Cover art for podcast The latest episodes from On the Media

The latest episodes from On the Media

50 EpisodesProduced by WNYC StudiosWebsite

WNYC’s weekly investigation into how the media shapes our worldview. 

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Is Lying On the Radio...Legal?

March 24th, 2023

50:48

Highly politicized, partisan companies like Salem Media Group have a hold on the airwaves — and they don’t plan to give it up. This week, Senior Vice …

How Neoconservatism Led the US to Invade Iraq

March 22nd, 2023

15:03

If you ask Democrats why the US invaded Iraq in 2003, many will say that President George W. Bush cynically lied about weapons of mass destruction. Meanwhile, some Republicans will say that President Bush meant well, …

How did Talk Radio Get So Politically Lop-Sided?

March 17th, 2023

50:52

How did the right get their vice grip of the airwaves, all the while arguing that they were being silenced and censored by a liberal media? This week, we look at the early history of American radio to reveal …

Silenced Samples: How Copyright Laws Infringe on Hip Hop

March 15th, 2023

24:26

Iconic hip hop group De La Soul's music is finally available on streaming platforms, just in time for the fiftieth anniversary of hip hop. To say …

The Most Influential Christian Talk Radio Network You've Probably Never Heard of

March 10th, 2023

50:42

In 2016, Christian talk radio host Eric Metaxas begrudgingly encouraged his listeners to vote for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. By 2020, …

How Lina Khan Became Antitrust Critics' Favorite Target

March 8th, 2023

26:36

In March 2021, when President Joe Biden announced the nomination of Lina Khan to be a commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission, the decision was met with a rare kind of excitement for the otherwise sleepy agency. …

Historical Fictions

March 3rd, 2023

50:45

A billion dollar defamation lawsuit has given the public an unprecedented view into the inner workings of Fox News. On this week’s On the Media, how …

The OTHER Lawsuit Involving the Murdochs

March 1st, 2023

8:55

Fox News is in the fight of its legal life right now. Dominion is suing Fox News for 1.6 billion dollars in damages over false claims that it helped …

Who Profits?

February 24th, 2023

50:45

The Supreme Court heard two cases this week that could upend Silicon Valley. On this week’s On The Media, a look at the fragile law holding the …

Brooke on the Press in Times of War

February 22nd, 2023

34:29

This week we're airing an interview that Brooke did while on a fellowship at the American Academy in Rome. She and her husband Fred Kaplan (author of …

Off the Rails

February 17th, 2023

50:27

1. Julia Rock [@jul1arock], reporter at the The Lever, and Allison Fisher [@citizenfisher], director of the Climate and Energy Program for Media …

Joke, Threat, Obvious

February 15th, 2023

19:10

YouTube is one of the biggest media companies in the world. In 2020, we uploaded 500 hours of footage to the site every minute. And on average we watched over 5 billion videos every day. It’s a broadcasting machine so …

Hide and Seek

February 10th, 2023

50:51

It’s a bird, it’s a plane… no, it’s a spy balloon. On this week’s On the Media, how to grasp a news event that’s equal parts concerning and absurd. Plus, the hunt for who poisoned the Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, …

David Remnick Speaks to Salman Rushdie About Surviving the Fatwa

February 9th, 2023

50:10

Thirty-four years ago, the Ayatollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, issued a fatwa calling for the assassination of the novelist Salman …

Too Big to Fail?

February 3rd, 2023

50:45

On this week’s On the Media, what the data says about how boys and men are struggling today. Plus, the history behind Ticketmaster’s dominance in the …

Puerto Rico in 8 Songs

February 1st, 2023

27:38

Former OTM producer Alana Casanova-Burgess is back with season 2 of her critically acclaimed podcast series, La Brega. This one is all about the music!

For over a century, Puerto Rican musicians have been influential …

Sorry, That's Classified

January 27th, 2023

50:45

If millions of Americans have access to classified documents, can we really call them secrets? On this week's On the Media, a former Pentagon official explains how America’s bloated classification system came to be. …

Operation Podcast: What the CIA's Latest Media Venture Can Teach Us About the Agency

January 24th, 2023

26:26

For decades, the Central Intelligence Agency has cultivated its appeal as an organization shrouded in secrecy, engaged in cutting edge tech and …

Great Expectations

January 20th, 2023

50:11
Many of us are still cookin’ with gas, but should we? On this week’s On the Media, a look at why gas stoves, and the political flame-war over …

Salvation Through Technology?

January 18th, 2023

17:53

Human aspirations for technology are vast. One day, maybe we'll develop technologies that cure cancer. Rid us of viruses. Perhaps fix that pesky …

It’s a Machine’s World

January 13th, 2023

50:42

Schools across the country are considering whether to ban the new AI chatbot, ChatGPT. On this week’s On the Media, a look at the ever-present hype …

HBO's "The Last of Us" and The Curse of Video Game Adaptations

January 11th, 2023

21:08

This week HBO is set to release its latest show, The Last Of Us, about two strangers, who end up on a perilous journey together through a zombie-infested post-apocalyptic America. The show, starring Pedro Pascal and …

Caution: Fragile!

January 6th, 2023

51:00

The start of a new year is a time to look both forward and back. On this week’s On the Media, hear how facing our climate’s fragility could inspire …

A Taxonomy of TikTok Panics

January 4th, 2023

21:56

At the end of 2022, Congress passed legislation to ban TikTok from all government devices, citing data privacy concerns and potential ties between the app and the Chinese government. But this isn't the first time the …

Bookish

December 30th, 2022

49:58
In October, a court ruled in favor of the Department of Justice and blocked the merging of two publishing giants: Penguin Random …

The Origins of America's White Jesus

December 28th, 2022

18:59

During this holiday season, you likely encountered public nativity scenes depicting the birth of Jesus, presenting the family with very rare …

In Retrospect

December 24th, 2022

50:54

And just like that, 2022 is coming to a close. On this week's On the Media, a look back at our year of coverage, from Russia’s war on Ukraine, to an unprecedented rise in book bannings at home. Tune in to hear about the …

The Divided Dial - BONUS EPISODE!

December 21st, 2022

16:25

We covered a lot of ground in the series, so in this bonus episode we wanted to give space to some of the voices we couldn’t fit into the story; a …

The Good Ol' Days

December 16th, 2022

50:53

This year, right-wing groups at home and abroad were animated by wistful recollections of the past. On this week's On the Media, hear how nostalgia …

The Divided Dial: Episode 5 - There's Something About Radio

December 15th, 2022

49:34

Highly politicized, partisan companies like Salem have a hold on the airwaves — and they don’t plan to give it up. Senior Vice President of Salem, …

Still Watching?

December 9th, 2022

50:48

A 2020 story about Hunter Biden's hacked laptop keeps finding its way back into the news cycle. On this week's On the Media, a look at Elon Musk's so-called Twitter Files and whether they’re newsworthy. Plus, the …

The Divided Dial: Episode 4 - From The Extreme to The Mainstream

December 6th, 2022

36:33

In the 1970s, talk radio was hitting its stride, with hosts and listeners from all political persuasions. But the radio dial was about to change …

The Oldest Trick

December 2nd, 2022

50:35

An ancient scapegoat for society’s woes is back in the news. On this week’s On the Media, a deeper look at the confusing landscape of modern anti-semitism. Plus, a conversation with some of the dogged reporters who …

Brooke and Brian Lehrer Interview Each Other

December 1st, 2022

24:29

This week, we’re sharing a chat Brooke had with her longtime colleague Brian Lehrer for Interview Magazine. Brian hosts his inimitably thoughtful …

The Divided Dial: Episode 3 - The Liberal Bias Boogeyman

November 29th, 2022

32:39

How did the right get their vice grip of the airwaves, all the while arguing that they were being silenced and censored by a liberal media? In this episode we look at the early history of American radio to reveal …

Bark and Bite

November 25th, 2022

50:38

Conspiracy theories and disinformation have found a home on right-wing talk radio, where falsehoods often escape scrutiny from regulators and …

11/22/63

November 23rd, 2022

11:29

In television's younger days, going live was extremely difficult, costly and rare. But in November of 1963 a monumental tragedy made live coverage …

The Divided Dial: Episode 2 - From Pulpit to Politics

November 22nd, 2022

33:27

Episode 2: From Pulpit to Politics

How did the little-known Salem Media Group come to have an outsized political influence? In this episode we trace …

Flipping The Bird

November 18th, 2022

50:18

Since Elon Musk took over Twitter, there has been nothing short of crisis — leading to massive layoffs and lost advertisers. On this week’s On the Media, what this chaos means for activists worldwide who used the …

Mastodon: The Platform Taking Twitter's Worn and Weary

November 16th, 2022

25:39

In the wake of the five alarm fire at Twitter, a small, quiet social media alternative has been quietly attracting the tweeting weary. Mastodon, named for the prehistoric elephant relatives, was originally created by a …

The Divided Dial: Episode 1 - The True Believers

November 15th, 2022

29:31

Episode 1: The True Believers

In 2016, Christian talk radio host Eric Metaxas begrudgingly encouraged his listeners to vote for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. By 2020, he pledged his life to fighting the …

Infinite Scroll

November 11th, 2022

50:14

Across the county, librarians are fighting to keep libraries open and books on the shelves. On this week’s show, hear what the American Library Association is doing to stand up to unprecedented challenges, and what a …

Re-Sorting the Shelves: A Look at Bias In the Dewey Decimal System

November 9th, 2022

20:14

Jess deCourcy Hinds is the solo librarian at the Bard High School, Early College library in Queens, New York. In 2010, she received a new order of …

Free and Fair

November 4th, 2022

56:01

As the midterms approach, conspiracy theories about election fraud are shaping some races. On this week’s On the Media, a deep dive into the impact of the Big Lie on local elections, and the people who run them. Plus, …

Inside the Sunken Place: A Conversation with Betty Gabriel

November 2nd, 2022

10:12

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 …

Fear Itself

October 28th, 2022

50:02

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 Digital Divide

October 27th, 2022

12:07

An investigation by nonprofit newsroom The Markup found that four internet providers disproportionately offered lower-income and least-White …

The F Word (Rebroadcast)

October 21st, 2022

49:59

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 …

SPECIAL OFFER! ONLY 50 LEFT!!!

October 19th, 2022

12:01

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 …

At What Cost?

October 14th, 2022

50:22

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 …

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