On the Media

In This Economy?

22 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Gas prices are coming down. Inflation is still going up. Jobs are strong, yet recession fears abound. This week, On the Media dives into the contradic...

Escaping the Kremlin's Propaganda Machine

21 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This weekend marks five brutal months since Russia invaded Ukraine — with no end in sight. And in Russia, support for the war has remained high. 77...

How to Report a Cold Case

15 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In 2014, the brutal killing of John and Joyce Sheridan, a prominent couple with personal ties to three governors, shocked even the most cynical operat...

Why Reporter Nancy Solomon Chose True Crime

13 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier this year, the New Jersey Attorney General opened up an investigation into the killings of John and Joyce Sheridan, a well known couple with p...

The F-Word

08 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Early in the pandemic, weight was named a risk factor for severe covid-19. But what if the greater risk is poor medical treatment for fat people? This...

Hong Kong's Rewritten Histories

06 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This fall, students in Hong Kong will learn a new version of history — one that erases the fact the region was ever a British colony. According to f...

Locked and Loaded

01 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The overturning of Roe v. Wade will remain the most discussed opinion of this Supreme Court term. But just a day earlier, the high court issued anothe...

The End of Roe in the Armed Forces

30 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

As the country reels from last Friday’s decision by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, people, politicians, and health care providers are s...

Struck From the Record

24 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week, the Supreme Court officially struck down Roe v. Wade, overturning fifty years of legal precedent and abortion rights across the country. On...

The 'Country Queers' Who Don't Want to Flee Rural America

23 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

All across the country this month, people are celebrating queer and trans pride with parades, cookouts, dances, and family gatherings. And yet the fu...

The Conspiracy Machine

17 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this week's January 6th committee hearings, a documentary selling election conspiracies was laughed off by the likes of Bill Barr. But myths about ...

Alex Jones Doesn't Care About You

16 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Josh Owens was an InfoWars employee from 2013 to 2017. In an essay published on CNN.com this week, Owens described his deep regret over the past 5 y...

Worth a Thousand Words

10 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Gun control legislation appears doomed once again, even as Congress heard heartbreaking testimony from parents of the children killed in Uvalde. On th...

The Messy Politics of Oprah and Dr. Oz

08 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Back in the before-times, when we used to go into the radio station every day, our office next-door neighbor was WNYC host Brian Lehrer. He hosts a 2...

When the Fog Clears

03 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week, On the Media looks ahead to the January 6th committee hearings that will air live in primetime this month. Find out which questions reporte...

How The Media Failed Amber Heard

02 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This Wednesday afternoon, in Fairfax County Circuit Court in Virginia, a jury awarded Johnny Depp $15 million in damages in libel suit against Amber H...

Imperfect Immunity

27 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

As we trudge through our third year of the pandemic, what is the state of our immunity to COVID? On this week’s On the Media, hear how vaccines and ...

Again and Again and Again and Again (and Again)

25 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Last week’s show was titled “Again and Again” and it led with an essay about the then latest devastating mass shooting, in Buffalo. We combed ou...

Again and Again

20 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the wake of yet another racist mass shooting, this time in Buffalo, New York, media outlets are churning out heartbreakingly familiar stories, w...

Where in the World is Brooke?

18 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're airing an interview that Brooke did while on a fellowship at the American Academy in Rome. She and her husband Fred Kaplan (author of ...

Seeing Is Believing

13 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

With Roe v Wade under threat, some politicians and media outlets are trying to turn the national conversation away from abortion and toward civility. ...

How the Depp v. Heard Trial Became a Meme

12 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we take a look at the latest celebrity trial to ensnare the national attention. Johnny Depp is suing Amber Heard, his ex-wife, for defamati...

Crime and Punishment

06 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Across news outlets, crime reporting often relies on police sources and incomplete data. On this week’s show, hear how to spot bias in crime stories...

The Abortion Underground

04 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week, OTM presents a story from our colleagues at The Experiment. There’s a common story about abortion in this country, that people have only ...

Ghost in the Machine

29 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

After news broke that Elon Musk is likely to purchase Twitter later this year, the billionaire began sharing a controversial vision for the app. On th...

Dead End

27 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On this week's podcast extra we present episode 1 of a new series from our colleague, Nancy Solomon. She’s our New Jersey specialist at WNYC and sh...

Work Work Work Work Work

22 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Checking in on the so-called Great Resignation. On this week’s On The Media, hear why the trend is a logical response to the cult of work. Plus, whe...

The Holiday You May Have Missed

20 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

International Workers' Day is celebrated with rallies and protests all over the world on May 1, but it's not a big deal in the United States. Back in ...

How Cassettes Changed the World

15 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Cassette tapes mostly gather dust these days. But back in their heyday, they fundamentally changed how we communicate, in ways we’re still making se...

It's Tax Season!

13 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Few clichés are as well-worn, and grounded in reality, as the dread many Americans feel towards doing their taxes and the loathing they have for the...

Our Unfinished Pandemic

08 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Congress is threatening to cut billions in COVID aid even as a new variant emerges. On this week’s On the Media, how our policy debate reveals an i...

New Variant on the Block

06 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Hey waddayaknow? There are more variants in the news. Back when Omicron was first making headlines at the end of last year, we made a Breaking News C...

Still Armed, Still Dangerous

01 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

More than a month into Putin’s invasion, Ukrainian resistance has proved mightier than the Russian leader seems to have anticipated. On this week’...

The Simpsons in a Time of Nuclear War

30 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A new poll this week from AP-NORC found that when asked, close to half of Americans say they are very concerned that Russia would directly target the...

All the World's a Stage

25 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week’s confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson were filled with dog whistles and distractions. On our lates...

A Handy Guide to How the Supreme Court Works

23 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Supreme Court is an opaque and difficult to understand institution. Luckily, drawing on the expertise of seasoned SCOTUS reporters, we've put ...

We Were Warned

18 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

As the horrific violence in Ukraine escalates, the global far-right is justifying Russia’s invasion with outlandish conspiracy theories. On this wee...

The Death of Historical Memory in Russia

16 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Russia's Memorial International maintained an archive whose purpose was to amass and preserve the crimes against humanity committed in the Sovie...

The Escape

11 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The refugee crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may be the fastest-growing displacement of people in Europe since World War II. On this w...

The Kremlin's M.O.

09 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This is a piece we first ran last September. It's reported by OTM producer Molly Schwartz who until the war in Ukraine started was a fellow on a jour...

The Fog of War

04 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Footage captured and shared by Ukrainian civilians is helping the world see through the fog of war. But not every video in your news feed is the real ...

'La Brega' in Puerto Rico

25 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week, OTM presents stories from Puerto Rico as told in a podcast series called "La Brega," hosted by Alana Casanova-Burgess. Hear what that...

How SPAM built a town—and tore it apart

23 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week, OTM presents the second installment of a new series by our colleagues at The Experiment. In this episode, we learn that SPAM is at the cen...

Good As Gold

18 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Mainstream journalists keep falling for crypto scams that can end up costing their audiences a fortune. On this week’s On the Media, hear why all of...

All about SPAM (the meaty kind)

16 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On this week's  podcast we’re bringing you a story from our colleagues at The Experiment. It’s about SPAM: the meaty kind. During World War II, w...

I'm No Expert

11 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Joe Rogan’s fans, critics, and everyone in between have spent weeks hearing his name plastered on the news. On this week’s On the Media, a look at...

Man of the Left

09 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Todd Gitlin - writer, academic, media analyst, sociologist and lifelong activist died on February 5th. In his youth he helped organize the first natio...

Read the Room

04 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

An old threat has returned to classrooms across the country — and it’s made of pages and ink. On this week’s On the Media, hear what it means to...

Barney Rosset Never Backed Down

02 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In 1951, Grove Press was a tiny, almost-defunct independent publisher, with just three titles in its catalog, including Herman Melville’s The Confid...

Humans, Being

28 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

When you hear the word “Neanderthal,” you probably picture a mindless, clumsy brute. It’s often used as an insult — even by our president, who...

Debate This!

26 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier this month, Ronna McDaniel, Chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, wrote a letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates—the in...

Political Fictions

21 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It’s been over a year since Donald Trump was defeated fair and square in the 2020 election, but polling shows that belief in the Big Lie is as stron...

Snow...in the tropics?

19 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week we are airing another episode from the show "La Brega"a podcast about life in Puerto Rico and hosted by former OTM producer Alana Casanova-B...

A Question of War

14 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Since the insurrection on January 6, warnings of a second American Civil War have been sounded. This week, On the Media explores whether the civil war...

Is New York Times v Sullivan on the Chopping Block?

13 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Revisiting the crucial case law "NYT v Sullivan."On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.o...

Road To Insurrection

07 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It’s been one year since the armed insurrection at the Capitol, what do we know now about how it happened? On this week’s On the Media, hear about...

Aaron Swartz: The Wunderkind of the Free Culture Movement

05 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In 2013, 26-year-old software developer and political activist Aaron Swartz died by suicide. He had been indicted on federal charges after illegal...

Reputation

31 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Should we cancel the word “cancel”? On this week’s On the Media, find out who benefits from the newest culture scare, and a history of "cancel...

An Interview With Basketball Great Walt "Clyde" Frazier

29 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Basketball Hall of Famer Walt "Clyde" Frazier made a successful transition from NBA star to sports broadcaster on the MSG Network. With his cool rhyme...

Scene of the Crime

24 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On this week’s On the Media, a look at the journalists and newspapers we lost in 2021, and hopes for the press in the year ahead. Plus, is the ever-...

Ten Things That Scare Brooke Gladstone

22 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Merry Christmas, to those who celebrate! To those who don't (and, aw heck, to those who do too) we offer a very special end-of-year gift: fear. More...

Fame and Misfortune

17 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Text messages obtained by the January 6 commission revealed the panic of Fox News hosts — even as they downplayed the insurrection on camera. On thi...

Everything You Never Knew About Movie Novelizations

15 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Write a great book and you're a genius. Turn a book into a great film and you're a visionary. Turn a great film into a book...that's another story. N...

Take This Job and Shove It

10 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Amid the so-called Great Resignation, nearly 39 million Americans have left their jobs. On this week’s On The Media, hear why this trend is a logica...

Log On For OTM Trivia Tonight!

07 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Tonight at 7pm ET, join Brooke, the OTM staff, and other listeners from around the country for our first ever Zoom trivia night! Flex your knowledge ...

Pigeon with A Mustache

03 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

By now, the new coronavirus variant has been detected in dozens of countries – including the U.S. On this week’s On the Media, hear what pigeons c...

A Different Hanukkah Story

01 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week is Hanukkah, Judaism’s eight-day festival of lights. With its emphasis on present-giving, dreidel games and sweet treats, the holiday seem...

How Cassette Tapes Changed the World

26 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Cassette tapes mostly gather dust these days. But back in their heyday, they fundamentally changed how we communicate, in ways we’re still making se...

Chasing Dash

24 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Last year at this time, 9 months into the pandemic, so many of us stayed separated from one another, missing out on all the gathering, yam-eating, rel...

Bait the Nation

19 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Politicians and pundits on the right are eager to pin rising rates of inflation on President Biden — but that misses the bigger picture. Plus, how s...

The Climate Summit Blues

17 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland concluded last weekend—the 26th “Conference of Parties.” After more than two decades of these prom...

Cha-ching!

12 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Twenty months since the start of the pandemic, economic recovery has been uneven at best. This week, On the Media takes a look at one sector that’s ...

OTM presents The Experiment: Who Would Jesus Mock?

10 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The satire site The Babylon Bee, a conservative Christian answer to The Onion, stirred controversy when some readers mistook its headlines for mis...

The History of Tomorrow

05 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For decades, Silicon Valley leaders have been borrowing ideas from science fiction — from the metaverse to the latest tech gadgets. On this week’s...

The Only Inevitability

03 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

700,000. That’s the latest COVID death count to dominate a headline in the United States. Over the last 19 months, we’ve seen a steady trickle of ...

A Rift In the Gun World

29 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week, On the Media takes a deep dive into the "No Compromise" gun rights movement. Its members see the NRA as too amenable to gun control measure...

When The Mob Gets a Podcast

28 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

True crime is incredibly popular. Whether it's books, movies, television shows, or podcasts, stories that play to our deepest fears and most sensat...

Plot Twist

22 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From boosters to breakthrough infections, pandemic vocabulary is still all over the news. On this week’s On the Media, why the terms we use to talk ...

Colin Powell's Pivotal Moment That Wasn't

20 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Colin Powell, former Secretary of State, Joint Chiefs chairman, and omnipresence in American foreign policy for the past 20 years, died on Monday fr...

Against the Machine

15 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Have you been wondering exactly what it means to Build Back Better? On this week’s On the Media, hear why political coverage seems to address everyt...

Who Is The Bad Art Friend? Why Not Both?

14 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

To watch the rise of viral content is always an interesting exercise. From "Charlie bit my finger" to the "Lulz That Broke Wall Street," the internet ...

The Big Reveal

08 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From a six hour service outage to a senate whistleblower hearing, the PR disasters keep mounting for Facebook. On this week’s show, hear how the tec...

It's Debt Ceiling Time Again!

06 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

While Democrats fight amongst themselves over getting their legislative agenda passed, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer is locked in his own battl...

Out of Sight

01 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Facebook and Instagram are harming young users, according to leaked research discussed in a Senate hearing this week. On this week’s On the Media, h...

The Big Screen version of Boom and Bust

29 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It was 13 years ago this month when news broke that the Wall Street investment firm Lehman Brothers collapsed, setting in motion the financial crisis ...

The Subversion Playbook

24 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

By now, we’re familiar with voter suppression tactics, from long voting lines to voter ID laws. On this week’s On the Media, hear how election sub...

From Birtherism to Election Theft

22 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In their new book "Peril," Bob Woodward and Robert Costa released a previously unpublished memo by a man named John Eastman, who served as an attorney...

Fire and Brimstone

17 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Throughout the pandemic, religious rights advocates have protested some public health measures like bans on large gatherings. Now, some Americans are...

The Trial of Elizabeth Holmes

16 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In 2014, Fortune magazine ran a cover story featuring Elizabeth Holmes: a blonde woman wearing a black turtleneck, staring deadpan at the camera, wi...

Aftershocks

10 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Twenty years after the Twin Towers came down, we’re still wrestling over how to make sense of what happened. On this week’s On the Media, how the ...

Hey Everyone, Meet Sacha Pfeiffer!

08 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

By way of introduction to the person who will be sitting in for Brooke for a few weeks, we are revisiting our interview about "Spotlight." The 2015 ...

Organizing Chaos

03 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A debate has been raging among the librarians of the world, and it's all about order. The Dewey Decimal System became our way of managing information...

Biased Algorithms, Biased World

01 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Algorithms are everywhere, making crucial decisions at almost every juncture of our lives. But, while we may believe in the objectivity of these mathe...

Constitutionally Speaking

27 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“The right to throw a punch ends at the tip of someone’s nose.” It’s the idea that underlies American liberties — but does it still fit in 2...

A New First Amendment

25 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Nearly six decades ago, the Supreme Court made a decision in the case New York Times v. Sullivan that would forever alter the way journalists practi...

Maligned Women

20 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Cries to free Britney Spears from her conservatorship this summer have prompted a reevaluation of how the pop star was covered by the press decades a...

How Radio Makes Female Voices Sound Shrill

18 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Shrill" popped back up in the national lexicon in the coverage of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential bid, and again, in a 2020 race filled with fem...

A 40 Acre Promise

13 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Last week, the federal government, in a limited way, extended the eviction moratorium in place since the start of the pandemic. It's a temporary solut...

I'm Brooke Gladstone and I Am a Trekker

11 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In September 1966, Gene Roddenberry dispatched the crew of the Starship Enterprise on its maiden voyage through space and time and into the American l...

Bad Idea Machine

06 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

With Delta Variant cases surging, public health officials are pleading with Americans to get vaccinated ASAP. This week, we examine at how some journa...