WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has announced that he will be hosting a series of in-depth conversations with key political players, thinkers and revolutionaries from around the world.
The show’s theme? Our world and its future.
According to Assange, upheavals and revolutions in the Middle East have kicked off an era of significant political change that is still unfolding.
Meanwhile, the deterioration of the rule of law has demonstrated the bankruptcy of once leading political institutions and ideologies in the West.
“The Internet has never been so strong, or so much under attack. At this pivotal moment there is an awareness of the need to radically rethink the world around us. Through this series I will explore the possibilities for our future in conversations with those who are shaping it,” Assange said in an official press release.
“Are we heading towards utopia, or dystopia and how we can set our paths? This is an exciting opportunity to discuss the vision of my guests in a new style of show that examines their philosophies and struggles in a deeper and clearer way than has been done before.”
The TV series is slated to begin airing in mid-March, in ten weekly half-hour episodes. Initial licensing commitments will apparently cover over 600 million viewers across cable, satellite and terrestrial broadcast networks.
Julian Assange founded WikiLeaks in 2006. The website has published controversial material about extrajudicial killings in Kenya, toxic waste dumping in Côte d’Ivoire, Church of Scientology manuals, Guantanamo Bay procedures, banks such as Kaupthing and Julius Baer, as well as classified documents pertaining to the Iraq and Afghan wars.
A European arrest warrant was issued for WikiLeaks founder in 2010, after Assange was accused of a sexual assault in Sweden, a charge he denies. Assange was subsequently arrested and conditionally freed on bail with a number of stipulations, including the wearing of an electronic tag and reporting to a police station on a daily basis.
Assange later appealed a February 2011 decision by English courts to extradite him to Sweden, claiming the allegations of wrongdoing were “without basis.” However, the High Court upheld the extradition decision and rejected all four grounds of appeal. Assange remains on conditional bail as of January 2012.
