The Sceptic

Why trust in the mainstream media has collapsed, the rise of the ‘lanyard class’ and why cleaner air may be behind Europe’s heatwaves.

In Episode 92 of the Sceptic, Ellie Hodges is joined by veteran broadcaster and journalist Mike Graham to lift the lid on Britain’s increasingly cosy media establishment, the decline of Fleet Street and why so many journalists now seem cut from the same cloth. They also discuss his new book, Fake News: The Secret Deal Between Government and the Media, and the rise of independent journalism.

And for our premium subscribers, Ellie talks to Prof Roger Pielke Jr, who challenges some of the simplistic claims surrounding Europe’s heatwaves and explains why cleaner air may actually be contributing to warming.

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Produced by Richard Eldred.

Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.

00:00 Intro
01:18 Mike Graham on ‘Fake News’
08:46 Why Trust in the Media Has Collapsed
10:55 How Journalism Changed
14:26 The Working-Class Media Divide
16:23 How Headlines Shape Public Opinion
23:40 The Wild West of Fleet Street
28:39 How Social Media Killed the Press
30:27 The Collapse of Journalism’s Pay & Ambition
32:09 The End of the 9-to-5 Journalist
34:47 Building an Independent News Channel
39:53 Roger Pielke on Europe’s Heatwaves
40:34 Beyond the ‘Climate Change’ Explanation
42:32 Why Europe is Warming
43:14 The Role of Cleaner Air & Dry Soils
44:12 Adapting to Extreme Heat
45:39 The Problem With RCP8.5
48:40 What Happens to the Research?

The battle over Brexit’s broken immigration promises and the mystery of why a key piece of climate data has quietly disappeared from official reports.

In Episode 91 of the Sceptic, Ellie Hodges sits down with Migration Watch UK Chairman Alp Mehmet to discuss the soaring levels of migration since Brexit and whether Britain’s political class ever intended to deliver the border control voters thought they were getting.

And for our premium subscribers, Daily Sceptic Environment Editor Chris Morrison asks why decades of declining wind-speed data have disappeared from the Met Office’s latest climate report and explores what it means for public trust in Britain's climate institutions. 

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Read Migration Watch UK’s ‘Taking Back Control? Brexit and Migration Ten Years On’ report here.

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Read his article here.

Produced by Richard Eldred.

Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.

 

00:00 Intro

01:38 Alp Mehmet on Why Migration Soared After Brexit

03:54 The Decision That Opened the Floodgates

08:03 Bigger Boats, More Crossings, No Deterrent

11:58 Did Politicians Ever Intend to Cut Migration?

17:18 How Government Lost Control

22:19 The Student Visa Back Door

24:10 Why Nobody Wants to Cap Migration

26:15 The Warnings Nobody Listened to

28:00 Britain's Demographic Transformation

30:15 Chris Morrison on the Met’s Missing Climate Data

30:52 Why Hide Wind Data?

42:46 Climate Models Vs Reality

47:48 Net Zero’s Inconvenient Problem

Rupert Lowe on uniting the Right, are thousands really dying from summer heatwaves and how one academic’s investigation ended in a DEI superstar’s Cambridge resignation.

In Episode 90 of the Sceptic, the Daily Sceptic’s Editor-in-Chief Toby Young sits down with Restore leader Rupert Lowe to discuss his attempt to mend fences with Nigel Farage, whether Reform and Restore can still work together and what a united Right might look like ahead of the next election.

Professor of Evidence Based Medicine Carl Heneghan examines the UK Health Security Agency’s claim that nearly 3,000 excess deaths were caused by this summer’s heatwaves and asks whether the evidence really supports such alarming headlines.

And for our premium subscribers, Dr Nathan Cofnas, Postdoctoral Researcher in Philosophy at Ghent University, reflects on breaking the Jason Arday story, the extraordinary fallout that followed and whether he ever expected it to end with Arday’s resignation from Cambridge.

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Produced by Richard Eldred.

Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.

00:00 Intro
02:03 Rupert Lowe’s Offer To Reform UK
08:20 Prospects For A Reform–Restore Deal
10:15 Restore Britain’s Election Plans
15:12 Continuing To Challenge Reform UK
17:07 Lowe’s Definition Of Corruption
18:42 Restore Britain’s Economic Policy
27:55 On Becoming Chancellor
31:39 Carl Heneghan and the Problems With Heat Death Estimates
35:16 Reliability Of Future Heat Death Data
37:34 The Problem With Statistical Certainty
39:27 Climate Alarmism And Media Headlines
42:43 Downfall Of Anthony Fauci
47:10 Lessons From The Covid Inquiry
49:21 Nathan Kaunas on Breaking The Jason Arday Story
56:00 The Response To Criticism Of Arday
57:09 Carter-Ruck And Legal Threats
58:03 Investigating Arday’s Academic Work
01:03:18 Claims Of Unequal Academic Standards
01:04:36 The Real Story Behind Arday
01:06:11 Fears Of Legal Action
01:06:38 Contacting Arday And Cambridge
01:07:56 Initial Reaction To The Story
01:08:39 Arday’s Extraordinary Biographical Claims
01:11:00 The Story Goes Viral
01:11:29 Concerns About Racial Motives
01:13:53 Arday’s Resignation
01:14:19 Attacks From Arday’s Defenders
01:15:51 Simon Baron-Cohen’s Defence Of Arday
01:17:31 The Story’s International Reach
01:19:25 Responding To Racism Accusations
01:21:08 Nathan's Controversial Blog Post
01:27:04 Case For Affirmative Action
01:28:11 Impact On University Hiring
01:29:09 Cambridge’s Handling Of The Plagiarism Allegations
01:30:14 Accountability For Arday’s Appointment
01:32:09 Double Standards In Academic Hiring
01:33:51 Vindication And Revenge

Why a major anti-Muslim terror scare appears to have been built on almost nothing, who’s really pulling the strings in Britain’s public debate and is the Government finally rowing back on Net Zero?

In Episode 89 of the Sceptic, Ellie Hodges sits down with journalist Charlotte Gill to discuss the growing influence of taxpayer-funded activist groups, the blurred line between activism and journalism and why critics of mass migration are so often smeared as “far-Right”.

Author Steven Tucker dissects the anti-Muslim terror plot in Suffolk that collapsed on contact with the facts and applies “eventism” – the theory that fear of an event is equivalent to the event itself – to explain why almost nobody involved has walked it back.

And for our premium subscribers, the Daily Sceptic’s Environment Editor Chris Morrison asks whether the new Government’s backing for more North Sea oil and gas is a genuine change of direction or just a change in rhetoric.

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Read her articles here and here.

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Read Steven’s articles here and here.
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Read his article here.

Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.

 

00:00 Intro

01:55 Charlotte Gill and the Tarbell Fellowship

04:06 Transparency Concerns Around Funded Journalism

05:43 Bureau Of Investigative Journalism

07:56 The Far Right Label

08:46 Power of Migration Charities

10:14 Valentine's Day Cards Controversy

13:00 Scrutiny of the Charity Sector

14:44 Reforming Charity Funding Rules

16:18 Changing Landscape of Journalism

17:47 State of the MSM

19:32 Burnham's First Weeks in Office

20:52 Is Labour Turning Left?

21:57 Can the Tories Bounce Back?

23:00 The Greens' Uneasy Coalition

24:36 Steven Tucker on the Terror Plot That Wasn't

30:07 Why No One Has Retracted the Claims

38:10 What is Eventism?

42:19 Anticipatory Violence

49:25 Connecting The Dots Between The Two Stories

53:50 Chris Morrison on Burnham's U-Turn on Oil And Gas

01:00:44 Why the CAN Bill Matters

01:06:35 Who is Funding Net Zero?

01:09:43 Britain's Sky High Electricity Prices

The absolute state of British politics, how a vicar fell foul of the Church of England over Christian beliefs and why Net Zero is now a national security risk.

In Episode 88 of the Sceptic, Ellie Hodges sits down with PopCon’s Mark Littlewood to make sense of Andy Burnham’s chaotic first days in No 10, the sharp Left turn in his Cabinet and whether Farage's Clacton by-election battle is really the joke the media's making it out to be.

Dr Rev Bernard Randall tells his extraordinary story: suspended, reported to Prevent as a terror suspect and put through a seven-year church safeguarding battle – all for a sermon that was in keeping with Christian doctrine.

And for our premium subscribers, Ellie talks to former MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove about why he believes Britain’s Net Zero policy has become a national security liability.

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Read his articles here and here
Read Sir Richard’s article here.

Listen to Sir Richard on the One Decision Podcast here.

Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.

00:00 Intro

02:23 Mark Littlewood On Burnham's Coronation

02:50 Radical Left-Wing Policy Or Just "Vibes"?

04:28 Does Changing Labour's Leader Change Anything?

07:43 "No 10 Of The North" Devolution

09:14 Burnham's Cabinet Reshuffle

16:19 How Serious Is The Clacton By-Election Really?

18:59 Count Binface - Establishment Stooge?

22:27 Farage - Establishment Hit Job?

24:11 Is Farage "Part Of The Establishment"?

26:16 Can Kemi's Tories Stage A Comeback?

30:54 Predictions For The Next General Election

33:48 Bernard Randall And His CofE Ordeal

37:24 What Was It Like Being Reported To Prevent?

39:24 The Toll On Him And His Family

42:15 Why The Controversy?

44:50 Was 2019 "Peak Woke" — Has It Improved?

46:32 What's Next And Advice For Other Chaplains

49:48 Sir Richard Dearlove On Net Zero's Security Risk

53:19 Top Energy-Security Priorities For Burnham

55:38 How Real Is The China/EV/Grid Threat?

59:33 Where Does Energy Rank Among National Security Threats?

1:01:02 Will Britain Be Forced Into A German-Style Rethink?

1:04:11 Doesn't Cutting Fossil Fuels Make Britain Safer?

1:05:11 Is It Too Late?