On the Media

Latest Episodes:

"Tough Love For Liberals" Mar 19, 2025

Show notes

This week's midweek podcast is a segment from Tuesdays episode of the Brian Lehrer show -- the legendary live call-in show that airs every weekday morning on our producing station, WNYC. The segment features Derek Thompson, staff writer at The Atlantic, author of the "Work in Progress" newsletter and host of the podcast "Plain English," and Ezra Klein, New York Times opinion columnist and host of their podcast, the "Ezra Klein Show." They are co-authors of Abundance, their new book that argues limits placed by past generations to protect jobs and the environment are preventing solving shortages.

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, Bluesky, TikTok and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

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Mahmoud Khalil and a New Red Scare. Plus, Press Freedom Under Threat. Mar 14, 2025

Show notes

A Columbia University graduate who led protests last year has been detained by I.C.E. Even though he is a green card holder. On this week’s On the Media, hear why the case has conjured comparisons to the Red Scare of the forties and fifties. Plus, a look at the years-long campaign to dismantle press freedoms in the United States.

[01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone speaks with Corey Robin, distinguished professor of political science at Brooklyn College, on the arrest of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, and the parallels between now and the Red Scare of the forties and fifties.
[16:49] Brooke continues her conversation with Corey Robin, author of Fear: The History of a Political Idea. Robin explains how free speech crackdowns can change our political culture and tear at the fabric of the soul. Plus, how Humphrey Bogart betrayed the ideals of his most celebrated film.

[27:00] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with David Enrich, business investigations editor for The New York Times and author of the new book, Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful, on why a Supreme Court case that’s protected press freedoms for over half a century may now be in danger.

Further reading:

“Two Paths for Jewish Politics,” by Corey Robin
“Muskism and McCarthyism,” by Alan Dean, Charles Petersen, and Corey Robin
“There Are No Good Reasons Not to Fight,” by Corey Robin
“Can the Media’s Right to Pursue the Powerful Survive Trump’s Second Term?” by David Enrich

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The Baltimore Sun Is In Trouble Mar 12, 2025

Show notes

Last January the hedge fund Alden Global Capital sold The Baltimore Sun to David Smith, an executive at Sinclair Broadcast Group. Smith once told Trump that Sinclair was "here to deliver your message.” He is also known to support conservative causes like Moms for Liberty. It's been a year and with the release of new circulation numbers, its clear that whatever Smith is doing at the Sun, isn't working: Circulation is down, web traffic is down, journalists are leaving in the their droves.

After the sale went through last year, we spoke to Milton Kent, professor of practice in the School of Global Journalism and Communication at Morgan State University and Liz Bowie, who worked at The Sun for over 30 years before making the jump to the nonprofit, the Baltimore Banner.

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Trump’s On-and-Off-Again Tariffs, and Decoding ‘Make America Healthy Again’ Mar 07, 2025

Show notes

President Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff announcements sent stock markets plunging. On this week’s On the Media, how to make sense of the ever-changing news about the economy. Plus, the policy behind the ‘Make America Healthy Again’ rhetoric.

[01:00] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Gordon Hanson, an economist at Harvard University’s Kennedy School, about President Trump’s “America First” vision and the potential consequences of his chaotic tariff scheme.

[17:22] Micah sits down with Mark Blyth, a professor at Brown University, who explains the rhetoric about short term pain for long term gains, and what to make of the economy right now.

[35:07] Host Brooke Gladstone speaks with Helena Bottemiller Evich, Editor-in-Chief of Food Fix, to trace the complicated relationship between Republicans and food policy, from the Obama era to RFK Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” plan.

Further reading:

“Track One Car Part’s Journey Through the U.S., Canada and Mexico—Before Tariffs” by By Vipal Monga Follow and Santiago Pérez
“Washington’s New Trade Consensus (And What It Gets Wrong),” by Gordon Hanson
“Austerity Is Back – and More Dangerous Than Ever,” by Mark Blyth
“Republicans propel MAHA agenda with wave of state legislation,” by Helena Bottemiller Evich

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How Does Kash Patel Compare to J. Edgar Hoover? Mar 05, 2025

Show notes

Since Kash Patel was announced as the director for the FBI, pundits have warned of a return to the era of J. Edgar Hoover, who ran the bureau for 48 years. But according to Beverly Gage, the author of G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century, under Patel, the FBI could be politicized in ways that even its notorious first director would have rejected. This week, Micah and Beverly discuss how Hoover established a playbook for weaponizing the FBI, and how Patel might go even further.

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The New 'State Media.' Plus, Podcasters Are Running the FBI. Mar 01, 2025

Show notes

Breaking from a century of tradition, the White House says it will seize control of the press pool covering the president. On this week’s On the Media, the new administration is prioritizing access for an array of far-right influencers and news outlets. Plus, what President Trump’s pivot toward Russia means for Ukraine after three years of war.

[00:00] Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with Anna Merlan, senior reporter at Mother Jones covering disinformation, technology, and extremism, to discuss the White House’s latest move to control the press pool covering the president.

[00:00] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Brandy Zadrozny, senior reporter at NBC News covering the internet, to discuss the rise of Dan Bongino, from right wing podcaster to Donald Trump’s new pick for Deputy Director of the FBI, and his history of anti-FBI rhetoric.
[00:00] Brooke Gladstone talks to Yaroslav Trofimov, chief foreign affairs correspondent for the Wall Street Journal and the author of No Country for Love, about the ultraconservative embrace of Putin’s Russia in the United States and how President Trump has spearheaded a paradigm shift in Republican foreign policy vis-à-vis Russia.

Further reading:

“Meet the New State Media,” by Anna Merlan
“Dan Bongino's yearslong history of FBI criticism and conspiracy theories,” by Brandy Zadrozny
“How a U.S. President Pivoted Toward Russia,” by Yaroslav Trofimov
“Russia Wants to Erase Ukraine’s Future—and Its Past,” by Yaroslav Trofimov
No Country for Love, by Yaroslav Trofimov
Our Enemies Will Vanish: The Russian Invasion and Ukraine's War of Independence, by Yaroslav Trofimov

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Writing (and Rewriting) Russian History Feb 26, 2025

Show notes

Days before Russia invaded Ukraine 3 years ago, Russian president Vladimir Putin read an essay he’d written in 2021, “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians,” wherein he claimed that Ukraine is a fake country that was invented by Lenin. This version of Russian history, which is full of inaccuracies amplified on Russian state media, has been used by the Russian state to justify their imperialist wars. But the myths in Russia's state-sponsored version of history are not new. In fact, Mikhail Zygar, a Russian investigative journalist, has traced the myths back at least as far as the middle ages. In Zygar's book, War and Punishment: Putin, Zelensky, and the Path to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine, he unravels a thousand years of fables that led to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. In this conversation with Brooke which we first aired in 2023, Zygar recounts and contextualizes the history-fueled ingredients of today's Russian propaganda, and talks about his mission to write new works of Russian history that account for the country's colonial past, and present.

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Learning Elon Musk’s Media Playbook. Plus, Silicon Valley’s Rightwing Roots. Feb 21, 2025

Show notes

Elon Musk’s claims of fraudulent government spending contain some wild inaccuracies. On this week's On the Media, how the mythos surrounding tech entrepreneurs paved the way for MAGA’s embrace of Silicon Valley leaders. Plus, meet the scholars and librarians who helped the Allies win World War II.

[01:00] Host Micah Loewinger looks at Elon Musk’s new role in the rightwing media ecosystem and how it’s driving policy. He talks to Will Oremus, tech reporter at The Washington Post, about DOGE and Elon Musk’s feuds with Reuters and Politico.

[16:42] Micah Loewinger speaks with Becca Lewis, a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University, about how an influential group of conservative thinkers in Silicon Valley have long seen new technologies as tools for restoring older social orders

[32:41] Brooke Gladstone talks to Elyse Graham, professor of sociology at Stony Brook University and author of Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II. They discuss the role that academics, archivists, and librarians played in WWII intelligence gathering activities, and why the CIA invested in storytelling as a result.

Further reading:

“Musk accused Reuters of ‘social deception.’ The deception was his.,” by Will Oremus
“‘Headed for technofascism’: the rightwing roots of Silicon Valley,” by Becca Lewis
Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II, by Elyse Graham

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How Kash Patel Came to Loathe the Media and Love Trump Feb 19, 2025

Show notes

This week, the Senate will consider more of Trump’s Cabinet nominees, including his pick for FBI director, Kash Patel. For this midweek podcast, we're looking back at this conversation host Micah Loewinger had with Atlantic staff writer Elaina Plott Calabro, who charted Patel's rise to power, starting at the very beginning of his legal career. She explains how he came to loathe the media, and love Trump.

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Donald Trump is Rewriting the Past. Plus, the Christian Groups Vying for Political Power Feb 15, 2025

Show notes

The new administration is purging data from government websites and databases, such as the Department of Justice and the National Security Agency. On this week's On the Media, a historian shares the political playbook for rewriting the past in order to control the future. Plus, meet the different Christian groups vying for power at the White House.

[01:00] Host Micah Loewinger looks at the White House’s purge of data and records. He talks to Dara Kerr, a reporter at the Guardian, about President Trump’s attempt to ramp up deportations and how ICE is fudging its numbers. Micah also speaks with Molly White, author of the newsletter “Citation Needed” and Wikipedia editor, about why Musk and others on the right are going after Wikipedia.

[13:24] Host Brooke Gladstone talks to Jason Stanley, professor of philosophy at Yale University and author of the book Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future, about the narrative the new administration is constructing.

[31:46] Brooke Gladstone hears from Matthew D. Taylor, author of The Violent Take It by Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy. They discuss the three Christian factions jostling for power in the new administration: the independent Charismatics like Trump’s faith adviser Paula White-Cain, the trad Catholics (represented by J.D. Vance), and the theobros (epitomized by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth).

Further reading:

“US immigration is creating a mirage of mass deportations on Google search,” by Dara Kerr
“Elon Musk and the right’s war on Wikipedia,” by Molly White
Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future, by Jason Stanley
The second coming of Donald J. Trump,” by Matthew D. Taylor

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