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On the Media

On The Media
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Politics
  • Updated weekly

On the Media is a weekly show that uses the media as a lens to understand our world.  On the Media listeners say the show is an essential companion, helping them survive the firehose of media coming at them 24/7. Hosted by Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger, the show does not do ‘hot takes’, instead offering listeners context, historical parallels, media analysis and often a much appreciated deep exhale. On the Media hosts have an eye on the nuances and details regularly missed by other outlets which helps listeners understand where they should be paying attention (and what they can afford to ignore). Our media diets have untruths woven in, and inconvenient truths left out. These are the bits explored every week at On the Media.

  1. The FCC’s Pressure Campaign to Reshape Broadcast TV

    1 hr ago

    The FCC’s Pressure Campaign to Reshape Broadcast TV

    ABC has enlisted the help of its audience to defend The View and Jimmy Kimmel against attacks from the Federal Communications Commission. On this week’s On the Media, hear about the MAGA movement trying to shift television to the right. Plus, the legal theory that the FCC is using to put pressure on the networks. [01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone speaks with  Jim Rutenberg, writer-at-large for the New York Times, about how Trump’s FCC is reviving a nearly century-old rule to crack down on late-night talk shows. Rutenberg explains why MAGA’s embrace of the FCC’s regulatory powers to go after “liberal bias” in the media signals a shift within the Republican party.   [26:47] Brooke sits down with Daniel Suhr, the president of a legal advocacy group called the Center for American Rights and the architect behind the legal theory that the FCC is using to put pressure on TV networks. They discuss his goal to make network TV look more like the AM radio band.  Further reading: “How a Century-Old Rule Is Scrambling Late-Night TV,” by Jim Rutenberg “The MAGA Plan to Take Over TV Is Just Beginning,” by Jim Rutenberg “The FCC’s Public Notice on ‘Bona Fide News,’” by Daniel Suhr “The end of an agency,” by Daniel Suhr “Straight Talk on FCC 'Jawboning'” by Daniel Suhr 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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    51 min
  2. A Tour Through the Epstein Files

    2 days ago

    A Tour Through the Epstein Files

    The Department of Justice collected more than 6 million pages of the Epstein Files, and released about 3 million under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. A few months ago, Brooke visited an art installation called the Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Reading Room to behold the files... at least those we’ve been authorized to see. Plus, Andrea Sterling, an online content creator and a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse, shares how to felt to see the files in real life. 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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    21 min
  3. A Newspaper Raid and a Small Town Whodunnit

    3 Jul

    A Newspaper Raid and a Small Town Whodunnit

    In August of 2023, police raided a small local newspaper in rural Kansas, seizing computers and cellphones. Later, the paper’s publisher would discover there was no legal basis for the search. On this week’s On the Media, find out who was behind the raid, and what the saga reveals about the plight of local journalism today.  [01:00] On a Friday morning in a small, rural town in Kansas, the publisher of the local newspaper opens his door to see the police. They have a search warrant in hand, and within minutes, they’re searching his home. He finds out that at the same time, officers are combing through his newsroom, seizing computers and cellphones. All of this comes as a massive surprise – no warning, no subpoena, and, as he later finds out, no legal right.  This week, we’re airing an episode of KCRW’s Question Everything, hosted by Brian Reed, which digs into why this violent raid occurred, who’s behind it, and the long-lasting, tragic ramifications.  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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    51 min
  4. The Rest Is History

    1 Jul

    The Rest Is History

    This week we’re sharing a segment from our friends at the New Yorker Radio Hour. David Remnick sits down with the hosts of the hit podcast, The Rest is History, who turned their childhood love of history into a blockbuster show. They discuss how Brits remember the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War. 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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    48 min
  5. The Fantasy of America at 250

    26 Jun

    The Fantasy of America at 250

    In Texas, a judge sentenced a group of anti-ICE demonstrators to decades in prison. On this week’s On the Media, how leftist zines were used to convict a group of protesters accused of ties to antifa. Plus, as we approach the nation’s 250th birthday, we reflect on America’s inability to reckon with the darkest parts of its past. [01:00]  Micah interviews Lex McMenamin, movement building reporter at The Guardian US, about how leftist zines were used to sentence anti-ICE protesters to decades in prison this week.  [12:55]  Brooke sits down with Eddie Glaude, professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, to talk about his latest book, “America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries,” and why, at every major milestone, the United States has struggled to reconcile a “double-consciousness.”  Further reading: “‘This is injustice’: how leftist zines were used to sentence anti-ICE protesters to decades in prison,” by Lex McMenamin America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries by Eddie S. Glaude Jr. 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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    50 min
  6. Far Right Stars Are Bemoaning the Chaos They Created

    24 Jun

    Far Right Stars Are Bemoaning the Chaos They Created

    Top voices on the far right are currently facing the consequences of their own actions. Ben Shapiro is complaining about the rise of a podcaster he made a star; Joe Rogan is upset about the spread of conspiracy theories; and Christopher Rufo is complaining about bigotry in the Republican party. This week, Micah talks to Vox Senior Correspondent Zack Beauchamp about what he calls the 'hot dog men' of the right, and what the phenomenon signals about the future of the Republican party. 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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    23 min
  7. J.D. Vance: Iran Deal Fall Guy

    19 Jun

    J.D. Vance: Iran Deal Fall Guy

    Donald Trump has signed a preliminary agreement to end the war in Iran. On this week’s On the Media, hear how J.D. Vance has been positioned to suffer the political fallout from the conflict – and from the much criticized deal. Plus, the theological tensions dividing the MAGA coalition. [01:34] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Joe Perticone, national political reporter at The Bulwark, about how J.D. Vance is being set up as the Iran deal “fall guy.” [18:26] Micah talks to Oren Persico, staff writer for The Seventh Eye, an independent Israeli website devoted to journalism and freedom of the press, about the Israeli media coverage of the Iran deal as a ‘catastrophic capitulation,’ the fracturing relationship between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu and what it may portend for Israel’s political future.  [34:14] Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with Matthew D. Taylor, visiting scholar at Georgetown University's Center on Faith and Justice, to discuss how the growing factions in the Republican party over Israel and the Iran war are part-policy, part-divergent Christian theologies. Further reading: “JD Vance Is Being Set Up as the Iran Deal Fall Guy,” by Joe Perticone “How Christian Zionism and Christian Antisemitism Are Tearing MAGA Apart,” by Matthew D. Taylor The Violent Take It by Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy, by Matthew D. Taylor 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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    51 min
  8. The Cat Ladies Haven't Forgotten

    17 Jun

    The Cat Ladies Haven't Forgotten

    This week JD Vance has been doing a lot of press; partly to sell the quote-unquote peace deal with Iran that he had a hand in brokering. But he’s also on a book tour! Communion, out this week, is Vance’s follow-up to his 2016 best seller hillbilly elegy.   Some of the excerpts being circulated are making their own headlines, like this one, quote; “One of the dumbest things I ever said came when I argued that ‘childless cat ladies’ across the Democrat Party were running our country into the ground,”  He first made his cat lady quip when he was running for office in Ohio and it came up again when he was on the campaign trail with Donald Trump in 2024.  So while Vance is attempting to claw his way back into the good books with said women, we are taking this opportunity to rerun a fabulous conversation Brooke had in 2024 with Kathryn Hughes, author of the book Catland: Louis Wain and the Great Cat Mania. In it, she traces the many meanings ascribed to cats and their guardians, because cruelty to cats has a long tradition. Early on, Hughes described the notorious case in 1730 of the Great Cat Massacre in Paris. 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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    18 min
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Hosts & Guests

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

On the Media is a weekly show that uses the media as a lens to understand our world.  On the Media listeners say the show is an essential companion, helping them survive the firehose of media coming at them 24/7. Hosted by Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger, the show does not do ‘hot takes’, instead offering listeners context, historical parallels, media analysis and often a much appreciated deep exhale. On the Media hosts have an eye on the nuances and details regularly missed by other outlets which helps listeners understand where they should be paying attention (and what they can afford to ignore). Our media diets have untruths woven in, and inconvenient truths left out. These are the bits explored every week at On the Media.

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