We've got three terrific items for you on this week's Byline Times podcast... 1). Byline Times reporter Sam Bright on the £3bn in Covid-related contracts awarded to firms with links to the Conservative Party. 2) Two grieving mums from Essex, Melanie Leahy and Lisa Bates explain why they are calling for a Public Inquiry into the deaths of their children (WARNING: THIS STORY HAS CONTENT WHICH MIGHT UPSET SOME LISTENERS). Follow their campaign here. 3). Former Chief Crown Prosecutor for NW England ...
Mar 31, 2021•49 min
Critics are warning that two new bills being piloted through parliament betray an authoritarian streak at the heart of government. One restricts the rights of protestors; the other provides a new legal framework for undercover police and security officers. We hear from Clare Farrell, one of the co-founders of Extinction Rebellion, Byline Times writer Sian Norris, Labour MP Richard Burgon and Mike Schwarz, a solicitor with Hodge, Jones & Allen. PLUS Michael Mansfield discusses the People's Co...
Mar 24, 2021•51 min
In this episode we hear from Byline Times writer Sian Norris and former Chief Crown Prosecutor for North West England Nazir Afzal react to the murder of Sarah Everard and the vigil on Clapham Common which was marred by police violence. Where does toxic masculinity come from? And how can we eradicate it? Plus an exclusive interview with anti trafficking activist Laila Mickelwait about her campaign against Pornhub which has reached the Canadian parliament. And we hear calls for the introduction of...
Mar 18, 2021•48 min
After Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spoke to Oprah Winfrey, two mighty institutions faced allegations of racism - the Royal Family and the British tabloid press. Byline Times editor Hardeep Matharu and Marverine Cole (broadcaster, academic) give their reaction. PLUS - a different take on the monarchy with Phil Miller from Declassified UK about the Royals' many meetings with Middle Eastern dictators who have brutally suppressed the Arab Spring. Byline Times reporter Sian Norris also investigates...
Mar 10, 2021•47 min
This week we examine The Long Shadow of Empire in the company of Sathnam Sanghera (author of Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain) Byline Times editor Hardeep Matharu and Professor Kehinde Andrews (author of The New Age Of Empire). Plus Fire And Rehire - the erosion of workers' rights during the pandemic with Claire Breeze from Unison, and Tim Sharp from the TUC. Funded by subscriptions to Byline Times. Made in Birmingham for Byline Times by Adrian Goldberg. Hosted on Acast. See...
Mar 04, 2021•46 min
Nazir Afzal, the tenacious Crown prosecutor credited with bringing perpetrators of child abuse to justice in Rochdale, shares the story of his Coronavirus crowdfunding campaign exclusively with the Byline Times podcast. He wants to hold ministers to account for their failures during the pandemic. PLUS The War on Democracy - is the government blocking legitimate journalistic enquiry? With Mary Fitzgerald who is campaigning to save and strengthen Freedom of Information laws, Sam Bright from Byline...
Feb 03, 2021•47 min
Boris Johnson's Brexit withdrawal deal was heralded by the PM as "a present to the nation" but for many it's an unwanted gift - including some of those who were keen to leave the EU, including the Scottish Fishing Federation and Who Roger Daltrey, who have discovered that instead of leaving behind that infamous Brussels "red tape" we are now being wrapped up in more of it than ever. Byline Times writer Mike Buckley talks to one Scottish exporter who can't even sell his goods to Northern Ireland....
Jan 21, 2021•46 min
Donald Trump has become the first US President to be impeached for a second time but Byline Times global correspondent CJ Werleman believes he'll be remembered for something else - inciting a new American civil war. CJ correctly predicted that Donald Trump would try to "steal" the US election and in this wide ranging interview - which also encompasses the Q Anon conspiracy theory - he makes a chilling assessment of the aftermath of the storming of the US Capitol. We also hear from Byline Times c...
Jan 13, 2021•34 min
Despite the scale of the Coronavirus pandemic, Covid "deniers" and "lockdown sceptics" enjoy significant access to the airwaves in newspapers, on TV and radio, and on social media. Professor David Oliver, a hospital doctor for 30 years argues that these critics are :"gaslighting" members of the medical profession, who witness the terrible impact of the virus on a daily basis. He's no government mouthpiece, and identifies areas where he believes significant errors have been made in official polic...
Jan 06, 2021•45 min
Sweden's laissez fair response to the Coronavirus crisis has won plaudits from populists in the US and UK, but its death rate from the pandemic is four times greater than in neighbouring Denmark, Norway and Finland combined. In this episode Adrian Goldberg talks to Byline Times writer Kelly Bjorklund about her investigation into guidelines that recommended palliative end of life care rather than potential life saving hospital treatment for residents of residential care homes. We also hear from h...
Dec 24, 2020•47 min
How far was Brexit powered by Britain's yearning for an Imperial past that can never return? And how useful to the populists who promoted it is imagery like the opening credits of Dad's Army, which shows plucky old Blighty being pushed back to the Kent coastline by the advancing German army? Adrian Goldberg hears from Byline Times editor Hardeep Matharu and two of the paper's writers, Otto English and Jonathan Lis about the influence of the past upon the present and the future. Made in Birmingha...
Dec 09, 2020•35 min
There've been lurid campaigns linking abortion in the UK with Satanism, part of a Europe-wide trend which has seen far right groups and the religious right attempt to commandeer debate around about a woman's right to choose what to do with her own body. Byline Times writer Sian Norris steers us through these murky waters, and helps identify some of the "dark money" funding these campaigns. Plus Byline Times co-founder Peter Jukes and Unbound co-founder John Mitchinson discuss "the Scouring of th...
Nov 25, 2020•33 min
The saying goes that "it's not what you know but who you know". That certainly seems to have been the case when Boris Johnson's government was handing out contracts for Personal Protective Equipment at the start of the Coronavirus Pandemic. Sam Bright has been saying as much in his journalism for Byline Times for months - now that view has been corroborated by The National Audit Office. Sam discusses the NAO findings with Labour MP Dawn Butler, who has been asking questions about the issue in pa...
Nov 19, 2020•39 min
Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd talks exclusively to the Byline Times podcast about his petition for a Royal Commission into media ownership in Australia - which has attracted a record breaking 500,000 signatures to the parliamentary website. Mr Rudd is particularly concerned about the influence of Rupert Murdoch who controls 70% of the newspaper readership Down Under, but his observations are pertinent of the UK and U.S. too. The common themes across the Murdoch empire, he says, are...
Nov 11, 2020•34 min
Why does the Julian Assange extradition case matter so much to press freedom in the UK and beyond? James Doleman reports for the Byline Times (starts at 17:30) Plus some of English football's traditional clubs face extinction in a crisis provoked by Coronavirus - although poor management, overspending and weak governance of their sport have already made them vulnerable. In this episode Adrian Goldberg hears from Port Vale owner Carol Shanahan, author John Nicholson, Sunderland co-owner Charlie M...
Oct 15, 2020•31 min
In this Coronavirus Special, Byline Times editor Hardeep Matharu looks at what's driving the so-called "Scamdemic" movement which claims that Coronavirus is either a hoax, or has been engineered by governments in order to subdue the population. We also hear from Dr Nafeez Ahmed who has been exploring the links between a group of scientists pushing a "herd immunity" agenda and a PR agency that won substantial government contracts. Produced and presented by Adrian Goldberg. Hosted on Acast. See ac...
Oct 01, 2020•44 min
Byline Times podcast editor Adrian Goldberg meets Sam Bright who has uncovered a PPE Procurement scandal, which has seen contracts worth millions of pounds to companies with no apparent record in providing protecting clothing. Adrian also meets people in Birmingham which is in Coronavirus lockdown. Can the people there be expected to obey all the rules, when the government has admitted that it's willing to break the law over its EU Brexit deal. Don't forget to subscribe to the Byline Times. More...
Sep 17, 2020•32 min
On the BBC, class in the media, and Tommy Robinson Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 03, 2020•37 min
This week the Byline Times podcast discusses Brexit, Britishness and Empire. Hardeep Mathuru, editor of the Byline Times website and newspaper reflects on the connection her parents felt with Empire despite growing up in parts of the world where they were considered "subjects" rather than citizens. She explains why this led to them voting for Brexit. Meanwhile Mike Buckley hears from Northern Ireland where Brexit poses special problems for the only part of the UK with a direct border with the EU...
Aug 06, 2020•32 min
Byline Times writer and FSB disinformation expert Zarina Zabrisky responds to the Russia Report, released by MP's on the UK's Intelligence and Security Committee. The report accused the Westminster government of underestimating the threat of Kremlin-inspired interference in the Scottish independence referendum in 2014 and the EU referendum in 2016. Zarina explains the origins of Vladimir Putin's "mafia state" and explains its global ambitions. We also hear from Dr Andrew Corbett, a former Triden...
Jul 22, 2020•32 min
