- INTRO: COMMUNICATION, LAW AND AMERICAN POLITICS [00:00]
In the introductory segment we drill down into Dr Maria Armoudian’s research fields: communication, law and American politics.
- LAWYERS BEYOND BORDERS [00:02:15]
Maria talks about the experience of completing a large book project during a pandemic and how survivors of human rights violations have been able to take action against their own countries in an international court.
- PANDEMIC INTERRUPTIONS TO RSL [00:07:00]
Research involves a lot of logistics and invisible labour, particularly around fieldwork and researchers are used to having to change plans rapidly. We talk about how months of strategizing five different research locations came to nought as Covid-19 spread across the globe.
- KILLING THE MESSENGER: MEDIA AND PROFIT [00:09:12]
Maria is founder of the Scholars Circle and the Big Q as a media producer. She tells us how she got into researching politics, why it is important that people have access to the depth and breadth of academic research in an accessible way, and why old media models had to die.
- THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN POLITICS [00:14:20]
What’s behind shock jocks and hate speech? We talk about how historical changes to two pieces of media law changed the requirement for fair and balanced news reporting, how public perception was slow to catch up, and the need for more research into who is funding hate media.
- POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY: NZ WATCHING THE REST OF THE WORLD [00:19:30]
We discuss how New Zealand’s remote location and spatial geography played a big part in its pandemic-related decisions.
- ACCESS TO MEDICAL CARE IS A HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUE [00:22:45]
Maria analyses how access to medical care relates directly to who lives and who dies and the part she is playing in seeking justice for Armenian prisoners of war after ethnic cleansing in Azerbaijan.
- CLOSING THOUGHTS AND NEXT SHOW: DR HEATHER BATTLES [00:26:22]
The next guest on Pandemics Reflected is biological anthropologist Dr Heather Battles. She will join us to talk about how historic infectious diseases, such as polio, can give us clues on how to manage the current pandemic.
Mentioned in this episode, in order:
Guest: Dr Maria Armoudian, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations. Read about her work at the University of Auckland and more about her life and work
Research centre: Pandemics Hub – Past, Present, Future
Book: Lawyers Beyond Borders
Book: Kill the Messenger: The Media’s Role in the Fate of the World
Radio: The Scholars Circle
Media: The Big Q Project for Public Interest (PMPI)
News: Chevron vs Ogoni:
News: Chevron vs Ogoni 2009
News: Germany: Conviction for State Torture in Syria
News (BBC): Syria torture: German court convicts ex-intelligence officer
First Inaugural International Conference Human Rights And Accountability: The Aftermath Of War