On the Media
Episodes
Chokehold
27 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Since the news about Harvey Weinstein’s sexual predations, allegations have surfaced against other powerful men. We look back at the early days in ...
Scary Clowns
25 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The days are getting shorter, the leaves are changing and Halloween is on its way. And with these annual rites comes another yearly tradition: the com...
Under the Influence
20 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
As the opioid crisis in America rages, the government struggles to react. A look at how a 2016 bill weakened the Drug Enforcement Agency and why nobod...
Raqqa Liberated
18 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
News came this week that the US backed Syrian Democratic Forces had finally liberated the city of Raqqa from the grip of ISIS. For the past three year...
Losing Power
13 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The President is once again threatening the press, but it's unclear whether he will be able to follow through. A look at which threats to the First Am...
Puerto Rico's Never-ending Emergency
10 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
David Begnaud of CBS was in Puerto Rico before Hurricane Maria hit on September 20. Then, he and his team reported for two weeks straight, posting vi...
More Human Than Human
06 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The news has been awash in reports of the rising death tolls for the Las Vegas shooting and the ongoing devastation in Puerto Rico. This week, why th...
After Vegas
02 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
On Sunday night, a gunman opened fire on an outdoor music festival in Las Vegas, NV. Since then, reports of deaths and injuries have been mounting, ma...
Insult to Injury
29 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
As Puerto Rico rations resources and seeks help from the US government, the mainland media has mostly been preoccupied with Donald Trump's provocatio...
Among Many Victims in Mexico, There Was One Who Never Existed
28 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In Central Mexico, rescuers continue to sift through piles of rubble left by last week's 7.1 magnitude earthquake. Hundreds of volunteers have joined ...
OTM live at the Texas Tribune Festival: The Politicians
27 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When Brooke was at the Texas Tribune festival in Austin last week, she moderated two sessions, one with reporters and one with couple of US Representa...
OTM live at the Texas Tribune Festival: The Journalists
27 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Last week Brooke was at the Texas Tribune Festival, an annual event that gathers hundred of speakers and thousands of citizens to discuss big issues o...
Trust Issues
22 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Facebook is under fire for allowing Russian propagandists to buy ads during the 2016 election. This week, how we do and don't hold tech giants account...
What Lies Ahead For Puerto Rico
21 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Following Hurricane Maria’s landfall on Wednesday morning, we have only scarce images and reports from which to comprehend the scale of devastation ...
"Free Speech Week" Puts Berkeley Back in the Crosshairs
20 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Alt-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos recently released a list of speakers for his upcoming "Free Speech Week" at University of California Berke...
Look What You Made Me Do
15 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
A week after President Trump cut a surprise deal with Democrats, and 100 years after it was created, is the debt ceiling still serving its intended pu...
The Counter-Jihad Movement & the Making of a President
12 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
President George W. Bush, speaking at a mosque on Sept. 17, 2001: "The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That’s not what Islam is all a...
Duck and Cover
08 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Trump administration has announced the end of the DACA program. We examine the rhetoric used to justify the decision. Plus: the Southern Poverty L...
Unnatural Disaster
01 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Hurricane Harvey makes landfall, bringing with it a familiar set of reporting tropes. We unpack the language of storm reporting and why it falls short...
Bob's Docs Finale: Conflicting Narratives
30 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
For the month of August, we’ve been running a series of interviews Bob has done with documentary filmmakers. We’ve been calling it “Bob’s Docs...
This American War on Drugs
25 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has signaled that he'd like to revamp the war on drugs. We take a look at the history of the battle, and how sensationa...
Bob's Docs Episode Four: It's Personal
23 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
For the month of August we've been running a series of interviews Bob has done over the years with documentary filmmakers. In the OTM office, the prod...
Gutted
18 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1960s, pollution was a visible, visceral problem, and public pressure led a Republican president to create the Environmental Protection Agenc...
Bob's Docs Episode Three: Prurience
16 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
For the month of August we’ll be running a series of interviews Bob has done over the years with documentary filmmakers. In the OTM office, the pro...
You've Been Warned
11 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
After a week of fury and fire, On the Media takes a chill pill. We look at chilling warnings and opaque impediments, from reporters working with whist...
Bob's Docs Episode Two: Access
09 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
For the month of August we’ll be running a series of interviews Bob has done over the years with documentary filmmakers. In the OTM office, the pro...
"Shmashmortion"
04 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The surprising political history of abortion in America; how the language of the abortion debate impacts us all; state lawmakers are tightening the ru...
Bob's Docs Episode One: Manipulation
01 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
For the month of August we’ll be running a series of interviews Bob has done over the years with documentary filmmakers. In the OTM office, the pr...
Essential Coverage
28 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The battle over Republican Senators' most recent attempt at repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act dominated the media this week, and seeming...
Armchair diagnosing do's and don'ts
26 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In March, the American Psychoanalytic Association emailed its 3500 members giving them the go ahead to bring their professional judgement to bear in...
Doubt It
21 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
There’s new research about how people process information, errors, and corrections. A look at what those findings tell us about the efficacy of jour...
Not Repealed, Not Replaced
19 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
After the Republican Party’s seven-year attempt to dismantle the Affordable Care Act kicked the bucket this week, Donald Trump declared that he wou...
Three-Dimensional Chess
14 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The press are calling Don Jr.’s meeting with a Russian lawyer a “smoking gun.” Why Trump supporters see it otherwise. Plus, the White House’s ...
In Which Brooke Explains OTM's Secret Sauce To Jesse Thorn
12 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Bullseye host Jesse Thorn has just launched a new podcast called The Turnaround. It’s a series of longform interviews with interviewers about inter...
Apocalypse, Now
07 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Science fiction has always been an outlet for our greatest anxieties. This week, we delve into how the genre is exploring the reality of climate chang...
It's the End of the World and We Know It
05 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In our upcoming episode we’ll examine how science fiction has taken on the challenge of imagining life after global warming. There’s drought, floo...
What Ails America
30 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Our northern neighbor is celebrating its 150th birthday this weekend, yet many Canadians don’t care. Why Canada’s lack of patriotism might be a go...
"The American people elected a fighter"
29 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Bob's take on this week's back and forth between the President and the press who cover him. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support...
Newton Minow Still Cares About the Media
28 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
This week, at the annual conference of the National Association for Media Literacy Education, Bob sat down with former FCC chairman Newton Minow to su...
Stand And Be Counted
23 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Following the Republican victory in Georgia this week, a look at how gerrymandering makes some political outcomes inevitable—and why the media aren...
The Slants Win the Day!
21 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that a law denying federal trademark protection to names deemed disparaging is unconstitutional. Justice Samuel A...
Sterner Stuff
16 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
After the politically charged shooting at a Virginia baseball field this week, a look at how politicians and the press blamed everyone from Democrats ...
No One Is Above the Law
14 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
This week Attorneys General from DC and Maryland alleged in a lawsuit that payments by foreign governments to President Trump's businesses violate an...
Enough With Reality
09 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Trump administration has been threatening to crack down on leakers for months, and this week, it did. We examine how a news outlet inadvertently h...
Doug Stamper Is A Very Bad Man
07 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Help us meet the OTM listener challenge by becoming a member today! Sign up to donate just $7 a month and you'll unlock $25,000 from the Tow Foundati...
Mind the Gap
02 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
A recent anti-Muslim hate crime in Portland has sparked a debate about free speech. Plus: conspiracy theories that appeal to liberals; the media's obs...
The United States of Anxiety: America's Allergy to Intellectualism
31 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Help us meet the OTM listener challenge by becoming a member today! Sign up to donate just $7 a month and you'll unlock $25,000 from the Tow Foundati...
Focus
26 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the wake of the Manchester attack, tech companies are again under pressure to fight extremism online. A look at whether they’re really doing al...
Drawing New Lines
24 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
This week, the Supreme Court struck down two congressional districts in North Carolina, deciding that the majority-black districts were created to dim...
Curtains!
19 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Trump-Comey story is largely missing from the far right-wing media. A look at how pro-Trump outlets choose to cover, or ignore, unfavorable news....
The Trouble With Reality
16 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
We're living in an era of smoke and mirrors as never before. Do you find yourself wondering how we reached this pass, where basic facts have no impact...
Shiny Objects
11 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
With an administration that seems to break new traditions every day, we look at the rapid-fire changes to the White House story about Comey's firing...
The United States of Anxiety is Back!
10 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Our colleagues in the WNYC news department are back with season 2 of The United States of Anxiety. We liked the first episode so much we're bringing i...
Rewriting the Right
05 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The passage of the Obamacare repeal bill this week—hailed as a triumph of conservative ideology—didn’t come out of nowhere. We examine the de...
Climate of Poor Rhetoric
04 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The New York Times' new conservative columnist, Bret Stephens, immediately stirred up controversy when he used his inaugural column to criticize ...
In Other Words
28 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Trump has backed off his signature campaign promise to build a border wall right away. We look at the symbolism of a barrier on the southern border...
The Art of Winning a Pulitzer
26 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Northwestern Iowa’s Storm Lake Times is a twice-weekly county newspaper with a circulation of 3,330. It has a staff of about 10, including the rec...
"We'll Do It Live!"
21 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Bill O'Reilly was the bombastic, blustery face of Fox News. Now that he's out, what happens to the identity and future of the channel? Plus, how to re...
Closing the Blinds
20 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Breaking from an open government initiative started by President Obama, the White House announced last Friday that visitor logs will no longer be p...
This American War on Drugs
14 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has signaled that he'd like to revamp the War on Drugs. We take a look at the history of the battle, and how sensationa...
How the Press Gets Seduced By War
12 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Last week, President Trump ordered the firing of 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles on Syria in retaliation against the chemical attack allegedly committed ...
Out With The Old...
07 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Neil Gorsuch is the newest Supreme Court Justice and all it took was the destruction of a Senate tradition. A look at the colorful history of filibus...
The (Nonexistent) Good Old Days
04 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the midst of several days of his Supreme Court confirmation hearings last week, Judge Neil Gorsuch took a moment to wax nostalgic for the days when...
It's Just Business
31 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When President Trump signed an order dismantling environmental protections, the photo-op included coal miners. We consider the symbolism and reality ...
We'll Always Have Paris
28 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump made many, many pronouncements on the campaign trail, one of them was that he would "cancel the Paris climate agreement". While he can...
Highly Irregular
24 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
An expensive TV ad campaign has been selling Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch to the American people. We speak with the group behind the effort. Pl...
Better Know a Justice
22 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
At his confirmation hearing this week, supreme court nominee Neil Gorsuch - according to the New York Times - cast himself as "a humble Westerner, re...
Doesn't Add Up
17 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The President’s proposed budget seems to prioritize national security over pretty much everything else. We examine how the lowest-income Americans c...
This Is Not a Safe Space
14 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Earlier this month libertarian political scientist Charles Murray and author of the book “the Bell Curve,” derided by many as a racist take on the...
Seeing Is Believing
10 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1960s, pollution was a visible, visceral problem, and public pressure led a Republican president to create the Environmental Protection Agenc...
When the Press Sues Over "Fake News"
07 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
“Fake news.” What began as a description of utterly false articles, fabricated for political advantage or profit, was immediately co-opted by Dona...
Follow the Money
03 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
As the Trump-Russia saga continues to unfold, how the Obama administration spent its final days scrambling to preserve evidence of Russian interferen...
This Gene Was Edited By Brooke
01 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
CRISPR is a new technology that enables scientists to quickly alter the genetic makeup of the entire population of a species. It's so powerful th...
Smoke & Handcuffs
23 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
With a president who would rather watch TV than receive intelligence briefings, CNN’s Brian Stelter helps unpack the symbiotic relationship between...
Leak State
17 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Republicans decry the leakers; Democrats applaud them...oh, how the tables have turned. How to make sense of the Flynn affair and revelations about th...
Out Like Flynn
14 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In response to scandals large and small, first the Trump campaign and now the Trump White House has relied on the fact that each successive lie or ou...
See You In Court
10 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
With the president and the judiciary at odds over the travel ban, the term "constitutional crisis" is ubiquitous. Why it should be deployed carefull...
What We Know About the Border
08 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Trump administration's so-called "Muslim ban" has created chaos and confusion at airports around the country, but horror stories at the border go...
The Ties That Bind
03 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
From incendiary phone calls with world leaders to a sloppy military operation in Yemen, a look at what we've learned so far from "the leakiest White...
#PresidentBannon
31 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
WH chief strategist Steve Bannon is credited with influencing the president's every move, from speeches to executive orders. This week it was announc...
New Reality
27 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The first week of the Trump administration was a frenzy of executive actions, falsehoods, and attacks on the media. Bob goes to the White House to ta...
Week One
24 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and his boss have had a rough first few days in their new jobs. Historian Martha Joynt Kumar explains that th...
Future Tense
20 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump may be the most vocal with his disdain, but he's hardly the first president to have a rocky relationship with the press. Plus, why the...
"Busted" #5: Breaking News Consumer's Handbook: Poverty in America Edition
17 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When reporting on poverty, the media fall into familiar traps and pundits make prescriptions that disregard the facts. So, in the fifth and final inst...
"Busted" #4: When the Safety Net Doesn't Catch You
17 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
UPDATE: OTM has received numerous inquiries from listeners who want to help Margaret Smith. If you’d like to donate, she has set up a PayPal accou...
"Busted" #3: Rags to Riches
17 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the third installment of our series, "Busted: America's Poverty Myths," we take on one of our country's most fundamental notions: that America is...
"Busted" #2: Who Deserves To Be Poor?
17 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
UPDATE: Since this series began, OTM has received numerous inquiries from listeners who want to help Carla Scott. If you’d like to donate, she has ...
"Busted" #1: The Poverty Tour
17 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Today, more than 45 million Americans live in poverty. The problem has been addressed countless times since the nation’s founding, but it persist...
The Game Has Changed
13 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
As tensions between the press and the president-elect continue to mount, a look at why some news outlets chose to publish a salacious but unverified s...
January Surprise
11 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
For weeks now, journalists have been aware of a dossier circulating among top officials and the media; it alleges among other things, that Russia has ...
No End In Sight
06 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
British journalist John Cantlie has been a prisoner of ISIS for more than four years. Throughout his captivity, he's been forced to act as a sort of w...
To Thine Own Self Be True
30 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
It's been four hundred years since the death of William Shakespeare, and the Bard is as popular as ever... and just as mysterious. For centuries, a wa...
Donald Trump is not Hitler
28 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The Man in the High Castle, the Emmy Award winning TV series, imagines a world in which the Nazi’s won WWII. Set in the 1960s, the show blends actu...
Hurry Up!
23 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
None of us know what Donald Trump will do once he becomes President Trump. What we do know is what he has said he wants to do and what powers he ...
Michigan's Muckraker
20 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
This week four more officials were charged in the Flint, Michigan water crisis, bringing the total to charged to 13. But the story initially unfolded...
Spy vs. Spy
16 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The saga over Russian interference in the election has been marked by secrecy, rumor, and contradictory evidence. We try to bring some clarity to a cl...
The Art of the Follow-Up
13 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Recently CNN's Jake Tapper asked VPEOTUS Mike Pence the same question over and over again, hoping for an answer. Bob spoke to Tapper back in June abo...
Imagine That
09 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The Justice Department just vastly expanded the government’s power to hack into your devices... but you probably haven't heard about it. We examine ...
The Mistrial of Michael Slager
07 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
After a mistrial this week in the case of Michael Slager, the police officer caught on camera shooting Walter Scott in the back as he ran away, we rev...
Normalize This!
02 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
We devote this hour to a question put to us pretty much daily since election day: How to cover President Trump? First, we ask the AP, Univision, NP...