On the Media
Episodes
"Haiti Needs a New Narrative"
04 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the wake of the assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse on July 7th, international media rushed to cover Haiti’s latest political cri...
Undercover and Over-Exposed
30 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we consider whether information should ever be off-limits to journalists. It’s a thorny ethical question raised by FBI informants, hack...
Occupational Hazards
23 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A look at how journalism selectively judges objectivity and bias… Which produces better reporting: proximity to the community you cover? Or distance...
How a Nightclub Fire Brought Down a Government
21 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 2015, a tragedy gripped Romanian consciousness when a fire at a popular club in the country's capital killed 27 people, injured nearly 200 more, a...
As You Like It
16 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As numbers of the vaccinated rise, theaters around the country are once again opening. In celebration, this week’s show is all about Shakespeare, in...
Painting for the Future and Talking to the Dead
14 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Hilma af Klint was a Swedish painter born in 1862 who painted big, bold canvases suffused with rich, strange colors denoting masculine and feminine,...
Blame It On the Booze
09 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Nearly a quarter of American adults reported drinking more at home to cope with their pandemic blues. This week, we take a deep dive into the ancient...
Aaron Copland's Sound of America
07 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There are many Americas. Nowadays they barely speak to each other. But during the most perilous years of the last century, one young composer went in ...
The Road to Insurrection
02 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week marks six months since January 6th, the day a pro-Trump mob stormed the US Capitol. Over 500 rioters have since been arrested, but the lega...
Is 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down' a Neo-Confederate Anthem?
30 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's been noted that Trump’s Big Lie and the violence it produced is reminiscent of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy — a potent narrative of grie...
"We Are Putting Out A Damn Paper"
25 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
June 28th marks the anniversary of a mass shooting that took place inside a newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland, killing five journalists. On this week's ...
A New Model for Local Journalism?
23 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1800s, New Bedford, Massachusetts was the world’s “center of whaling.” More than half of the world’s whaling ships in the 1840s came fr...
Behind Closed Doors
18 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
New reports show that the Trump Department of Justice spied on reporters. But that’s just a small part of a much longer story, going back decades. T...
From Public Shaming To Cancel Culture
16 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Over the last couple of weeks we’ve taken on some of the battles in the ongoing culture war. The granddaddy of them all is cancel culture. Michael ...
Little Fires Everywhere
11 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Trump may be out of office, but the GOP's campaign to limit voting rights, free speech, and reproductive rights is still in full-swing. On this week’...
One of the Most Influential Black Journalists You Probably Never Heard Of
09 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Record numbers of journalists formed unions over the last few years, surpassing data even from the surges of labor organizing in the 1930s. And the pa...
Shamed and Confused
04 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
After a young Associated Press journalist lost her job last month following online attacks, On the Media considers how bad faith campaigns against the...
OTM Presents: "Blindspot: Tulsa Burning"
02 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On May 31, 1921, Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Greenwood District was a thriving Black residential and business community — a city within a city. By June 1, a...
Not a Perfect Science
28 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are falling and the number of the vaccinated continue to rise, but the pandemic’s harm to our mental health is still bey...
I Would Prefer Not To
26 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We live in a time of sensory overload and overwhelm. A global pandemic, an ongoing climate catastrophe, and online discourse run amok. And a sense th...
How It Started, How It's Going
21 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A year and a half into the pandemic, we still don’t know how it began. This week, a look at how investigating COVID-19’s origins became a politica...
The Ghosts of the Rust Belt
14 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The old US Steel building in Pittsburgh, PA is a black monolith, symbol and fortress of industrial power, soaring above the confluence of three mighty...
The Price of a Free Market
13 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Last Friday, the Department of Labor released its monthly jobs report, and the numbers were...disappointing. Expectations had rested around adding app...
Trans* Formations
07 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There’s a long history of campaigns to “save the children,” whether they need saving or not. This week, On the Media looks at the latest: an eff...
Still Processing the MOVE Bombing, 36 Years Later
05 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Last Friday, remains of at least one victim of the infamous 1985 MOVE bombing were turned over to a Philadelphia funeral home, capping more than a wee...
War of the Words
30 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week we take a close look at how the words we choose can unknowingly condemn people caught up in the criminal justice system. Plus, the costs and...
It's Gonna Be May Day
28 Apr 2021
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 ...
Not Ready For That Conversation
23 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A jury has found Derek Chauvin guilty in the case that sparked a historic wave of protests last summer. This week we examine how fears over those prot...
A Little-Known Statute Compels Medical Research Transparency. Compliance Is Pretty Shabby.
20 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Evidence-based medicine requires just that: evidence. Access to the collective pool of knowledge produced by clinical trials is what allows researche...
You Better Work!
16 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
From the Johnson & Johnson pause to talk of “break-through cases” among the already-vaccinated, we’re facing an onslaught of dispiriting and co...
On the Inside Looking Out
14 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The past year most of us were awash in a news cycle driven by the pandemic. Daily we grappled with infection data, vaccine updates, social restriction...
Broken Promise
09 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
With Congress set to consider bills next week that could set the future of Puerto Rican self-determination, we consider how a 70-year-old promise to ...
SLAPP Un-Happy
07 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For over four years, Reveal, an award-winning program from the Center for Investigative Reporting, was embroiled in a multimillion-dollar libel su...
The End Of The Promises
06 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
La Brega is a seven-part podcast series hosted by OTM producer/reporter Alana Casanova-Burgess. The series uses narrative storytelling and investig...
The View From Everywhere
02 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The trial of the former police officer charged in the death of George Floyd has been broadcasting live all this week. This week, we examine what effe...
"You Don't Belong Here"
31 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Before the Vietnam War there was a law that banned women from reporting on the frontlines of any war for the U.S. When President Johnson refused to ...
The Bankruptcy Letters
30 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
La Brega is a seven-part podcast series hosted by OTM producer/reporter Alana Casanova-Burgess. The series uses narrative storytelling and investig...
How to Lose Friends and Influence People
26 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A so-called surge of migrants at the southern border has caught the attention of immigration reform advocates, conservative trolls, and TV news crews,...
Corruption At the Highest Levels, Exposed
25 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 2015, a tragedy gripped Romanian consciousness when a fire at a popular club in the country's capital killed 27 people, injured nearly 200 more, a...
Basketball Warriors
23 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
La Brega is a seven-part podcast series hosted by OTM producer/reporter Alana Casanova-Burgess. The series uses narrative storytelling and investig...
Pain, Power, Poets
19 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Police statements about the Atlanta shooter’s motives defined early media reports and earned swift derision. This week, we examine how bad habits in...
The Summer Camp That Inspired A Disability Rights Movement
17 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The movement surrounding the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act introduced some ubiquitous elements of our public infrastructure, but man...
Vieques and the Promise To Build Back Better
16 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
La Brega is a seven-part podcast series hosted by OTM producer/reporter Alana Casanova-Burgess. The series uses narrative storytelling and investig...
Home Green Home
12 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As Biden-era climate policy begins to take shape, many corporations assure the public that they’re all-in on going green. This week, On The Media co...
To Name, or Not to Name
11 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's been a staple of local, nightly news for decades: while an anchor recites a vivid crime report, sometimes embellished with security footage or st...
Encyclopedia of Betrayal
09 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
La Brega is a seven-part podcast series hosted by OTM producer/reporter Alana Casanova-Burgess. The series uses narrative storytelling and investiga...
Are We There Yet? Are We There Yet?
05 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Johnson and Johnson vaccine was approved this week, expanding the nation’s supply and moving us closer to the end of the pandemic. On this week’...
The Decline of Cuomo, the TV Personality
03 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
During the pandemic, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo transformed into a fully fledged TV star — propelled by his daily coronavirus briefings, which r...
OTM Presents: La Brega
26 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week, OTM presents stories from a new series hosted by our own Alana Casanova-Burgess, called "La Brega." Hear what that term means, how it's ...
Beware Trump Investigation Big-Talk
24 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
With the news this week that the Supreme Court gave the go-ahead for Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance to obtain key financial documents relating t...
No Silver Bullets
19 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In a reversal of the past four years, President Biden has vowed to take on the violent threat posed by the far-right. But how? On this week’s On the...
How Rush Limbaugh Paved The Way For Trump REBROADCAST
17 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What more can we say: El Rushbo is dead. He died Wednesday after a months-long bout of lung cancer, and following decades of racist invective, misogy...
Toxic
12 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been a week of legal battles, from Donald Trump’s second impeachment to Britney Spears’s fight for control over her finances and her career...
Its Tax Time!
10 Feb 2021
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...
Slaying the Fox Monster
05 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Fox News has been stoking rage on the right for decades. As the former president faces an impeachment trial for his role in the invasion of the Capito...
OTM Presents - The Experiment: The Loophole
04 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week, OTM presents the first episode of a new weekly show hosted by our WNYC colleague Julia Longoria: The Experiment. When Mike Belderrain hunt...
Billion Dollar Idea
29 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s show, we look at what happens when scientists try to save the public...from itself. Plus, why vaccine distribution might be slowed do...
Did Lulz Break Wall Street?
28 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
GameStop is a corporation that sells digital cartridges containing video games, and also video game consoles and other fun widgets, from brick-and-mor...
Well, That Was Some Weird Sh*t
22 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s show, we take a deep breath. Plus, journalists reflect on the deep damage done to our information ecosystem and how we can begin to r...
The Trump Inc. Podcast Made a Time Capsule
20 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This story was co-published with ProPublica. A birth certificate, a bar receipt, a newspaper ad, a board game, a Ziploc bag of shredded paper, a pai...
You Missed a Spot
15 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Evidence shows that insurrectionists used the walkie-talkie app Zello to help organize the riot at the capitol. On this week’s On the Media, a look...
How the School Transmission Conversation Became So Muddled
12 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Over the past 10 months, debates have raged over how to keep the coronavirus in check. What to open? What to close? Where does the virus spread, and w...
Breaking the Myth
08 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s On The Media, journalists struggle to find the words to describe what happened at the capitol on Wednesday. Was it a riot? A mob? An ...
The World, Remade
01 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
With vaccinations underway, we’re edging closer and closer to the end of the pandemic. This week, On The Media looks at how the pandemic has shaped ...
A Brief History of Timekeeping
30 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We spend our lives bound to a clock and calendar that tell us what to do and what to expect. But now, millions of Americans are newly jobless, untethe...
What Just Happened?!
25 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The new year approaches, marking an end to a truly unexpected trip around the sun. This week, On the Media reflects on our 2020 coverage, from the pan...
Unlearning White Jesus
23 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In a time where monuments are being toppled, institutions and icons reconsidered, we turn to a portrait encountered by every American: "White Jesus."...
Who Owns the Future?
18 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Facebook has already been accused of spreading lies and polarizing society. Now, the federal government says it illegally crushed competition. On this...
Investigating the Toll of 2-Day Shipping
16 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Last year, the investigative podcast Reveal documented an extraordinary number of workplace injuries at Amazon warehouses around the country. It wa...
Last Wish
11 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists and policymakers are hopeful about a slate of vaccines, but it may be a long time before everyone has access. This week, On the Media explo...
Shifting Baselines
09 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
David Roberts wrote for Vox.com in July, about the mental phenomenon of “shifting baselines,” in which we calibrate our expectations to the worl...
A Dose Of Reality
04 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With the pandemic’s second wave in full-swing, two vaccine makers are seeking emergency use authorization from the FDA. This week, On The Media expl...
"Defund the Police" revisited
03 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On Wednesday morning, former president Barack Obama appeared on “Snap Original Good Luck America,” which is an interview program on Snapchat — a...
No Ado About Much
27 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With the an apparent second wave of COVID-19 in full force, the media are sounding the alarm on a deadly virus growing out of control. But during the...
Epidemics Show Societies Who They Really Are
25 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Communicable disease has haunted humanity for all of history. As such, the responses to coronavirus in our midst have a grimly timeless quality. In fa...
EXTENDED VERSION The Ancient Heresy That Helps Us Understand QAnon
23 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
EXTENDED VERSION (includes content we had to leave on the cutting room floor to make the interview fit into the broadcast) It’s been two weeks sin...
Believe It Or Not
20 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the pandemic spreads, officials are imposing new public health policies. On this week’s On the Media, why so many of the new rules contradict wha...
Rewatching "Contagion" in a Pandemic
18 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Back in February we spoke to Pulitzer Prize–winning science writer Laurie Garrett, author of The Coming Plague, in an episode we called "Black ...
Another World Entirely
13 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With President Trump refusing to accept the results of the election, analysts are asking if he’s trying to wage a coup. On this week’s On the Medi...
The Pfizer Vaccine Isn't a Home Run Yet
11 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Pfizer announced Monday that its coronavirus vaccine demonstrated more than 90% effectiveness and no serious bad reactions in trial results — an out...
This Is Us
06 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With Joe Biden approaching victory, Donald Trump and his political allies flooded the internet with conspiracy theories. This week, On the Media exami...
Imprecision 2020
06 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For election night 2020, while cable news had white boards and talking heads, the OTM crew hosted comedians, singers and friends for some great con...
Chaos Reigns
30 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The past few decades have been a time of deep partisan animosity. On this week’s On The Media, how we might move beyond the current polarization. Pl...
The Amazing Randi (just don't call him a magician)
28 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Famed conjurer, illusionist -- and even more famously exposer of supernatural fraud -- James Randi died last week at his Florida home at the age of ...
The Games We Play
23 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With the election underway, both camps are pushing their “get out the vote” messages. This week, On the Media looks at the origins of the modern p...
OTM presents - Blindspot Ep. 5: The Idea
21 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For this week's podcast extra, we're once more highlighting the work of our colleague Jim O'Grady and his brilliant podcast "Blindspot: The Road to 9/...
Emergency Mode
16 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Premonitions of Election Day violence abound, especially with the growing visibility of extremist militia groups. This week, On The Media looks at a l...
Brooke speaks with Lulu Miller about her new book, "Why Fish Don't Exist"
14 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Earlier this month, Stanford University announced it would rename Jordan Hall, named for David Starr Jordan, noted natural historian, ichthyologist, ...
The Unlucky Many
09 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
GOP Senator Mike Lee tweeted this week that “we are not a democracy.” On this week’s On the Media, why the Republican party’s political future...
Trump's War on Critical Race Theory
08 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Trump administration issued executive orders last month that ban federal workers from participating in anti-racism trainings. Under the orders, su...
God Bless
02 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump has once more tried to cast himself as an ally of the Christian right — this time, by nominating Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Co...
Covering the Proud Boys, Without Platforming Them
01 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
At the debate between Joe Biden and President Trump in Cleveland this Tuesday, moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News gave the president an explicit oppo...
The Politicization of the Justice Department Press Shop
30 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Federal investigations seldom begin with an uproar. Internal rules keep fledgling probes on the down-low, lest evidence — or reputations — be des...
Spheres of Influence
25 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Conspiracy theories are spreading like wildfire on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. This week, On the Media examines the role their slicker sister sit...
Better Questions About Amy Coney Barrett's Faith
24 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As Republicans rush to nominate a judge to fill the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat, Amy Coney Barrett has emerged as a frontrunner. Democrats have pl...
The Wrong Fires
18 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As wildfires blaze across the United States, some right-wing politicians and pundits are blaming racial justice protesters. On this week’s On the Me...
Joe Rogan: Debate Moderator?
16 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Earlier this year we aired a profile of Joe Rogan. The unbelievably popular podcast host was in the headlines because then-presidential candidate Bern...
What To Expect When You’re Electing
11 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Voters looking for a quick resolution this November might have to wait longer than usual to learn who won the presidency. On this week’s On the Medi...
OTM presents - Blindspot: The Road to 9/11
09 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Every now and then we like to feature the work of our colleagues here at our producing station, WNYC. This week we want to introduce you to a new podc...
Armed and Dangerous
04 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Armed right-wingers are stoking violence in cities across the country. On this week’s On the Media, a look at the origins of the American militia mo...