The Listening Post

Kidnap or Kill: The CIA’s plot against WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange

Why isn’t the CIA’s plan to kidnap Julian Assange making more headlines? And a look at the complexities and nuances of translating literary work.

An exposé detailing the CIA’s war on WikiLeaks – a Trump administration plan to silence Julian Assange and the organisation – has been published. But like so much of the Assange story, it’s got nothing like the media coverage it deserves.

Contributors:
Michael Isikoff – Chief investigative correspondent, Yahoo News
Kevin Gosztola – Managing editor, Shadowproof.com
Carrie DeCell – Staff attorney, Knight First Amendment Institute
Rebecca Vincent – Director of international campaigns & UK bureau director, Reporters Without Borders

On our radar:

Project Amplify – Facebook’s PR initiative – backfires. Richard Gizbert speaks to producer Meenakshi Ravi about the scrutiny Facebook is under, yet again.

Lost in translation: How texts change as they travel

The translation of literature – from one language to another – is a tricky business. Translators become cultural mediators, balancing faithfulness to the original with the needs of a new audience. When translators fail, context can be sacrificed, and stereotypes can get reinforced.

Contributors:
Layla AlAmmar – Author, Silence is a Sense & Academic, University of Lancaster
Susan Bassnett – Translation theorist & emeritus professor, University of Warwick
Muhammad Ali Mojaradi – Translator & founder, @persianpoetics
Leri Price – Literary translator

End Note:

And, after 16 years of leading the country as its chancellor, Germany is saying goodbye to Angela Merkel. Puppet Regime – a comedy series produced and published by GZERO Media – pays tribute to her work, Kraftwerk style.