S5E10 Female asylum seekers: Healthcare, housing, and the hostile environment

Join us for the Media Storm LIVE SHOW with special guests Natasha Devon and Milo Edwards - Tuesday 20th May 7pm @ the Business Design Centre in Islington. Tickets are available HERE! Kim, an asylum seeker from Zimbabwe, lives on £7-a-day while supporting a newborn in cockroach-infested accommodation… HOW is she supposed to pay the £10,000 NHS bill she received after giving birth? This week, Kim shares her story, and the Media Storm team unpack the mainstream media myths that feed the wider healthcare, migration and gender injustices behind it. Myths like: ‘Why are all asylum seekers MEN?!’ Don’t they come for free healthcare?’ ‘Illegal migrants are living in luxury hotels’ ‘The asylum backlog is out of control!’ We pick apart some current, culpable headlines, and compare the stories they tell with the first-hand experiences of the people living it. Also joining us in the studio is Judith Dennis, head of policy at Maternity Action, which works for the rights of pregnant women and new parents irrespective of migration status, and is campaigning for changes alongside the National Childbirth Trust. The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia) The music is by @soundofsamfire Support us on Patreon! Follow us on Instagram, Bluesky, and TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Om Podcasten

The multi award-winning investigative and current affairs podcast: this is news that starts with the people who are normally asked last. Media Storm is an essential guide to today’s chaotic clickbait climate. Every week, journalists Mathilda Mallinson and Helena Wadia storm through the headlines, and seeking out the voices of the most important (and most overlooked) people in the story: the ones living it.  From ‘illegal immigrants’ to sex workers, strikers to prisoners, indigenous groups to trans people, many communities caught in the eye of the media storm are denied a fair voice in the coverage around them. Media Storm restores ‘right of reply’ to underrepresented minorities and equips listeners to take the mainstream media with a pinch of salt. It's your weekly current affairs round-up - but not as you know it. Featuring cross-platform comparisons, shrewd bullsh*t-radars, and finding the facts behind the fear-mongering, Media Storm is guaranteed to leave you with plenty to talk about. Become a supporter: patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast