Lexis Episode 39: Dan Collen on weaponized laughter memes & Heddwen Newton on Lang in the News
Show notes for Episode 39
Here are the show notes for Episode 39, in which Lisa and Dan talk to Dan Collen, an online hate researcher from Canada about his work on the Weaponized Laughter: Memes and Hate in the Canadian Digital Landscape report he has helped produce. We talk about:
Memes: what they are and how they work
What is classified as hate speech and the ‘hallmarks of hate’
The discourses at work in hate speech
Online communities and their role in shaping and influencing wider culture
Dog whistles and plausible deniability
Hope for the future?
🚩As might be obvious when looking at hate speech, this episode comes with a content warning for themes of racism and discrimination.🚩
And for a Lang in the News special, we talk to Heddwen Newton about her newsletter English in Progress, some recent news stories that have caught her eye and how to stay on top of news stories about language.
Dan Collen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SpinelessL
The Weaponized Laughter Memes report: https://cdn.sanity.io/files/rdq6owff/production/6b78f8630669069025ea145da2221ef2c1fac032.pdf
Hatepedia site: Hatepedia
“Hatepedia is an online database and resource centre built with original research to provide educators, parents, lawmakers, and researchers with tools to identify and counter the proliferation of online hate.”
Heddwen’s Language in Progress newsletter: https://englishinprogress.substack.com/
Heddwen’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Heddwen
Susie Dent’s ‘banished words list’: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65634829
And the Tweet that started it: https://twitter.com/susie_dent/status/1658380887698931712?s=20
Contributors
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Mastodon:
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Jill Lavender
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JillLavs
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatthewbutlerCA
Music: Serge Quadrado - Cool Guys
Cool Guys by Serge Quadrado is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. From the Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/serge-quadrado/urban/cool-guys