Skepticamp 2024 – Talk 4 – How Stray Dogs Became a Threat to National Security – Serdar Basegmez

Skeptics in the Pub Online Podcast

This audio is a part of the Skepticamp 2024 event, that happened on October 18th 2024 in Mercure Piccadilly Hotel, Manchester and was livestreamed at https://www.twitch.tv/sitp

About the talk: The rise in the number of stray dogs has sparked fierce reactions from conspiracy influencers. Between violent interventions like shooting strays and deporting volunteers who feed these “scary monsters,” some escalated the issue to the point of declaring it a national security threat. But why has such an everyday issue been dragged to its most radical form? This talk explores how conspiracy networks use everyday issues and radical narratives to advertise themselves.

About the speaker:

About the speaker: Serdar Basegmez is a former Istanbulite and a new Londoner skeptic. Since 2010, Serdar has been actively involved with Yalansavar, a Turkish grassroots skeptical movement that promotes scientific reasoning and critical thinking, serving as a blogger, podcaster, meet-up host, and speaker. He is also part of the organizing committee for Greenwich Skeptics in the Pub and occasionally writes for The Skeptic UK. In his free time, Serdar runs his own company, developing business applications.

The music used in this episode is by Thula Borah and is used with permission.