“This has nothing whatsoever to do with science and has everything to do with marketing.” – Marion Nestle on how ultraprocessed food manufacturers are taking PR tips from Big Tobacco's playbook. Watch the full report by Nicholas Muirhead ⤵️ youtu.be/793DfZVxVLA

Donald Trump and Recep Erdoğan used the NATO summit this past week to project an image of strength and unity between Ankara and Washington. But how long will that last? Elettra Scrivo reports.

“This is not an organic movement. It is inauthentic behaviour online…coordinated and amplified by people with a political agenda.” — Herman Wasserman Watch our full report on how xenophobia went viral in South Africa ▶️ youtu.be/EFYO-JmbN_k

Twin earthquakes that have killed more than two thousand people in Venezuela have exposed the state’s failures and officials have imposed tight controls on journalists trying to cover the story. Tariq Nafi reports.

This week: • South Africa’s anti-migrant movement - built online, amplified by mainstream media • Post-earthquake in Venezuela, officials are tightening their grip on information • Govts say social media bans will protect children - critics say they solve the wrong problem ▶️ youtu.be/EFYO-JmbN_k

A controversial luxury resort backed by the Trump’s family has sparked weeks of protests in Albania and with much of the country’s media is looking away, protesters have become their own reporters – using independent journalism and social media to shape their own narrative. Ryan Kohls reports.

On the show this week: • Can Andy Burnham survive a media landscape that keeps drifting to the right? • Albania’s Flamingo Revolution and scant domestic media coverage it’s getting • Javier Milei’s attempts to rewrite the history of Argentina’s military dictatorship ▶️ Watch now youtu.be/nwlYzh-2PcI

“I have since paid for the ad-free version of every streaming service just to be spared from all of the Ozempic and Wegovy ads.” Aubrey Gordon and Stephanie Yeboah spoke with us about GLP-1 drugs and the effect of their prevalence in media. Full report ▶️ youtu.be/j17UWvpcjm4

The UK government’s plans to ban under 16s from social media are driving ahead and many other countries including France, Canada and Spain are considering similar policies. But are they targeting the wrong age group? Richard Gizbert reports.

Trump says it’s a breakthrough; Israeli media call it a disaster. Richard Gizbert and @meenakshirv.bsky.social unpack the narrative battle around the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran. Full discussion ▶️ youtu.be/xyQ_056Css0

On the show this week: • Don’t call it a peace deal: The precarious memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran • Infantino, Trump and how far FIFA is willing to go to sell the sport • How Ozempic’s rise is rewriting narratives about health, bodies and beauty Watch ▶️ youtu.be/xyQ_056Css0

The number killed is almost beyond comprehension.” — Sharif Abdel Kouddous on the continued targeted killing of journalists in Gaza throughout the ‘ceasefire’. Watch the full interview by @meenakshirv.bsky.social ▶️ youtu.be/yWFZc66wdIs

This week: · Trump's Meet the Press walkout and what his backing of the Ellisons' CNN bid says about his media doctrine · Belfast burns: how a stabbing video became fuel for far-right mobilisation · As Gaza disappears from headlines, journalists who remain are still working ▶️ youtu.be/dTwUMzgYkVo

The biggest ever World Cup kicked off across the US, Mexico, and Canada this past week, but it’s sharing headlines with controversy as US immigration policy collides with football’s global spirit. @meenakshirv.bsky.social reports.

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.

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