For Fact's Sake

An independent film released in the UK this week has taken the US box office by storm, but has run into controversy.

Sound of Freedom is the story of anti-child trafficking campaigner Tim Ballard, who founded charity Operation Underground Railroad (OUR).

But the credibility of the claims made by Ballard and the organisation he once led have been called into question, and troubling links have been unearthed with conspiracy theories perpetuated by the US far-right.

Vice News journalists Anna Merlan and Tim Marchman have been digging into the facts behind Ballard and OUR for a number of years, and explained to Ali and Paul what is going on.

Elsewhere on the podcast, we explain why Ferret Fact Service fact-checked a video about Patrick Harvie, and Ali's credibility is tested in an impromptu quiz.

Show notes:

• Anna and Tim's work on OUR and Tim Ballard can be found here.
• Our fact check on the Patrick Harvie video is here.

As the World Cup reaches its climax, For Fact's Sake podcast looks at the abuse that some women footballers face online.

We spoke to Dr Beth Fielding-Lloyd from Sheffield Hallam University, an expert on women's sport and its representations in media.

She explained how abuse suffered by women footballers differs from men, how certain 'trigger' events can lead to misogynistic pile-ons, and why myths and misinformation about women's sport stoke the hateful abuse that athletes and pundits face.

Elsewhere in the podcast, Ali and Paul look at a dodgy claim about the education attainmemt gap in Scotland, and have a look at some myths about dieting and exercise.

Show notes:

• Dr Fielding-Lloyd's research on 'trigger events' that lead to pile-ons of gendered online abuse is here.
• Our fact check on the attainment gap is here.

After our fact-checking series, Scotland and the Climate Crisis, came to an end, Ali and Paul spoke to climate systems expert Professor Gabi Hegerl from the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh Climate Change Institute.

She explained how the climate is already being impacted by human-caused climate change, and how we can tell that the current impacts on the world are directly attributable to greenhouse gases pumped out by human activity.

Then, in Paul's Curiosity Corner, we looked at the controversy over the Ultra Low Emissions Zone in London, and how some of the opposition has been hijacked by conspiracy theorists.

Show notes:

• Professor Hegerl's University of Edinburgh research page.
• Our Scotland and the Climate Crisis work is here.

This week, The Ferret has been separating fact from fiction around climate change in our series, Scotland and the Climate Crisis.

But false narratives are being pushed on social and more traditional media everyday, with hashtags like #ClimateScam being used on thousands of posts promoting climate denial and junk science.

With the consequences of climate chage becoming more apparent, why is climate change scepticism so popular, and is it even increasing?

We asked Mikey Biddlestone, a researcher from University College London, about how climate conspiracy beliefs develop, and why they might even be more likely as the effects of climate change become more obvious.

Show notes:

• Mikey Biddlestone's Twitter is here.
• His article in The Conversation on how to combat climate misinformation is here.
• Check out the rest of Scotland and the Climate Crisis here.

Images and videos of the unrest in France have dominated international news in recent weeks.

But many of the claims shared on social media about the protest have been false and deliberately misleading.

Ali and Paul spoke to Sam Doak, fact checker at Logically Facts, about how and why this disinformation is being spread by far-right activists in the UK.

Elsewhere on the For Fact's Sake podcast, Ali fact checks Mhairi Black MP, who has announced she will stand down, and we look into whether Orkney really wants to join Norway.

Show notes:

• Logically's fact checking on the French unrest is here.
• Our Mhairi Black fact check is here.
• More information on Orkney exploring a new home here.