{"podcast":{"title":"Explaining History","slug":"explaining-history-524006","podcast_index_feed_id":524006,"rss_url":"https://rss.acast.com/explaininghistory","website_url":"http://www.explaininghistory.org","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/60f6d9ac4a4aff65190f9c27/1767646091904-a5aed489-f452-4f74-af70-c7f8364b8d92.jpeg","author":"Nick Shepley","episode_count":943,"summary":"How do we make sense of the modern world? We find the answers in the history of the 20th Century. For over a decade, The Explaining History Podcast has been the guide for curious minds. Host Nick Shepley and expert guests break down the world wars, the Cold War, and the rise and fall of ideologies into concise, 25-minute episodes. This isn't a dry lecture. It's a critical, narrative-driven conversation that connects the past to your present. Perfect for students, history buffs, and anyone who wants to understand how we got here. Hit subscribe and start exploring. Join us at Explaining History for daily modern history articles and news. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-02T06:17:05.993018+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/explaining-history-524006"},"episode":{"title":"Belfast and the international networked far right","slug":"belfast-and-the-international-networked-far-right","published_at":"2026-06-18T10:11:35+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/explaining-history-524006/belfast-and-the-international-networked-far-right","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/explaining-history-524006","url":"http://explaininghistory.org","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/acast/s/explaininghistory/e/6a33c457c17f30287631d019/media.mp3","summary":"Northern Ireland, the Far-Right, and the Battle for Democracy with Heidi Birick In this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined again by Heidi Birick of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism to discuss the recent far-right violence in Northern Ireland – and the global networks that fuelled it. In recent weeks, Northern Ireland was rocked by a series of violent attacks against migrant communities following an incident in which a Sudanese national attacked an NHS worker. The attack was not terrorist-related and had no connection to the wider migrant community. But the global far-right seized on the event, spreading misinformation across social media and calling for violence. The footage of the resulting attacks – houses burned, people terrified to leave their homes – had all the hallmarks of a pogrom. Heidi explains how far-right groups are tightly networked in the online space, sharing messaging across continents, coordinating through unmoderated chat channels like Telegram, and meeting in person at conferences to plan their strategy. Figures like Tommy Robinson and Elon Musk amplified the calls for violence – Musk, in particular, has been openly promoting white supremacist ideas, calling for \"remigration\", and threatening civil war in the UK. We discuss the alarming power of a trillionaire like Musk to ride roughshod over public order and civil society from anywhere in the world, and the inability of states – even powerful ones like the United Kingdom – to respond effectively. The erosion of content moderation on X (formerly Twitter) has created a safe haven for hate speech, and the US government's hostility to online regulation has made the problem worse. But there is hope. The far-right riots in Belfast were met with an enormous counter-prot…","meta_description":"Northern Ireland, the Far-Right, and the Battle for Democracy with Heidi Birick In this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined again by…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2379,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/explaining-history-524006/episodes/belfast-and-the-international-networked-far-right/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/explaining-history-524006/belfast-and-the-international-networked-far-right.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}