#FilterTheNoise Podcast: On Immigration

Jonathan Ketchell

If there is one theme that divides opinion it's immigration. Its discussion has been heavily polarised through our social media use and politicised by leaders, setting us up into sterile "pro vs con" and "all or nothing" camps, that shut rather than open the debate. This #FilterTheNoise podcast looks deeply into the topic, providing a fact-based approach to immigration, through the use of data and academic research. It introduces method and nuance, while weaving personal stories into the narrative, highlighting the humanity of immigration. The focus is mostly on the EU.

  1. 03/02/2025

    Episode 13: Bonus - 5 steps for a healthy discussion

    This bonus episode provides tips on how to have a healthy discussion when speaking about topics that can be polarising, sensitive or with entrenched beliefs, including immigration. The five tips: Ask questions in order to learn and articulate others' point of views. This broadens your perspective and leads to a more fruitful discussion. Nuance and complexity should be the norm. Oversimplifications that put people into "pro" or "against" camps tend to shut the discussion, rather than open it. A fact-based approach is preferable, while applying a critical eye. One single stat never tells the whole story so it's important to use a range of data to have a more complete picture. Providing context to facts and figures also increases understanding. Resetting the emotions. We can get emotional when discussing topics. This is a good thing as it shows we care. If you however feel emotions boiling and blurring your reasoning, adopt strategies to evacuate them. Do this for yourself, but also your counterparts. Know your limits. We don't have all the answers and that's ok! Having doubts and acknowledging you don't know everything opens up the space to learn.-- Presented and produced by Jonathan Ketchell. Sources: Sweden wants to pay immigrants up to $34,000 to voluntarily leave. Fortune, 13 September, 2024. Austrian government prepares deportation plan for Syrian migrants. Euronews, 10 December, 2024.

  2. 02/24/2025

    Episode 12: On what have you recently changed your mind?

    Conclusion to this series on immigration. The creator and presenter Jonathan shares his personal journey as he dug deep into the subject and challenged some of his assumptions. Through the voices of immigration officers in the UK - aiming to find a balance between doing their jobs and applying the rules while showing empathy and humanity to fellow humans - Jonathan highlights the need to tap into this humanity to solve the challenges around immigration. The necessity for society and the public to engage on the topic, learn, discuss, deliberate, free of political agendas, misinformation and sensationalism, has never been greater. -- Presented and produced by Jonathan Ketchell. Sources: Immigration Officer Stops Man Claiming To Be A Student | UK Border Force | Real Responders UK Border Patrol Police Raid a Subway Station for Criminals! | Locked Up Abroad

  3. 02/18/2025

    Episode 11: "What have immigrants ever done for us?"

    How would Isabel Allende, with her mixed identities and life experience, answer the question "Where are you from?"? How much of our nationality fits into our identity? Are our identities defined by more than the lottery of where we are born? In a media landscape which often paints immigration as a problem, what if we changed the narrative around immigration and told a different story? Spoke of how mixed we already all are and how much immigration has contributed to enrich rather than impoverish the world? ➡️ A thought-provoking episode that will spark a reflection on identity, as well as shine the spotlight on the positivity of immigration. -- Presented and produced by Jonathan Ketchell. Sources: What do Britons really think about the riots? More in Common, 9 August 2024. Longitudinal analysis of sentiment and emotion in news media headlines using automated labelling with Transformer language models. Plos One, 18 October, 2022. 2015: The year of Europe's refugee crisis. UNHCR, 8 December, 2015. NFAP Policy Brief: Immigrant Entrepreneurs and U.S. Billion-Dollar Companies. NFAP, July, 2022. Sound clip taken from video 'UK protests: Police pelted with fireworks during riots, bodycam footage shows'. Global News, 9 August 2024. Sandra Cisneros looks back as a writer in search of home. PBS News Hour, 30 October, 2015.

  4. 02/13/2025

    Episode 10: More integration? Yes, but what kind?

    Integration is a word often associated with immigrants. If we can agree that more integration is a good thing, we often do not specify what we mean by it. This episode looks more deeply into integration, asking questions of what may be expected of immigrants, but also the role of the state in helping immigrants settle in. The approach has changed over the decades with integration seen today as a two-way street, where immigrant and host communities learn from and adapt to each other. -- Presented and produced by Jonathan Ketchell. Sources: The Changing Concepts around Immigrant Integration. Migration Policy Institute, 17 September, 2021.What’s the best way to integrate immigrants? Reward effort and don’t make their lives difficult. The Conversation, 15 September, 2017We need to talk about integration after migration. Here are four ways we can improve it. World Economic Forum, 25 October, 2018.Action plan on integration and inclusion 2021-2027. European Commission.Une situation des descendants d’immigrés plus favorable que celle des immigrés. Insee, 30 mars, 2023.Migrant Integration Policy Index 2020. Solano, Giacomo and Huddleston, Thomas, 2020.Alex Phillips: The Reality of Cultural Differences in Immigration. @Con-Troversial, 25 August, 2024.Inside the Country that Pays Immigrants $34,000 to Leave... Tyler Oliveira, 21 October, 2024.

  5. 02/11/2025

    Episode 9: "I'm not against immigrants, but [insert negative statement on immigrants]"

    🛠️ Immigrants come here and take away jobs from locals. 🩺 Immigrants abuse the welfare state. 🚨 Immigrants are a major source of crime. 🏘️ Immigrants increase the cost of housing. You may have heard statements like these before, elevated into the public conscience as fact, scapegoating immigrants for many of society's ills. Is there any truth to these statements? This episode looks at the data and studies available, focusing on the country of France. -- Presented and produced by Jonathan Ketchell Sources for "Immigrants come here and take away jobs from locals." Insee statistics on immigrants and employment in France.Les métiers des immigrés. Dares, September, 2021.Quels sont les secteurs d’activité qui dépendent le plus des travailleurs immigrés ? Le Monde, 9 December, 2024.Order of 1 April 2021 relating to the issue of work permits to foreign nationals. Légifrance, 2 April, 2021.Sources for "Immigrants abuse the welfare state." Mesurer régulièrement le non-recours au RSA et à la prime d’activité : méthode et résultats. DREES, 11 February 2022.RSA 2024-2025 : conditions, demande, montants, calendrier de versement. TSMF, 9 April, 2024.Premier bilan du plan de lutte contre les fraudes. French government, 20 March, 2024.Rights for asylum seekers in France. French government, 16 May, 2024.La Cour des comptes pointe 5,5 milliards d’euros d’erreurs dans la branche famille de la Sécurité sociale. Le Monde, 17 May 2024.Impôts : les 6 chiffres fous sur la fraude fiscale en France. Les Echos, 17 November, 2023.Lutte contre la fraude sociale - Etat des lieux et enjeux. Haut Conseil du financement de la protection sociale, July, 2024.La fraude sociale estimée à 13 milliards d’euros par an, en majorité due aux entreprises. Franceinfo, 26 September, 2024.« Assistés », « profiteurs », « paresseux »… les clichés sur les pauvres à l’épreuve des faits. Le Monde, 17 October, 2017.La Cour des comptes presse l’exécutif de chiffrer la fraude fiscale. Le Monde, 15 November, 2023.Fraude sociale : Urssaf, allocations, RSA… Quelles sont les sommes en jeu ? La Croix, 30 May, 2015.International Migration Outlook. OECD, October, 2023.Economic impact of migration, OECD.Comment l’économiste arrive-t-il au constat que les immigrés ne coûtent pas plus qu’ils ne rapportent à l’État français ? Institut Convergences Migrations, 15 February, 2019Sources for "Immigrants are a major source of crime." Références Statistiques Justice. 2022.Pourquoi le lien entre immigration et délinquance est une illusion. The Conversation, 21 May, 2023.Immigration et activité criminelle : résultats empiriques et éclairages théoriques de l'approche économique. Dauphne Eclairage, 14 May, 2024.Asylum seeker rights in the UK. UK Government.Asylum seeker rights in Italy. Refugee.info, 16 February, 2024.The mythical tie between immigration and crime. Stanford University, 21 July, 2024.Debunking the Myth of the ‘Migrant Crime Wave’. Brennan Center for Justice, 29 May, 2024.Sources for "Immigrants increase the cost of housing." Insee statistics on housing.L’immigration en France : quels effets sur le marché du logement ? Cerdi, 14 October, 2019Quels logements et quels quartiers ? L’intégration résidentielle des immigrés en France. Population Vol. 73, 2018/2 .Habitation à loyer modéré ou HLM : tout savoir. CDC Habitat.

  6. 02/07/2025

    Episode 8: Unbearable Numbers

    We often hear politicians speak of "controlling and limiting" immigration. The recent and short lived French Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, in an interview in September 2024, used those words himself, even going as far as saying that the numbers of immigrants coming to France had become "unbearable”. Meanwhile the French Interior, Bruno Retailleau, said in an interview the same month that immigration is "not an opportunity" and wants to have a referendum. 🤔 What qualifies as "unbearable numbers"? And who exactly are we speaking of? Asylum seekers? Economic migrants? 🤔 What does the Interior Minister mean by saying immigration is not an opportunity? What would be the 'yes/no' question on a referendum on immigration? These statements are made by politicians without us questioning them. They speak as if we all assumed immigration is something negative to begin with. This is echoed in many countries in the West, with fringe and main stream politicians in power, or close to it, adopting a similar tone. We rarely as society look at the topic of immigration, just like many others, through a rational and neutral lens. But what are the numbers? A factual base is needed for a healthy understanding and discussion. -- Presented and produced by Jonathan Ketchell Sources: Insee: for all stats and studies linked to immigration in France. In particularlink 1,2 &3La communauté française à l’étranger en chiffres. Ministère de l'Europe et des affaires étrangères, 31 December, 2023.Asylum applications - annual statistics 2023. Eurostat, 20 March 2024.France's incoming interior minister vows to 'restore order' as new government takes over. France 24, 23 September, 2024.Ce qu’il faut retenir de l’interview de Michel Barnier. Le Monde, 22 September, 2022.«L'immigration n'est pas une chance», «l’État de droit n’est pas intangible» : Retailleau s’attire les critiques de la gauche et de macronistes. Le Figaro, 29 September, 2024.Bruno Retailleau, ministre de l'Intérieur, invité de Darius Rochebin. LCI, 29 September, 2024.

  7. 02/05/2025

    Episode 7: Nina's Story

    Ever heard of the passport index? It ranks nationalities by mobility score, the ease of use in travelling to and living in other countries. What passports do you think are the best to possess? What happens when two passport holders, one at the top of the index and the other towards the middle, meet? We hear of the story of Nina, an immigrant from Ecuador living in Spain, and how her meeting with a Belgian sparked a connection, as well as a will to understand the challenges immigrants have to face. Nina's story shows us that immigration is more than policy and statistics on a spreadsheet. -- Presented and produced by Jonathan Ketchell Sources: Radiografía de la persona migrante y sin papeles en España: ¿cuántos hay en nuestro país y cuál es su perfil?. La Sexta, 11 April, 2024. Spain takes first step towards regularising 500 000 migrants. European Commission, 17 April, 2024. Passport Index

  8. 01/28/2025

    Episode 6: "We can't welcome everyone here!"

    Imagine you're at table with friends or family and you've entered "serious topic time". After talking about the latest headlines, conversation turns to immigration and the refugees coming into the EU. Suddenly, someone says: "We can't welcome everyone here!" How would you respond? This episode breaks this statement down... Do we actually "welcome everyone here"? Listen to find out more about refugee migration flows. -- Presented by Jonathan Ketchell. Sources: Figures at a glance (refugees and forcibly displaced). UNHCR. Global Trends report 2023. UNHCR. International Migration Outlook 2023. OECD, 23 October, 2023. Atlas of migration 2024. European Commission. Statistics on migration to Europe. European Commission, 5 November, 2024. EU-Turkey migration deal: Four million refugees, €9 billion in aid and a mixed record. Le Monde, 25 April, 2024. EU approves major overhaul of migration rules. BBC, 10 April, 2024. Migration and border management: Heading 4 of the 2021-2027 MFF. European Parliament, 14 April 2021. Country responsible for asylum application (Dublin Regulation). European Commission. Mass arrests and forced transfers. How migrants are exiled in North Africa with European Money. El País, 1 June, 2024. Italian court rules outsourced migrant detentions in Albania illegal. RFI, 20 October, 2024. Rome court blocks Meloni’s plans to transfer migrants to Albania again. Euractiv, 12 November, 2024. Recipients and results of EU aid. European Commission.

See All (13)

About

If there is one theme that divides opinion it's immigration. Its discussion has been heavily polarised through our social media use and politicised by leaders, setting us up into sterile "pro vs con" and "all or nothing" camps, that shut rather than open the debate. This #FilterTheNoise podcast looks deeply into the topic, providing a fact-based approach to immigration, through the use of data and academic research. It introduces method and nuance, while weaving personal stories into the narrative, highlighting the humanity of immigration. The focus is mostly on the EU.

Information