Hauntologies
The Fire These Times
24/Bellingcat: Fact-Checking in a Post-Truth World (with Eliot Higgins)
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24/Bellingcat: Fact-Checking in a Post-Truth World (with Eliot Higgins)

This is a conversation with Eliot Higgins, founder and executive director of Bellingcat, an online open-source investigation collective.

Bellingcat rose to prominence over its team's investigation of the  downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on July of 2014 by Russian-backed  separatists in eastern Ukraine, which killed all 298 passengers on  board. The evidence, which linked that group to the Russian army's 53rd  Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, was later confirmed by the joint investigation team (JIT) which includes the Netherlands, Belgium, Ukraine, Australia, and Malaysia.

So I spoke to Eliot about that case and about some of the many  investigations that Bellingcat has done in the past six years. Among the  cases mentioned are: the Latamneh and Ghouta chemical attacks by the Assad regime in Syria in 2017 and 2013 respectively; ISIS' oil  refineries and the environmental and humanitarian catastrophes they've  caused; the US bombing of Al-Jineh Mosque in Aleppo in 2017; the Skripal  Affair in the UK; the Saudi bombings in Yemen; and Europol's #StopChildAbuse campaigns.

One thing I wanted to focus on is how Bellingcat's investigative  techniques can be used in both human rights and journalism worlds. So  while this episode features a lot of concrete examples, we also spoke  about how anyone listening to this podcast can take part in these  investigations following well-established and always-developing tools  and techniques.

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Hauntologies
The Fire These Times
A podcast project working to uplift internationalist dialogues on human rights, climate change, and visions of bold futures. Our unique editorial team are deeply committed to weaving together radical perspectives from the periphery. By Elia Ayoub, Leila Al-Shami, Ayman Makarem, Dana El Kurd, Karena Avedissian, Daniel Voskoboynik, Anna M, Aydın Yıldız, Ed S, Alice Bonfatti & Israa Abdel Fattah.
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