Byline Times Audio Articles

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Byline Times Audio Articles

The latest articles from Byline Times converted to audio for easy listening

  1. 1 DAY AGO

    'I went on Channel 4 Show Go Back To Where You Came From - There's One Thing We All Agreed on'

    Byline Times is an independent, reader-funded investigative newspaper, outside of the system of the established press, reporting on 'what the papers don't say' - without fear or favour. To support its work, subscribe to the monthly Byline Times print edition, packed with exclusive investigations, news, and analysis. Help us build the better media Britain deserves This week, I am one of the faces of the mainstream media we would normally use this column to criticise. And with good reason. The Channel 4 reality series Go Back To Where You Came From pairs its clickbait title with the gopping premise of "immersing" Brits in asylum seekers' journeys. A futile goal, for displacement cannot be tried on. With this USP, the channel has managed to enrage both far-right fearers of Leftist propagandists and the refugee campaigners whose grievances it commodifies for the screen. I set two goals when I agreed to be one of only two pro-immigration cast members, sent into battle outnumbered on a month-long journey. My first was the one closest to my heart: refugee rights. The second was a pretext for achieving it: not raising my temper, not belittling in anger, and listening twice as much as I speak. Welcome to my one-woman war on polarisation. *Two women, when I'm accompanied by my trusty and much-missed Media Storm co-host, Helena, who asked me on this week's episode: "So let me get this straight, you went on a Channel 4 show called Go Back To Where You Came From to fight sensationalist polarisation?" Yes. And that's probably why my fiercest arguments were with the guy behind the camera. Also, I believe that is why I'm given very few lines in the final cut (either that, or I never said much of more value than three full titty jokes from contributor Dave). But from the lovely, sometimes frustrated, DMs I've received, I believe there is more of an appetite for talking - not yelling - than Channel 4 affords our public. In its impact on the refugee debate the show could only be (net) positive. Sure, it airs views many would rather pretend don't exist - but they do exist, and the show broke out of the echo chamber with educational and humanist content featuring the people it's actually about. It may feel like a small and depressing win, but the abysmal state of the media is such that by giving refugees names, faces and voices (consensually: I took note) this show is an immense improvement on the norm. Nearly 40% of Asylum Seekers Housed at Controversial Ex-RAF Site Are Torture Victims Some 580 asylum seekers are housed at RAF Wethersfield where radiological contamination and unexploded ordnance has been found Joshua Stein My co-travellers Jess Hallett (who grew up in a small village in Wales) and Nathan Rimmington (a trucker from Barnsley) were blown away by the horrors driving refugee migration - not just from countries of origin but throughout Europe - which are almost entirely concealed from coverage of "our" border. "These people aren't scary," was Jess' closing thought, "I actually feel so embarrassed that I thought that way." "At the beginning of this, did I think I'd change my opinion?" asked Nathan. "Not even a little bit. But f**k me, I have. And I'm proud of myself for that." They were transformed - and so was I. Not by the refugee hardships of which I haven't been ignorant for some time (though they re-break my heart every day), but by Jess and Nathan. I would like to share this lesson with everyone who messaged me: "How did you deal with such disgusting bigots?!" (answer: they weren't). Or who criticised me for going on the show because "the burden should be on racists to educate themselves" (sorry, that's not happening). The nature of inequality is such that many people grinding through life in the conditions most susceptible to racist exploitation, have no more time to read tragic world news, than they have cause to listen to people belittling them with no idea of their life experience. This is important. In my decade working in...

    11 min

  2. 1 DAY AGO

    Fear and Favour: What Does Trump Owe Putin? Maybe His Life

    Byline Times is an independent, reader-funded investigative newspaper, outside of the system of the established press, reporting on 'what the papers don't say' - without fear or favour. To support its work, subscribe to the monthly Byline Times print edition, packed with exclusive investigations, news, and analysis. Help us build the better media Britain deserves US President Donald Trump's alleged long history of business ties with Russian mafia-linked figures and authorities has been widely reported. The Kremlin's political playbook is built on blackmail, coercion, and assassination. If Trump fails to serve Putin's interests, could he become the next target? Threats, Veiled and Unveiled The first time Putin publicly congratulated his counterpart on winning the 2024 Presidential election, on 7 November, he brought up the earlier attempt on Donald Trump's life. "His behavior during the assassination attempt impressed me. … And it's not just about his raised hand and his call to fight for his ideals, it's not just about that, although a person shows himself in extraordinary circumstances. And he showed himself in a very appropriate way, in a manly manner, like a man." In the context of Kremlin modus operandi and mafia lingo, such a mention is a veiled threat. Also on 7 November, on Russian state television, a political talk show, 60 Minutes, aired nude (and blurred) photos of Melania Trump, which was considered another veiled threat. Putin's aide and a former FSB director, Nikolai Patrushev followed up with a more transparent statement on 11 November, saying that "to achieve success in the elections, Donald Trump relied on certain forces to which he has corresponding obligations. And as a responsible person, he will be obliged to fulfill them… the election campaign is over, and in January 2025, it will be time for the specific actions of the elected president…" Asked about potential consequences, Patrushev said, "We know of two cases of assassination attempts on his [Trump's] life during the election campaign," and went on to give statistics on the US assassinations of US Presidents with the astonishing exactitude, "In general, throughout the history of the United States, attempts have been made on the lives of Presidents and candidates regularly - more than 20 times. Four US presidents were killed by assassins during their tenure." EXCLUSIVE Donald Trump Was Recruited by the KGB Under Codename 'Krasnov' Claims Former Soviet Spy Chief A former senior KGB chief claims Trump was recruited by them in 1987 due to his role as a prominent US businessman Nafeez Ahmed and Zarina Zabrisky The main architect of Russia's modern espionage followed up with a piece of wisdom for US security services, "Therefore, it is extremely important for US intelligence agencies to prevent a recurrence of such cases." Putin continued with this popular trend during his press conference in Kazakhstan on 28 November 2024, "You know, I think that you were also most shocked not even by the fact that absolutely uncivilized means of struggle were used against Trump, absolutely uncivilized, including attempted multiple murders (by the way, in my opinion, he is not safe now)." The Russian President then asked, "What do you think? All sorts of things have happened in the history of the United States. I think he's a smart and, I hope, cautious, person; he understands all this." Putin did not stop there. "But I was more shocked that during the attacks on him, during the fight against him, not only was he subjected to humiliating, unfounded procedures, legal charges, and so on, but the members of his family, his children, were attacked." And so there would be no doubt that the legal troubles are not the only plights awaiting the US President, Putin explained the habits of Russian bandits, referring to them as "our bandits", saying, "Our bandits don't do that. When criminal groups fight among themselves, they don't touch women and children, they leave them alone, m...

    11 min

  3. 2 DAYS AGO

    How the German Elections Were 'Successfully Manipulated' By Foreign Actors and AI-Generated Content

    Byline Times is an independent, reader-funded investigative newspaper, outside of the system of the established press, reporting on 'what the papers don't say' - without fear or favour. To support its work, subscribe to the monthly Byline Times print edition, packed with exclusive investigations, news, and analysis. Help us build the better media Britain deserves Voters in Germany were exposed to a significant amount of far-right narratives online during the federal election, driven by AI-generated content and Russian disinformation campaigns, research has shown. The findings come amid calls for the Government to acknowledge the impact it had on delivering a record result for the far right. Alternative for Germany (AfD) - which opposes sending weapons to Ukraine and has called for an end to sanctions on Moscow - secured a historic second-place finish on Sunday with almost 21%. Konstantin von Notz, a Green member of parliament who chairs the committee that oversees the German intelligence services, told the Financial Times that it was impossible to say exactly how many votes were swayed by the content. From Z to X: How Russian Information Warfare Primed the World for Trump and Musk "Money and information are the twin tactical nukes of modern politics" according to Steve Bannon. But the the seeds for this tech dystopia were sown more than a decade ago Peter Jukes However, while not calling for the result to be overturned, Von Notz, told the publication that "what you can say for sure is that there was relevant, illegitimate influence on decision-making processes". He added that "we simply have to recognise that our elections are already manipulated - and successfully manipulated". The MP expressed further alarm that the Afd, together with the far-left Die Linke, would be able to form a "blocking minority" in the next parliament. Experts monitoring social media during the German elections identified the involvement of Russian-based groups such as "Doppelganger" and "Storm-1516," which US officials had found to be active in America's previous election. These campaigns utilised artificial intelligence to spread their messaging ahead of the vote, which ultimately saw Germany elect a new Bundestag. Methods employed in these disinformation campaigns included creating fake TV news stories and deep-fake videos featuring fabricated accounts from "witnesses" or "whistleblowers" about prominent politicians. In November 2024, shortly before the snap election was called, a video surfaced claiming that a parliamentary member who was an outspoken supporter of Ukraine was a Russian spy. The video used AI to suggest that a former adviser was making the accusation. In another incident, a video featuring an 18-year-old woman falsely accused a German minister of child abuse. This video, also created using AI, was part of a broader disinformation campaign that plagued the election period. Beyond the extremes of Russian-led disinformation campaigns, far-right groups within Germany also ramped up their online presence. Larissa Wagner, an AI-generated social media influencer, became a notable figure in this regard. On 22 September 2024, the day of the Brandenburg state election, Larissa posted a video to her X account saying, "Hey guys, I'm just on my way to the polling station. I'm daring this time. I'm voting for AfD." Larissa's accounts on X and Instagram were both created in the last year, and her regular videos espoused far-right narratives, such as telling Syrian immigrants to "pack your bags and go back home." She even claimed to have interned with the right-wing magazine Compact, which was banned by the German Government in the previous year. When Sky News messaged 'her' on Instagram to inquire about her creators, Larissa responded, "I think it's completely irrelevant who controls me. Influencers like me are the future… Like anyone else, I want to share my perspective on things. Every influencer does that. But because I'm young, attractive, ...

    12 min

  4. 2 DAYS AGO

    'If Labour Is Serious About Overhauling Disability Benefits It Must Stop Letting Employees Work People Into Sickness'

    Byline Times is an independent, reader-funded investigative newspaper, outside of the system of the established press, reporting on 'what the papers don't say' - without fear or favour. To support its work, subscribe to the monthly Byline Times print edition, packed with exclusive investigations, news, and analysis. Help us build the better media Britain deserves Juana is a 56-year old cleaner from Colombia. Every day, Juana wakes up in her flat in Brixton at 4am and takes two buses to work. Her first shift is early, but at least it's contracted, from 6am to 9am, at a central London university. After punching out, she takes another bus to her second job, on a zero-hour contract. She finishes at 2pm and sneaks a nap in an empty meeting room or cafe. At 5:30pm, Juana goes back to the university for her final job of the day. She works until 11:30pm and returns home at 12:30, knowing she will only get three and a-half hours of sleep before she has to wake up again. Juana has been a cleaner for nine years. At her university job she is paid the London Living Wage of £13.85 per hour. Her other job pays far less, and overall, working 12 hours a day, she takes home about £2,400 pounds a month, barely enough to cover rent and expenses. 'Government Narratives About 'Disabled Scroungers' Give Trolls Permission to Viciously Attack Us Online' The notion that disabled people are scroungers and benefit cheats is almost permission to further abuse against them, Penny Pepper writes Penny Pepper Juana isn't a specific person. Rather, she is a composite of dozens of cleaners we have worked with in our capacity as trade union employees. Her work schedule and earnings are typical of many of London's cleaners, and everything we describe has happened to real people. By examining her journey, we hope to better illustrate the ways in which the current system not only fails sick and disabled workers, but can in fact lead to long-term disability. We write this following Labour's latest announcement that they intend to "overhaul" the disability benefits system, with a particular focus on Work Capability Assessments. While Labour are yet to put meat on these plans, their commitment to making the same amount of welfare cuts proposed by the previous Conservative Government means these changes are likely to result in people losing eligibility. Accompanying this is the usual rhetoric around supporting disabled people into work. What's missing is any serious engagement with what "work" really looks like for millions of people across the UK, and what it would actually take to have a job market that is truly supportive of disabled people. If the Government Wants to 'Get Britain Working', Why Is It Ignoring All the Learning Disabled People Who Want to Find Jobs? Less than 5% of people with learning disabilities are employed, while 86% want to be. The Government must think about which Brits it values as being worthy of work Saba Salman When we imagine work exclusively in terms of white-collar office jobs, we overlook the vast number of workers in physically-demanding roles such as cleaning, security, and health and social care. Jobs where 12-hour shifts are often the norm, or where the pay per hour is so low workers are forced to cobble together 12 or more hours from various different sources, often working six or seven days a week. Under these conditions it is easy to fall sick, and the support needed to recover often isn't there. Let us return to Juana. Over the years, Juana develops tendonitis in her shoulder. A condition common to cleaners, who often spend long hours going through the same repetitive motions. She first started feeling pain four years ago, but she worked through it as she couldn't afford to go off sick. If she had, she would've only received Statutory Sick Pay, currently £116.75 a week. This represents one of the first major barriers to workers taking time off when they need it. While contractual sick pay is standard in many white-collar jobs...

    13 min

  5. 2 DAYS AGO

    UK Taxpayers' Cash Is Funding an Arms Firm Whose Biggest Shareholder Is Now Bankrolling Nigel Farage's Reform UK

    Byline Times is an independent, reader-funded investigative newspaper, outside of the system of the established press, reporting on 'what the papers don't say' - without fear or favour. To support its work, subscribe to the monthly Byline Times print edition, packed with exclusive investigations, news, and analysis. Help us build the better media Britain deserves As the UK Government commits to the biggest sustained increase in military spending since the Cold War, rising to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 and potentially 3% in the next parliament, one of the biggest beneficiaries is likely to be QinetiQ, a company that derives over 80% of its arms-related revenue from UK taxpayers alone. Yet while the public foots the bill, the company's largest single shareholder, Christopher Harborne, is funnelling millions of his money into Reform UK. In a Byline Times investigation that reveals the full extent of how taxpayer-funded arms contracts are helping bankroll Reform UK's political ambitions, we report that Christopher Harborne, the single largest shareholder in QinetiQ, has donated at least £13.7 million to Reform UK and a further £1 million to Boris Johnson. QinetiQ is almost entirely dependent on UK Government funding, with more than 80% of its arms-related revenue derived from Ministry of Defence (MoD) contracts. Kemi Badenoch's Foreign Policy: 'Channelling Her Inner JD Vance' The former senior diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall sees signs of Trumpist culture wars and a woeful lack of realism in the opposition leader's foreign policy set piece speech Alexandra Hall Hall Without this taxpayer support the company would likely struggle to survive and Mr Harborne's profits from QinetiQ would be much reduced. QinetiQ, formed from the privatisation of the MoD's Defence Evaluation and Research Agency in 2001, received almost £1 billion from the UK government in 2023/24 alone. Yet, as state funds flowed into QinetiQ's coffers, its executives continued to cash in. CEO Steve Wadey took home £2.93 million that year, including £848,000 in bonuses, while CFO Carol Borg was paid £1.31 million, with £744,000 in bonuses. Wadey's earnings are nearly 16 times the salary of the Chief of the General Staff of the British Army, who earns under £185,000 annually Despite its private-sector status, QinetiQ - which focuses on military research, robotics, autonomous systems, cyber warfare, and aerospace - enjoys a financial safety net that many businesses can only dream of. Freedom of Information requests submitted by London-based charity Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) found that the UK Government accounted for £986 million of QinetiQ's £1.5 billion total revenue in 2022/23, making it the third-largest recipient of MoD contracts after BAE Systems and Babcock International. Using data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which attributes 78% of QinetiQ's revenue to arms sales, AOAV also found that 80% of its arms-related revenue is sourced from the MOD. Even beyond direct contracts, taxpayers foot much of QinetiQ's operational bill. In 2023/24, QinetiQ spent £328.2 million on research and development (R&D), but just £12.8 million of that was funded internally - meaning the vast majority of R&D spending was effectively a state subsidy, something that Harborne directly benefits from. The company also has a history of lucrative privatisation deals. When QinetiQ was first sold off, senior executives secured a 200-fold return on investment, with a £540,000 buy-in yielding £107 million, while taxpayers saw a mere nine-fold return. The House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts later branded the process 'profiteering at the expense of the taxpayer'. With a new wave of defence spending on the horizon, QinetiQ's grip on public funds is likely to tighten. The UK Government has pledged billions in additional military investment, particularly in cyber warfare, AI, space defence, and next-generation combat systems - all areas where QinetiQ already ...

    12 min

  6. 2 DAYS AGO

    'Reform's Policies Are Dangerously Out of Step With Public Opinion and It's Time the Media Started Scrutinising Them'

    Byline Times is an independent, reader-funded investigative newspaper, outside of the system of the established press, reporting on 'what the papers don't say' - without fear or favour. To support its work, subscribe to the monthly Byline Times print edition, packed with exclusive investigations, news, and analysis. Help us build the better media Britain deserves In just one short month, the world has watched with mounting horror as Donald Trump's America has abandoned Ukraine and Europe, switched sides to align with Vladimir Putin, gutted the US state to the detriment of the poorest in America and abroad, and ripped up agreements to protect the planet from the worst impacts of climate change. All the while he has been cheered on by Nigel Farage. With Reform surging in the polls, Britain could soon be heading for its own Donald Trump. And yet Reform's policies and positions on a whole range of key issues, Ukraine included, remain wildly out of step with the British public and need to be scrutinised. Siding with Trump on Ukraine Both Farage and his deputy Richard Tice have praised the US negotiations with Russia to end the war in Ukraine, notable for being carried out behind Ukraine's back and to its cost. In a rare example of the right-wing media holding Reform to account, Julia Hartley-Brewer slammed Tice on TalkTV when he argued "most wars end up with some form of negotiation". Much as everyone wants to see peace, the trouble is, the negotiations between Trump and Putin amount to two imperial powers carving Ukraine up like a roast - with Ukraine forced to cede its territory to Russia and its rare earth minerals to the US. Most people wouldn't call that a negotiated peace, they'd call that surrender. Or appeasement. Such sentiments are a world away from the British public, who remain firmly behind Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. 'I Asked Nigel Farage's Supporters What They Really Want and the Answers Were Alarming' My time spent mingling with Reform supporters online revealed a lot about where the UK could be heading next, argues David Goff David Goff Recent YouGov polls show 58% support British soldiers being stationed in Ukraine as peacekeepers alongside European allies in the event of a peace deal, a move criticised by Reform when Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was "ready and willing". And, contrary to Farage and Tice's backing of Trump's alignment with Putin, most respondents say that if the US negotiates a peace deal without involving Ukraine that leaves Russia in control of some conquered territory, and Ukraine does not accept those terms, Britain and Europe should discourage Ukraine from accepting the deal and continue supporting it militarily. While Farage has always been closely aligned with Trump, to the point of offering up his services as US ambassador, he has not offered a whisper of criticism as Trump has blamed Ukraine for the war and sided with Russia in an unprecedented global realignment. But this is just one of the many issues on which Reform finds itself completely out of step with the British public. Climate Change is 'Absolute Garbage' In another of Tice's many pronouncements, he wrote off unequivocal evidence of humanity's impact on climate change as "absolute garbage". Such sentiments are very much in keeping with Reform's policies to tax, as Tice puts it, the "massive con" of renewable energy and "scrap stupid net-zero". Again, so far, so Trump. And yet bearing no relationship with reality or public opinion. What Really Lies Behind Donald Trump's Shifting Stance On Ukraine Trump's new threat to Putin doesn't necessarily mean he's on Ukraine's side, argues George Llewelyn George Llewelyn Polling conducted by More in Common for the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) of people who intended to vote in local elections last year found 77% in favour of net-zero targets. Even 52% of Reform's own voters were in favour. They, like the rest of us, will be in for a rude awakening shoul...

    9 min

  7. 2 DAYS AGO

    The Utter Mismanagement of HS2 Is Now Damaging the UK's Global Reputation, Say MPs

    Byline Times is an independent, reader-funded investigative newspaper, outside of the system of the established press, reporting on 'what the papers don't say' - without fear or favour. To support its work, subscribe to the monthly Byline Times print edition, packed with exclusive investigations, news, and analysis. Help us build the better media Britain deserves MPs have slammed the Department for Transport and HS2 for failing to have the necessary skills or capabilities to manage the HS2 rail project, which is now expected to cost £80 billion to complete the rump of the line from London to Birmingham - more than double the original cost of £37.5 billion for a full high speed line running from London to Manchester and Leeds. MPs on the Commons Public Accounts Committee say the mismanagement of the project has reached such a level that the UK's global reputation for managing prestige projects has been badly tarnished. Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, Conservative Chair of the Committee, said: "It is time to deal with HS2 as what it is - a cautionary tale that should be studied by future Governments in how not to run a major project. MPs Slam Parliament's Slow Rebuilding Programme Progress - As Executives Receive Hundreds of Thousands in Bonuses The Public Accounts Committee delivers a stinging rebuke to the Delivery Authority, tasked with the rebuilding scheme David Hencke "We are sceptical of Government's ability to successfully deliver even a curtailed scheme, one which we already know will on its face bring very poor value for money. The question has instead become: what possible benefit can the Government now salvage for the taxpayer, from a mess that presents real risks to the UK's overall reputation? "It is ultimately the Department of Transport that has failed to manage this enormous project and manage HS2 properly. This is likely to have wasted billions of pounds of taxpayers money in delays and overspends." "The Department as well as resetting the project must now reset itself to manage this project to a workable conclusion in line with the eventually agreed budget and timescale. "To do this they will need to employ people with the correct range of skill sets to critically supervise and oversee this huge project. This is the only way to salvage its severely tarnished reputation. We expect to see a real improvement when we next examine this matter." The report states that in the years since it was first approved by Gordon Brown's Government, developers have never agreed the costs, when it will be completed, what the benefits will be or what was the scope of the project. When Department officials and HS2 management appeared before MPs neither side could agree on cost estimates - giving different figures. One of the biggest mismanagement issues was the construction of a one kilometre bat tunnel costing £100m - double the ordinary cost - and up to 10 metres high with a mesh separating bats from trains. The total cost of the entire project, which included restoring the East-West line from Oxford to Cambridge which passed near HS2, has now come to £168m. ENJOYING THIS ARTICLE? HELP US TO PRODUCE MORE Receive the monthly Byline Times newspaper and help to support fearless, independent journalism that breaks stories, shapes the agenda and holds power to account. PAY ANNUALLY - £39.50 A YEAR PAY MONTHLY - £3.75 A MONTH MORE OPTIONS We're not funded by a billionaire oligarch or an offshore hedge-fund. We rely on our readers to fund our journalism. If you like what we do, please subscribe. The report also reveals that nothing has happened since the present Government announced the line would finish at Euston. Instead, two rival plans have been put up by the Mayor of London and the London Borough of Camden to redevelop the station and the underground and bus station as a transport hub and the Government will need to create a new delivery authority to manage it. Work on the tunnels to connect Euston has also been delayed. People ...

    7 min

  8. 3 DAYS AGO

    Trump's War on 'Woke' and DEI: Incubated by a Nazi Eugenics Foundation

    Byline Times is an independent, reader-funded investigative newspaper, outside of the system of the established press, reporting on 'what the papers don't say' - without fear or favour. To support its work, subscribe to the monthly Byline Times print edition, packed with exclusive investigations, news, and analysis. Help us build the better media Britain deserves 'Woke' and 'diversity, equity and inclusion' (DEI) are both terms that have been portrayed as a threat to white people. What if the opposition to them has been manufactured to further the goals of a burgeoning white supremacist movement inspired by racist pseudoscience funded by Nazi sympathisers? Following a plane crash in Washington DC on 29 January, Donald Trump said that the Federal Aviation Administration's commitment to hiring people with disabilities was "one reason why our country was going to hell". His Vice President, JD Vance, later said that the President "was being very explicit about the fact that DEI policies have led our air traffic controllers to be short-staffed". Meanwhile, programmes across the federal government have been shuttered, including the Department of Justice's civil rights division - putting an end to the US Government's enforcement of decades of anti-discrimination legislation. The Pentagon has also ordered all military services to purge all mentions that "promote diversity, equity and inclusion" from website postings, photos, news articles and videos. A military ban on transgender people was just the start. General CQ Brown, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff appointed by Trump himself in 2020 - and the second black general to serve in that role - was sacked in a broader shake-up of the Pentagon. The head of the US Navy, Admiral Lisa Fanchetti - the first woman to lead a military service - was also fired. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth questioned whether Brown was only hired due to his 'race', writing: "Was it because of his skin colour? Or his skill? We'll never know, but always doubt." Both Brown and Fanchetti have far greater military experience than Hegseth - suggesting that his war on "that woke shit" - in his own words - is about keeping the US military as white and male as possible. He hinted as much when he criticised "all the 'diversity' recruiting messages" which "made certain kids - white kids - feel like they're not wanted". Trump also fired three Judge Advocate Generals, the most senior lawyers across the US military, in order to replace them with loyalists - eliminating what Hegseth called legal "roadblocks" to sweeping deployment of military power. FREE PREVIEW From Murdoch to Musk: Hacking the State While the media mogul spent more than half a century building up back-door political influence, the social media broligarch stormed into the US Government in just two years. Peter Jukes explores how the use of power through media has evolved Peter Jukes Trump's replacement for Brown, John Daniel 'Razin' Caine, has far less military experience than him - but happens to be an advisor to Thrive Capital, a venture capital firm established by the brother of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, Joshua, one of whose early investors was none other than Trump megadonor Peter Thiel. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by X, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, has pursued a similar approach of smashing DEI as a tool to dismantle US Government agencies and departments. The Trump administration's 'war on woke' is also reverberating well beyond the White House. Technology giants and major corporations - from Meta to Apple - have followed suit by ditching DEI programs. Free speech and public health are both on the line. As one whistleblower observed in the British Medical Journal, the Trump administration is banning basic words from the entire US federal research system, hampering scientific research on minority communities: "The words that must not be used include 'bias', 'biased', 'women', or 'female', and it's impossibl...

    29 min
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The latest articles from Byline Times converted to audio for easy listening

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  • Channel
    Byline Audio
  • Creator
    Unknown
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2025
  • Episodes
    50
  • Rating
    Clean

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