17 Trebor Scholz and the Rise of the Platform Cooperative

This week Dan and Tom are joined by journalist, author and Blue Tick Twitter Personality Hussein Kesvani to discuss celebrity columnists and the Twittersphere. Over the course of the show we cover the politics of newsrooms, unpaid internships, Aaron Sorkin, David Aaronovitch, The Spectator and, regrettably, Jordan Peterson. Music by Makaih Beats.

2.16 TFW Columnists Take to Twitter

This week Tom and Dan go back to basics and spend an hour chatting about recent events in media/politics. The takes range from the stone cold and frankly unappetising - Dan's outrageous treatment at the hands of Ed Miliband - to the sizzling hot and oh-so-current - Poppygate and the uses of insincerity in the politics of remembrance. Along the way we discuss Tom's baffling online encounters with David 'Dave' Aaronovitch, the Stalinist left as a training ground for centrist shitheels, and Dave's well remunerated inability to notice vast criminal conspiracies in his own workplace. We end with proposals for democratic reform of the charitable sector under socialism, naturally. Music by Makaih Beats.

2.15 I've Seen Takes You People Wouldn't Believe

This week on the podcast we're joined by Jack Frayne-Reid of the Reel Politik podcast to review Nick Robinson's podcast, 'Political Thinking'. It's a podcasting hall of mirrors. Music by Makaih Beats.

2.14 The Political Thinking of Nick Robinson

This week we bring you a recording from the Parliamentary launch of the Media Reform Coalition's 'Draft Proposals on BBC Reform', featuring Natalie Fenton, Zoe Williams, Amelia Womack, Clive Lewis and Media Democracy's very own Tom Mills. Music by Makaih Beats.

2.13 The Westminster Hour

We're joined by Joe Kennedy (@joekennedy81 on Twitter), the author of 'Authentocrats: Culture, Politics and the New Seriousness', to discuss the history, politics and aesthetics of the 'New Statesman'. Our apologies for the sound quality, which at times is not great even by our low standards. Music by Makaih Beats.

2.12 Farewell to the Centrists: New Statesman Reading Group with Joe Kennedy

A podcast about politics, the media, and the politics of the media. Hosted by Tom Mills and Dan Hind.

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Media Democracy Pod

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