Read Them Sideways

Teaching Deliberative Democracy to Young People; The Compartilha Project (#48)

In this episode, your host Sam Vilkins speaks with two visiting scholars to the Digital Media Research Centre - Julia Ester de Paula and Thales Antonelli. They speak abou

Are generative AI chatbots encouraging conspiracy theories? (#47)

In this episode, host Dr Sebastian Svegaard speaks with PhD researcher Kate FitzGerald about her recently published paper considering the safety guardrails in place when

Social media and politics: 2016 versus today (#46)

In this episode, your host Dr Sam Vilkins speaks with DMRC scholars Professor Axel Bruns and Dr Kateryna Kasianenko on the newly released second edition of the Routledge

Gendered Political Communication w/ Tom Bidewell (#45)

In this episode, your host Kate FitzGerald speaks with Tom Bidewell, a visiting scholar to the Digital Media Research Centre. They discuss Tom's recent paper, Gendered Co

Journalism, Misinformation and Truth Claims w/ Phoebe Matich (#44)

Phoebe Matich is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Automated Decision-Making and Society research centre at QUT. In this episode, your host Sebastian speaks to Phoebe

TikTok recommender systems and the 'For You' project w/ Patrik Wikstrom (#43)

Each year, the Digital Media Research Centre hosts a week-long Summer School filled with symposiums, workshops, and networking. This week's episode is a recording of a di

Rethinking contemporary public communication spaces w/ Axel Bruns (#42)

Each year, the Digital Media Research Centre hosts a week-long Summer School filled with symposiums, workshops, and networking. This week's episode is a recording of a di

20 Years of Twitter Roundtable (#41)

On the 21st of March, 2006, Jack Dorsey sent the first tweet: "just setting up my twttr". This was the start of a significant social network, both for researchers and the

Investigating media diets in the 21st century w/ Amanda Lotz & Gabriela Lunardi (#40)

Each year, the Digital Media Research Centre hosts a week-long Summer School filled with symposiums, workshops, and networking. This week's episode is a recording of a pa

Misinformation on Climate Change and Energy w/ Caroline Gardam & Carly Lubicz-Zaorski (#39)

In 2025, the Australian Government appointed a committee to investigate the prevalence and impacts of misinformation and disinformation which relates to climate change an

Brazilian elections and the impact of social media with Bruna Paroni (#38)

In this episode, your host Sebastian Svegaard speaks with DMRC visiting fellow, Bruna Paroni. Bruna discusses her PhD project, the social media climate in Brazil, and how

The Iranian digital blackout, and how you can help (#37)

Read Them Sideways is back for 2026 with a critically important discussion between Dr Ehsan Dehghan and PhD student Pardis Yarahmadi. In this episode, Ehsan and Pardis ex

The social media ban: how we got here and what to expect (#36)

The Australian Government's social media ban comes into effect on the 10th of December, 2025. Digital Media Research Centre director, Daniel Angus, provides an overview a

The DMRC, 10 Years On - How to Build a Research Centre (#35)

In this special episode, we celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the Digital Media Research Centre! Featuring interviews with Distinguished Professor Jean Burgess, Profes

Responding to the children's social media ban controversy panel discussion (#34)

REGISTER FOR SUMMER SCHOOL 2026 BY CLICKING HERE! The Summer School promotes a culture of supportive research, and informed and stimulating engagement among our research

Fandom and Politics with Sebastian Svegaard (#33)

In this episode, your host Kate FitzGerald speaks with Sebastian Svegaard about the intersection between fan studies and politics. Sebastian, along with our colleague Sam

The Discursive-Digital Link with Ehsan Dehghan (#32)

In this episode, Klaus Groebner spoke with Dr Ehsan Dehghan, a Chief Investigator at the Digital Media Research Centre about his newly published book - The Discursive-Dig

Conspiracy Nation Book Launch with Ariel Bogle and Cameron Wilson (#31)

In this week's episode, your host Kate FitzGerald chats with special guests and friends of the Digital Media Research Centre, Ariel Bogle and Cameron Wilson about their n

Digital Peacebuilding in the Philippines with Lynrose Genon (#30)

In this episode, your host Klaus Groebner speaks with PhD candidate Lynrose Genon. Lynrose speaks about the history and provides a political context of the Philippines, p

Human and Robot Collaboration with Jasper Vermeulen (#29)

In this episode, your host Sebastian Svegaard speaks with PhD candidate Jasper Vermeulen. Jasper's work looks at human and robot interaction, and how both can collaborate