Sameer Padania

@sdp
309 Followers
6 Following
63 Posts
I live in London, but work seemingly worldwide. I work on public interest #journalism, funding & policy in the UK, Europe, & around the world.
Work (✊🏾)https://www.macrosco.pe
Bluesky (➗)https://bsky.app/profile/sdp.bsky.social
Substack (I know)https://journalism.substack.com
Sameer PadaniaJun 15, 2025
Vesna ManojlovićApr 19, 2025
Amazing & insightful analysis of 2024-2025 (& historical) #protests in #Serbia : podcast & transcript : https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2025/03/23/prefiguring-autonomy-student-led-social-movement-in-serbia-shake-the-government/#SerbiaStudentMvmt by @thefinalstrawradio !!! #Civil #disobedience, #selforganizing , #students , #anarchism , #history #mining , #ecology , #queer , +++ with a shameless plug towards my own historical involvement in 1992-1998 movements of anti-war / student protests / LQBTQ* / youth / feminist / ZaMir / cyber-art … https://wiki.techinc.nl/images/6/65/Vesna-grade-2025-slides-with-notes-xs.pdf.pdf
Prefiguring Autonomy: Student-led Social Movement in Serbia Shake The Government | The Final Straw Radio Podcast

Sameer PadaniaFeb 12, 2025
Clive ThompsonJan 8, 2025

Back last spring I visited Denver ...

... where the city was two years into a fascinating experiment:

Subsidizing residents who wanted to buy an e-bike

Turns out the program was exceptionally successful

People rode 'em 26 miles a week on average, rode them year-round ...

... removing 6 million miles of car-driving each year. Cleaner air, healthier residents getting exercise

And: *way* cheaper than subsidizing electric cars

My piece on it for Mother Jones: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/01/e-bike-subsidy-programs-denver-states-walkable-cities-urban-infrastructure/

The secret to a better city is a two-wheeler

E-bikes get cars off the road and reduce pollution—and that's only part of why places like Denver are giving them away.

Mother Jones
Sameer PadaniaNov 12, 2024

I can manage one network, tbh, and for now that is Bluesky…

https://bsky.app/profile/sdp.bsky.social

Sameer Padania (@sdp.bsky.social)

I work on how public interest #journalism gets funded and financed around the world. Sufferer/fiel torcidor of #THFC #COYS #Timão

Bluesky Social
Show threadSameer PadaniaDec 16, 2023

And part 2 of this @EuropeansPod on the capture and destruction of local #journalism in Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria:

https://overcast.fm/+LB3eKEShs

An Autocrat’s Guide to Destroying Local Media, Part 2 — The Europeans

In Part 1, you learned how illiberal regimes have used the political tools at their disposal – and their rich friends – to turn the media outlets of democratic European countries into propaganda machines. In Part 2 we’re exploring the legal tools needed to complete the job and talking to local journalists who found themselves on the receiving end of these takeovers. Finally, we’re asking: how can you stop a wannabe autocrat doing this in *your* country? This series was funded by Journalism Fund Europe, the Allianz Foundation, and supporters of The Europeans. Thanks for listening. If you enjoy our podcast and would like to help us keep making it, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/europeanspodcast⁠⁠⁠ (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by ⁠⁠⁠leaving us a review⁠⁠⁠ or giving us five stars on Spotify. Credits Reporters: Viktória Serdült, Dimitar Ganev and Wojciech Oleksiak Writers: Wojciech Oleksiak and Dimitar Ganev…

Sameer PadaniaDec 16, 2023
I’ve often written about the threats to local journalism. Here’s an excellent (surprisingly wry) two-part @EuropeansPod #podcast breaking down the autocratic takeover of #localmedia in Poland, Hungary & Bulgaria. Absolutely eye-popping details…:
https://overcast.fm/+LB3e4YTDI
An Autocrat’s Guide to Destroying Local Media, Part 1 — The Europeans

It’s a playbook that’s been used by illiberal governments across Central and Eastern Europe: muzzling the media until it resembles little more than propaganda. But how exactly does one go about dismantling the free press, in a democratic country within the European Union? In Part 1 of this two-part special, Viktória Serdült, Dimitar Ganev and our producer Wojciech Oleksiak ask: how the hell did we get here? And how did the local press become such a powerful political weapon? This series was funded by Journalism Fund Europe, the Allianz Foundation, and supporters of The Europeans. Thanks for listening. If you enjoy our podcast and would like to help us keep making it, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/europeanspodcast⁠⁠⁠ (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by ⁠⁠⁠leaving us a review⁠⁠⁠ or giving us five stars on Spotify. Credits Reporters: Viktória Serdült, Dimitar Ganev and Wojciech Oleksiak Writers: Wojciech Oleksiak…

Sameer PadaniaDec 3, 2023

This is good, from Natalia Anteleva of Coda Story, on why journalism needs to wean itself off tech money:

https://medium.com/jsk-class-of-2023/noise-is-the-new-censorship-b64b8c50e7e8

Sameer PadaniaNov 26, 2023
Show threadDavid BauerNov 26, 2023

The most played is still the original game. Over the years, I’ve added two more.

1 — Find countries on a map https://www.youdontknowafrica.com/1/

2 — Name countries from memory https://www.youdontknowafrica.com/2/

3 — Flags! https://www.youdontknowafrica.com/3/

And then, there’s the «impossible edition» that combines all three games into one devilishly difficult game. So far, 3757 brave souls have tried their luck, 584 crazy ones have succeeded.

https://youdontknowafrica.com/impossible/

[PLAY NOW] You Don't Know Africa 🌍🧐

Find all African countries as quick as you can. It's harder than you think.

Sameer PadaniaNov 26, 2023
David BauerNov 26, 2023

Today 10 years ago, I put a little game online: https://www.youdontknowafrica.com/

It has been played millions of times, all around the globe, and people just won’t stop playing it.

It makes me genuinely happy to see that it continues to be useful (and joyfully frustrating) to people. Where’s Gabon again?

[PLAY NOW] You Don't Know Africa 🌍🧐

Find all African countries as quick as you can. It's harder than you think.

Sameer PadaniaNov 14, 2023

New role at the International Fund for Public Interest Media (IFPIM) - do share with potential candidates:

https://ifpim.bamboohr.com/careers/31

'What Works' Unit Manager

Position: 'What Works' Unit Manager Location: Preference for Paris, France or a location within one of the International Fund's focus regions: Africa and the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, or Latin America and the Caribbean. The International Fund for Public Interest Media is seeking an outstanding

IFPIM
Sameer PadaniaNov 13, 2023
Superb joke about Hedda Gabler in the finale of Only Murders… S03. Absolutely brilliant…