Edinburgh Napier at the Fringe
August has come around again and while we’re all hard at work trying to get the campus libraries ready for the upcoming academic year, its hard not to get distracted by all the shows on at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It’s especially difficult to not get distracted this year because it turns out that Napier will be getting some representation in the festival.
The Fringe Show
Ted Carlson Webster is one of our PhD students at the university’s School of Applied Sciences. He specialises in researching the phenomenon of false memories, with a particular focus on how these relate to fake news. Last year Ted appeared at the Fringe as part of The Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas. A series of shows at The Stand comedy club combines academic research and stand-up comedy. Granting academics a platform to discuss and present their findings on under-discussed and overlooked research subjects. While stand-up comedian Susan Morrison hosts and helps to give the discussion a comedic spin. Last year, Ted presented his show “Fact Checking Fact Checks”. He looked at the spread of fake news. He analysed the common ways in which people try to combat its circulation. As well as looking into research around fact-checking to discuss if simply fact checking was an effective preventative measure.
This year, Ted returns to the Fringe as part of the 2024 slate for The Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas with his new show, “Make More Fake News!”. Returning again to his topic of expertise. This time, Ted will be looking into Inoculation Theory. A recent form of research which posits that people can be helped to better understand and resist fake news if they’ve seen firsthand how it is created. As part of the show, Ted will be teaching people how to create fake news articles.
Fringe Show Research
Ted’s research into fake news should of course be of interest to everyone. But we in the library are taking a particular interest in it. Especially because of how it overlaps with the growth in popularity of generative AI technology. A great deal of fake news material, particularly images, is created using AI tools. The university has taken an interest in wanting to educate our students about the role that AI has in their lives. We hope that Ted’s show will be a great opportunity for everyone. Learning how fake news operates, and how to spot it. As well as allowing them to better understand the potential dangers of AI images and content. Plus, it gives the public the chance to see some of the work that is being conducted by our research students!
If all this makes your show, “Make More Fake News!” will be performed at The Stand Comedy Club on the 24th of August at 12:00 as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Further information, as well as where to buy tickets, can be found on the page for the event on the Edinburgh Fringe website: Make More Fake News! | Spoken Word | Edinburgh Festival Fringe (edfringe.com)
By Matthew Ferrie
Don’t forget our previous article about the Edinburgh International Book Festival
Photo by Chad Stembridge Unsplash
