Simon Edge

In this episode, former journalist and writer Simon Edge discusses the socio-political situation that inspired his latest satirical novel, The End of the World is Flat (2021). Covering the flatearthery at the heart of the gender debate that involves deliberate confusion and table-turning, Edge discusses how it is vital that we note the tactics employed that cement wider financial interests secured through oft repeated lies that attempt to rewrite history, cast gay persons as transgender or that pretend that the Stonewall riots were initiated by trans-identified persons. Where Edge’s latest novel frames this debate through the architecture and orchestration of new lies and myths, he analyses how despite this being an era of heightened literacy, that the ability to distinguish between what is true and what is false becomes muddied by social media and bots as well as by the many purposeful misrepresentations within the charity sector. Invariably, Edge claims that despite our having access to copious information through the internet, it is still difficult to assess which information is reliable given the many organisations behaving criminally while rejecting everything they know to be true in order to “curry favour” with online communities. Inevitably, people are willing to believe a lie while those in positions of power cynically reject honest debate.