Profile David Olusoga The algorithms and the social media platforms have computing power that just 10 years ago was almost beyond comprehension incendiary context? When there is such a prevalence of opinion, and when opinion is what brings home the bacon in a splintered media ecosystem that relies on attention and outrage, how can information cut through? Olusoga is of the view that the first step we need to take is realising that culture wars are not, in fact, real. One of the challenges is not to play to the culture wars to recognise that they are confected; that they are unreal and that they are designed to create electoral coalitions or climates of fear in which electoral outcomes are more likely, he says. To enter into the culture wars is to accept the binary debate, to accept the terms on which those debates are drawn, and I dont think we should. I think anybody whos interested in verifiable fact and in generating metrics by which we might improve our societies needs to always, in those debates, repeatedly and constantly point out that the terms of these debates are false and invalid. As someone who writes and speaks prevalently about race, Olusoga has been on the receiving end of accusations that he himself is involved in culture war issues. But, he says: Ive never engaged in those issues without making the point that these debates are false, fake, illegitimate debates, almost always with a strategic electoral purpose behind them. What has been his personal experience of speaking out and writing about issues such as race and addressing our colonial history in quite a febrile time? One of aggression, abuse, threats of violence Ive had to have bodyguards and Ive discussed this with the police. He asserts, however, that this is not a very unusual or interesting experience. Instead, what he finds really alarming is not what people say, but the confidence with which people have convinced themselves not just that they know what your views are, but that they understand the motivations that have led you to reach those views. That confidence is so watertight and extreme, says Olusoga, that it leads people to demonstrably preposterous positions. He shares an example of a regular occurrence he experiences on social media the suggestion that he wants to create racial tension. Every week, virtually every day, someone on social media or some other form of media will tell me that I hate white people, when Im demonstrably and openly mixed race [Olusoga was born 18 Impact ISSUE 42 2023_pp16-19_David Olusoga.indd 18 16/06/2023 17:28