Dubbed "the Jon Stewart of the Middle East" by none other than Jon Stewart himself, Bassem Youssef is the former cardiothoracic surgeon who created and hosted the TV program Al Bernameg, which won national and international acclaim for its hilarious and bold criticism of Egypt’s ruling elites. Al Bernameg began as a 5-minute show on YouTube during the Arab Spring, and quickly became the most watched show across the Middle East, with over 30 million viewers a week.  Al Bernameg was terminated in 2014 due to political pressure. Bassem Youssef and his family now live outside Egypt for their own safety.

Sakdiyah Ma’ruf is a stand-up comedian from Indonesia whose comic routine advocates for individual rights and challenges Islamic fundamentalism. She grew up watching U.S.-based comedians and decided to use the same medium to talk about issues plaguing her own country. Television producers have asked her to censor her jokes, but Ma’ruf, who believes comedy mirrors a culture’s hypocrisy, has refused to be silenced.

“Sakdiyah Ma’ruf is marshaling the use of parody to challenge oppression and extremism—no small risk for a woman in Muslim culture. She is an inspiration,” said Amnesty International Norway Secretary General John Peder Egenæs.

El Chigüire Bipolar is an explosively successful Venezuelan satire site created in 2008 by the Elio Casale, Oswaldo Graziani and Juan Andrés Ravell, a group of friends who saw an opportunity to use online satire to shine a light on the suppression of news by the oppressive Venezuelan government.

El Chigüire was one of the winners of the Václav Havel Prize for the Creative Dissident 2017, in recognition of their outstanding commitment to honestly covering the news. According to Garry Kasparov, secretary Of the Human Rights Foundation, "Their combination of humor coupled with honest uncompromising analysis demonstrate the great power of satire when criticizing authoritarian regimes."

Our guest lecturer this year is social media star Adeola Fayehun. Described by The Guardian as "Nigeria's favourite satirist", Adeola is a satirist and journalist who focusses on issues that affect the daily lives of people across the African continent. She achieved global prominence for her 2015 on-street interview - or what Tony Abbott would call a "Chaser-style stunt" - where she asked Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe when he would step down.

Formerly a reporter with SaharaTV, Adeola now hosts the satirical news show Keeping It Real with Adeola on YouTube, where she has amassed a following of more than 200,000 subscribers.