On the Media

Latest Episodes:

Trump Deploys Troops Against LA Protesters. Plus, Journalists Under 'Less Lethal' Fire. Jun 13, 2025

Show notes

A federal judge ruled that President Donald Trump’s deployment of troops in Los Angeles was illegal before an appeals court quickly overturned it. A legal battle is now underway. On this week’s On the Media, how President Trump has exaggerated crises to expand his presidential powers. Plus, a new documentary investigates who killed a Palestinian-American journalist.

[01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone shares how to navigate the deluge of LA protest coverage – debunking fake footage, identifying distracting talking points, and more.

[12:53] Brooke speaks with Elizabeth Goitein, Senior Director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, about President Trump’s shocking memorandum authorizing the preemptive deployment of federal troops against protesters. Plus, how Trump has invoked emergency powers more than any other president, and what it means for American democracy.

[32:47] Host Micah Loewinger sits down with Dion Nissenbaum, a former foreign correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, about the new documentary “Who Killed Shireen?” he produced for Zeteo, the media organization founded by former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan.

Further reading:

“AI Chatbots Are Making LA Protest Disinformation Worse,” by David Gilbert
“‘The Insurrection Act’ by Any Other Name: Unpacking Trump’s Memorandum Authorizing Domestic Deployment of the Military,” by Elizabeth Goitein
“A Guide to Emergency Powers and Their Use,” by Elizabeth Goitein
Who Killed Shireen? by Dion Nissenbaum, Fatima AbdulKarim, Conor Powell at Zeteo
'Who Killed Shireen?' Film Screening in Washington, DC on July 9

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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How Gold Bar Bob Menendez Got His Start Jun 11, 2025

Show notes

Bob Menendez will become the first Senator to go to prison in more than 40 years when he reports to federal penitentiary next week. Most of you will, no doubt, be aware of the broad strokes of his corruption and bribery case. You know, the gold bars and cash found in his suburban ranch house. But our home station, WNYC, has produced a podcast that tries to go deeper than much of the media coverage. So we’re bringing you the first episode of Dead End: The Rise and Fall of Gold Bar Bob Menendez— hosted and reported by Nancy Solomon.

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Lessons From Hungary’s Democratic Backsliding. Plus, What Makes a Resistance Movement Successful? Jun 06, 2025

Show notes

President Donald Trump’s countless executive orders and mounting deportations are testing America’s democratic institutions. On this week’s On the Media, what we can learn from Hungary’s recent backslide into autocracy. Plus, why resistance movements throughout history have succeeded with 3.5 percent of the population, or less, behind them.

[01:36] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Andrew Marantz, a staff writer at The New Yorker, about his recent piece, “Is the U.S. Becoming an Autocracy?” and what we can learn from Hungary’s recent backsliding into authoritarianism.

[16:17] Micah speaks with Márton Gulyás, founder of Partizán, Hungary’s leading independent news show, about what lessons journalists in the US might take away from his experience.

[37:53] Micah sits down with Maria J. Stephan, political scientist and co-author of Why Civil Resistance Works, to dissect the 3.5% rule, a statistic that’s been making its rounds on social media, which is a measurement of the power of collective action. Stephan and her co-researcher Erica Chenoweth first coined the term in 2010.

Further reading:

“Is the U.S. Becoming an Autocracy?” by Andrew Marantz
“Big Tents and Collective Action Can Defeat Authoritarianism,” by Maria J. Stephan
Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict, by Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan

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Ensh*ttification, Live! Micah and Cory Doctorow in Conversation Jun 04, 2025

Show notes

This past weekend, OTM co-host Micah Loewinger went to Seattle to sit down with an all-time favourite guest of the show: tech activist and writer Cory Doctorow. We recorded the following conversation in front of a live audience at the Cascade PBS Ideas festival. The topic was “Enshittification” – Cory’s theory of how everything on the internet got worse.

We first discussed this idea on the show a couple years ago – and this was an opportunity to talk about what enshittification looks like right now: the latest attempts by tech companies to take advantage of users and workers, and the surge of lawsuits attempting to hold these companies to account.

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An FCC Commissioner Sounds the Alarm. Plus, the Finale of The Divided Dial May 30, 2025

Show notes

On Tuesday, NPR and three Colorado public radio stations sued the Trump administration for violating the First Amendment. On this week’s On the Media, the soon-to-be lone Democratic commissioner at the FCC speaks out against what she calls the weaponization of her agency. Plus, the final episode of The Divided Dial introduces the unlikely group trying to take over shortwave radio.

[01:37] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Anna Gomez, soon to be the lone Democratic commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission, about her makeshift media tour–where Gomez is speaking out about what she sees as the weaponization of her agency.

[12:47] Episode 4 of The Divided Dial, Season 2: Wall St. Wants Your Airwaves. In recent years, creative, often music-focused pirate broadcasting has been thriving on shortwave. Reporter Katie Thornton reveals how these surreptitious broadcasters are up against a surprising enemy: not the FCC, but a deep-pocketed group of finance bros that is trying to wrestle the airwaves away from the public, and use them for a money-making scheme completely antithetical to broadcasting. What do we lose when we give up our public airwaves?

Further reading:

Remarks of FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez at the 2025 Media Institute Communications Forum, May 15, 2025

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S2 THE DIVIDED DIAL EPISODE 4: Wall St. Wants Your Airwaves May 28, 2025

Show notes

EPISODE 4

In recent years, creative, often music-focused pirate broadcasting has been thriving on shortwave. But these surreptitious broadcasters are up against a surprising ideological foe: Not the FCC, but a deep-pocketed group of finance bros that is trying to wrestle the airwaves away from the public, and use them for a money-making scheme completely antithetical to broadcasting. What do we lose when we give up our public airwaves?

The Divided Dial was supported in part by a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism

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Conspiracy Theories Come Back to Bite MAGA. Plus, Ep. 3 of The Divided Dial. May 23, 2025

Show notes

Before they were appointed, the leaders of the F.B.I. boosted misinformation about a ‘deep state.’ Now they’re in power, they’ve become the focus of conspiracy theories. On this week’s On the Media, how MAGA infighting about Jeffrey Epstein reveals a greater problem for the Republican Party. Plus, the story of one of the world's farthest-reaching radio stations: a haven for extremists based in small-town Maine.

[01:00] Host Micah Loewinger talks with Will Sommer, senior reporter at The Bulwark, about why the Trump White House’s allegiance with conspiracy theorists is souring, and how Jeffrey Epstein is dividing the MAGA base.

[09:04] Episode 3 of The Divided Dial, Season 2: World's Last Chance Radio. In the internet era, much of the shortwaves have been left to the most extreme voices — including a conspiratorial flat earth ministry, and an ultra-conservative cult complete with everything from sexual abuse to dead infants and illegal burials. In the 737-person northern Maine town of Monticello, reporter Katie Thornton explores one of the world's farthest-reaching radio stations that has given them a home, pumping out extremism and conspiracy theories to the world as the voice of American broadcasting.

Join us on June 11th for a conversation between OTM's Micah Loewinger and journalist Katie Thornton about The Divided Dial. Click here to buy tickets.

Further reading:

“The Real Reason Trump World Just Can’t Quit Conspiracy Theories,” Will Sommer

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S2 THE DIVIDED DIAL EPISODE 3: World's Last Chance Radio May 21, 2025

Show notes

EPISODE 3

Today, in the internet era, much of the shortwaves have been left to the most extreme voices — including a conspiratorial flat earth ministry, and an ultra-conservative cult complete with everything from sexual abuse to dead infants and illegal burials. In the 737-person northern Maine town of Monticello, one of the world's farthest-reaching radio stations has given them a home, pumping out extremism and conspiracy theories to the world as the voice of American broadcasting.

The Divided Dial was supported in part by a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism.

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Why Trump is Welcoming White South Africans as Refugees. Plus, Ep 2 of The Divided Dial. May 16, 2025

Show notes

On Monday, dozens of Afrikaners arrived in the US as refugees. On this week’s On the Media, how a fringe group of white South Africans have been lobbying for Donald Trump’s attention for almost a decade — but refugee status was never on their wish list. Plus, the second episode of The Divided Dial, all about how rightwing extremists took over shortwave radio.

[01:00] Host Micah Loewinger talks with Carolyn Holmes, a professor of political science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, about the arrival of white South African refugees in the US, why Afrikaner white rights groups are objecting to the policy, and the long-standing exchange of ideas between white nationalist elites in the US and South Africa.

[16:42] Episode 2 of The Divided Dial, Season 2: You Must Form Your Militia Movements. Many governments eased off the shortwaves after the Cold War, and homegrown US-based rightwing extremists edged out shortwave peaceniks to fill the void. Reporter Katie Thornton explores how in the 1990s, US shortwave radio stations became a key organizing and recruiting ground for white supremacists and the burgeoning anti-government militia movement. On this instantaneous, international medium, they honed a strategy and a rhetoric that they would take to the early internet and beyond.

Further reading:

“Tucker Carlson, those South African white rights activists aren’t telling you the whole truth,” by Carolyn Holmes (2019)
“‘Kill the Boer’: The anti-apartheid song Musk ties to ‘white genocide’” by Nick Dall

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S2 THE DIVIDED DIAL EPISODE 2: You Must Form Your Militia Units May 14, 2025

Show notes

EPISODE 2

Many governments eased off the shortwaves after the Cold War, and homegrown US-based rightwing extremists edged out shortwave peaceniks to fill the void. In the 1990s, US shortwave radio stations became a key organizing and recruiting ground for white supremacists and the burgeoning anti-government militia movement. On this instantaneous, international medium, they honed a strategy and a rhetoric that they would take to the early internet and beyond.

The Divided Dial was supported in part by a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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