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Critical Frequency

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Channel • 10 Shows

History

History

Updated Weekly
History

History

Updated 2019-05-27
History

History

Updated 2018-10-29
Documentary

Documentary

Updated Weekly
News Commentary

News Commentary

Updated 2020-02-26
TV & Film

TV & Film

Updated 2018-11-28
Parenting

Parenting

Updated Weekly

2021-11-09

S1 Ep3 | A Tie Is A Win

The tactic of science denial is fairly well known these days. In this episode, we dig into a lesser-known aspect: the PR strategy behind science denial, and the origins and architects of that strategy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2021-11-09

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36 min
2023-08-01

Herb, Ep 3: The Next Citizens United Will Be a Climate Case

In more than 30 climate cases making their way through U.S. courts today, oil companies are using an argument they've been laying the legal groundwork for since the 1970s: that since everything they've ever said about climate change was in the interest of shaping policy or blocking regulation, it's protected speech, even if it was misleading. In this episode we take a look at how those cases are playing out and the likelihood that this new take on "corporate free speech" could make it all the way to the Supreme Court. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2023-08-01

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27 min
2021-11-02

S1 Ep2 | Ye Olde Crisis Actor Myth

You could be forgiven for thinking the crisis actor myth was cooked up by Alex Jones to sell people on school shooting conspiracies, but in fact it's more than a century old. In this episode we meet the world's first publicist, the legendary Ivy Ledbetter Lee, and learn about his work crushing mine strikes for the Rockefellers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2021-11-02

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23 min
2021-11-16

S1 Ep4 | The Birth of SponCon

The legendary Herb Schmertz, VP of Mobil Oil, worked with PBS and The New York Times to invent sponsored content—sponcon—back in the 1960s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2021-11-16

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29 min
2021-10-26

S1 Ep1 | Fake Experts and Real Bacon

In this episode we'll meet the godfathers of American PR, Ivy Lee and Edward Bernays, and explore the origins and evolution of industry-funded experts who shaped everything from the breakfast table to our understanding of the economy and science. Read more: http://rigged.media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2021-10-26

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29 min
2020-06-09

The End of Extractive Journalism

Extractive journalism—reporting on communities without input or accountability—is the model for a lot of journalism in the U.S., especially journalism about low-income people and communities of color. But lots of people are and have been actively resisting this model. We hear from Sarah Alvarez of Outlier Media in Detroit and Bettina Chang of City Bureau in Chicago about building journalism organizations based on power-sharing rather than extraction, how information can save lives in pandemic times, and how the COVID-19 crisis has changed their work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2020-06-09

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42 min
2021-09-28

Welcome to Rigged

Introducing Rigged: A podcast documenting the history and evolution of disinformation in America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2021-09-28

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4 min
2023-08-01

Herb, Ep 2: A Legal Strategy

Worried that all their work creating Mobil's personality and a multi-pronged issue advertising campaign to go with it would go to waste if the TV networks deemed it all "propaganda" Herb and his boss looked to the courts for protection. In this episode we follow the "corporate free speech" movement through the courts, where it got a big assist from tobacco lobbyist-turned-Supreme Court justice Lewis F. Powell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2023-08-01

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31 min
2023-07-21

Herb, Ep 1: The Panic

In the 1970s, Mobil Oil had invented the advertorial and was aggressively pursuing an entirely new type of marketing, branding the company as a person with a unique personality and opinions that deserved to be heard. When public backlash threatened to undermine their approach, they launched a campaign that would change the course of U.S. history. Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2023-07-21

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35 min
2023-04-25

S3 Ep7 | The Global Oil Rush

What's happening in Guyana isn't just happening there. All over the globe, oil companies are racing to tap as many of the remaining fossil fuel reserves as they can. This week, we're joined by Rolling Stone reporter Jeff Goodell for a story about what the global oil rush looks like in another part of the world: Namibia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2023-04-25

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37 min

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