Dictators v Democrats: Why We Fight
A 'Dictators v Democrats' program https://tamullis.substack.com/
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Democracy is at war. We can see the forces rallied against it: autocratic states like Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, techno-aristocrats, religious fundamentalists and populist demagogues.
From the trenches of Ukraine to the halls of power in the US, democratic, free values are under determined assault.
But, there are those who resist.
In 'Why We Fight' we talk to those who claim to be defending democracy; that's everyone from soldiers, protestors, activists, religious leaders, industrialists and politicians.
We find out who they are, what drove them to take up the struggle, what their work is and why their idea of democracy is worth fighting for.
Dictators v Democrats: Why We Fight
Bellingcat Founder Eliot Higgins on Truth, Disinformation & Democracy
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From identifying the suspects behind the Salisbury poisonings to exposing Russian involvement in MH17, Eliot Higgins helped pioneer a new era of open-source investigation. But in a world of algorithms, conspiracy theories, AI-generated content and collapsing trust, can truth still hold power?
In this episode of Dictators v Democrats: Why We Fight, we sit down with the founder of Bellingcat to discuss how a man with no formal journalism background built one of the world's most influential investigative organisations from his home in Leicester.
They explore the origins of Bellingcat, the MH17 investigation, information warfare, social media radicalisation, AI-generated misinformation, and why Higgins believes democracy depends on three pillars: verification, deliberation and accountability.
This is a conversation about truth, power, technology, and the future of democracy itself.
Topics Covered
- The birth of Bellingcat and open-source intelligence
- Investigating MH17 and Russian disinformation
- Online radicalisation and conspiracy theories
- Social media algorithms and democratic decline
- AI, deepfakes and the future of verification
- Why trust in institutions is collapsing
- How democracy can survive the digital age
- Advice for the next generation of investigative journalists