On the Media

Late night host Stephen Colbert has accused CBS of spiking an interview for fear of backlash from the Federal Communications Commission. On this week’s On the Media, hear about the MAGA movement trying to shift television to the right. Plus, the legal theory that the FCC is using to put pressure on the networks. [01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone speaks with Jim Rutenberg, writer-at-large for The New York Times, about how Trump’s FCC is reviving a nearly century-old rule to crack down on late-night talk shows. Rutenberg explains why MAGA’s embrace of the FCC’s regulatory powers to go after “liberal bias” in the media signals a shift within the Republican party. [25:44] Brooke sits down with Daniel Suhr, the president of a legal advocacy group called the Center for American Rights and the architect behind the legal theory that the FCC is using to put pressure on TV networks. They discuss his goal to make network TV look more like the AM radio band. Further reading / watching: “How a Century-Old Rule Is Scrambling Late-Night TV,”“The MAGA Plan to Take Over TV Is Just Beginning,”“The FCC’s Public Notice on ‘Bona Fide News,’”“The end of an agency,”“Straight Talk on FCC 'Jawboning'”The Divided Dial: Episode 3 - The Liberal Bias Boogeyman 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.

In 1946, Orson Welles, the actor and director behind Citizen Kane, was at the pinnacle of his career. At the time, he had a national radio show called Orson Welles Commentaries on ABC. After a year on the radio, discussing politics and Hollywood, Welles heard of a shocking crime. It was the end of World War Two. A Black soldier, heading home, was brutally beaten by a white police officer in South Carolina. No one knew the identity of the officer. No one even knew the town where it happened. Welles pledged to solve the mystery… on the air... In this midweek podcast we're bringing you episode one of a new series from our friends at Radio Diaries called Orson Welles and the Blind Soldier. It’s the story of a crime in a small, southern town…that became a spark for the budding civil rights movement. For the rest of the series, go to the radio diaries website. 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.

In a landmark trial in California, Meta and Google are being accused of addicting children to social media. On this week’s On the Media, hear how the dramatic proceedings are playing out, and how measures to protect kids online can backfire. Plus, why are betting companies showing up in newsrooms? [01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone speaks with Madlin Mekelburg, a legal reporter at Bloomberg, about the landmark lawsuit against Google and Meta that went to trial this week. The social media giants are being accused of deliberately designing their platforms in a way that is addictive and harmful to children’s brains, and the verdict of this case will influence the outcomes of thousands of similar cases across the country. Plus, neuroscience researcher Ian Anderson explains why the ‘addiction’ framework misses the complexity of what social media does to our brains. [20:00] Brooke interviews Julia Angwin, investigative journalist and founder of Proof News, a nonprofit journalism studio. They discuss the tools that users can employ to protect themselves against doomscrolling, and how social media bans across the world can sometimes do more harm than good. [34:41] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Judd Legum, the author of the accountability newsletter Popular Information, about the explosive rise of prediction markets, and the implications of their growing partnerships with newsrooms. Further reading / watching: “Social Networks Face Big Tobacco Moment Over Addiction Cases,”“Overestimates of social media addiction are common but costly,”“I Killed Color on My Phone. The Result Shocked Me,”“Social Media Use and Well-Being Across Adolescent Development,”“Evidence for link between digital technology use and teenage mental health problems is weak, our large study suggests,”“The casino-fication of news,” 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.

At the end of December, familiar scenes of protest in Tehran were being documented and shared across the world. But on January 8th, the images stopped coming after the Iranian regime cut off the internet in an attempt by the authorities to prevent protestors from organizing and posting videos online for the outside world to see. Under the cover of darkness the regime is reported to have killed up to 30,000 people. Brooke spoke to Mahsa Alimardani, the Associate Director of the Technology Threats & Opportunities program at WITNESS, where she works on distinguishing visual truths in the AI age. She says that the internet has started flickering back on after a nearly three-week-long national blackout–the longest the country has ever seen–but that a thick fog of disinformation still covers Iran. 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.

In the latest batch of Epstein files, hundreds of pages are redacted, shielding the names of prosecutors and possible co-conspirators. On this week’s On the Media, what the files say about how the criminal justice system failed Epstein’s victims. Plus, the toppling of a statue raises questions about who represents Puerto Rican culture. [01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone speaks with Julie K. Brown, investigative journalist for The Miami Herald, whose reporting back in 2018 led to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s arrest. Brown is pouring through the Epstein files and finding new information about how prosecutors failed to bring Epstein to justice for so many years. She is documenting what she finds in her substack newsletter, The Epstein Files by Julie K. Brown. [19:24] We’re celebrating the launch of Season 3 of La Brega from Alana Casanova-Burgess and Futuro Media by featuring episode one: about the toppling of the statue of a Spanish colonizer in San Juan a few years ago, what that reveals about Puerto Rico’s champions, and who deserves that pedestal. Further reading / watching: “What I found today in The Epstein Files,”“Did the FBI investigate Trump and Epstein?”Season 3 of La Brega 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.

In 2022 Brent Renaud became the first American journalist to be killed by Russian soldiers while covering the war in Ukraine. Brent’s collaborator for many years was his younger brother Craig. When word got back to Craig that Brent had been shot, he did what he and his brother had always done. He kept filming. Craig and his producer Juan Arredondo used that footage along with material from their archive to make the Oscar nominated short documentary “Armed Only With a Camera.” The film is part tribute to his brother, part salute to war journalists who are still out there, risking their lives. Micah spoke to Craig about how the brothers got started in the journalism business. 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 called Alex Pretti, who was shot and killed by federal officers, a “domestic terrorist.” And then bystander footage flooded the internet. On this week’s On the Media, how the real-time verification of video evidence is transforming public discourse. Plus, what the anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis have in common with the Boston Massacre. [01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone speaks with Brandy Zadrozny, senior enterprise reporter at MS Now, about the informal network of far-right content creators traveling to anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis, and why the right-wing narrative is losing power in the face of an outpouring of bystander footage. [17:45] Host Micah Loewinger talks with Radley Balko, author of The Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces, about similarities between the conditions that led to the Boston Massacre in 1770 and what we’re seeing today in Minneapolis and other cities targeted by ICE operations today. [31:43] Brooke sits down with Eliot Higgins, the founder of Bellingcat, to discuss his framework for the essential functions of democracy— verification, deliberation, and accountability—which have broken down into hollow performances or simulations in the United States today. Further reading / watching: “In Minneapolis, far-right influencers frame ICE resistance as terrorism,”“Two cities under siege,”“Verification, Deliberation, Accountability: A new framework for tackling epistemic collapse and renewing democracy,” 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.

Stars and Stripes, the venerated, independent award-winning newspaper that has served the armed services for roughly a century, may be getting an uninvited makeover, courtesy of Pete Hegseth’s Defense Department. In a statement posted on X earlier this month, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said that Stars and Stripes would no longer be carrying wire reports from the Associated Press, and that it would steer away from all that is woke or might sap morale. Parnell said the defense department would be bringing the newspaper “into the 21st century.” Brooke spoke to Erik Slavin, Editor-in-Chief of Stars and Stripes. 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.

Children as young as five have been detained by immigration agents in Minnesota. On this week’s On the Media, how I.C.E. uses technology to surveil the public and recruit more members. Plus, following Trump’s threats against Greenland, ties between the United States and its closest allies are fraying. [01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone speaks with Garrett M. Graff, journalist, historian, and author of the newsletter Doomsday Scenario, about Trump’s damage to the United States’ standing as a world power following his campaign for Greenland and his dismantling of core pillars of American policy. [19:14] Host Micah Loewinger talks with Joseph Cox, investigative reporter and co-founder at 404 Media, about his detailed reporting into ICE’s quietly widening arsenal of surveillance tools. [37:01] Micah sits down with Drew Harwell, technology reporter for The Washington Post, to discuss ICE’s elaborate “wartime recruitment” strategy, and what it means for immigration policy in the United States. Further reading / watching: “We Are Witnessing the Self-Immolation of a Superpower,”“‘ELITE’: The Palantir App ICE Uses to Find Neighborhoods to Raid,”“ICE’s Facial Recognition App Misidentified a Woman. Twice,”“Inside ICE’s Tool to Monitor Phones in Entire Neighborhoods,”“New Legislation Would Rein In ICE’s Facial Recognition App,”“ICE plans $100 million ‘wartime recruitment’ push targeting gun shows, military fans for hires,” 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 spoke to Mark Blyth, professor of International Economics and Public Affairs at Brown University, to talk about what the headlines are missing in the Department of Justice’s investigation into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, and why we need to know the trending politics of central banks around the globe. 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 Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation against the Federal Reserve and its chairman. On this week’s On the Media, hear how the Trump administration’s pressure campaign plays into a larger trend chipping away at central banks. Plus, how a teacher in Russia stood up to Putin’s propaganda. [01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with Mark Blyth, professor of International Economics and Public Affairs at Brown University, to talk about what the headlines are missing in the Department of Justice’s investigation into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, and why we need to know the trending politics of central banks around the globe. [16:50] Brooke Gladstone talks with Pasha Talankin, star and co-creator of the new documentary Mr. Nobody Against Putin. Pasha is a high school teacher who made an incredibly vivid and detailed account of Putin’s efforts to indoctrinate schoolchildren in Russia. [36:51] Brooke continues her conversation about Mr. Nobody Against Putin with David Borenstein, the film’s co-director. Further reading / watching: Mr NobodyIndependent Film Center 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.

Last October Brooke spoke with Andy Kroll, a reporter covering justice and the rule of law at ProPublica, about the profile he wrote of Russell Vought, the director of a little-known, but powerful office inside the White House 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.

After a U.S. citizen was shot and killed by an immigration agent, the Department of Homeland Security is sending even more forces to Minneapolis. On this week’s On the Media, how the Trump administration is spinning the narrative around the shooting. Plus, an exiled Venezuelan journalist explains the state of the press in his home country. [01:00] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Jeffrey Meitrodt, a senior investigative reporter for the Minnesota Star Tribune, to examine the veracity of conservative content creator Nick Shirley’s viral video claiming to uncover evidence of widespread fraud at Somali-run daycares in Minnesota. [21:32] Micah talks with Rafael Osio Cabrices, editor-in-chief at Caracas Chronicles, about Venezuela’s evolving media landscape. Plus, what foreign news outlets are missing in their coverage of the US raid and capture of Nicolás Maduro. [36:15] Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with Abe Newman, a political scientist and Georgetown professor, to discuss “neo-royalism.” Newman coined the term, with his co-author Stacie Goddard, to explain the logic of the Trump administration’s foreign policy, from Greenland to Venezuela. Further reading / watching: We went to the day cares Nick Shirley did. Here’s what we foundHow Foreign Media and Analysts are Misreporting Venezuela“Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System,” 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.

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. 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.

Political debates are taking over the internet. On this week’s On the Media, hear how one viral Youtube channel is reshaping political discourse. Plus, why the Trump administration is pressuring museums, monuments, and even parks to rewrite history. [01:00] 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. [25:17] Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with Bryan Stevenson, public interest lawyer and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, a human rights organization based in Montgomery, Alabama, to talk about the Trump Administration's war on museums, especially those that deal with our nation's history of racism. Further reading / watching: 1 Conservative vs 25 LGBTQ+ Activists (feat. Michael Knowles)1 Progressive vs 20 Far-Right Conservatives (ft. Mehdi Hasan)The Worst Thing We’ve Ever Done 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 year, Bari Weiss became the new editor in chief of CBS News. The network’s owner, Paramount, also acquired Weiss’ online publication, The Free Press, for an estimated $150 million. And unconventionally for a news executive, Weiss appeared in front of the camera in December when she hosted a town hall with Erika Kirk. This week, we’re revisiting a conversation with Peter Shamshiri, co-host of the podcast If Books Could Kill, about Weiss's rapid rise. 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.

And just like that, 2025 is coming to a close. On this week’s On the Media, hear a tour of a 12-month news blitz, from AI to the Pentagon press room to the reshaping of legacy outlets. Plus, what we can expect from the year to come. [02:33] This week, Brooke and Micah review how legacy outlets made big changes in the wake of Donald Trump’s inauguration this year. Featuring: Oliver Darcy, author of the newsletter Status. [11:53] Brooke and Micah take stock of the administration’s embrace of far right online personalities – in the White House and in the press room. Plus, a review of the wreckage DOGE has left in its wake, and Trump’s crackdown on free speech. Featuring: Vittoria Elliott, senior reporter at Wired, Ryan J. Reilly, senior justice reporter for NBC News, Brandy Zadrozny, senior reporter at MS NOW, Anna Merlan, senior reporter for Mother Jones, Corey Robin, professor of political science at Brooklyn College. [37:38] Brooke and Micah review how the press covered the deployment of the national guard; the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s murder; and the ongoing turmoil at CBS. Plus, how to steel ourselves for the year ahead. Featuring: Jamison Foser, media critic and author of the newsletter Finding Gravity, and Jamelle Bouie, columnist for The New York Times. 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 New Yorker turned a hundred this year. And marking the occasion is a new documentary film on Netflix titled: “The New Yorker at 100”. But with some 5000 print issues, and ten decades worth of reporting, illustrating, and editing… where does one even begin? That’s a question staff writer Jelani Cobb brought to the film’s director, Marshall Curry, and executive producer, Judd Apatow, on an edition of The New Yorker Radio Hour that we're sharing this week. 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.

Donald Trump has signed an executive order limiting state regulation on artificial intelligence. On this week’s On the Media, Republicans spar over AI, and what deregulating the industry means for the rest of us. Plus, how AI fakery got better in 2025. [01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with Maria Curi, tech policy reporter for Axios and author of the Axios Pro: Tech Policy newsletter, to chat about the massive bets that Silicon Valley and the White House are making on artificial intelligence. [13:10] Host Micah Loewinger talks with Stephen Witt, author of the book The Thinking Machine, about the massive infrastructure project, and potential problem, that is AI. [28:54] Brooke speaks with Craig Silverman, cofounder of Indicator, about why Big Tech embraced fakeness in 2025, and what that means for 2026 and beyond. Further reading / watching: States defiant in face of Trump's AI executive orderMAGA scrambles to influence Trump's AI executive orderInside the Data Centers That Train A.I. and Drain the Electrical Grid2025: The year tech embraced fakeness 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 year, Silicon Valley poured its collective resources in AI. Billions and billions of dollars. But behind the snazzy ads and glowing endorsements, some users and journalists are warning of bigger issues with the largely unregulated industry. Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with Craig Silverman, cofounder of Indicator, a publication dedicated to understanding and investigating digital deception, to discuss his article arguing that this is the year Big Tech embraced fakeness. 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.