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Media Storm

Media Storm

By: Mathilda Mallinson and Helena Wadia
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The multi award-winning investigative and current affairs podcast: this is news that starts with the people who are normally asked last. Media Storm is an essential guide to today’s chaotic clickbait climate. Every week, journalists Mathilda Mallinson and Helena Wadia storm through the headlines, and seeking out the voices of the most important (and most overlooked) people in the story: the ones living it. From ‘illegal immigrants’ to sex workers, strikers to prisoners, indigenous groups to trans people, many communities caught in the eye of the media storm are denied a fair voice in the coverage around them. Media Storm restores ‘right of reply’ to underrepresented minorities and equips listeners to take the mainstream media with a pinch of salt. It's your weekly current affairs round-up - but not as you know it. Featuring cross-platform comparisons, shrewd bullsh*t-radars, and finding the facts behind the fear-mongering, Media Storm is guaranteed to leave you with plenty to talk about. Become a supporter: patreon.com/MediaStormPodcastMedia Storm News Ltd Political Science Politics & Government
Episodes
  • The money taboo: Who profits from our silence?

    The money taboo: Who profits from our silence?
    22 Oct 2026
    Care about independent and ethical news? Support Media Storm on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Surveys show most of us think we understand money, but far fewer can explain basic financial terms. Meanwhile, £1.28 billion was stolen through payment fraud last year, around £24 billion in benefits goes unclaimed every year, and MPs say a generation of students were mis-sold their loans. Into that gap have stepped finfluencers, manosphere “hustle” gurus (yes, Andrew Tate) and increasingly sophisticated AI scammers. At the root of this is a cultural taboo: don’t talk about money, don’t tell colleagues your salary. Half of Britons say talking about money feels rude or taboo. But that silence isn’t neutral. It helps unequal pay employers, lenders, scammers and abusers. With the Autumn Budget days away and money pages full of tax avoidance rather than debt avoidance, Mathilda and Helena ask: whose money worries does our media actually serve? And who’s deliberately kept out of understanding money? Helena and Mathilda are joined by Sammie Ellard-King, the founder of Up The Gains, host of The Money Gains Podcast and Money Content Creator of the Year 2024. He left university £24,000 in debt and kept it secret, then built one of the UK’s best-known personal finance brands. Plus, Harleen Nottay: a broadcaster and fraud investigator. She reports on BBC One’s Scam Interceptors and co-hosts the Scam Clinic podcast. Her Channel 4 documentary, The £12 Million Rental Scam, was nominated for Best Investigation at the Asian Media Awards. Support and resources: Debt advice: StepChange or Citizens Advice Surviving Economic Abuse National Domestic Abuse Helpline (Refuge): 0808 2000 247, free and 24/7 Scams: if you think you’ve been scammed, call your bank on the number on the back of your card, then report it to Action Fraud Check what you’re entitled to: free benefits calculators from Policy in Practice or Turn2us Free, impartial money guidance: MoneyHelper This episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) It was edited by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Christy Callaway-Gale⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠@mediastormpod⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    56 min
  • Cornell 7: Violence against women is a MAN’s problem

    Cornell 7: Violence against women is a MAN’s problem
    15 Oct 2026
    Care about independent and ethical news? Support Media Storm on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! This episode contains conversation about rape, assault and violence. You can contact Rape Crisis for free on 0808 500 2222. This week, in the wake of the Cornell 7 case - a story of group male violence against a young woman, and of mass male bystanderism and complicity-by-silence - we want to bring back an episode we recorded at the end of 2024. At the time, two harrowing stories sent shockwaves around the world. In France, Dominique Pelicot was standing trial for recruiting 72 men to join him in drugging and raping his then wife, Gisèle, over the course of a decade. And in Kenya, Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei was burned alive after being set on fire by her ex-boyfriend. In the case of the Cornell 7, seven men assaulted and raped Jane Doe. But 50 other men stood by and didn’t stop it. 72 men assaulted and raped Gisele Pelicot. But THOUSANDS more were on the same website her ex-husband used, and thousands stood by and didn’t stop it. The Cornell 7 is a story about men. But social media algorithms feed the story to women. And the news outlets label the problem ‘violence against women’. Men are literally being erased from their problem – and then excused from the solution. It is MEN that should be talking about rape culture and what they’re doing to end it. It is men that should be calling out dangerous other men. It is men that should be putting forward solutions to keep women safe. It is men that have the power to change other men in society. In this episode of media storm, we flipped the script. Because if violence against women begins with men, it can also end with men. This archive episode features Daniel Guinness, Director of Beyond Equality, and workshop facilitator Nathaniel Cole. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    38 min
  • We need to talk about violence against sex workers

    We need to talk about violence against sex workers
    8 Oct 2026
    Care about independent and ethical news? Support Media Storm on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! This episode contains conversation about rape, assault and violence. You can contact Rape Crisis for free on 0808 500 2222. Do you know the names Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo and Sheryl Wilkins? They are the two women murdered by serial rapist and multiple sex offender Simon Levy. In one of the worst cases of repeated failures by the Met Police, the British Transport Police, and the CPS, Levy was allowed to sexually assault and attack countless women, culminating in the deaths of Carmenza and Sheryl. Why were there so many police failures, and why aren’t their names more widely known? The answer to both these questions perhaps lies here: because both women were involved in sex work. In sentencing remarks, it was acknowledged that Levy picked sex workers as his victims because he believed he could get away with it. Certain women who experience sexual violence are more readily granted empathy, legitimacy and support by society and the media: if they’re not on drugs, if they’re not dressed provocatively, if they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. But what about a woman who sells sex? Do we think of them as a different kind of victim? And when it comes to the authorities: women who sell sex face endemic levels of violence, but are often reluctant to report to the police for a variety of reasons. They’re not taken seriously, they’ve experienced violence at the hands of police officers, they’re scared of being arrested for other aspects of their life, such as migrant status. And not only that, but police can profit from raids, arrests and convictions for prostitution. It was only in 2024 that Iain Packer, another serial violent offender, was jailed for the 2005 murder of Emma Caldwell and a catalogue of sexual violence against vulnerable women and sex workers. The case exposed dismissive attitudes from police towards women selling sex, and a normalisation of violence against sex workers. But 20 years since Emma’s death, Simon Levy was left to carry out the same violence as Iain Packer. So why did he – like so many sexual predators before him – assume that he could harm women involved in sex work with impunity? Joining us this episode is Niki Adams from the English Collective of Prostitutes and Lisa Longstaff from Women Against Rape. This episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) It was edited by⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Christy Callaway-Gale⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠@mediastormpod⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    46 min
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