These were the tweets that prompted me to ask author and broadcaster Matt Potter if I could interview him.
Also because I think Carole Cadwalladr was wrong in her viral tweets calling Ukraine/Russia the first great information war or second, as then she corrects herself within the same tweet and says the one in 2014 was first. I didn’t know much before interviewing Matt but I did know she was wrong about the dates. Wrong on both accounts.
What can I say I am not a fan
I have her muted on twitter on both my personal and business accounts so I don’t often see her tweets but did somehow come across the information war one.
I knew Matt was writing a book about Cyber warfare but was unsure of the details. This interview of about 35 minutes clears that up!
This has been an information war
You’ve shown an intense interest in Ukraine over the past few days as have many other, reporters, correspondents, politicians and hackers. What is your new book about and what has it got to do with Ukraine or Russia?
Which last conflict did you watch closely – how did it roll out compared to this one? Did you watch ARAB SPRING?
Communication is happening on platforms that host porn, a proto metaverse, non FB social media (In 2010 it was mainly Facebook) has the world moved on from Facebook since the January 6th protesters were arrested?
What would your advice to Yemen, Afghanistan, Nigerian and Armenian grassroots activists be?
Matt Potter: Author, journalist, broadcaster (ex-BBC, Telegraph, writer of BBC books) Matt’s first book tracked post-Soviet pilots running arms, drugs and worse from Afghanistan to Somalia. Hailed as a “dazzling” book of history and first-person reportage, ‘Outlaws Inc: Flying with the World’s Most Dangerous Smugglers’ became a Top 10 WHSmith bestseller, now published in 29 languages through Bloomsbury, Pan MacMillan, Ullstein, Einaudi, Reader’s Digest and others. ‘Outlaws Inc’ is now in production as a Hollywood movie through Thunder Road Studios, the team behind ‘The Expendables’.
Matt’s story tracking these merchants of death became part of the 2014 Sundance Festival Award-winning documentary feature film ‘The Notorious Mr Bout’, by Tony Gerber and Maxim Pozdorovkin. The film won acclaim, and became part of the BBC 2 Storyville 2015 season, ‘Arms Dealer: The Notorious Mr Bout’. Matt now works consulting with monitoring and investigative groups tracking arms and crime across borders.
His second book, an alternate history of the world as it has been shaped by entropy and the force of quitting, was published in 2015, entitled ‘F**k You & Goodbye: The Dark & Hilarious History of the Resignation’. In it, Matt examined the phenomenon of quitting as a historical force, from the Berlin Wall and the American Civil War to Iraq, Thatcher and neoliberalism. It became a Waterstone’s bestseller, and was republished in expanded format, with new material as ‘The Last Goodbye: A History of the World in Resignations’, in the UK, Commonwealth, USA and internationally.
Buy his books here
We’re recording another Nate produced podcast later this week where I will ask Matt the following (no doubt we will go off topic) :
You’ve been a foreign correspondent. In the film Shooting Dogs about the Rwandan Genocide, a foreign correspondent says she feels more empathy for white children, those she reported on in Derbia for instance. Do you find that you feel more empathy for white Ukrainians than people of African descent who are also facing terrible unjust wars? What do you think of all these reporters talking about it being war between civilised nations? etc
Are the world's worst despots taking advantage of our attention being on Ukraine to pursue their own murderous paths?
#Azerbaijan is using the current situation in #Ukraine to make another provocation against the #Armenian population in #Artsakh. This time, they have demanded (through loudspeakers in #Armenian language) the residents to leave the #Khramort village otherwise force will be used.
Quite understandable that Ukraine is getting the media coverage. But it’s really taking a turn for worse in Kabul this weekend. The Taliban are sealing off the city district by district and methodically searching every house. Those they seize are being tortured and ransomed. 1/Andrew goes on to say “We at @Azadi_Charityare helping people there who are directly affected in the worst way. Our WhatsApps are full of horror stories and utterly horrific photos. It’s absolutely crushing. All we can do is keep going. Passports and visas are hard to come by in Kabul. We’re getting very little information from the various schemes sponsoring their refugee applications. It’s like battering your head against a brick wall, with someone being tortured on the other side and you can’t get to them. So all we can do is keep trying. We need money to keep paying for their food and housing (of course, they can’t work), and for their passports and visas as they spiral upwards in cost. And then we can help with their travel costs to safety.
Ukraine is obsessing us all, but with payday this week, please spare a tenner if you can to help us help these poor people. I don’t want to hear any more tales of torture of these people we’ve all come to care about so much. I want them here, safe. End/
At the same time Lowkey had this to say: “US & British armed Saudi/UAE forces bombed the Sanaa International Airport in Yemen last night. Millions facing starvation as farms in Yemen have been bombed almost a thousand times. There will be no no-fly zone over Yemen. It will not even be asked for.”
Will those travelling back to fight in their own country countries or a country they have solidarity for be prosecuted like those who travelled to fight with ISIS? What would you say to the Home Office AND Boris Johnson about those who go to Ukraine to fight?
Come through!
There’s no Hell of a Way this week, as Nate has covid and Francis left on vacation before the war in Ukraine started. We’ll hopefully be back next week. In the interim, we’re crossposting a piece from Media Diversified (@WritersofColour) director and previous guest Samantha Asumadu, in which she speaks with author Matt Potter about information warfare (both as relates to Ukraine and in general). Thank you for your patience, and hope you enjoy.
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I did a zoom TV type thing for a TV station in Holland last Monday. DESIGNING CITIES FOR ALL Redesigning Journalism: The Power of Language
Part 1: Language is design - how can we deconstruct our language and make it fitting for all?
As the war in Europe continues and use of language such as 'oligarch' and 'regime' abound please watch #RedesigningJournalism
Wish me luck, tonight is the screening of my film The Super Ladies, plus they will now be screening two of my other non-broadcast films.
It’s at The Point, Glasgow. Come through if you’re in the area! It’s free, but have to book You check out ALL MY BROADCAST AND NONBROADCAST FILMS AND NEWS REPORTS (sorry my caps locks often gets stuck amd who has the time tore-type perfectly cogerent sentences)~ all out on my youtube channel below
Have a great day
Sam
What a Hell of a Way to Die: The Information War