Defiance

“If you want peace, be prepared to fight.”
— John Shipton

Location: London
Date: Tuesday, 10th March 2020

In 2010 WikiLeaks gained global recognition when Chelsea Manning, a US Army Soldier, turned whistleblower, released numerous documents via WikiLeaks including the now infamous Collateral Murder. Collateral Murder showed a team of two US AH-64 Apache helicopters firing upon and killing several men including civilians, two of whom were war correspondents working for Reuters.

WikiLeaks was founded in 2006 by Julian Assange and specialises in publishing leaked materials. In Assange's own words: "WikiLeaks is a giant library of the world's most persecuted documents. We give asylum to these documents, we analyse them, we promote them, and we obtain more."

In 2010 Sweden released an arrest warrant for Assange that alleged two cases of sexual assault. Assange feared that extradition to Sweden, may, in turn, lead to extradition to the US where he believed he could face prosecution for WikiLeaks' publication of the secret US government files.

Following a hearing and subsequent legal battle, the UK courts ruled that Assange should be extradited to Sweden to face trial.

To prevent extradition, in August 2012, Assange entered the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he was granted political asylum. He remained there until his arrest in April 2019.

Swedish prosecutors have discontinued the investigation into the alleged sexual assault in 2010. However, Assange may still be extradited to the US, where he faces 18 charges of attempted hacking and breaches of the Espionage Act with a possible sentence of 170 years. Since early 2019 Assange has been imprisoned awaiting trial and extradition to the US. The case is in the hands of the UK courts and will, likely, be decided in May 2020.

Throughout the nearly seven years inside the Ecuadorian Embassy and the past year that Assange has been imprisoned, there have been several concerns raised over both his physical and mental health and the potential violations of Julian's human rights.

In this interview, I talk to John Shipton, Julian's father, an anti-war activist who has been campaigning to drop the extradition charge and see his son freed. We discuss John & Julian's relationship, Julian's ongoing case and the impact of WikiLeaks.

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Show notes and transcription: https://www.defiance.news/podcast/julian-assange-by-his-father-john-shipton

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Timestamps:
Coming soon…

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The success of Defiance will be largely down to the support of you, the listener. Below are a number of ways you can help:
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“I saw the gang as a refuge, as protection, acceptance, belonging. As a way to fit into American society.”
— Wilfredo Gómez

Location: San Salvador, El Salvador
Date: Friday, 14th February 2020
Company: N/A
Role: Freelance Journalist & Ex-Gang Member

El Salvador is one of the most dangerous countries in the world. Gangs are prolific, with nationwide membership as high as 10%, most joining either MS-13 or 18th Street.

Violence, murder and extortion are not new to El Salvador. Following the brutal civil war, from 1979 to 1992, some speculate that this desensitised the population and is a contributing factor to the extreme gang culture, the level of violence and high murder rate. In 2015-16 the murder rate in El Salvador was more than 100 per 100,000 making it, by far, the murder capital of the world.

Like much of Central and South America, political and economic migration has long been popular with the majority choosing the United States as their destination. Following the end of the civil war in 1992, the US has clamped down on El Salvadorian criminals, and between 2014 and 2018, the deported an estimated 111,000 people back to El Salvador.

Human Rights Watch has flagged this as a potential breach as many deportees have no ties to El Salvador with some never having set foot in the country before being deported. This can lead to exploitation, with HRW reporting that at least 138 of those deported from the United States in recent years were subsequently killed.

In this interview, I talk to Valentina Pereda, a journalist and filmmaker in El Salvador and Wilfredo Gómez, an ex-18th Street gang hitman who turned his back on the gang lifestyle after being imprisoned in the US and deported to El Salvador. We discuss gang culture in El Salvador, how Will became involved with 18th Street in LA, his role in the gangs before he was arrested and deported, and how he left the gang lifestyle behind.

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Show notes and transcription: https://www.defiance.news/podcast/the-reformation-of-an-18th-street-hitman-valentina-pereda-wilfredo-gmez

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Timestamps:
Coming soon…

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The success of Defiance will be largely down to the support of you, the listener. Below are a number of ways you can help:
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If you have any questions then please email Defiance.

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“I knew at some point somethings going to give, and then it did give. I woke up in hospital two months later, coming out of a coma.”

— Dominic

Location: Bogota, Colombia
Date: Wednesday, 12th February 2020
Company: N/A
Role: N/A

Today I have a very emotional and personal interview with my friend Dominic. I have known Dom for over 25 years, we went to school together and shared a love of heavy metal, and attended many gigs and festivals together.

After school, we lost touch but have come back into each other's lives a couple of times. Dominic moved to Colombia over a decade ago but returned with his daughter after struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. We hung out with our children for around a year before we lost touch again, and then three years ago, I bumped into Dominic after he had spent a night smoking crack cocaine. In recovery myself, I recognised the signs, but before we spoke again, he had moved back to Colombia.

Just over a year ago, I was made aware that Dominic was in a Coma in Colombia. Dominic survived this incident and is now in recovery for both drug and alcohol addiction. While I was in Bogota, Colombia recently, I met up with Dominic and asked him if I could interview him and allow him to tell his story.

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Show notes and transcription: https://www.defiance.news/podcast/the-depth-of-addiction-dominic

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Timestamps:
Coming soon…

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The success of Defiance will be largely down to the support of you, the listener. Below are a number of ways you can help:
- Subscribe to the show on your favourite app so you never miss an episode:
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If you have any questions then please email Defiance.

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“A thermometer is not Liberal or Conservative; it doesn’t give you a different answer depending on how you vote. The solutions are but we have to begin from a place of shared understanding that climate is changing. Humans really are responsible, we’ve checked, the impacts are serious, and we do need to act.”

— Prof. Katharine Hayhoe

Location: Lubbock, Texas
Date: Monday, 17th February 2020
Company: Texas Tech University
Role: Atmospheric Scientist and Professor of Political Science

While the media continues to report on the threat of climate change and the habits of humans which are accelerating it, there is still considerable disagreement with the science.

Even with this global consensus amongst climate scientists, there is a very vocal minority who state that human-caused climate change is a myth. They make claims such as 'all we are experiencing is a natural climate cycle', 'the models are unreliable' and even that 'Antarctica is gaining ice'. These arguments are backed by misinformation and often come from those who stand to benefit most from uncertainty around climate change such as oil and gas companies.

2019 was a record-breaking year; oceans hit record temperatures. Australia experienced the worst wildfires on record, and the Greenland ice sheet continues to melt at an alarming rate.

To discuss the facts around climate change and how humans contribute, I am joined by Katharine Hayhoe, an Atmospheric Scientist and Professor of Political Science at Texas Tech University. We also discuss the denialist mindset and how scientists have underestimated the severity of the problem.

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Show notes and transcription: https://www.defiance.news/podcast/the-science-of-climate-change-prof-katharine-hayhoe

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Timestamps:
Coming soon…

- - - - -

The success of Defiance will be largely down to the support of you, the listener. Below are a number of ways you can help:
- Subscribe to the show on your favourite app so you never miss an episode:
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If you have any questions then please email Defiance.

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“Everybody deserves freedom, and everybody deserves a choice of how they are governed.”
— Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga

Location: Riga
Date: Friday, 31st January 2020
Company: Latvia
Role: Former President

In the wake of the Second World War and the Soviet expansion into the Baltic states, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga and her family fled Latvia for a German refugee camp. From there, the family moved to Morocco before emigrating to Canada in 1954.

Vaira went on to gain a PhD in psychology and became a professor at the University of Montreal. She taught psychopharmacology, psycholinguistics, scientific theories, experimental methods, language and cognitive processes.

Throughout this successful career, Vaira remained fiercely loyal to her Latvian heritage and in 1998, aged 60, she decided to return to her home country to head a new Latvian Institute. Within eight months of returning, Vaira became Latvia’s first female President.

She was a hugely popular and successful President, and at one point her approval ratings were as high as 85%.

In this interview, I talk to Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga and discuss how her family fled Latvia, her life in Canada, returning to become President of Latvia and Russia’s influence over the Baltic states.

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Show notes and transcription: https://www.defiance.news/podcast/from-refugee-to-the-first-female-president-of-latvia-vaira-ve-freiberga

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Timestamps:
Coming soon…

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The success of Defiance will be largely down to the support of you, the listener. Below are a number of ways you can help:
- Subscribe to the show on your favourite app so you never miss an episode:
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If you have any questions then please email Defiance.

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“I don’t mind these fellas being in gangs, it’s what the gangs do that is the issue for me. If the gangs are playing football or rugby that’s fine. If they are playing chess, if they are crocheting I really don’t care. It’s when they are out on a Friday night stabbing each other, that becomes an issue for me.”
— John Carnochan

Location: Glasgow
Date: Tuesday, 22nd January 2020
Company: Scottish Violence Reduction Unit
Role: Former Detective Chief Superintendent

When John Carnochan joined Strathclyde Police as deputy head of CID in 2002, Glasgow, in particular, was experiencing extreme levels of violent crime. Scotland had become the murder capital of Europe and had five times the murder rate of London.

The methods used by the police were mostly ineffective, so John took a radical approach, launching the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) and the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence. This initiative offered education, health services, careers advice, social services and diversionary projects to the most vulnerable gang members.

The VRU was a massive success. In 2004/05 there were 137 homicides in Scotland. By 2016/17 this number had dropped to 62, attempted murders dropped from 828 to 317, and serious assaults fell by almost half.

In this interview, I talk to John Carnochan, former Detective Chief Superintendent. His Violence Reduction Unit and Community Initiative to Reduce Violence program helped significantly reduce violent crime and homicide rates in Scotland

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Show notes and transcription: https://www.defiance.news/podcast/how-scotland-reduced-violent-crime-john-carnochan

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Timestamps:
Coming soon…

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The success of Defiance will be largely down to the support of you, the listener. Below are a number of ways you can help:
- Subscribe to the show on your favourite app so you never miss an episode:
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If you have any questions then please email Defiance.

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“When the doctors can’t even handle the living cases, how can we expect that they have someone dedicated to record every single death?”
— William Yang

Location: Skype
Date: Sunday, 2nd January 2020
Company: DW News
Role: East Asia Correspondent

In early December 2019, the Chinese city of Wuhan became the epicentre of a deadly coronavirus outbreak. As of today (3rd Feb, 2020), the virus has now spread to at least 26 countries, infecting over 17,000 people with more than 360 deaths.

It is suspected that the outbreak originated from Hunan Seafood Market, a 'wet market' in Wuhan. These markets are known for selling a range of live wildlife from typical western meats through to live venomous snakes, cats, marmots, turtles, cicadas, guinea pigs, rats, badgers, hedgehogs and other wild animals.

The first recorded case of the virus was on 1st Dec 2019, but it wasn't until 31st Dec that the World Health Organisation (WHO) was made aware of the developing situation. By this time, 27 people were known to have been infected. On 9th Jan 2020, the first death was recorded in Wuhan, a 61-year-old man who regularly visited the Hunan Seafood Market. On 2nd Feb 2020, the first recorded death outside of China was recorded in the Philippines, a 44-year-old Chinese man from Wuhan.

There are confirmed infections in at least 26 countries; the WHO has declared a global public health emergency, and most major nations are urging people not to travel to China and have started to evacuate citizens.

To combat the virus in Wuhan, China began works on two new hospitals, with over 1,000 beds, specifically designed to treat patients who have contracted the virus. Remarkably, authorities aim to have these facilities up and running within two weeks.

As further information is gathered on the epidemic, there are concerns about the accuracy of the number of deaths reported by the Chinese government. Chinese language media outlet Initium News has claimed that people working at local crematoriums in Wuhan have reported that many dead bodies are being transferred directly from hospitals to the crematoriums without identification of the patients. If this were true, it would mean that the reported death toll from China has been significantly underestimated.

In this interview, I talk to William Yang, East Asia Correspondent for DW News who has been reporting extensively on the coronavirus outbreak. We discussed the origins and spread of the disease and allegations that China is withholding crucial information.

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Show notes and transcription: https://www.defiance.news/podcast/chinese-political-influence-over-coronavirus-news-william-yang

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Timestamps:
Coming soon…

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The success of Defiance will be largely down to the support of you, the listener. Below are a number of ways you can help:
- Subscribe to the show on your favourite app so you never miss an episode:
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If you have any questions then please email Defiance.

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“It’s not always a medical solution that’s required, it’s more a social and political solution that’s required.”
— Rudy Crawford

Location: Skype
Date: Wednesday, 22nd January 2020
Company: Former Surgeon at Glasgow Royal Infirmary
Role: Surgeon

Throughout the 90s and early 2000s, Scotland was suffering from an epidemic of knife crime. Glasgow had become the murder capital of Europe and Scotland was the most dangerous developed nation in the world.

In 2005, Strathclyde Police created a Violence Reduction Unit (VRU). The VRU built a strategy to reduce violence by taking a public health approach to violent behaviour and bringing together all agencies in health, education and social work.

In 2006 Scottish police recorded 10,110 incidents of handling an offensive weapon, however, by 2015-16 this number had dropped to 3,111 marking a 69% decrease in a decade.

During this period, Rudy Crawford was a Surgeon at Glasgow Royal Infirmary and witnessed the escalating problem of knife crime in Glasgow, and across Scotland. In this interview, we discuss the prevalence of knife crime in Glasgow, the treatment of knife and gun injuries and the broader psychological impact on victims and their families.

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Show notes and transcription: https://www.defiance.news/podcast/a-surgeons-experience-of-knife-injuries-rudy-crawford

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Timestamps:
Coming soon…

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The success of Defiance will be largely down to the support of you, the listener. Below are a number of ways you can help:
- Subscribe to the show on your favourite app so you never miss an episode:
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If you have any questions then please email Defiance.

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“It takes a lot of work to get people to understand the reality after they have been poisoned by this propaganda for decades.”
— Nathaniel Rich

Location: Skype

Date: Friday, 24th January 2020
Company: nathanielrich.com
Role: Author

In 1979, the global consensus from the scientific community, politicians and even the oil and gas industry regarding climate change was in agreement: increasing levels of C02 in the atmosphere was warming the planet, and this could lead to severe consequences.

Losing Earth by Nathaniel Rich is a narrative from 1979-1989, telling the story of the scientists who risked their careers to convince the world to act before it was too late, the birth of denialism and the role of the oil and gas industry.

Earth’s climate is warming rapidly, and the scientific community is mostly consistent as to the causes. The doomsday clock has now reached 100 seconds to midnight (the closest to midnight it has ever been), with climate change sighted as a key contributor.

According to the UK Met Office, the past decade (2010 to 2019) has been the hottest on record and five of the top 10 warmest single years have all occurred since 2015. In 2019, oceans hit record temperatures. Australia experienced the worst wildfires on record, and the Greenland ice sheet is melting at an alarming rate.

Even with the vast majority of the scientific community agreeing on climate change and tangible evidence that this is a real phenomenon, there is a loud opposition, fueled by misinformation.

In this interview, I talk to Nathaniel Rich. We discuss the early scientific consensus on climate change and the oil and gas industry’s effort to thwart policy change.

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Show notes and transcription: https://www.defiance.news/podcast/the-origins-of-climate-denialism-nathaniel-rich

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Timestamps:
Coming soon…

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The success of Defiance will be largely down to the support of you, the listener. Below are a number of ways you can help:
- Subscribe to the show on your favourite app so you never miss an episode:
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If you have any questions then please email Defiance.

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“When you look at the kids that are involved, every kid, whether they be rich or poor, black or white, you will notice one thing; they are not loved at home.”
— Sheldon Thomas

Location: Bedford
Date: Monday, 20th January 2020
Company: Gangsline
Role: Founder

Incidents of knife crime in the UK are on the increase. In the 12 months ending March 2019, there were over 43,000 knife crime offences, marking an 80% increase on the same period in 2014. Of the 44 police forces throughout the UK, all but one recorded an increase in this kind of crime.

While London has the highest number of knives on the street, this issue is not confined to the capital. Cities like Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Nottingham are also seeing a marked increase.

The reason for this increase in is unclear, and while there likely isn’t a single answer, the blame has been laid on county lines drug dealing, lack of father figures, falling government funding for youth services and even social media.

Observations have also been made that while knife crime has increased, the police force has shrunk, with 20,000 fewer police officers than in 2010. Despite this decline, former Prime Minister, Theresa May claimed “no direct-correlation” to the increase in knife crime.

In this interview, I speak with Sheldon Thomas, an ex-gang member and founder of Gangsline, a non-profit organisation that provides help and support to young people involved in gang culture. We discuss the growing knife crime problem in the UK and Sheldon’s observations from the frontline of this growing epidemic.

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Show notes and transcription: https://www.defiance.news/podcast/an-ex-gang-member-on-uk-knife-crime-sheldon-thomas

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Timestamps:
Coming soon…

- - - - -

The success of Defiance will be largely down to the support of you, the listener. Below are a number of ways you can help:
- Subscribe to the show on your favourite app so you never miss an episode:
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If you have any questions then please email Defiance.

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