On the Media

Brooke Gladstone speaks with Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center and a physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, about how the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., purged the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee members, the controversial figures Kennedy replaced them with, and what impact this will have on the future of vaccines and immunology in the US.  On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed in front of a crowd of students at Utah Valley University. On this week’s On the Media, how the murder of a MAGA media powerhouse is driving both calls for unity, and more violence. Plus, CBS cracks under pressure from the Trump administration. [01:00]  Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger analyze the media coverage of the assassination of conservative youth leader and media personality Charlie Kirk at a university event on Wednesday. [13:34] Brooke speaks with Oliver Darcy, media reporter and author of the newsletter Status, about CBS News’ recent concessions to the Trump administration and how the network is signaling a move to the right under new leadership. [30:43] Micah talks to Peter Shamshiri, co-host of the podcast If Books Could Kill, about what the writings of Bari Weiss reveal about the ideological underpinnings of her media empire, The Free Press.Further reading / listening:“The Weiss Price,” by Oliver Darcy“CBS’ Conservative Cop,” by Oliver DarcyPundit Portrait: Bari Weiss, If Books Could Kill podcast On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

Brooke chats with Dorian Lynskey, cultural journalist and author of the recent book, Everything Must Go: The Stories We Tell About the End of the World, to examine our centuries-long obsession with telling end-of-the-world stories and what they reveal about our shifting fears through history. Plus, the evolution of the apocalyptic story, from the Book of Revelation to On the Beach to Station Eleven.  On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

President Trump is preparing to send the National Guard to cities across the country. On this week’s On the Media, what the press is missing about the president’s so-called “crackdown” on crime. Plus, in the aftermath of a Russian attack, a Ukrainian town asks journalists to record the atrocities.[01:00]  Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Jamison Foser, media critic and author of the newsletter Finding Gravity, about President Trump’s plans to send troops into American cities, and how mainstream outlets are missing the mark in their coverage. [14:08] Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with Zack Beauchamp, senior correspondent at Vox, about a telling conversation between four leading MAGA tastemakers, and what it reveals about how the right is thinking about authoritarianism in relation to US democracy.[31:41] Veteran NPR reporter Deb Amos visited Ukraine to report on how Ukrainians are telling the story of the atrocities committed by Russian troops in Bucha – to themselves and the world. Support for this reporting was provided by the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Women on the Ground: Reporting from Ukraine’s Unseen Frontlines Initiative in partnership with the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. Further reading / watching:“Trump’s military occupation of American cities is unpopular. The media is trying to manufacture consent for it.” by Jamison Foser“The right debates just how weird their authoritarianism should be,” by Zack BeauchampBucha On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

A beloved squirrel named Peanut was seized in a raid by New York environmental officers last year. A maelstrom of online outrage ensued, upending New York wildlife enforcement in the process. In conversation with NYC Now's Janae Pierre, our colleague, reporter Jon Campbell, unravels the saga -- revealing a story about mistaken identities and the power of online fury. You can listen to more episodes from NYC Now here: https://www.wnyc.org/shows/nyc-now On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

President Donald Trump’s countless executive orders and mounting deportations are testing America’s democratic institutions. On this week’s On the Media, what we can learn from Hungary’s recent backslide into autocracy. Plus, why resistance movements throughout history have succeeded with 3.5 percent of the population, or less, behind them.[01:00] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Andrew Marantz, a staff writer at The New Yorker, about his recent piece, “Is the U.S. Becoming an Autocracy?” and what we can learn from Hungary’s recent backsliding into authoritarianism. [15:44] Micah speaks with Márton Gulyás, founder of Partizán, Hungary’s leading independent news show, about what lessons journalists in the US might take away from his experience.[37:20] Micah sits down with Maria J. Stephan, political scientist and co-author of Why Civil Resistance Works, to dissect the 3.5% rule, a statistic that’s been making its rounds on social media, which is a measurement of the power of collective action. Stephan and her co-researcher Erica Chenoweth first coined the term in 2010. Further reading:“Is the U.S. Becoming an Autocracy?” by Andrew Marantz“Big Tents and Collective Action Can Defeat Authoritarianism,” by Maria J. StephanWhy Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict by Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

For these last couple of weeks of August we’ve been airing a miniseries from our friends at Radio Diaries.The third and final part is about a woman named Dorothy Thompson. In 1939, Time Magazine called her a woman who “thinks, talks and sleeps world problems and scares strange men half to death.” They weren’t wrong. Thompson was a foreign correspondent in Germany in the years leading up to World War 2…and she broadcast to millions of listeners around the world. She became known for her bold commentaries on the rise of Hitler — the Nazis even created a “Dorothy Thompson Emergency Squad” to monitor her work. She was an eloquent and opinionated advocate for the principles of democracy. But by the end of the war, those strong opinions put her career in jeopardy.  On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

This month, the director of Voice of America is being forced out in the latest of many moves to dismantle the state broadcasting service. On this week’s On the Media, a history of the Voice of America, and how it’s been politicized. Plus, hear why propagandists in Russia, China, and Iran are celebrating cuts to U.S.-funded foreign reporting.[01:00]  Episode 1 of The Divided Dial, Season 2: Fishing in the Night. You know AM and FM radio. But did you know that there is a whole other world of radio surrounding us at all times? It’s called shortwave — and, thanks to a quirk of science that lets broadcasters bounce radio waves off of the ionosphere, it can reach thousands of miles, penetrating rough terrain and geopolitical boundaries. Reporter Katie Thornton on how this instantaneous, global, mass communication tool — a sort of internet-before-the-internet — transformed from a utopian experiment in international connection to a hardened tool of information warfare and propaganda.[34:14] Host Micah Loewinger sits down with Alsu Kurmasheva, press freedom advocate and veteran journalist of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Tatar-Bashkir service, on what the network provides in countries lacking a free press and her own nine month detention in Russia. Plus, Bay Fang, president of Radio Free Asia, or RFA, on why authoritarians are celebrating Trump’s shutdown and how RFA’s closure will further diminish press freedom in Asia.  On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

This week, we're airing part two of a documentary series, courtesy of Radio Diaries, about three radio personalities who had huge audiences in their time, but today, are largely forgotten. These days, we’re used to media that thrives on conflict, that amplifies the most outrageous voices in the room. It’s something we often trace back to shock jocks like Howard Stern, and in-your-face talk show hosts like Tucker Carlson and Rush Limbaugh. But long before all those guys, there was Joe Pyne. At the height of his career in the 1950s, the New York Times called him the “ranking nuisance of broadcasting.” On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

When Donald Trump returned to office, tech companies donated millions of dollars to his inaugural committee. On this week’s On the Media, the rightwing roots of Silicon Valley. Plus, the CEO of the burgeoning social media platform, Bluesky, on how to billionaire-proof the internet.[01:00]  Micah Loewinger speaks with Becca Lewis, a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University, about how Silicon Valley has always had rightwing roots — an influential group of conservative thinkers in the tech world have long seen new technologies as tools for restoring older social orders.[14:47] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Jay Graber, the CEO of Bluesky, a competitor to Twitter/X that’s seen massive growth recently, about how Bluesky is structured in a fundamentally different way than other social media platforms, and why that might make it “billionaire-proof.” [32:27] OTM producer and new parent Molly Rosen speaks with Amanda Hess, author of the new book Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age, on how new technologies have transformed the experience of parenthood and what this signals about the future.Further reading:“‘Headed for technofascism’: the rightwing roots of Silicon Valley,” by Becca LewisSecond Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age, by Amanda Hess“My Son Has a Rare Syndrome. So I Turned to the Internet,” by Amanda Hess On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

For these final weeks of summer we wanted to transport you away from the doom and gloom of the daily news with a trio of stories produced by our friends at the public radio documentary-maker, Radio Diaries. The series is called “Making Waves” and it profiles three people who pushed the boundaries of radio: one to warn, one to rile, one to preach. This week's focus is the preacher. In 1934, the Washington Post called Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux the “best known colored man in America.” His Sunday services were broadcast to over 25 million listeners on CBS radio. Black America saw Michaux as a leader for racial harmony and progress. But during the civil rights movement, his reputation took an unlikely turn. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

President Trump fired the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics following a weak jobs report. On this week’s On the Media, how the Trump administration is threatening government data. Plus, a viral YouTube channel raises questions about the meaning of political debate. [01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone situates President Trump’s recent firing of the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics within a larger effort to discount facts that aren’t politically convenient. Plus, Amy O’Hara,  a professor at Georgetown's Massive Data Institute, on the importance of government data, and  Andreas Georgiou, a scholar in statistics at Amherst College, on his years-long battle to defend accurate economics data in Greece.[12:34] Brooke speaks with Angelo Carusone, the president of Media Matters, a liberal watchdog group that follows and fact-checks right-wing outlets like Fox News, NewsMax, and the Tucker Carlson Network, about the group’s fight for survival as it faces a deluge of lawsuits brought by Elon Musk’s X. [28:22] Host Micah Loewinger delves into the meteoric rise of the YouTube channel Jubilee with technology and online culture journalist Taylor Lorenz, and the channel’s mission of fostering “radical empathy” by hosting political debates between wildly opposing groups. He speaks with Mehdi Hasan, editor-in-chief of Zeteo, about his recent Jubilee debate with far right conservatives and how the channel is transforming the meaning of political debate. Plus, Stassia Underwood, a participant of one Jubilee debate, opens up about her experience on set. Further reading:“Under Siege From Trump and Musk, a Top Liberal Group Falls Into Crisis,” by By Kenneth P. Vogel, Kate Conger, and Ryan Mac“1 Conservative vs 25 LGBTQ+ Activists (feat. Michael Knowles)” (Jubilee)“1 Progressive vs 20 Far-Right Conservatives (ft. Mehdi Hasan)” (Jubilee) On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

Here in New York we’re not due to select our next mayor till November but somehow it feels like we’re already embroiled in pre-election chaos. Eric Adams is now running as an independent, and to do so he was required to present the signatures of 7,500 New Yorkers who support him. He actually handed in around 50,000 signatures so he more than made the cut off. But when our colleagues in the WNYC newsroom (and for the podcast NYC Now) began to look into those signatures, they stumbled onto a scandal.  On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

As reports of starving children in Gaza mount, France, Britain, and Canada are preparing to recognize Palestinian statehood. On this week’s On the Media, Palestinian journalists documenting food scarcity in Gaza are themselves going without food. Plus, how Israeli tv stations are deflecting blame for the blockade on aid.[01:00] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Adel Al Salman, a Cyprus-based photo editor for the Agence France-Press. They discuss how shocking images of starving children may have contributed to a shift in the conversation around Gaza, and how the Palestinian journalists taking those photos are starving, too. Plus, Micah asks Diana Buttu, a lawyer and former peace negotiator for the Palestine Liberation Organization, if the change in discourse will make a difference on the ground in Gaza.[17:04] Micah sits down with Oren Persico, media critic and staff writer for the Israeli outlet The Seventh Eye, about how (and if) images of the horrors in Gaza are being discussed on Israeli television.[29:44] Host Brooke Gladstone talks with Emily Nussbaum, television critic for The New Yorker, about the forgotten story of Gertrude Berg, the woman behind the television sitcom, and the anti-communism campaign that clouded her legacy.  Further reading:“Israeli Human Rights Group Says Israel Is Committing Genocide. Why Did It Take 22 Months?” by Diana Buttu“The Forgotten Inventor of the Sitcom,” by Emily Nussbaum On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

Brooke spoke in May with McKay Coppins, a staff writer at The Atlantic, about the remarkable, extensive interviews he conducted with members of the Murdoch family — particularly James Murdoch and his wife Kathryn. (Rupert and his eldest son, Lachlan, declined to participate). Hear about the infighting and sibling rivalry, and how the HBO show “Succession” influenced the family’s fight over the future of their own media empire. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

The FCC just approved a lucrative merger between Paramount and Skydance. Weeks earlier, Paramount settled a lawsuit with the president by paying him 16 million dollars. On this week’s On the Media, hear how that money is being funneled to Donald Trump’s future presidential library. Plus, how conservative outlets are coordinating attacks on universities.[01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone speaks with Tim Naftali, a Senior Research Scholar at the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs, about how President Trump has raised millions of dollars from lawsuit settlements with media companies for his future presidential library, and why this matters. [19:23] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Katherine Mangan, a senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education, about the recent investigations launched into George Mason University by the Trump administration, and the media campaign that followed suit.[32:43] Micah sits down with Elizabeth Lopatto, senior writer at The Verge, to dissect the ‘violently racist’ background of the hacker who allegedly stole admissions data from five universities, leading to the leak of Zohran Mamdani’s Columbia application to the New York Times. Plus, the consequences of the Times omitting any mention of the hacker from their coverage of the leak.Comment from Patrick Healy, Assistant Managing Editor for Standards and Trust at the New York Times: "Our reporters obtained information about Mr. Mamdani’s Columbia college application and went to the Mamdani campaign with it. When we hear anything of news value, we try to confirm it through direct sources. Mr. Mamdani confirmed this information in an interview with The Times. Mr. Mamdani shared his thinking about the limitations of identity boxes on forms like Columbia’s, and explained how he wrote in “Uganda,” the country of his birth – the kind of decision many people with overlapping identities have wrestled with when confronted with such boxes. We believe Mr. Mamdani’s thinking and decision-making, laid out in his words, was newsworthy and in line with our mission to help readers better know and understand top candidates for major offices. We sometimes receive information that has been hacked or from controversial sources. The Times does not solely rely on nor make a decision to publish information from such a source; we seek to confirm through direct sources, which we did with Mr. Mamdani. Sometimes sources have their own motives or obtain information using means we wouldn't, like Trump's taxes, Wikileaks or Edward Snowden. It’s important to share what we can about sourcing, but we always independently assess newsworthiness and factual accuracy before publishing. On sourcing, we work to give readers context, including in this case the initial source’s online alias, as a way to learn more about the person, who was effectively an intermediary. The ultimate source was Columbia admissions data and Mr. Mamdani, who confirmed our reporting. We heard from readers who wanted more detail about this initial source. That’s fair feedback. We printed his online alias so readers could learn more about the person. The purpose of this story was to help illuminate the thinking and background of a major mayoral candidate." Full version here.Further reading:“The Death of Nonpartisan Presidential History,” by Tim Naftali“George Mason Is the Latest University Under Fire From Trump. Its President Fears an “Orchestrated” Campaign,” by Katie Mangan“This ‘violently racist’ hacker claims to be the source of The New York Times’ Mamdani scoop,” by Elizabeth Lopatto“The Columbia hack is a much bigger deal than Mamdani’s college application,” by Elizabeth Lopatto“Mamdani Identified as Asian and African American on College Application,” by Benjamin Ryan, Nicholas Fandos, and Dana Rubinstein“Columbia Cyberattack Appears Politically Motivated, University Says,” by Sharon Otterman“Columbia University Applicants’ Personal Data Stolen by Hacker,” by Cameron Fozi On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

EXTENDED VERSION: Brooke sits down with Jessa Crispin, critic and editor-in-chief of The Culture We Deserve, to talk about her new book What Is Wrong with Men: Patriarchy, the Crisis of Masculinity, and How (Of Course) Michael Douglas Films Explain Everything, which tracks the “masculinity crisis” through Michael Douglas films.  On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

The Trump administration is trying to subdue fury from all angles over the Epstein Files. On this week's On the Media, how the controversy is fracturing Republicans and firing up Democrats. Plus, tracing today’s so-called “masculinity crisis” through the films of Michael Douglas.[00:00] Host Brooke Gladstone dissects the bitter division between President Trump and several MAGA politicians and influencers over his administration’s handling of the Epstein files, and how the president is suddenly at odds with the initial source of his political momentum – conspiracies.[00:00] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Dan Friedman, a senior reporter for Mother Jones, about what we actually know regarding Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and the line between skepticism and conspiracism. [00:00] Brooke sits down with Jessa Crispin, critic and editor-in-chief of The Culture We Deserve, to chat about her new book What Is Wrong with Men: Patriarchy, the Crisis of Masculinity, and How (Of Course) Michael Douglas Films Explain Everything, which tracks the “masculinity crisis” through Michael Douglas films.  Further reading:“Stop Taking the Epstein Bait, Dems,” by Dan FriedmanWhat Is Wrong with Men: Patriarchy, the Crisis of Masculinity, and How (Of Course) Michael Douglas Films Explain Everything by Jessa Crispin On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

The Atlantic hurricane season is currently underway – and in fact, it was the tail end of tropical storm Barry that contributed to the deadly flash floods in Texas  two weeks ago that  has claimed at least 132 lives so far. As I write this, over 100 people are still missing.According to writer Nathaniel Rich, when it comes to planning for a fraught climate future, New Orleans sets an example the rest of the country would be wise to follow. This week, we're revisiting this conversation about how the city confronts the inevitable. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

Like it or not, more people are using artificial intelligence than ever. On this week’s On the Media, hear about the AI arms race between the U.S. and China, and how the tech gets overhyped. Plus, a composer wrestles with a new AI music generator – which threatens his own job.[01:00] Brooke speaks with Ed Zitron, host of the Better Offline podcast and author of the newsletter Where’s Your Ed At, about how tech moguls have gotten away with overhyping A.I. for years. Plus, the apparent race for AI supremacy between the U.S. and China.[18:09] Brooke continues the conversation with Ed Zitron, peeling back the facade to explore what generative A.I. can actually do.[29:51]  Former OTM producer, and current composer and sound designer, Mark Henry Phillips, on how AI music generators could fundamentally upend his industry for good.Further reading:“Deep Impact,” by Ed Zitron“Godot Isn't Making it,” by Ed Zitron“Bubble Trouble,” by Ed Zitron On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.