On the Media

4.6 (8.8K)
NEWS COMMENTARY
UPDATED SEMIWEEKLY

The Peabody Award-winning On the Media podcast is your guide to examining how the media sausage is made. Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger examine threats to free speech and government transparency, cast a skeptical eye on media coverage of the week’s big stories and unravel hidden political narratives in everything we read, watch and hear.

9H AGO

S2 - Episode 2: The Harvard Plan

Millions of dollars in federal grants have been terminated, throwing cutting-edge research at American universities into crisis. On this week’s On the Media, meet the two men at the center of the fight over the future of academia. [0:00] Harvard president Alan Garber and National Institutes of Health director Jay Bhattacharya are at the heart of the national fight over the future of academia. Alan Garber has been cast as the defender of academic freedom and democracy; Jay Bhattacharya is Donald Trump’s pick to lead the NIH, the agency withholding billions of dollars in research grants from Harvard. Oddly enough, the two men go way back: Garber was Bhattacharya’s undergraduate thesis adviser and mentor in the late 1980s. This episode tells the story of how the two men found themselves adversaries — and what it means for the future of science. 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, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

51 min
2D AGO

Do Moderates Win More Elections?

Zohran Mamdani has won the 2025 New York City mayoral race, with a higher turnout of voters than New York has seen in decades. This despite the fact that New York’s senators — Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand — did not back Mamdani, and House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries waited until the day before early voting began to endorse the Democratic nominee. Mamdani’s divided party support reflects an intensifying argument over whether Democratic candidates must move closer to the political center - or further away - in order to win. Brooke speaks with Elliott Morris, a journalist, statistician, and author of the data-driven news website Strength in Numbers, about what the numbers say around moderation and why it might not be the silver bullet Democratic strategists seemed to crave. Further reading: Moderation is not a silver bullet, by Elliott MorrisThe Strategist’s Fallacy in American politics, by Elliott Morris 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, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

34 min
OCT 31

The Harvard Plan is Back. Episode 1: And So It Begins...

President Trump is compelling universities across the country to adopt a more conservative agenda in exchange for access to federal funds. On this week’s On the Media, how this pressure campaign is playing out at the oldest and richest university in America: Harvard. [0:00] Our latest collaboration with the Boston Globe is Season Two of The Harvard Plan, in which reporter Ilya Marritz explores what has unfolded at Harvard University since Donald Trump’s inauguration. Three members of the university community tell the story: Ryan Enos, a political scientist, Kamila Naxerova, a genetics professor and cancer researcher, and Kit Parker, a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserve and professor of bioengineering and applied physics. 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, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

49 min
OCT 29

S2 - Episode 1: The Harvard Plan

The Harvard Plan - our collaboration with the Boston Globe, is back! In episode one, we hear what unfolded at Harvard from Donald Trump’s inauguration to convocation 2025. Three main characters, inside Harvard, tell the story from their perspective: politics professor Ryan Enos, genetics professor and cancer researcher Kamila Naxerova and campus conservative Kit Parker, lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserve and Professor of Bioengineering and Applied Physics at Harvard. The personal perspectives of our three guides are interwoven with the dramatic timeline and unfolding news. 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, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

49 min
OCT 24

Donald Trump's 'Darth Vader.' Plus, the Normalization of White Nationalist Nick Fuentes.

The federal government shutdown has entered its fourth week. On this week’s On the Media, hear about the man who is laying off four thousand federal workers this month, whom some call a “shadow president.” Plus, a white nationalist influencer reveals how fast the Republican party is shifting right. [02:21] Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with Andy Kroll, a reporter covering justice and the rule of law at ProPublica, to discuss Russell Vought, the director of a little-known, but powerful office inside the White House. [20:23] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Ben Lorber, a senior research analyst at Political Research Associates, about his work tracking Nick Fuentes, the Gen Z white nationalist influencer, since 2019 – and why he’s not convinced that Fuentes is as powerful as he claims to be. [38:13] Host Micah Loewinger called up Gregorio Olivares Gutierrez, a junior and student journalist at the University of Texas, Dallas, to talk about the turmoil between campus newsrooms and their administrations over covering student protests. Further reading / listening: “The Shadow President,” by Andy KrollSafety through Solidarity: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism, by Shane Burley and Ben Lorber 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, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

52 min
OCT 22

How Funding Cuts Are Changing Public Radio

This summer, Republicans clawed back over a billion dollars that had been pledged to public media. But it wasn’t until this month that the corporation for public broadcasting – longtime distributor of that money – started to wind down operations, and those federal funds finally ran out. Now, many stations are weighing whether to spend their shrinking budgets on national programming from the likes of NPR, or to fund journalism on their local communities. We’re affected, too. So begins a new reckoning to save not just individual stations, but the interconnected system that makes public radio so special. LaFontaine E. Oliver is the president, CEO and executive chair of New York Public Radio. This week -- which is also WNYC pledge week -- he tells Brooke about how federal cuts are changing public media, and how our station is facing this critical moment. 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, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

16 min
OCT 17

Big Tech is Silencing the ICE Watchers. Plus, Why a Scholar of Antifa Fled the Country.

Tech giants Apple and Google have been quietly removing ways for citizens to document The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s activities. On this week’s On the Media, one group’s efforts to make sure citizens can see what ICE is doing. Plus, the online right-wing campaign that led a historian to flee the country. [01:00] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Joseph Cox, co-founder of 404 Media, about the Trump administration’s pressure campaign to get rid of apps that document ICE activities, including one that archives videos of ICE abuses, and why these apps could matter for future ICE accountability. [15:34] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Mark Bray, historian and author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, who left the country after being accused of being “antifa,” resulting in death threats and doxxing. Bray, a professor at Rutgers University, shares how his research is helping him to understand the harassment campaign led by conservative media against him. [31:51] Host Brooke Gladstone called up John J. Lennon, contributing editor for Esquire, at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, where he’s serving the 24th year of his 28-year-to-life sentence for murder, drug sales, and gun possession. He recently wrote the book, The Tragedy of True Crime: Four Guilty Men and the Stories That Define Us, and discusses the impact of the genre on people serving time and why he wants to rewrite typical true crime narratives. 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, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

51 min
OCT 15

David Remnick: How The Two State Solution Ended in Disaster

For decades, the United States backed efforts to achieve a two-state solution—in which Israel would exist side by side with the Palestinian state, with both states recognizing each other’s claim to contested territory. The veteran negotiators Hussein Agha, representing Palestine, and Robert Malley, an American diplomat, played instrumental roles in that long effort, including the critical Camp David summit of 2000. But, in their new book, “Tomorrow Is Yesterday,” they conclude that they were part of a charade. There was never any way that a two-state solution could satisfy either of the parties, Agha and Malley tell The New Yorker Radio Hour's David Remnick in an interview. “A waste of time is almost a charitable way to look at it,” Malley notes bitterly. “At the end of that thirty-year-or-so period, the Israelis and Palestinians are in a worse situation than before the U.S. got so heavily invested.” The process, appealing to Western leaders and liberals in Israel, was geared to “find the kind of solutions that have a technical outcome, that are measurable, and that can be portrayed by lines on maps,” Agha says. “It completely discarded the issue of emotions and history. You can’t be emotional. You have to be rational. You have to be cool. But rational and cool has nothing to do with the conflict.” 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, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

39 min

See All (1.8K)

Brooke Gladstone

Host
Andy Kroll

Guest
Ben Lorber

Guest
Gregorio Olivares Gutierrez

Guest
Lilliana Mason

Guest
Jamison Foser

Guest

4.6

out of 5

8,782 Ratings

Require listening for anyone concerned about US democracy

Sep 6

TJ b4

In the September 5, 2025 episode, the interview with Zack Beauchamp, a senior correspondent at Vox, is chilling. Thank you, On The Media, for this interview/reporting & Zack Beauchamp for your reporting.
Loved it until new producer/host

Oct 7

gregenns30

Much more partisan since Micah Lowenger has been hosting. It’s much more “reporting” where they ask a reporter to give opinions on why Micah is right about his opinion on something. I’ve learned more about video games and gamers (which I don’t care about). I used to donate but I’m going to stop and stop subscribing. Tangled is the podcast I’m replacing this with.
Not Objective

Sep 27

Bill.M..

This show is supposed to be a clip show that examines how the media shapes our political discourse. It’s become a stream of lefty gobbledygook where Trump is the boogeyman to blame for everything.
Showcasing The Liberal Media’s Bias

Sep 13

jnnyg65

News media bias is real. It reduces the quality of journalism, and it fosters distrust among readers and viewers. This is bad for democracy. Many prevailing biases exist in the U.S. news media and Ms Gladstone show endorse most of them wholeheartedly under the guise of “reporting”. The political press in the U.S. has an overwhelming leftward tilt, mostly on social issues. Conservatives aren’t imagining this bias. It’s evident in many ways, including personnel movement. For instance, Bill Keller, after years as a New York Times columnist taking largely liberal stands, became The Times' executive editor. Shocking. Studies consistently show that reporters and editors stand to the far left of the majority of Americans. More than 30 former journalists served in the Biden administration — nothing comparable happens like that in The Trump administration. Clustering of left-of-center viewpoints in the newsroom leads to a cloistering, and thus reporters end up unfamiliar with conservative viewpoints. This shows up in the tone of daily coverage (for instance, “property rights” gets put in scare quotes, while “abortion rights” doesn’t). Conservatives are an alien species to many news podcasts. The resulting slanted (and openly hostile) coverage leaves conservatives rightly distrustful that the news media will cover their issues fairly. This breeds the perception that the mainstream media is out to get conservatives, and this perception has recently manifested truly harmful consequences. The most crucial role of our press is scrutinizing those in power and those who want power. Donald Trump and the others in his administration all deserve intense scrutiny of their policy proposals, their past and their stated beliefs. Trump has portrayed the recent news media scrutiny of him as a witch hunt, and (especially when some of it is unfair) conservative voters believe him. This enables him to dodge accountability. American Democracy needs a trustworthy news media, it’s too bad this slanted, hateful podcast is incapable of providing that service.

The Peabody Award-winning On the Media podcast is your guide to examining how the media sausage is made. Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger examine threats to free speech and government transparency, cast a skeptical eye on media coverage of the week’s big stories and unravel hidden political narratives in everything we read, watch and hear.