S2 E5. Visegrad24 Touches Down in Israel: Who are They?

Four years ago Visegrad24 started out as a Twitter account intending to provide a version of current events in Poland and the region that offered a different perspective; one that did not parrot what its founders considered to be an overly left-wing point of view that they felt was pervasive in news coverage. The initial focus of these two young brothers – repatriated Polish lads from an émigré family that had settled in London post WWII – was central and eastern Europe. With the Russian invasion of Ukraine they attracted significant online attention, which has continued since. But the real surge in their online popularity came with October 7th and the Israel Hamas war. Their immediate understanding of this seminal event as being a turning point in history led them to focus on this moment unceasingly. And they have not let up. During the last two weeks they have been in Israel and the West Bank, speaking with ordinary people in an effort to develop a real-time understanding as to how the people who live here are managing and understanding these momentous events. In the coming weeks and months Visegrad24 will be releasing content in various formats. For now, I invite you to listen to this fascinating interview I did last week with Stefan Tompson (and, no, there is no “h” in his surname), one of the founders of Visegrad24. We get into it all, including comments over the years that he’s really a “front” for right wing Polish government interests which, as he confirms, is bollocks.

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