While much of the reporting on Cuba comes from abroad, an outlet called Belly of the Beast reports from within the country itself. Liz Oliva Fernández spoke with us about they manage to report during blackouts, resource shortages and an escalating US pressure campaign. ▶️ youtu.be/ZRanxLboBNA

More than 920 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire was announced last October. The media’s disinterest in a slow but steadily rising death toll is allowing the violence in Gaza to continue with far less scrutiny. Richard Gizbert reports.

“There is literally nothing you get out of the legacy media anymore…They just want drama.” Meghnad S and Manisha Pande spoke with us about why the Cockroach Janta Party is taking aim at India’s mainstream media. Watch the full report ▶️ youtu.be/UNiqvlp9sWE

Photographer, activist and chair of the London Southbank Centre has become the target of an intense media offensive after speaking about Gaza and the rise of the political right. The backlash says a lot about the state of public debate in Britain. @meenakshirv.bsky.social reports.

A wave of xenophobic violence has spread across South Africa, fuelled by a toxic mix of anger, disinformation and inflammatory mobilisation online. At its centre is Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma - who has emerged as the face of the new anti-immigration group March and March. Nicholas Muirhead reports.

This week: • The Cockroach Janta Party - the viral movement in India asking questions of govt • Anti-migrant protests and rising violence in South Africa • Belly of the Beast - Reporting on Cuba, from Cuba • How the ‘ceasefire’ has failed to halt Israel’s killing in Gaza ▶️ youtu.be/UNiqvlp9sWE

With around 50 million subscribers, Safaricom dominates Kenya’s mobile phone market - but its close relationship with the Ruto government is turning that user base into a key component of the state’s surveillance programme…illegally. Nicholas Muirhead reports. ▶️ youtu.be/agM2ZkGz1J4

On the show this week: • Trump’s claims of victory over Iran get questioned by a sceptical media • Narendra Modi’s Norway visit runs into an unscripted moment • The dark side of Kenya’s digital age • Israel’s government in crisis control mode after another damaging video ▶️ youtu.be/LYA2s2gM4Qo

A video of pro-Palestinian activists in Israeli custody being taunted by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir sparked immediate outrage this week — including from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who moved to distance himself from his own minister. Richard Gizbert reports.

As Cuba buckles under severe shortages and near-daily blackouts, Washington says the crisis is the fault of Cuba’s leadership. Havana blames economic warfare being waged by the USA. Alongside the sanctions campaign, a coordinated narrative war is escalating too. @meenakshirv.bsky.social reports.

Narendra Modi’s visit to Norway made headlines for all the wrong reasons after journalists confronted the Indian PM during a press conference. The backlash in Indian media was swift - and a crude caricature of Modi in a Norwegian newspaper inflamed the controversy even further. Tariq Nafi reports.

On the show this week: • Israel is spending $730 million on PR – but will it make a difference? • Israel’s ‘blood libel’ accusation against NYT • Are locals are paying the price fore data centres in rural Spain? • Eurovision - politics have drowned out the music ▶️ youtu.be/mnzPuVCyhpU

The 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography has been awarded to Palestinian Saher Alghorra for his work covering Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Pro-Israel groups like media ‘watchdog’ Honest Reporting were quick to accuse him of staging scenes and fabricating a famine narrative.

This week: • Is Tucker Carlson’s anti-Trump pivot sincere - or just a savvy reinvention? • The media pile-on against Zack Polanski veers into anti-Semitic tropes • The 'Greater Israel' project: How a once fringe settler fantasy became mainstreamed in Israeli politics ▶️ youtu.be/5VgErk37hcI

Days after a knife attack in north London left two Jewish men in hospital, much of the UK’s political class looked to blame the pro-Palestine movement and the only Jewish leader in UK politics. @meenakshirv.bsky.social looks at the coverage of Zack Polanski making the rounds in mainstream media.

Employees at Google DeepMind’s decision to unionise is unprecedented for the AI industry – doubly so because it’s not over pay, but to stop their AI being used as a weapon of war. Elettra Scrivo reports.

On the show this week: • A week since the third assassination attempt on Trump and the conspiracy theories are still swirling • Russia’s internet crackdown is backfiring • Lebanese journalist Justin Salhani on Israel’s insidious information war there Watch ▶️ youtu.be/JmC5nrcUK4g

Russia’s effort to tighten internet restrictions and throttle Telegram have sparked a furious public backlash. The uproar forced Vladimir Putin to admit the measures went too far. Ryan Kohls reports.

On the show this week: • A tale of two strategies: Iran’s information war at home and abroad • The killing of Amal Khalil - @meenakshirv.bsky.social on the tactics of Israel’s 'journacide' • Amber Rahim Shamsi on Pakistan’s peacemaker moment and stories being overlooked ▶️ youtu.be/fVGSzTFtHTg

Three years after filing for bankruptcy, the 'most paranoid man in America' appears to be losing control of his own conspiracy site, Infowars. This past week, The Onion announced it would be moving forward with a plan to acquire the outlet and turn it into a parody of itself. Tariq Nafi reports.

Israel’s killing of Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil followed a now-familiar pattern: surveillance, strike, obstruction of rescue and denial. She is one of at least 263 journalists killed by Israel since October 2023. @meenakshirv.bsky.social reports.

On the show this week: • How the Strait of Hormuz landed right at the centre of the US-Iran info war • The rift between Israel and its European allies • The warped representation of Iranian voices in Western media • Hungary’s new PM moves to “de-Orbánise” the media ▶️ youtu.be/AVp80QJMy0Y

Israel’s relations with its allies are fraying. Increasingly sharp rhetoric from European leaders is playing out in messaging and on media platforms. @meenakshirv.bsky.social reports on Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of European ties and instances of real anger towards Israel in European media.

In this special episode, we examine the US mainstream media in Trump’s second term - as ownership concentrates in the hands of a small group of billionaires, putting journalism itself at risk, and as the White House aggressively reshapes its relationship with the press. Watch ▶️ youtu.be/dCL553JcYuk

Despite constantly getting fact-checked and drawing sharp criticism for its content, the Israeli government’s official Farsi-language account on X has become a crucial part of its propaganda efforts. Tariq Nafi reports on the other front in Israel’s war.

On the show this week: • With conflicts on multiple fronts and intensifying apartheid, Israel’s war fever shows no sign of easing • Israel is taking its messaging and mockery to Iranians in their own language • Iran’s Info-war strategy: An interview with Trita Parsi ▶️ youtu.be/Wz0TOnt3M0s

Many of Trump’s most ardent supporters are challenging the president because of his war on Iran. Ben Lorber and Jamal Abdi spoke with us about the fallout and what comes next. Full report ▶️ youtu.be/igxhDWkVF5U

On the show this week: • A deep split in the MAGA movement threatens Trump’s Iran war • How Israel's potential death penalty bill has been promoted in the media • A closer look at the online memes coming from the US and Iranian governments Watch now ▶️ youtu.be/igxhDWkVF5U

With the eyes of international media firmly focused on its wars on Lebanon and Iran, Israel has moved a step closer to legalising the execution of Palestinian prisoners. Ryan Kohls reports.

“All wars empower authoritarian tendencies… US society could move to look more like our adversaries than ourselves.” Arta Moeini, Branko Marcetic and Mouin Rabbani spoke with us about information control in the US/Israeli war on Iran. Full report ▶️ youtu.be/Et9-CbYtLl8

On the show this week: • The fight to control the narrative from Washington to Tehran to Tel Aviv • The coverage of Israel’s assassination spree, negligible attention to the question of legality • Journalist Jean Kassir on how Israel is unleashing the Gaza model on Lebanon ▶️ youtu.be/Et9-CbYtLl8

Coverage of Israel’s killing of three more senior Iranian political leaders this past week followed a familiar pattern - awe at the Israeli intelligence operation’s ‘sophistication’ and little scrutiny of the legality of the actions. @meenakshirv reports on how these killings have been reported.

If Iran could raise the price of oil to $100 a barrel, it inflicts equal or more damage to the US than American bombs do to Iran.” – Vali Nasr on how Iran is waging asymmetric warfare against the US Full report ▶️ youtu.be/yD91rm3QdZU

On the show this week: • Censorship and propaganda are making Trump and Netanyahu’s chaotic war harder to track • Israeli media’s disinformation drive to pull Gulf states into the war • AI warfare isn’t new, but it’s becoming far more lethal — we speak with Matt Mahmoudi ▶️ youtu.be/yD91rm3QdZU

On the show this week: • Chaos, contradiction and Trump’s incoherent messaging on his war with Iran • Which Iranian voices are getting amplified in Western media and why? • Ameed Shehade on journalism under occupation in the West Bank Watch now ▶️ youtu.be/C8uzx9vuoeM

The US-Israeli bombing campaign has divided Iranians at home and abroad - and across much of mainstream Western media, one side is being significantly amplified. @meenakshirv.bsky.social reports on how wars get justified and legitimised through media.

On the show this week: • Trump's Iran gambit: is the chaos a strategy or is it just chaos? • What Modi’s trip to Tel Aviv meant for Netanyahu and the Indo-Israeli alliance • How Brazil’s young, evangelical influencers are becoming powerful force in politics ▶️ youtu.be/TRmW2phMkSE

On the show this week: • Big AI, the hype machine and what major tech companies stand to gain from all the fear mongering • The smear campaign against Francesca Albanese for speaking out about Gaza • The campaign to shape coverage of Israel in African media Watch now ▶️ youtu.be/Y7W9Sbu1lYQ

“This idea that because these two monsters are now one is locked away and one has died, that the entire apparatus has been brought down. It hasn’t. It did not just disappear… We know that somebody picked up the mantle.” – Danielle Moodie on the Epstein files cover-up Watch ▶️ youtu.be/g1nj0clWEMY

On the show this week: • How the US Epstein class is evading accountability • The renewed wave of repression in Iran • How the Super Bowl became the US military’s ultimate propaganda showcase • “The world is in peril” - Former Anthropic employee’s stark warning about AI ▶️ youtu.be/g1nj0clWEMY

In the month since Iran’s crackdown on anti-government protesters, authorities have raided and arrested scores of journalists and reformist politicians. Tariq Nafi reports.

“It’s a way then for Americans to feel patriotic without seeing the ugly side of war.” – Retired Lt. Colonel Gregory Daddis on the patriotic spectacle of the NFL. Full report ▶️ youtu.be/X9KOyRlyQlM Also featuring Kavitha Davidson and Howard Bryant.

On the show this week: • The most significant stories missing from the mainstream media in the Epstein files • No eyes on Gaza: How selective framing and restricted access are helping turn the media’s attention away from the ongoing horrors in Gaza Watch now ▶️ youtu.be/JQ5vqgPbeAs

While mainstream media downplays Epstein’s numerous links to the Israeli government, more tenuous links to Russia are becoming increasingly conspicuous. @meenakshirv.bsky.social and Drop Site News’s Murtaza Hussain take us through the story.

Mexicans are currently witnessing the latest showdown between President Claudia Sheinbaum and media mogul Ricardo Salinas Pliego - who has accused the government of “political persecution.” Elettra Scrivo reports.

On the show this week: • The lies following the ICE killings in Minnesota • TikTok under the control of American owners is as censorious - maybe more - than it was under Chinese ownership • Disinformation-driven violence in Bangladesh ahead of its elections Watch ▶️ youtu.be/nmqjsZWMGa0

Days after Trump allies took control of TikTok in the US, users have reported widespread censorship of content that mentions sore subjects for the administration like ICE, Palestine and Jeffrey Epstein. Tariq Nafi reports on the allegations, the backlash and the rise of UpScrolled.

On the show this week: • Trump's imperial tantrums spiral beyond all control - the rants, the posts and the delusion • Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ initiative and the colonial vision for Gaza's future • The unconventional team of investigators digging into the Epstein files ▶️ youtu.be/dfh_QCFijnk

On the show this week: • Internal revolt and external pressure collide in Iran and the battle of narratives intensifies • The White House is using AI bots to respond to the ICE killing of Renee Good • Cory Doctorow on how scrutiny has taken a backseat in the AI arms race ▶️ youtu.be/RQc5WhffayY

On the show this week: • How Trump flooded the media zone with their Venezuela talking points • Iranian protests spread like wildfire and Trump says the US is “locked and loaded” to intervene • José Luis Granados Ceja on the abduction of Maduro and the future of Venezuela ▶️ youtu.be/bnKw8jPTuLo