On the Media

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Week One of Trump 2.0 Jan 25, 2025

Show notes

President Donald Trump’s second term began with a flurry of executive orders and press. On this week’s On the Media, how to navigate the onslaught of news. Plus, executives at major outlets are telling reporters to tone down coverage of the new administration. And, what we can learn about Trump by looking at the legacy of his favorite president, William McKinley.

[01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone on the flood of executive orders emerging from President Trump’s return to the Oval Office, and how the chaos is the point. Plus, host Micah Loewinger explores the role of fear in stymying action and understanding.

[18:55] Micah Loewinger speaks with Oliver Darcy, author of the newsletter Status and former CNN media reporter, on how media execs are instructing reporters to tone down their Trump coverage, and how current political journalism compares to that of four years ago.

[34:21] Brooke Gladstone speaks with Chris Lehmann, the DC Bureau chief for The Nation and a contributing editor at The Baffler, on what we can learn from President Donald Trump's role model, President William McKinley.

Further reading:

“What ‘Mass Deportation’ Actually Means,” by Dara Lind
“The Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” by Oliver Darcy
“Donald Trump Is Building a Bridge to 1896,” by Chris Lehmann

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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Wars Are Won By Stories Jan 22, 2025

Show notes

We are living in history all of the time. Nevertheless, there are some times that seem more historical than usual. Like now, when academics and artists and even librarians have come under attack. We mention this particular sign of these times because of a new, delightful book by historian Elyse Graham, professor of Sociology at Stony Brook University called “Book and Dagger - How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War Two." The book is a breezy and enthralling read, but assiduously footnoted for those who might question her very compelling argument that without this unheralded corp of peculiar recruits, that war might very well have been lost.

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Farewell TikTok? Plus, the Role of Memory and Forgetting with the L.A. Wildfires. Jan 17, 2025

Show notes

The Supreme Court has upheld a ban on TikTok. On this week’s On the Media, hear how the ruling could affect other media companies, and where TikTokers are going next. Plus, California’s latest wildfires are devastating, but they’re not unprecedented.

[01:00] Host Micah Loewinger sits down with David Cole, professor of law and public policy at Georgetown University, and former National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, to discuss what the Supreme Court TikTok ban could mean for all kinds of media companies.

[16:39] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Ryan Broderick, tech journalist, host of the podcast Panic World, and author of the newsletter “Garbage Day,” on the great TikTok migration to RedNote, and what the platform’s potential ban means for the future of the Internet.

[35:08] Host Brooke Gladstone speaks with Rebecca Solnit, author of A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster, on what she, a California native, has found shocking but not surprising about the Los Angeles fires.

Further reading:

“Free Speech for TikTok?,” by David Cole
“America's youth longs for Chinese e-commerce,” by Ryan Broderick
“TikTok doesn't need America,” by Ryan Broderick
“The chronicle of a fire foretold,” by Rebecca Solnit
A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster by Rebecca Solnit

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A Shake Up In The Briefing Room? Jan 15, 2025

Show notes

There have been hints dropped that the incoming administration intends to shake up the White House briefing room to potentially allow in more podcasters and outlets friendly to Trump. Whether or not it happens, the threats set the tone for another period of bad relations with the press corps. Time Magazine’s Olivia Waxman told Brooke back in 2017 that it was ever thus.

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Public Broadcasting Is In Danger (Again) Jan 10, 2025

Show notes

NPR and PBS stations are bracing for war with the incoming Trump administration. On this week’s On the Media, the long history of efforts to save—and snuff out—public broadcasting. Plus, the role of public radio across the country, from keeping local governments in check to providing life-saving information during times of crisis.

[01:00] Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger explore the history of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and break down the funding with Karen Everhart, managing editor of Current.

[06:59] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts, a member of the Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband, which oversees the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, on his decades-long fight with Republican lawmakers to keep NPR and PBS alive.

[13:44] Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation, who authored a part of the foundation’s Project 2025 chapter on ending CPB funding.

[34:26] Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger on how public radio stations across the country work to hold local governments accountable, ft: Scott Franz of KUNC in Colorado, Matt Katz formerly of WNYC, and Lindsey Smith of Michigan Public.

[00:00] Host Micah Loewinger takes a deep dive into the role of public radio during crises, ft: Tom Michael, founder of Marfa Public Radio and Laura Lee, news director for Blue Ridge Public Radio.

[00:00] Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with Sage Smiley, news director at KYUK in Bethel, Alaska, to talk about the station’s life-saving coverage of the Kuskokwim Ice Road in southwestern Alaska, and what the region would lose without public radio.

Further reading:

“End of CPB funding would affect stations of all sizes,” by Adam Ragusea
“Is there any justification for continuing to ask taxpayers to fund NPR and PBS?” by Mike Gonzalez
“Should New Jersey Democratic Officials Keep Jailing Immigrants for ICE?” by Matt Katz
“A secret ballot system at Colorado’s statehouse is quietly killing bills and raising transparency concerns,” by Scott Franz
“Not Safe to Drink," a special radio series by Michigan Public
“The Rock House Fire: 5 Years Later,” by Tom Michael

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How Trump Re-Wrote the History of January 6 Jan 08, 2025

Show notes

In the aftermath of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in January 2021, politicians, pundits, and the American public condemned the violence—while many considered Donald Trump responsible for what had happened. In a few weeks, Trump will be sworn in for a second term at the very same place rioters overran four years ago. For this midweek podcast extra, host Micah Loewinger sat down with Dan Barry, senior writer at The New York Times and co-author of the recent article, “‘A Day of Love’: How Trump Inverted the Violent History of Jan. 6,” to talk about how Trump and his allies diligently worked to rewrite the American memory of that day, and why they were so successful.

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America’s Empire State of Mind Jan 03, 2025

Show notes

The complete story of American imperialism is missing from our history books. On this week’s On the Media, how the United States worked to capture territory and expand power, while preaching democracy and freedom.

[01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with historian Daniel Immerwahr, on the hidden history of the United States empire. For Americans, empire often means economic and military power abroad, or CIA coups in Central America–not British-style imperialism. But the American empire was — and in some ways continues to be — a lot closer than most people realize. Immerwahr explains the role of guano — bird poop — in launching America's overseas empire, and the legal, political and social clashes that ensued.

[17:57] Host Brooke Gladstone continues her conversation with historian Daniel Immerwahr, exploring why, at the dawn of the last century, the arguments over imperialism didn’t end with poets like Rudyard Kipling and writers like Mark Twain. How should the adolescent U.S., big-headed about its democratic values, grapple with capturing territory? Immerwahr explains how this vital debate blazed across America’s consciousness like a comet, then vanished just as quickly.

[34:47] Host Brooke Gladstone and historian Daniel Immerwahr conclude their conversation, discussing how, after World War II, global anti-colonial sentiment (combined with less dependence on natural resources) led to a shrinking of America's physical empire. But the American empire didn't disappear — it merely changed form.

This originally aired in our April 5, 2019 program, “Empire State of Mind.”

Further reading:

“With Pitchfork in peril, a word on the purpose of music journalism,” by Ann Powers
"Why I Finally Quit Spotify," by Kyle Chayka

A segment from this show originally aired on our January 19, 2024 program, Trouble at The Baltimore Sun, and the End of an Era for Pitchfork.

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A New Film Unearths the Depths of Netanyahu's Corruption Dec 25, 2024

Show notes

For the new documentary, The Bibi Files, director Alexis Bloom uses hundreds of hours of leaked, previously unseen interrogation footage of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his wife Sara, his son Yair, his staff and inner circle – to trace how the corruption charges against Netanyahu and Israel’s war on Gaza have converged. On this week’s midweek podcast, we re-air a conversation between Brooke Gladstone and Israeli journalist Raviv Drucker, one of the main guides through The Bibi Files, to discuss his role in the documentary and how Netanyahu’s corruption cases act as the “engine” that drives the wider conflict in the region.

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