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Ctrl Alt Deceit: Democracy in Danger is a podcast designed to dive deep into the threats facing our democracies and to ask “just how much danger are they in?” Throughout the 8-part series, former CNN anchor Nina Dos Santos and regular BBC radio voice Owen Bennett-Jones will be joined by former spies, disinformation researchers and government officials to examine who exactly is trying to “control’ the narrative, which “alternative facts” are they using and where will such “deception” end? Ctrl Alt Deceit: Democracy in Danger is brought to you by Democratys, a charity committed to exposing interference in our democratic institutions. Their goal is to inspire debate and engagement in our democratic process in the UK and beyond.
In the season finale of Ctrl Alt Deceit, Nina dos Santos and Owen Bennett-Jones dig into the tangled web of media ownership, foreign influence and the future of free press. With a new UK government potentially greenlighting a UAE-backed bid for a stake in The Daily Telegraph, the hosts ask: does it matter who owns the news anymore? From Silicon Valley billionaires to Gulf state investors, the press is no longer just the fourth estate; it's a business, a weapon and a mirror of global power shifts. Is editorial independence a thing of the past? And can democracy survive in a world where outrage sells and facts struggle to pay the bills?
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Hosts Nina dos Santos and Owen Bennett-Jones are joined by crypto journalist Matt Binder and longtime observer of U.S. politics and policy Edward Luce to explore the staggering wealth being generated by the Trump family’s crypto empire.
We also hear from Sergei Sergienko, a crypto entrepreneur who has made and lost hundreds of millions in the crypto markets. Sergei has also faced down gangsters who tried to extort his wealth—an attack that mirrors a recent spate of kidnappings and abductions of crypto players in Paris.
Join us for a modern tale of global grift that is changing how the American presidency can function and do deals on the world stage.
Guests
Producer: Pearse Lynch
Executive Producer: Lucinda Knight
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Hosts Nina Dos Santos and Owen Bennett Jones explore the mounting political and financial pressures confronting higher education on both sides of the Atlantic. In the U.S., it unpacks the unprecedented clash between the Trump administration and Harvard, raising broader questions about academic freedom, ideological conformity, and the role of government oversight. In the U.K., the conversation turns to the sector’s growing reliance on international students and foreign funding—particularly from China—and the implications for institutional independence and research integrity. Together, the episodes chart the uneasy intersection of education, economics, and geopolitics in today’s universities.
Guests:
-Tyler Coward is the lead counsel for government affairs at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).
-Rose Stephenson is Director of Policy and Advocacy at Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI)
Producer: Pearse Lynch
Executive Producer: Lucinda Knight
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Britain's Conservative Party is one of the oldest and most successful political parties in history. Local elections in the UK have signalled that they are facing the prospect of being wiped out, imperilled by the rise of the right-wing Reform Party, headed by one of the most pervasive and divisive figures in British politics: Nigel Farage. Reform’s success is also coming at the expense of Labour, whose voters are underwhelmed and unconvinced by the performance so far of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government.
Hosts Nina Dos Santos and Owen Bennett Jones explore what makes Reform such a potent political threat that they could upend 100 years of Labour and Conservative rule, charting the party's rise from UKIP to Brexit to now.
They speak to Gawain Towler, former Reform spokesperson and close political confidant of Nigel Farage, and Ben Habib, formerly deputy leader of Reform two men who understand the soul of the movement and the man who leads and embodies the party: Nigel Farage.
Producer, Pearse Lynch
Executive Producer, Lucinda Knight
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On this edition of Ctrl Alt Deceit: Democracy in Danger, we are live at the Royal United Services Institute.
Nina Dos Santos and Owen Bennett Jones are joined by a world-class panel to discuss the dangers posed by the waves of dark money threatening to overwhelm our democratic institutions.
Panelists:
--Tom Keatinge, Director, Centre for Finance and Security, RUSI
--Darren Hughes, Chief Executive, Electoral Reform Society
--Gina Neff, Executive Director, Minderoo Centre for Technology & Democracy at the University of Cambridge, and Professor of Responsible AI, Queen Mary University London
Producer: Pearse Lynch
Executive Producer: Lucinda Knight
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Why are young men leaning right while young women shift left? Hosts Nina dos Santos and Owen Bennett-Jones speak with NYU’s Scott Galloway, political analyst Sophie Stowers, and commentator Oliver Dean to explore the forces behind this growing divide.
Whether it’s a broken social contract where young people no longer believe they will lead better, more prosperous lives than their parents or the work of algorithms that feed off rage and division, the implications are profound.
This podcast was recorded live at NYU London, in front of an audience of students who are part of a generation searching for increasingly radical solutions to fix society.
Guests
Scott Galloway is a Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern School of Business where he teaches Brand Strategy and Digital Marketing to second-year MBA students. He is also a Bestselling author, professor and entrepreneur.
Sophie Stowers - A Research Associate at UK in a Changing Europe. Her background is in British and European politics, and her research focuses on UK-EU relations, British politics and parties, and public opinion. She previously worked as a Parliamentary Assistant.
Oliver Dean a political commentator with Young Voices UK. He studies History and Politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science where he is the Treasurer of the LSE Hayek Society.
Producer: Pearse Lynch
Executive Producer: Lucinda Knight
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Hosts Nina dos Santos and Owen Bennett-Jones analyze the global fallout after Donald Trump plunged America and the world into a trade war with China. David Rennie, The Economist’s geopolitics editor and former Beijing and Washington D.C. bureau chief, joins the podcast to unpack how Xi Jinping is playing the long game and playing to win.
In this episode, we explore Xi’s high-stakes strategy in the global trade war.
From embracing economic pain to fostering innovation under autocracy, China is challenging Western dominance on every front. However, as the controversy over British Steel demonstrates, Beijing’s drive to exert control often at the expense of freedoms abroad—risks alienating future partners.
In the second half, activist Chloe Chung shares her personal story of falling afoul of the Chinese authorities. A pro-democracy campaigner, Chloe awoke in December to news that police in Hong Kong had issued a HK$1 million ($128,000; £102,000) bounty for information leading to her capture abroad.
With democracy under pressure, this is more than just a trade war—it’s a battle for the future of the global order.
Producer: Pearse Lynch
Executive Producer: Lucinda Knight
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Live from the Frontline Club in London, Ctrl Alt Deceit is back for its second season.
Hosts Nina dos Santos and Owen Bennett-Jones host a fascinating discussion on the myriad threats to democracy, particularly in light of Trump's re-election.
Joined by Gabriel Gatehouse is an award-winning BBC journalist and broadcaster, formerly International Editor of Newsnight and host of the award winning podcast The Coming Storm.
And
Connor Tomlinson is a commentator and writer, contributing to Ayaan Hirsi Ali's Courage Media and presenting the Deprogrammed podcast at the New Culture Forum. He previously hosted Tomlinson Talks on LotusEaters.com
In this provocative and timely discussion, big ideas collide as our panel tackles the fault lines shaking the foundations of the democratic world.
As power shifts, authoritarianism rises, and ideological battles intensify, is liberal democracy collapsing under its own contradictions—or is it still the best system we’ve got?
From Silicon Valley’s techno-libertarian ambitions to the push for a return to a more rigidly defined Western identity, our panel will explore the competing visions for the future. Has democracy been hijacked by global institutions that sideline voters? Was the dream of a liberal world order always doomed to fail? And if democracy is in decline—what comes next?
Producer: Pearse Lynch
Exec Producer: Lucinda Knight
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The claims that an alleged Chinese spy had an "unusual degree of trust" with Prince Andrew is a national security story that has reverberated across the UK and beyond this week - but what if stories like these never came to light? And has the cost and bureaucracy associated with this type of investigative journalism already put its future in a fatal crisis? In the final episode of this series of Ctrl Alt Deceit, journalists Nina Dos Santos and Owen Bennett-Jones reflect on their own careers in journalism and offer some sobering thoughts on where it’s heading next. They’re also joined by newly independent investigative journalist John Sweeney, the CEO of the Bureau for Investigative Journalism Rozina Breen and ever-active investigations reporter at The Times of London, George Greenwood.
Ctrl Alt Deceit is brought to you by Democratys, a charity committed to exposing interference in our democratic institutions and inspiring debate and engagement in our democratic process in the UK and beyond.
Producer: Paige Reynolds
Exec Producer: Lucinda Knight
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China’s relationship with Western democracies and the democratic systems of its near neighbours is becoming increasingly hostile. From covert attempts to infiltrate and influence UK politics to its widely reported elimination of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, China and its formidable leader Xi Jinping are conducting a relentless war of attrition on democracies all over the globe. To get to grips with the issues that underpin China’s political aims and how we might better understand them, journalists Nina Dos Santos and Owen Bennett-Jones are joined by four guests, some of whom have direct experience of China’s political repression. China expert and journalist Isabel Hilton gives us an overview on the country's relationship with democracy, Sebastien Lai, son of Hong Kong’s jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai, talks about his hopes for his father’s release, Peter Humphrey, a former journalist and consultant who spent 23 months in a Chinese jail, tells us what he believes China’s future ambitions to be and human rights campaigner Luke De Pulford, talks about the direct threat China poses to political life in the UK.
Ctrl Alt Deceit is brought to you by Democratys, a charity committed to exposing interference in our democratic institutions and inspiring debate and engagement in our democratic process in the UK and beyond.
Producer: Paige Reynolds
Exec Producer: Lucinda Knight
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