UPDATE: Bette's Tuesday Happy Hour with Steven Lacey and Monique Camarra!
Bette members: please register for our weekly Tuesday ‘Happy Hour’ today at 10 am Pacific — this event begins in just under one hour
***Paid Bette members will find the registration link below the paywall. To join our community events and to help support independent investigative journalism in a time of grave peril, please upgrade to a paid membership. All my investigative content at Bette Dangerous is free, and your paid memberships support that decision.***
Bette’s calendar at a glance — all levels of paid membership invited:
Today, Tuesday, April 15, Bette’s Happy Hour 10 am Pacific; 1 pm Eastern
We will be joined by Russian propaganda whistleblower turned virulent Putin critic, Steven Lacey, and geopolitical analyst Monique Camarra. Registration link can be found by scrolling to the bottom of this post.
Our friends of Bette are familiar with Monique Camarra, who is often a featured guest on our Tuesday gatherings, but allow me introduce you to Steven Lacey:
He is a renowned strategist and qualitative researcher (responsible for focus groups). He has worked across multiple categories including political technology, media, and behaviour change. Since 2016 he has worked within the extremism space (both Far Right and Islamic). and has won awards for studies on why the working class voted for Brexit.
Steven first went to Russia in 1989 and fell in love with country and culture, a love he still holds. In 2004 he experienced an Orthodox Liturgy and felt he needed to covert. This experience changed his life, and as a disabled person he wanted to change the mentality of the ex- Soviet Union towards disability.
Fully immersing himself in this experience, Steven became church Parish Councillor of the Sourozh Cathedral-Moscow Patriarchate and was an outspoken, often publicly quoted critic of Bishop Basi. He is also ex-Parish Councillor of the ROCOR Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God and the Royal Martyrs. During this time he fell in love with the concept of Third Rome and lapped up the propaganda.
His passion for Russia at the time led him to the Westminster Russia Forum, and from 2014 to 2016 he was a strong advocate for the Putin viewpoint in regards to the invasion of Ukraine, believing in narratives around genocide, Azov, bipolar world, and NATO encirclement.
In 2016, Steven worked on projects around extremism. From this work he could see direct parallels between Putin Propaganda and the Far Right. After this, he started becoming a critic of the Totalitarian Putin regime including on Channel 4 [a UK television channel]. Subsequent events have made it impossible for Steven to keep silent: the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, vicious clampdowns on democracy in Belarus, the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, the shuttering of Russia’s Memorial International human rights group, and Steven’s many friends being attacked in Ukraine make him speak out even more. Steven is on a mission to expose the lies, destroy the propaganda machine, and ensure that new converts do not land into the darkness of Far Right Orthodox conspiracy theories.
New members: the Happy Hour began two years ago, when I noticed many Bette members in despair. I thought a weekly wellness checkin for global newsies was in order, and it evolved into a session where our guests offer news from around the world. The title was always meant to be ironic, but I know I feel better when our community comes together.
Lastly, a heartfelt thank you to those of you who are renewing your memberships and are new to the Bette community. Your support means everything to me.
In solidarity, reality, truth, and unity,
Heidi xo
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