This week on Taking The Myth, Stephen Knight (@GSpellchecker) and Iram Ramzan of sedaa.org (@Iram_Ramzan) discuss all the big topics.

0:00 Intro
1:22 France
5:14 French school ‘row’ over renaissance art and Muslim pupils
18:20 The UK’s diplomatic spat with Greece over Parthenon marbles.
25:10 Stephen speaking at The Battle Of Ideas in Buxton
28:38 The march against antisemitism in London and the arrest of Tommy Robinson
34:00 American college presidents, free speech and antisemitism.
45:36 Italian carbonara row
48.14 Owen Jones reviews October 7th massacre footage
57:16 Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?
59:00 Audience  questions

Stephen Knight’s Substack: www.sknight.substack.com

Sedaa: www.sedaa.org

Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/gspellchecker

Also available on iTunes, Stitcher, YouTube & Spotify.

This week on The Knight Tube, Stephen Knight (@GSpellchecker) speaks to Author Dr Rakib Ehsan (@rakibEhsan) about his book 'Beyond Grievance: What The Left Gets Wrong About Ethnic Minorities'.

Watch the video version at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE9CIlh4AQg

0:00 Intro
0:10 About Rakib Ehsan
1:49 Why talk about ‘race’ given how controversial it is?
3:04 Does it matter what publications you write for?
5:50 Is religious faith really a solution to our problems?
9:35 Freedom of expression at pro-Palestinian protests and the failure of the Metropolitan Police.
14:04 Reflecting on the Brexit referendum.
16:40 The white saviour complex of the progressive left.
19:18 Is it ethical to limit certain types of immigration?
22:18 ‘The traditional family’ argument.
25:22 The outcome of Bianca Williams’s stop and search case.
32:21 The problem with importing American identity politics and grievances to the UK
37:29 Is the gender debate really all that important to the general public and our election cycle?
41:40 Reflecting on the problem of Jeremy Corbyn
45:44 Do ethnic minorities in the UK lean conservative?
48:55 Is patriotism important to a modern Britian?
55:25 ‘White privilege’ and anti-white attitudes.

Stephen Knight’s Substack: www.sknight.substack.com

Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/gspellchecker

Also available on iTunes, Stitcher, YouTube & Spotify.

This week on The Knight Tube, Stephen Knight (@GSpellchecker) speaks to Author, Journalist and editor of The Jewish Chronicle, Jake Wallis Simons about his book ‘Israelophobia’.

Watch the video version at www.youtube.com/gspellchecker

0:00 Intro
0:32 About Jake
2:03 Why the title of ‘Israelophobia’ for Jake’s book?
3:49 Disagreement with David Baddiel
8:18 Israel and the power dynamic
9:40 The left’s problem with Israel and reality
11:40 The problem of Jeremy Corbyn
12:29 Does Keir Starmer understand the problem?
17:08 People who take a position of neutrality on the conflict
19:53 Israel screening footage of Hamas’s atrocities for journalists.
22:04 Islamist and Arab support for Israel from within Israel
28:32 Is Israel an ‘apartheid state’?
34:48 History repeating itself and younger generations
41:36 Is antisemitism a unique form of racism?
45:22 Pro-Palestine marches and freedom of expression
51:46 Are more people openly supporting Israel now?

Stephen Knight’s Substack: www.sknight.substack.com

Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/gspellchecker

Also available on iTunes, Stitcher, YouTube & Spotify.

This week on The Knight Tube, Stephen Knight (@Gspellchecker) welcomes the return of counter-extremist Liam Duffy. Liam has recently released a report chronicling the problem of violence in response to perceived ‘blasphemy’ in the west. They will discuss the high profile cases and the effect this has had on freedom of expression in the West.

Watch the video version: www.youtube.com/gspellchecker

                                                                                                                                                                    
0:00 Intro
01:02 Have we failed to make any progress on the issue of Islamic ‘blasphemy’ in the west?
01:14 What is ‘The Counter Extremism Project’?
05:41 How are we defining ‘blasphemy’?
08:27 Sensitivity surrounding Islam’s prophet Muhammad
14:32 The chilling effect on free speech: Is it now just a bad idea to publish cartoons that will inevitably inspire violence?
18:03 Elon Musk and should Muhammad cartoons violate Twitter’s rules?
23:56 Are modern blasphemy controversies in the west almost exclusively Islam related?
28:45 The reaction to the attempted murder of Salman Rushdie in New York
35:09 The silence from the UK Government on the Batley teacher forced into hiding.
38:10 Will we see more isolated attacks rather than largescale ones?
44:11 UK ‘hate speech’ laws as secularized blasphemy codes.

Report: Violence Against Perceived Blasphemers In The West – From Khamenei’s Fatwa To The Present: https://www.counterextremism.com/sites/default/files/2023-06/Violence%20Against%20Perceived%20Blasphemers%20in%20the%20West_July%202022.pdf

Stephen Knight’s Substack: www.sknight.substack.com

Support the podcast at http://www.patreon.com/gspellchecker

Also available on iTunes, Stitcher, YouTube & Spotify.  

This week on Taking The Myth, Stephen Knight (@GSpellchecker) and Iram Ramzan of sedaa.org (@Iram_Ramzan) discuss all the big topics.

0:00 Intro
2:06 Tommy Robinson’s contempt of court case used as a case study in new Journalism Law textbook.
6:06 Iram meets movie legend Jean Claude Van Damme
10:14 The moral implications of the ‘new’ Beatles song ‘Now and Then’.
14:42 The best Arnold Schwarzenegger impressions you’ll ever hear.
16:52 Elon Musk’s advertiser problems on ‘X’/Twitter.
26:59 The allegations against Russell Brand and his reinvention as a political commentator and ‘guru’.
38:30 Female Newcastle football fan is interviewed by the police and has club membership terminated for tweets about trans people.
32:34 Trans footballer quits women’s team and threatens to sue as rival team refuses to play against them
47:18 Israel/Gaza conflict
01:05:05 Audience Questions: Nigel Farage in I’m A Celeb and daytime drinking.

Stephen Knight’s Substack: www.sknight.substack.com

Sedaa: www.sedaa.org

Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/gspellchecker

Also available on iTunes, Stitcher, YouTube & Spotify.

This week on Taking The Myth, Stephen Knight (@GSpellchecker) and Iram Ramzan of sedaa.org (@Iram_Ramzan) discuss all the big topics.

0:00 Intro
0:28 Barbie or Oppenheimer?
3:34 Iram stays overnight in a Welsh mine.
10:04 Kevin Spacey found not guilty in court.
18:49 Nigel Farage being ‘debanked’ by Coutts
35:03 Sadiq Khan’s ‘maaate’ campaign and gender lunacy.
49:05 Keir Starmer causes controversy by saying a woman is an ‘adult human female’.
50:48 Ending membership with Humanists UK
55:20 Audience Question: Test Cricket in Manchester
56:30 Audience Question: Fight or leave in the face of institutional capture?
59:22 Audience Question: More on ‘maate’.
59:43 Tobias Ellwood’s comments on Afghanistan

Iram’s Welsh mine article: https://www.mailplus.co.uk/edition/features/292700/now-thats-what-you-call-a-deep-sleep

Stephen Knight’s Substack: www.sknight.substack.com

Sedaa: www.sedaa.org

Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/gspellchecker

Also available on iTunes, Stitcher, YouTube & Spotify.

This week on The Knight Tube, Stephen Knight (@Gspellchecker) welcomes author Matt Johnson. They will be discussing Matt’s new book ‘How Hitchens Can Save the Left: Rediscovering Fearless Liberalism in an Age of Counter-Enlightenment’.

Video Version on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6a4Ccp9zhQ

0:00 Intro 
0:29 Why focus on Christopher Hitchens to make the points in your book?
2:59 Why does ‘the left’ need saving?
5:55 Leaving the left for the right and Dave Rubin.
09:36 What is meant by ‘the counter-enlightenment’?
11:30 Trump and the right’s hypocrisy on free speech
14:10 Richard Seymour’s terrible book on Christopher Hitchens (‘Unhitched’)
18:36 How much did ‘The Rushdie Affair’ impact the life of Christopher Hitchens?
22:04 Has freedom of speech improved where Islam is concerned since the death of Christopher Hitchens?
25:20 Would it help for people to simply admit they are scared to criticise Islam for safety reasons?
28:57 Stephen Knight’s debate with Chris Hedges about Islam
30:28 What explains the Putin apologism from the American right?
33:34 Christopher Hitchens’s support for the invasion of Iraq
40:12 What did Christopher Hitchens think about identity politics? 
45:18 What is ‘fearless liberalism’? How can it be applied?
49:16 The legacy of Jeremy Corbyn
56:34 Disappointment with Hitchens’s dislike of Sci-fi and preference for limericks over puns.
01:00:14 Sensationalist Youtube Thumbnails

Stephen Knight’s Substack: www.sknight.substack.com

Buy Matt Johnson’s Book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hitchens-Save-Left-Rediscovering-Counter-Enlightenment/dp/1634312341

Support the podcast at http://www.patreon.com/gspellchecker

Also available on iTunes, Stitcher, YouTube & Spotify.