Welcome to season three of The Squeaky Wheel Podcast!

We’re starting the year with an amazing guest who’s from San Francisco, USA, but lives in Paris, France and lectures for a university based in Melbourne, Australia!

Grant also speaks five languages and has previously worked for international aid agencies in a wide range of countries around the world including Mexico, Brazil, Paraguay, Honduras, Kenya and Syria.

Since 2020 Grant has been an adjunct Lecturer at Monash University. Grant’s teaching and research focuses on the political and commercial determinants of health, primarily exploring the political influence of the sugar, road, and fossil fuel lobbies.

Grant has written the acclaimed book Dark PR: How Corporate Disinformation Undermines Our Health and the Environment. His work has been referenced in the Journal of Transport & Health, Traffic Safety Research, Alcohol Clinical & Experimental Research, the Australian, Michael West, the Australian Financial Review, the Irish Times, the Irish Examiner, the Irish Independent, among others.

Grant’s scholarship has had international reach and has contributed to parliamentary discussions related to nutrition and transport in Australia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

Dark PR includes details of “Nine devious frames” used by corporations and in particular their highly paid public relations consultants to effectively fight back against members of the public who are advocating for positive change, for example to make our streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

In our conversation we deliberately don’t go into these in detail, because there has already been an excellent interview recorded with Grant, that does unpack each frame in order, one by one. It was done by The War on Cars, a podcast that we highly recommend and are Patreon supporters of. You can listen to that podcast episode here.

In our conversation, Grant fires off many references to earlier research and reports. Here are the relevant links:
F Nuance https://kieranhealy.org/files/papers/fuck-nuance.pdf
Twitter and Tear Gas https://www.ted.com/talks/zeynep_tufekci_online_social_change_easy_to_organize_hard_to_win
If We Burn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_We_Burn
Renationalisation of British Rail https://www.lemonde.fr/en/transport/article/2024/12/04/uk-set-to-nationalize-train-operators-from-may_6735167_216.html
President of Spain, Pedro Sánchez https://latinolens.tonolatino.com/p/a-message-to-the-far-right-from-spain
IMF Report on US$7 Trillion in Fossil Fuel Subsidies  https://www.imf.org/en/topics/climate-change/energy-subsidies
Chartists https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartism
Hands off our charities alliance https://unitingcare.org.au/submission/hands-off-our-charities-alliance-australian-charities-and-not-for-profits-commission-amendment-2021-measures-no-2-regulations-2021/
Sharon Beder - https://youtu.be/gAQKXmUnc4Y Alliance for a Paving Moratorium  / Jan Lundberg https://www.culturechange.org/apm_page.htm
Reactionary Centrism https://www.volts.wtf/p/all-about-reactionary-centrism

 

What’s Up?

Unfortunately Squeaky Wheel Podcast co-host Irene McAleese is stepping away for a little while to deal with some personal commitments. The show will carry on with just Phil Latz for the moment, which means a much shorter What’s Up section.

Phil mentions World Bicycle Relief has just passed an amazing milestone of building and delivering over one million bicycles into the field. Here’s a great video that shows what this means to the one million recipients.

Look out for our next episode, due out on the third Thursday of March.

Until then, keep squeaking!

Welcome to season three of The Squeaky Wheel Podcast!
We&rsquo;re starting the year with an amazing guest who&rsquo;s from San Francisco, USA, but lives in Paris, France and lectures for a university based in Melbourne, Australia!
Grant also speaks five languages and has previously worked for international aid agencies in a wide range of countries around the world including Mexico, Brazil, Paraguay, Honduras, Kenya and Syria.
Since 2020 Grant has been an adjunct Lecturer at Monash University. Grant&rsquo;s teaching and research focuses on the political and commercial determinants of health, primarily exploring the political influence of the sugar, road, and fossil fuel lobbies.
Grant has written the acclaimed book Dark PR: How Corporate Disinformation Undermines Our Health and the Environment. His work has been referenced in the Journal of Transport &amp; Health, Traffic Safety Research, Alcohol Clinical &amp; Experimental Research, the Australian, Michael West, the Australian Financial Review, the Irish Times, the Irish Examiner, the Irish Independent, among others.
Grant&rsquo;s scholarship has had international reach and has contributed to parliamentary discussions related to nutrition and transport in Australia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
Dark PR includes details of &ldquo;Nine devious frames&rdquo; used by corporations and in particular their highly paid public relations consultants to effectively fight back against members of the public who are advocating for positive change, for example to make our streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
In our conversation we deliberately don&rsquo;t go into these in detail, because there has already been an excellent interview recorded with Grant, that does unpack each frame in order, one by one. It was done by The War on Cars, a podcast that we highly recommend and are Patreon supporters of. You can listen to that podcast episode <a href="https://thewaroncars.org/2023/10/24/113-dark-pr-with-grant-ennis/">here</a>.
In our conversation, Grant fires off many references to earlier research and reports. Here are the relevant links:
<ul>
<li>F Nuance <a href="https://kieranhealy.org/files/papers/fuck-nuance.pdf">https://kieranhealy.org/files/papers/fuck-nuance.pdf</a></li>
<li>Twitter and Tear Gas <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/zeynep_tufekci_online_social_change_easy_to_organize_hard_to_win">https://www.ted.com/talks/zeynep_tufekci_online_social_change_easy_to_organize_hard_to_win</a></li>
<li>If We Burn <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_We_Burn">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_We_Burn</a></li>
<li>Renationalisation of British Rail <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/transport/article/2024/12/04/uk-set-to-nationalize-train-operators-from-may_6735167_216.html">https://www.lemonde.fr/en/transport/article/2024/12/04/uk-set-to-nationalize-train-operators-from-may_6735167_216.html</a></li>
<li>President of Spain, Pedro S&aacute;nchez <a href="https://latinolens.tonolatino.com/p/a-message-to-the-far-right-from-spain">https://latinolens.tonolatino.com/p/a-message-to-the-far-right-from-spain</a></li>
<li>IMF Report on US$7 Trillion in Fossil Fuel Subsidies&nbsp; <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/topics/climate-change/energy-subsidies">https://www.imf.org/en/topics/climate-change/energy-subsidies</a></li>
<li>Chartists <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartism">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartism</a></li>
<li>Hands off our charities alliance <a href="https://unitingcare.org.au/submission/hands-off-our-charities-alliance-australian-charities-and-not-for-profits-commission-amendment-2021-measures-no-2-regulations-2021/">https://unitingcare.org.au/submission/hands-off-our-charities-alliance-australian-charities-and-not-for-profits-commission-amendment-2021-measures-no-2-regulations-2021/</a></li>
<li>Sharon Beder - <a href="https://youtu.be/gAQKXmUnc4Y">https://youtu.be/gAQKXmUnc4Y</a> Alliance for a Paving Moratorium&nbsp; / Jan Lundberg <a href="https://www.culturechange.org/apm_page.htm">https://www.culturechange.org/apm_page.htm</a></li>
<li>Reactionary Centrism&nbsp;<a href="https://www.volts.wtf/p/all-about-reactionary-centrism">https://www.volts.wtf/p/all-about-reactionary-centrism</a></li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
What&rsquo;s Up?
Unfortunately Squeaky Wheel Podcast co-host Irene McAleese is stepping away for a little while to deal with some personal commitments. The show will carry on with just Phil Latz for the moment, which means a much shorter What&rsquo;s Up section.
Phil mentions World Bicycle Relief has just passed an amazing milestone of building and delivering over one million bicycles into the field. Here&rsquo;s a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLBoP2YyvLQ">great video</a> that shows what this means to the one million recipients.
Look out for our next episode, due out on the third Thursday of March.
Until then, keep squeaking!

The Squeaky Wheel Podcast is here to inform and inspire through engaging conversations with changemakers shaping the future of active travel and urban mobility. Your hosts, Phil Latz and Irene McAleese, speak with leaders across business, government, academia, and advocacy, sharing insights and ideas that drive real-world impact.

Got something to squeak about? Get in touch with The Squeaky Wheel team via our website: squeakywheelpodcast.com

Follow The Squeaky Wheel on Facebook: facebook.com/squeakywheelpodcast

Follow The Squeaky Wheel on BlueSky: bsky.app/profile/squeaky-wheel.bsky.social

The Squeaky Wheel Podcast&nbsp;is here to inform and inspire through engaging conversations with changemakers shaping the future of&nbsp;active travel and urban mobility. Your hosts, Phil Latz and Irene McAleese, speak with leaders across business, government, academia, and advocacy, sharing insights and ideas that drive real-world impact.
Got something to squeak about? Get in touch with The Squeaky Wheel team via our website: <a href="https://squeakywheelpodcast.com/">squeakywheelpodcast.com</a>
Follow The Squeaky Wheel on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/squeakywheelpodcast/">facebook.com/squeakywheelpodcast</a>
Follow The Squeaky Wheel on BlueSky: <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/squeaky-wheel.bsky.social">bsky.app/profile/squeaky-wheel.bsky.social</a>

The Squeaky Wheel Podcast hosts, Phil Latz and Irene McAleese, are here to inform and inspire through engaging conversations with changemakers shaping the future of active travel and urban mobility

The Squeaky Wheel Podcast

This episode features Grant Ennis discussing how corporate disinformation shapes public health and environmental policy, drawing on his global experience, his book Dark PR, and a range of research that highlights the political and commercial forces influencing advocacy and societal change.