On the Media

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Inside the Sunken Place: A Conversation with Betty Gabriel Nov 02, 2022

Show notes

When Jordan Peele’s horror film Get Out hit theaters in 2017, it became an unexpected blockbuster and cultural phenomenon. The movie follows a black man named Chris, played by Daniel Kaluuya, who goes to visit his white girlfriend’s family in the country. Shortly after arriving, Chris starts to notice that something seems off and the other black people he encounters act... strangely. Slowly it’s revealed that Chris’ girlfriend, Rose Armitage, played by Allison Williams, and her family are a part of a cult that hijacks black people’s bodies and transplants the brains of their white members inside them. Their victims are still conscious but trapped in "The Sunken Place,” alive but unable to change their fate.

Betty Gabriel played Georgina the maid, whose body is possessed by the white matriarch of the Armitage family. Gabriel, in a sense, played two characters at once. This Halloween, OTM producer Rebecca Clark-Callender did a deep dive on the history of Black horror movies, and sat down with Gabriel to ask about how she prepared to play a woman possessed. For this midweek podcast we’re bringing you an extended cut of their conversation.

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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Fear Itself Oct 28, 2022

Show notes

With early midterm voting underway, Fox News has been increasing crime coverage to drive voters to the polls. On this week’s On the Media, a look at the ways fear impacts our minds and bodies, both on and off screen. Plus, how filmmakers like Jordan Peele have inspired a renaissance of the Black Horror genre.

1. Philip Bump [@pbump], national correspondent at The Washington Post, on what Fox News' focus on crime can tell us about the Republican party's midterm strategy. Listen.

2. Nina Nesseth [@cestmabiologie], science writer and author of "Nightmare Fuel: The Science of Horror Films," on the neuroscience behind horror films. Listen.

3. OTM producer Rebecca Clark-Callender [@Rebecca_CC_] takes a deep dive into the history of Black horror to see what it is and who it is for, featuring: Robin R. Means Coleman, Ida B. Wells and Ferdinand Barnett Professor of Communication Studies at Northwestern University and author of Horror Noire: A History of Black American Horror from the 1890s to Present; Tananarive Due, an author, screenwriter, and lecturer on Afrofuturism and Black Horror at University of California, Los Angeles; Rusty Cundieff, writer and director of Tales from the Hood (1995); and Betty Gabriel, actor widely known for her acclaimed performance as "Georgina" in Jordan Peele's blockbuster Get Out (2017). Listen.

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The Digital Divide Oct 27, 2022

Show notes

An investigation by nonprofit newsroom The Markup found that four internet providers disproportionately offered lower-income and least-White neighborhoods slow internet service for the same price as speedy connections they offered in other areas. According to Leon Yin, Investigative Data Journalist at The Markup, homes in historically redlined areas were offered internet speeds so slow, the FCC doesn’t consider it to be broadband. This week, guest host Micah Loewinger asks Yin how he trawled through more than 800,000 internet service offers with his team to arrive at his findings, and what's at stake. (Responses from the internet providers that Yin surveyed can be found in The Markup article, here.)

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The F Word (Rebroadcast) Oct 21, 2022

Show notes

Early in the pandemic, weight was named a risk factor for severe covid-19. But what if the greater risk is poor medical treatment for fat people? This week, On the Media dives into the fictions, feelings, and fraught history of fat. Including how sugar and the slave trade laid the groundwork for American beauty standards.

1. Dr. Yoni Freedhoff [@YoniFreedhoff], Associate Professor of Family Medicine at University of Ottawa, on what we do and don't know about the relation of weight and the severity of a Covid infection. Listen.

2. Katherine Flegal [@CeriseFlegal], epidemiologist and former senior scientist at the Centers For Disease Control, on our flawed understanding of the data around weight and death, and Katie Lebesco [@KatieLeBesco], researcher focusing on food, pop culture, and fat activism, on why the "obesity epidemic" is a moral panic hiding behind a thin veil of scientific language. Listen.

3. Sabrina Strings [@SaStrings], sociologist at the University of California, Irvine, on how European attitudes about fat dramatically changed in the 18th century. and set the standards Americans still see today. Listen.

Music in this Week's Show:
Slim Jenkins Place - Booker T and the MGs
Eye Surgery- Thomas Newman
String Quartet No. 5 (Phillip Glass) - Kronos Quartet
Disfarmer - Bill Frisell
Lost, Night - Bill Frisell
In the Bath - Randy Newman
The De Lessup’s Dance - Gavin Wright
Breakaway - Regina Carter

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SPECIAL OFFER! ONLY 50 LEFT!!! Oct 19, 2022

Show notes

What counts as media? For us, its any medium through which we express ourselves — whether from one to one, from one to many, or just from one... to one’s own self.

We can do it with our style. Our hair. Even our glasses. They're choices that express not just our aesthetics, but our politics, too.

It was the idea of Poppy King, lipstick designer extraordinaire, whose Frog Prince lipstick was listed by Elle Australia as one of the most iconic lipstick shades of all time. King's a devoted listener, so, in collaboration with the show, she designed a special lipstick. It's called Well Red and she offered a batch of them to us as a donation so that we can pass them on to you.

We are offering these very special lipsticks to you for a donation of $12 a month or $144 for a year's worth of support for this show.

Go to onthemedia.org/donate or text lipstick to 70101.

Thank you so much!

PS here's a video we made of all of us trying it on

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At What Cost? Oct 14, 2022

Show notes

A jury recently ordered Alex Jones to pay nearly one billion dollars to the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting. On this week’s On the Media, a former Alex Jones staffer struggles with the damage his participation wrought. Plus, does social media really turn nice people into trolls?

1. Elizabeth Williamson [@NYTLiz], features writer for The New York Times, on the Sandy Hook defamation trials against Alex Jones and what the trials taught us about the spread of misinformation. Listen.

2. Josh Owens [@JoshuaHOwens ], a former InfoWars employee, on what can be done to help people who have become consumed by conspiracy theories. Listen.

3. Michael Bang Petersen [@M_B_Petersen], political science professor at Aarhus University, on the difference (or lack thereof) between on and offline behaviors, and how social media might not be affecting us in the ways we think. Listen.

Music:

The Artifact and Living by Michael Andrews
Cellar Door by Michael Andrews
Boy Moves the Sun by Michael Andrews
Exit Music (For A Film) by Brad Mehldau Trio
Eye Surgery by Thomas Newman
Hammer of Los by John Zorn

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The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee Oct 12, 2022

Show notes

Monday was Indigenous People’s Day, renamed from Columbus day to honor the lives and history lost to centuries of colonization. Often the stories shared about the first people here are those of loss, like the Trail of Tears and the Massacre at Wounded Knee. This week, David Treuer, an Ojibwe professor of literature at the University of Southern California, offers a counter-narrative to this tragic account in his book, The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America From 1890 to the Present.

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So Sue Me Oct 07, 2022

Show notes

This week, two cases headed to the Supreme Court that could change the internet as we know it. On this week’s On the Media, a look at the legal gray areas of how news gets shared online. Plus, how one reporter’s prolific coverage of Trump earned her friends and enemies alike.

1. Daphne Keller [@daphnek], director of the Program on Platform Regulation at Stanford University's Cyber Policy Center, on how two new Supreme Court cases may reshape social media as we know it. Listen.

2. Lachlan Cartwright [@LachCartwright], editor at large at the Daily Beast, on the recent lawsuits plaguing Fox News, and how they reveal glimpses of a future news empire. Listen.

3. Maggie Haberman [@maggieNYT], senior political correspondent for the New York Times, on her extensive reporting on Donald Trump, and why it has inspired strong reactions in journalistic circles. Listen.

3. Dave Enrich [@davidenrich], the business investigations editor at The New York Times, on how Big Law attorneys can still fly under the media's radar. Listen.

Music:

Fallen Leaves by Marcos Ciscar
Night Thoughts by John Zorn
Solace by The Sting
Main Title by Randy Newman
Bubble Wrap by Thomas Newman
Newsreel by Randy Newman
Accentuate the Positive by Syd Dale Orchestra

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Still Loading... Sep 30, 2022

Show notes

Are the women-led protests in Iran powerful enough to force change when past attempts have failed? On this week’s On the Media, a look at the moments that ignite movements, both online and in the streets. Plus, how silly videos built one of the largest media companies in the world, and the story of how one Twitch streamer successfully took down an army of harassers.

1. Fatemeh Shams [@ShazzShams], poet and professor of Persian literature at the University of Pennsylvania, on how the recent wave of protests in Iran differs from previous movements. Listen.

2. Ben Collins [@oneunderscore__], senior reporter for NBC, on how a famous Twitch streamer got an online forum taken down. Listen.

3. Mark Bergen [@mhbergen], journalist and author of Like, Comment, Subscribe: Inside YouTube’s Chaotic Rise to World Domination, on how YouTube transformed from a dating site to an essential part of society. Listen.

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In John Waters' Home (But Not In His Colon) Sep 28, 2022

Show notes

John Waters is the writer and director of such cult classics like Pink Flamingos, Serial Mom, and his biggest mainstream success, Hairspray. He’s been making movies since the 1960s and this year he released his debut novel, Liarmouth: A Feel Bad Romance.

The novel is an incredibly dirty romp filled with the kind of taboo storytelling that John Waters revels in. In his work, he shines a light on the worst of us but rarely to ridicule, more as a reminder of how gloriously sinful we can be, as we discussed when I spoke with him in his Manhattan home. His interest in the carnal, though, has its limits. “When I got a colonoscopy, they said, do you wanna watch? No!” he told us. “Why do I wanna go on a fantastic voyage up my a–hole?”

We also talked about money management, aging, and his secret to maintaining his many long friendships. “I do stay in touch and if anything bad happens to you, I call. If you get a bad review, I call. If you go to jail, I definitely am your first visit,” he laughed. “I never don't come visit you if you're in jail.”

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