On the Media

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Define "Normal" Aug 26, 2016

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Right-wing rumors about Hillary Clinton's health have made their way into the mainstream media, but it's hardly the first time a candidate's health has been in the headlines this year: the press has been scrutinizing Donald Trump's mental state for months. This week, examining the arguments for and against speculating about a candidate's health. Plus, how the dominant media narratives after the Rio Olympics obscure real problems, and how climate change is reshaping the country as we know it.

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Bob's Grill #4: ExxonMobil's Richard Keil Aug 24, 2016

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We return to Bob's Grill this week with a 2015 interview with ExxonMobil's Richard Keil, the company's senior adviser for global public affairs.

Last year, the website InsideClimate News published an investigative series examining ExxonMobil’s rich history of scientific study on fossil fuels and global warming. The series, called "Exxon: The Road Not Taken", found that the company was at the forefront of climate change research in the 1970s and 80s -- before pivoting to funding climate change denial groups in 1989.

At the time, Bob spoke with Richard Keil of Exxon about why the company disputed the reporting, and about the company's history of funding climate change denial front groups.

Stay tuned next week for more from the Grill.

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Print Is Back, Back Again Aug 19, 2016

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A special hour on the publishing industry and the resurgence of print--from Amazon’s flirtation with brick-and-mortar bookstores to the success of wholesale suppliers shilling books by the foot as decorative objects. Plus, the mysterious world of novelizations, the subversive history of adult coloring books, and more.

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Bob's Grill #3: James O'Keefe Aug 17, 2016

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We return to Bob’s Grill this week with a 2011 interview with “sting operation” videographer James O’Keefe, best known for his efforts to discredit institutions such as Planned Parenthood, NPR, the Open Society Foundations, and the community organizing group ACORN. O'Keefe says he's using the tools of investigative journalism, but his videos are full of distorted quotes, manipulated footage, and in some cases outright lies. Bob spoke with O’Keefe shortly after the release of his undercover video of NPR executive Ron Schiller, and took him to task for his, shall we say, creative editorializing.

Stay tuned next week for more from the Grill.

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Magic 8 Ball Aug 12, 2016

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Political commentators have repeatedly, reliably, been wrong this election season. There was the improbable Bernie Sanders. The inevitable Jeb Bush. The passing-fad Donald Trump. Now that we've landed so far from where we began, we examine why pundits make such bad predictions, and why they probably won't stop.

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Bob's Grill #2: Hunter Moore Aug 10, 2016

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Welcome to Bob’s grill! Each week this August, you’re invited to join Bob in his backyard to fire up the barbecue and turn up the heat. But, on occasion, a burger and a cold one just won’t suffice. So this week we’re roasting a whole pig.

Hunter Moore is the creator of the now-defunct website IsAnyoneUp.com, an amateur "revenge porn" site with an insidious social networking component. The site featured nude photos submitted anonymously, usually by angry exes looking for vengeance. But rather than just publishing the photos online for the world to see, Moore’s site also included links to the naked person's social networking profiles, further amplifying the shame. In this interview from 2011, Bob grills Moore on why he does what he does.

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There Must Be Another Way Aug 05, 2016

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The Democratic Party and the media are fretting about whether the Green Party will splinter Democratic votes in November. This week, we look at the myths and realities surrounding third parties and consider how "strategic voting" could figure into the coming election. Also, a deep look at the oft-cited narrative that Ralph Nader spoiled the 2000 election for Al Gore.

Plus, Donald Trump's latest skirmish with Khizr and Ghazala Khan has prompted the media to clamor yet again over whether Trump has finally gone too far. Are they missing the point?

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Bob's Grill #1: Judith Miller Aug 03, 2016

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Ahhh, summer and grilling. They’re made for each other, right? That’s why all this August you're invited to Bob’s grill: a collection of interviews from over the years when one person takes the role of the chef -- that’s Bob, in the apron -- and the other person….well, you know.

We launch the series with an interview Bob did in 2005 with former New York Times journalist Judith Miller, who became mired in controversy after her faulty reporting on alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and for refusing to testify in the leak investigation of former CIA operative Valerie Plame.

Stay tuned next week for more grilling with Bob.

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A Failure of Imagination Jul 29, 2016

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In the wake of the DNC email scandal, reports are surfacing that Russian hackers are behind the hack. But as the media runs with a narrative about Donald Trump's connections to Vladimir Putin, we ask: is it misleading?

Plus: a Breaking News Consumer's Handbook on reporting about migration, both across US borders and around the world -- and what myths persist about the large-scale movement of people.

And reporter Ilya Marritz goes to Germany to learn about how that country's media is reacting to one million refugees and migrants who have arrived in the last year.

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The Sporkful: Campaign Edition Jul 27, 2016

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Eating like a regular person when you’re on the campaign trail is hard. The cameras are in your face and they really, really want to see you drip grease on your shirt or eat a slice of pizza with a knife and fork or take a big ol’ bite out of a (let's face it) totally phallic corn-dog.

In the coming months, as we watch the Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump bandwagons go from town to town --from diners to BBQ’s to hog roasts -- Dan Pashman, host of The Sporkful podcast, wants you to know that every choice the candidates make about food (to slurp or not to slurp), is a thoroughly vetted process.

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