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Aleks Krotoski delves into vigilantism on the web and looks at the moral and philosophical implications of fighting the good fight in a digital space. Can we consider the web to be a superhero?

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28 minutes

Last on

Wed 2 Jan 2019 23:30
Â鶹Éç Radio 4

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Clip

Music Played

  • Mogwai

    I Know You Are but What Am I?

  • Cat Power

    Ruin

  • Gold Panda

    You

    • 11.

  • Beastie Boys

    Bobo on the Corner

    • Ill Communication.
    • 4.

  • Stereolab

    Blue Milk

    • Cobra and Phases Play Voltage in the Milky Night.
    • 11.

  • Nicole Dollanganger

    You're So Cool

    • Natural Born Losers.
    • 11.

Lightstep

Lightstep

calls himself an Xtreme-Altruist. This real life superhero patrols the streets of Montreal, but never throws a punch. Instead he gives out food, clean pipe and needles for addicts and whatever else he can do to mediate harm and improve the community.He takes us along on one of his patrols, telling us why he decided to take action even when some people might consider him a vigilante.

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Photo by Portraits of Montreal.

Guy Fletcher

Guy Fletcher

is a Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, UK. His current research is on normative thought and talk, well-being, and issues connected to freedom of speech. He is the author of The Philosophy of Well-Being: An Introduction (forthcoming from Routledge). He is also the editor of The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Well-Being (2015) and a co-editor of Having It Both Ways: Hybrid Theories and Modern Metaethics (OUP USA, 2014).

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He talks to us about how the internet has given rise to new forms of Vigilantism.

Christopher Frayling

Christopher Frayling
Professor Sir Christopher Frayling has written extensively on Pop Culture and the enduring appeal of Vigilantes. He tells us why people are so drawn to the idea of taking the law into one’s own hands, and how the image of the vigilante has changed in the digital age.

Eliot Higgins

Eliot Higgins
Eliot Higgins is a citizen journalist par excellence and the founder of, a site that allows Ìýto investigate current events using open source information such as videos, maps and pictures. He explains how using online data from video, to even throw away social media statuses, can solve mysteries when even governments try to keep them covered up.

Magdalena Wojcieszak

Magdalena Wojcieszak
is an Associate Professor of Political Communication at Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam. Her research focuses on political communication, public opinion, and the effects of mass and new media on citizens’ attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions.

Broadcasts

  • Mon 19 Oct 2015 16:30
    Â鶹Éç Radio 4
  • Wed 2 Jan 2019 23:30
    Â鶹Éç Radio 4

Podcast

Related Links

  • (thedigitalhuman.tumblr.com)
  • (twitter.com)
  • (lightstepmontreal.tumblr.com)
  • (www.polcomm.org)
  • (www.bellingcat.com)
  • (www.theguardian.com)