Article
Landecker Democracy Fellow Catherine Neilan is a political journalist based in Westminster, and has covered a range of sectors in her 15 year career including the media, retail, and finance.
Whether it’s arguments about Brexit, Covid, Black Lives Matter or trans rights, polarisation has been destabilizing our democracy for the last few years.
But are the culture wars being distorted by algorithms, echo chambers and bad faith actors? And is there a way we can find a solution to the fundamental issues society is facing by working past them? From state-sanctioned hostile action to social media algorithms, party politics and innate tribal instincts, Cat Neilan explores what is holding us back from making common ground.
From state-sanctioned hostile action to social media algorithms, party politics and innate tribal instincts, Cat Neilan explores what is holding us back from making common ground.
The project includes expert interviews with high profile figures including politicians, campaigners, academics and journalists. At its core, the project will explore the extent to which the barriers exist among ordinary people and how we can have a healthier political dialogue.
Catherine´s weekly podcast is available here. In addition to the podcast, Catherine publishes regularly articles on her website.
Press Coverage
- Human rights lawyer Susie Alegre on social media manipulation and online privacy (Episode 7, February 18th, 2021 – Podcast in English)
- Demos boss Polly MacKenzie on polarisation, social media and party politics (Episode 6, February 11th, 2021 – Podcast in English)
- Tom Tugendhat MP on democracy, polarisation and social media (Episode 5, February 4th, 2021 – Podcast in English)
- Making Common Ground focus group: Lockdown fatigue, Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings (Episode 4, January 29th, 2021 – Podcast in English)
- Full Fact boss Will Moy on how to confront conspiracy theorists and the best ways to fact check (Episode 3, January 21st, 2021 – Podcast in English)
- Vote Leave boss Matthew Elliot on Scottish independence, Brexit and referenda as a democratic tool (Episode 2, January 14th, 2021 – Podcast in English)
- Stanford professor James Fishkin on deliberative democracy and polarisation (Episode 1, January 7th, 2021 – Podcast in English)
- Alfred Landecker fellow Cat Neilan introduces Making Common Ground (Introduction, January 7th, 2021 – Podcast in English)
