Episode 39: Dan Collen on weaponized laughter memes & Heddwen Newton on Lang in the News

Lexis

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