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