Mark Meechan

This week Andrew spoke to YouTuber Mark Meechan, who vlogs under the name Count Dankula. He was prosecuted four years ago under the Communications Act for posting a controversial video online. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Follow me on Twitter for short video highlights: https://twitter.com/AndrewGold_ok On today’s show is Mark Meechan, known online as Count Dankula. In 2016, he made a YouTube video showing how he taught his girlfriend’s beloved pug Buddha to do a Nazi salute – a Sieg Heil – on his command. His command was Gas the Jews. The video quickly went viral, and Mark was arrested and charged with committing a hate crime. He spent time in jail and was fined; a fine he refused to pay. As he’ll explain in more detail, Mark was fired from his job and pretty much unemployable by anyone who had Google. Which is obviously everyone. However, things have recently picked up for him; every time he is mentioned in the paper, his YouTube channel grows – and he now has over 100 million views. He also has 250,000 followers on Twitter, who enjoy his brand of shock humour much in line with the initial Hitler dog routine. They’re a strange bunch his followers – when he shared a photo promoting this podcast, many of them followed me and asked if I could send them photos of Mark’s penis – or if not – my own. I politely declined. I hope some of you newbies are here listening today and will stick around – they’re part of a strange online world in the dark corners of the web full of jokes and memes I don’t quite understand. But it’s not just in the obscure recesses of computer-world where Mark has made his mark. He is often talked about by famous mainstream advocates of free speech, including Ricky Gervais, who brought him up once again just this week. I remember when I heard about the dog joke at the time, I imagined a horrible neo-Nazi, so had little sympathy for him, even if it seemed strange he was being arrested for a joke. Meechan was later in the UK Independence Party, or UKIP, and had some association with British far-right activist Tommy Robinson and American far-right radio presenter Alex Jones, all of which further convinced me his apple was of the bad variety. He refutes this image, and says most of his friends are on the Left; he was nice enough to give me his time to do this podcast, so the least I could do was give him a fair hearing with an open mind. We have a bit of a chat about free speech, humour, offence and where these things collide. Should any joke be illegal? Mark certainly doesn’t think so, and I’m inclined to agree. It seems pretty crazy how the whole thing blew up, and a waste of everyone’s time and money. It can set some bad precedents…that doesn’t mean I give Mark a free pass. Just as I believe strongly in his right to make those jokes, I value my right to criticise them and say they’re in bad taste. For example, a recent video he posted mocking the Beirut explosion might be particularly hurtful for people who’ve just lost loved ones. It may not be illegal, but I consider that worthy of criticism at the least. And he’s perfectly entitled to tell me he doesn’t care. We do get distracted while talking about the Nazi pug incident, and end up waffling about free speech for a while, and come back to his arrest and jail time at the end. Which is fine, because you always listen to the end anyway. Don’t you. Next week is a chat with another controversial American scholar James Lindsay, who has pretty much blown up Twitter by claiming that 2+2=4. In an Orwellian turn, hundreds of thousands of Left-Wing academics have been suggesting the equation actually equals 5, and we believe it’s 4 because of something to do with colonisation. But for now, we’re in Scotland with Count Dankula discussing whether jokes and fried mars bars are offensive. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Catch video clips on @andrewgold_ok on Twitter or Instagram! This is one of my favourite topics ever, so you’re in for a treat. I’ve managed to get a real-life psychopath on the show – M. E. Thomas is the pseudonym of the writer of Confessions of a Psychopath. Having read Jon Ronson’s Psychopath Test a few years ago, and grown up on such films as Silence of the Lambs , American Psycho and later, No Country for Old Men and Nightcrawler, I became fascinated by them. I guess those movies make you think of a psycho killer, qu’est-ce que c’est, but apparently most psychopaths or sociopaths – who are said to make up 1% of the population – aren’t that interested in murdering. They just totally lack empathy. In fact, I’m amazed to learn from M.E. or ‘me’ about just how little is known about them, and she presents some theories I’ve never heard. Check the podcast twitter page for video trailers, which I always post there…M.E. is, however, a blurred figure behind a layer of Sellotape covering her webcam. Still, it’s worth a look, to see the fear in my eyes, if nothing else. There are indeed a couple of moments where I take some risks, but I think we get on OK, even if she wouldn’t care if I died. Please make sure to write a little review – those push you up the Apple charts. And tell some friends to get listening. Next week, I’ve got Mark Meechan, the Scottish comedian who taught his dog to do a Hitler salute in reaction to the phrase ‘Do you wanna gas the Jews’. He was arrested, sparking a worldwide debate about free speech and the right to cause offence. Tricky subject – next week. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Count Dankula aka Mark Meechan is a Youtube comedian who was arrested after posting a video of himself training his girlfriend’s pug dog to do a Nazi salute. He has been convicted in a Scottish court of “inciting racial hatred”. We recorded this on location at Backyard Comedy Club in Bethnal Green, London, just a couple of hours before Dankula's standup appearance at Comedy Unleashed. Check out Count Dankula's Youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7SeFWZYFmsm1tqWxfuOTPQ/featured The notorious Nazi Pug video here: https://youtu.be/SYslEzHbpus Find TRIGGERnometry on Social Media: twitter.com/triggerpod www.facebook.com/triggerpod www.instagram.com/triggerpod About TRIGGERnometry: Stand-up comedians Konstantin Kisin (@konstantinkisin) and Francis Foster (@failinghuman) make sense of politics, economics, free speech, AI, drug policy and WW3 with the help of presidential advisors, renowned economists, award-winning journalists, controversial writers, leading scientists and notorious comedians. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comedian Mark Meechan, who publishes content under the name Count Dankula, had been found guilty under the Communications Act for a video involving his girlfriend’s pug performing Nazi salutes and has now been fined £800 for being “grossly offensive.” Nazi Germany pursued 'Hitler salute' Finnish dog: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-12139150 Your support is essential to Freedomain Radio, which is 100% funded by viewers like you. Please support the show by making a one time donation or signing up for a monthly recurring donation at: http://www.freedomainradio.com/donate