Time, Migration, Media

Amelia (Amy) Kraehe
Race remix…

Elise Farmer
Welcome to Time Migration and Media, where we explore contemporary migration trends through unique lenses. I’m Elise.

Scott Ewing
I’m Scott.

Aidan Gravelle
And I’m Aiden.

Elise Farmer
Migration is a universal human experience. It’s about movement across borders, cultures and sometimes even realities. But it’s also about so much more identity, belonging and survival.

Scott Ewing
In this episode, we’re diving into migration not just as a phenomenon of the present, but as a thread that connects our past, shapes our present and influences our speculative futures.

Aidan Gravelle
Each of us have taken a unique angle on this topic. Together, we’re weaving a narrative that moves through speculative storytelling, digital memory, and the echoes of history.

Elise Farmer
In my chapter, I’ll be exploring speculative features in film and how movies like Children of Men, Snowpiercer, the Wandering Earth and District nine use their imagined worlds to critique real world migration politics and examine the human experience.

Scott Ewing
I’m looking at the future of memory in a digital age. How technology changes the way we remember and interact with the past. From social media’s impact on collective memory and its ability to immerse us in history, I’ll be examining how the digital world shapes our perceptions of migration.

Aidan Gravelle
And I’ll take us back through time exploring how major migrations like the Great Famine have left lasting imprints on today’s migration trends and identities. I’ll also dive into the importance of highlighting marginalized voices in shaping our contemporary understanding of migration.

Elise Farmer
Migration isn’t just a topic for the history books or sci fi films. It’s a vital part of who we are and who we’re becoming.

Scott Ewing
So join us as we push boundaries, challenge perspectives, and imagine a future shaped by migration.

Aidan Gravelle
Let’s get started.

Elise Farmer
What do alien landscapes, dystopian hierarchies and collective survival tell us about migration? I’m Elise, and in this episode I’ll be exploring how futuristic films like The Wandering Earth, Children of Men, Snowpiercer and District nine use speculative storytelling to examine identity, belonging and memory through these imagined worlds will uncover startling parallels to real world migration politics and ask ourselves what kind of a future we’re building today.

Migration has always been about crossing boundaries, physical, cultural and sometimes even personal. What’s fascinating about speculative futures is how they frame migration as something even larger. They ask us what happens when we push those boundaries beyond the earth we know or into realities that feel entirely foreign. Let’s start with children of men. At its core, it’s not just a story about a dystopian future.

It’s a story about exclusion. In this future, migrants are scapegoated and confined while resources become scarcer and the privileged cling to their advantages. Sound familiar? We see echoes of this every day in policies that criminalize migration or in the conditions of refugee camps. The rhetoric of othering in the film, labeling people as feuds or burdens is something we’ve heard in real world politics in framing migration through collapse in fear.

Children of Men makes us confront uncomfortable truths about how we dehumanize those who cross borders today. Migration isn’t just about movement either. It’s also about identity. When someone leaves their home, they bring their history, their culture and their memories with them. But crossing borders often means facing pressure to assimilate. To leave parts of yourself behind. In order to fit in.

This is something Snowpiercer captures also well through metaphor. On the train, the lower-class passengers are stripped of their past identities and redefined as laborers, as cogs in the machine. They aren’t allowed to bring anything of themselves into this new society. It’s a sharp parallel to real world migration stories. I think about immigrant immigrants who are told to abandon their native language or traditions, or who are seen as lesser that because they don’t fit into a specific mold of belonging.

The train and Snowpiercer may be fictional, but their dynamic of inclusion and exclusion it portrays are painfully real. Now the wandering Earth takes a different approach. Instead of focusing on individual journeys, it gives us a story about humanity moving as a collective, nations unite to move the earth itself to a new solar system. And the film asks what parts of humanity are worth saving, and more importantly, who gets to decide?

This is such an interesting lens for discussing climate migration. In today’s world, we’re already seeing the effects of rising sea and uninhabitable regions forcing millions to move. Yet the nations most responsible for climate change are the ones holding the resources in power to decide how and if those affected can rebuild their lives. The wandering earth asks us to rethink global responsibility.

When migration becomes a matter of survival. Can we set aside borders and hierarchies? Or will the most vulnerable continue to bear the heaviest burdens? Finally, there’s District nine. Its portrayal of alien refugees might seem exaggerated, but it’s uncomfortably close to real life narratives about migrants. Think about the language you use today. Illegal influx. Alien. These words Straight people have their humanity.

Just as the aliens in district nine are confined to slums and treated as threats. The film flips the script, forcing us to empathize with the other and question the systems that perpetuate their suffering. And it’s not just about individuals. It’s about systemic change. What would happen if we stopped seeing migration as a crisis and started seeing as an opportunity?

Speculative futures are so powerful because they make the familiar feel strange. They ask us to step outside our everyday perspectives and imagine what happens when boundaries are pushed, erased and rebuilt. After all, migration isn’t just about movement. It’s about survival. It’s about identity. It’s about the fight to belong. Whether it’s the scapegoated migrants of the children of men or the collective action of the wandering earth.

These stories challenge us to think critically about the systems that we’ve built, even though in the bleakest of futures, there’s always hope for change. These films ask us what kind of future we’re creating and are just to consider who we are leaving out of that vision. These films help us imagine better worlds if only we’re willing to confront the realities they reflect.

Thanks for joining me on this exploration of speculative futures and migration politics. I’ll be passing the phone to Scott to discuss the future of memory in a digital age.

Scott Ewing
Hey, guys, and welcome to my section of time migration and media. My name is Scott and I’ll be talking about the future of information memory in the digital age. I’ll be discussing how technology influences our relationship with memory and time through migration. Every day we as a society migrate unbelievable amounts of information digitally notes, photos, documents, videos, and even books and articles.

It becomes common practice that we that when we can’t remember something or we need information, we resort to online databases and search engines. Google, for example, and other search engines make information retrieval instantaneous, almost entirely, eliminating the need for memory retention when it comes to public affairs. This can be especially dangerous when it comes to politics and other international news, because not every piece of information on the Internet is authentic.

Most sources, in fact, are written from very biased perspectives and at times not true at all. We live in a world where history unfolds in real time. Events are watched, discussed and debated as they happen. This immediately is reshaping how we remember and interpret events. Political protests, international crises and cultural trends captured on social media are not only shared instantly, but often debated or even distorted in the process.

Social media has become a platform where collective memory is fluid and ever changing. Rather than a stable record of the past. The instability is practically evident in the spread of misinformation, false narratives and conspiracy theories about immigrants. Religious groups and ethnic minorities can profoundly alter public perception and in some cases, fuel violence. The Christchurch mosque attacks in 2019 and the Buffalo supermarket shootings in 2022 are stark examples of how such radicalization can lead it to tragedy.

This isn’t an isolated issue limited to one region. It’s a global phenomenon with far reaching consequences. Now, why is it that migration often becomes a target for misinformation? Maybe it’s because migration at its core is about change, something that can unsettle people and have them looking for someone else to blame. It often comes down to three recurring themes health, wealth and identity.

In Europe, migrants are frequently painted as threats and false narratives spread fear and fuel hostility. Research from groups like the European Policy Center or the APC and the Foundation for European Progressive Studies, dives into how these patterns play out. Take the first wave of COVID 19, for example. In countries like Italy and Spain, a lot of media coverage blamed migrants for spreading the virus and other diseases.

But studies have repeatedly shown that migrants were not responsible for increased transmission rates. In fact, many migrants were frontline workers helping to keep essential services running during the pandemic. This misinformation was less about facts and more about scapegoating. During a time of uncertainty. Then there’s the idea that migrants are a drain on resources after the first wave of lockdowns.

Stories popped up about asylum seekers supposedly getting big allowances or better access to housing and benefits than locals. But the reality is far different. Most asylum seekers receive minimal support and often face significant barriers to access even basic services. Claims of better access are more about political rhetoric than actual data, which constantly shows that migrants contribute more in taxes and labor than they take in benefits.

In places with fewer migrants like the Czech Republic, the focus shifted. Instead of talking about resources. Migrants were framed as threats to cultural and national identity, fueling fears of losing traditions or values. However, migration studies show that cultural exchange enriches societies, creating more dynamic and innovative communities. The preservation of local traditions doesn’t have to come at the expense of inclusion or diversity.

These false stories stick because they tap into people’s fears, especially during tough times. But it’s important to challenge them with facts and highlight the positive contributions migrants make to host societies without correcting the record. Misinformation only deepens divisions and makes it harder to build more inclusive communities. Some of the ways misinformation can spread are relatively unsuspecting. One, for example, is called disinformation laundering.

This is when a fake story with no sources pops up on one website and then gets cited by other articles creating a false sense of credibility. For instance, a German article in 2019 claimed European governments were secretly flying out thousands of refugees. This baseless claim then appeared in a Czech and Slovakian media gaining traction across borders. But will this cycle of misinformation continue, especially as our memories of migration are increasingly shaped by the digital world?

Efforts are being made to push back. The European Union, for example, has introduced the Digital Services Act aimed at making it easier to remove illegal content. Holding social media platforms accountable and increasing transparency there. There’s also the proposed Media Freedom Act, which seeks to ensure independent and diverse media across EU member states. On top of that, the EU has updated its code of practice on disinformation, social media platforms and advertisers agreeing to cut off financial incentives for spreading fake news.

Meanwhile, in the US or the United States, the focus is on ensuring the legitimacy of online content. Policies targeting tech giants like Facebook and Google are being developed to limit the spread of misinformation. The US has also joined forces with other nations through the Declaration for the Future of the Internet, a global initiative to combat online falsehoods. These measures may not stop misinformation entirely, but they’re certainly a step in the right direction.

Highlighting the importance of fact checking and holding platforms accountable for the content they host. Now be passing it over to Aiden for his deep dive into historical migrations and their present day impact.

Aidan Gravelle
Hi, my name is Aiden, and today we’re exploring how history isn’t just a collection of past events. It’s a living force that continues to shape our identities beliefs in the world around us. Have you ever wondered how migrations or even suppressed voices from centuries ago echo in our modern lives? From societal changes of the Industrial Revolution to the legacies of migration through stories of marginalized voices?

History serves as a lens through which we are able to understand our present and navigate the future. The narratives we choose to remember or ignore speak volumes on whose voices we value. Join me as we uncover how these trends of the past continue to weave into the fabric of our lives today, shaping not just who we are, but also where we’re headed.

Let’s jump into how historical events have shaped our current societal trends and beliefs. The Industrial Revolution is a particularly interesting example. It wasn’t just about factories and new inventions. It completely transformed how society functioned on multiple levels. People migrated in the masses from rural areas to rapidly growing urban centers in search for new job opportunities, fundamentally altering demographic patterns, and leading to the expansion of cities.

The urban migration led to overcrowding, poor living conditions, the spread of diseases and issues that forced societies to rethink urban planning and public health policies. The nature of work shifted dramatically from an agrarian, family-based labor to an industrial factory based on employment. This introduced concepts like wage labor, shift work and standardized time elements that are integral to our modern understanding of employment.

Workers are faced with harsh conditions, long hours and minimal pay, leading to significant social strife. This shift also led to the emergence of new social classes, such as the industrial bourgeoisie who owned the means of production and the urban proletariat, the working class that labored with the factories. This redefined social dynamic and power structures, sowing the seeds for future labor, music movements and social reforms.

The Industrial Revolution sparked significant changes in societal beliefs and values. The emphasis on efficiency, productivity and progress became central to the cultural mindset. Education systems evolved to produce a workforce skilled in science and engineering, fueling further innovation and technological advancement. There also saw a rise in capitalist economies and the decline of the traditional feudal systems. Labor movements emerged as workers sought rights and protections leading to the establishment of labor laws, unions and eventually the concept of workers rights that continue to impact labor relations today.

Environmental impacts were also significant. Their reliance on coal and other fossil fuels led to pollution and environmental degradation issues that have escalated over time and are central to today’s discussions on climate change and sustainable practices. Fast forward to today and we’re experiencing what many consider a fourth industrial revolution. Automation, Artificial intelligence and the rise of remote workers are once again redefining labor and social structures.

Just as the steam engine and mechanization disrupted traditional ways of life. Today’s technological advancements are challenging existing job markets and social norms. We are grappling with issues like job displacement due to automation. Ethical considerations around AI data, privacy concerns, and the blurring lines between work and personal life due to remote work. By reflecting on the Industrial Revolution, we can better navigate the challenges that come with rapid technological change.

The lessons learned from this era, such as the importance of educating workers to meet new skill demands and the need for regulations to protect workers can inform our approach today. Understanding how previous societies dealt with their challenges can help us predict potential pitfalls and strive for a better future that benefits everyone. It also highlights the importance of considering the human element in the face of technological progress, ensuring that advancement serves to enhance rather than diminish, the quality of life for all members of society.

So how can the shortcomings from the past help us make predictions about the future? Let’s take a closer look at the mass migration of the Irish people during the Great Famine in the mid-19th century. History often shows a pattern where nations and empires that neglect systematic inequalities in basic human needs tend to face significant issues. And Ireland was no exception.

Political instability. Colonial oppression by the British. Economic neglect. And a dependance on a monarchy. Cultural agricultural system led to a catastrophic failure of the potato crop, a staple food for the majority of the Irish population. This resulted in widespread famine, disease and death. Millions were forced to fend for themselves on a starved island, and as a result, many Irish people immigrated to the United States and other nations in North America in search for survival and opportunity.

Today, over 31 and a half million Americans identify as being of Irish descent. As of 2020, which is over six times the population of Ireland itself. Irish culture has also found its way into American culture in significant ways. For instance, while so much Americanized St Patrick’s Day, a culturally Irish celebration was brought to the United States and is still celebrated today as a national holiday, highlighting the enduring influence of immigrant cultures on their adopted homelands.

This migration underscores how failures such as colonial oppression, economic inequality, lack of sustainable practices and a neglect of basic human needs can lead to the collapse or have significant transformation on a nation or culture. While Ireland is a prosperous nation today, it still has not completely recovered population wise from the devastation of the Great Famine. Applying these lessons into today’s society, we must recognize the importance of addressing systematic issues such as inequality, sustainable development and the lingering effects of historical injustices.

Ignoring these factors can contribute to a crisis that displaced populations, destabilized nations and have long lasting impacts. In a world facing challenges like climate change, political unrest and economic disparity, understanding the causes and consequences for past migrations can help us prepare and mitigate similar issues in the near future. For example, climate change is predicted to cause a large scale migrations due to rising sea levels, extreme weather events and loss of arable land.

By learning from the Irish experience, we can advocate for policies that address environmental sustainability, social equity and proactive support for vulnerable populations to prevent or alleviate future humanitarian crisis. History isn’t just a record of past events. It’s a continuous narrative that influence every aspect of our lives. By taking a look at historical events in their long-term impacts from sweeping challenges of the Industrial Revolution to mass migrations caused by crisis like the Great Famine and the enduring influence of marginalized voices, we can gain a valuable insight into current societal challenges and possibilities that could shape our future.

Elise Farmer
We’ve covered a lot today from speculative futures and migration and film to how technology shapes our memories and even the long shadows of historical events.

Scott Ewing
It’s wild to think about how migration touches every part of our lives, our identities, the stories we tell, and even the technologies we create.

Aidan Gravelle
Exactly. It’s not just about two people moving from one place to another. It’s about how these moments ripple out, shaping culture, policy, and even how we think about who we are.

Elise Farmer
And that ripple effect shows up everywhere from the way we imagine future worlds and movies to how we archive our lives in the digital age.

Scott Ewing
Yeah, and understanding these connections isn’t just important. It’s kind of inspiring. It makes you think about how much responsibility there is for change.

Aidan Gravelle
And history teaches us a lot about where we’ve been and where we don’t want to go again. But it also shows us how resilient people are and how much we can learn from their voices that haven’t always been heard.

Elise Farmer
If there’s one thing you should take away from this, it’s that migration isn’t just about movement. It’s about transformation of people, places and ideas.

Scott Ewing
And as much as we look to the past and present, we also have to keep imagining better futures.

Aidan Gravelle
Thanks for sticking with us through all these ideas. Hopefully this episode gave you something to think about, or at least a fresh way to look at things.

Elise Farmer
Yeah, and if these ideas resonated with you, share them, talk about them, and keep reflecting on what migration means in our world.

Scott Ewing
Thanks again for listening.