Last summer, OTM host Micah Loewenger reported a piece about the rise of worker-owned newsrooms: Hell Gate, a local New York publication, and Defector, a national outlet focused on sports and culture. 

Inspired by Defector and Hell Gate, more worked-owned outlets have come on the scene — including 404 Media, known for its mix of fun internet coverage and hard-nosed investigations. In this week’s midweek podcast, Micah speaks to 404 co-founder Samantha Cole about the challenges they have faced since they started their own outlet. Plus, what their success can teach us about the future of 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 [email protected].

At a town hall event hosted by Fox, Donald Trump shared a number of falsehoods, and appeared to confuse who he was running against. On this week’s On the Media, how mainstream outlets fail to hold the Republican candidate accountable. Plus, meet the right-wing American pundits who’ve received payouts from the Kremlin.

[01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone speaks with Daniel Drezner, professor of International Politics at Tufts University. Drezner discusses how the political press continues to struggle to cover Trump, and his campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris. 

[12:34] Host Brooke Gladstone interviews Dan Froomkin, editor of presswatchers.org. Froomkin explains why fact checkers at legacy outlets are too often adding to political confusion.

[20:49] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Will Sommer, reporter for the Washington Post who writes about conservative media. They discuss a federal investigation into how the Russian-funded media network RT funded and influenced content of a conservative media company in the U.S., which appears to be the Tennessee-based Tenet Media. 

[35:01 ] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Dan Taberski, the host and creator of the podcast series “Hysterical,” about the ties between a medical mystery in Le Roy, New York in 2011, and the unending Havana Syndrome saga. 

Further reading:

• “The Very Weird Media Coverage of the 2024 Presidential Race,” by Daniel Drezner
• “'Fact-checking' does a (hopefully fatal) face plant,” by Dan Froomkin
• “Inside Tenet Media, the pro-Trump ‘supergroup’ allegedly funded by Russia” by Will Sommer

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 [email protected].

Brooke and Micah update the listeners about a new funding model for the show. 

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 [email protected].

During election season, voters hope to glimpse the true selves of presidential candidates. And sometimes, revealing details hide in plain sight. On this week’s On the Media, one reporter sifts through political memoirs for truths about politicians and the people they lead. Plus, in vivid detail, a novelist imagines the private lives of former presidents.

[01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone speaks with Carlos Lozada, New York Times Opinion columnist and a co-host of the weekly “Matter of Opinion” podcast. Lozada explains how he mines political memoirs for deeper understanding of our political figures by examining what they include and what they omit.

[16:43] Brooke speaks with Vinson Cunningham, author of the novel Great Expectations. Cunningham, who is now a theater critic at The New Yorker, worked on the 2008 Obama campaign and later in the White House. Great Expectations is inspired by that time in his life and the difficult-to-read candidate for the presidency.

[35:05] Brooke interviews novelist Curtis Sittenfeld about her exploration of the minds of political figures through fiction, first in American Wife (inspired by Laura Bush) and next in Rodham, which considers what Hilary Clinton’s life would have looked like if she had never married Bill. They discuss the questions that led Sittenfeld to write those novels and why fiction based on real people makes readers so uncomfortable — especially the sex scenes.

This show originally aired on our May 3, 2024 program, How to Read a President, with Carlos Lozada, Vinson Cunningham, and Curtis Sittenfeld.

Further reading:

• The Washington Book by Carlos Lozada
• Great Expectations by Vinson Cunningham
• American Wife and Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld
• Curtis Sittenfeld: ‘People misunderstood the sex scenes in Rodham’

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 [email protected].

A recent update to the Apple podcast app also included a tweak to how podcast downloads work. As a podcast user you’re free to shrug and move on. But for podcast creators this could be a big deal. According to data from Podtrac, overall downloads across the industry were down 15 percent as of February.  This American Life lost 20 percent of their downloads. Some shows at NPR saw a 30 percent dip. In this week's midweek podcast, OTM producer Molly Rosen looks at how Apple has shaped the podcast industry.

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 [email protected].

When President Biden campaigned for re-election, he highlighted threats to democracy and his long track record. But since Kamala Harris took over the ticket, the party has landed on new messaging. On this week’s On the Media, a democratic strategist explains why we heard words like joy and freedom over and over at the Democratic National Convention. Plus, hear how Christian nationalism is shaping American politics.

[01:00]  Host Brooke Gladstone interviews Anat Shenker-Osorio, a democratic messaging strategist who has advised PACs and committees in battleground states, about the party’s new messaging strategy. They discuss how mockery shrinks strongmen to size; why voters seem to like the word “freedom” more than “democracy”; and more. 

[16:39] Brooke speaks with Matthew D. Taylor, scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, & Jewish Studies in Baltimore and author of the forthcoming book, The Violent Take It by Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy. They discuss different strains of Christian nationalism — from the sentimental view of America as a Christian nation, to the desire to uphold Christian supremacy. Plus, how the phenomenon has shaped American politics for centuries.

[32:23] Brooke continues her conversation with Matthew D. Taylor. Taylor introduces Brooke to the world of independent charismatic Christianity and its media, where an extreme form of Christian nationalism has taken root. Plus, the Christian leaders who stoked violence on January 6th.

A portion of this episode originally aired on our April 19, 2024 program, Meet the Media Prophets Who Preach Christian Supremacy. Plus, Journalism in ‘Civil War’

Further reading / listening:

• The rise of the "Brat Pack" — and a new Democratic political style by Anand Giridharadas
• Why Kamala Harris’ New Politics of Joy Is the Best Way to Fight Fascism, by Anat Shenker-Osorio
• How the Alabama IVF Ruling Was Influenced by Christian Nationalism by Matthew D. Taylor
• Christian Nationalism (Un)Defined 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, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

This is an episode from the Vox daily news podcast, Today, Explained. Host Noel King spoke with OTM regular, Rick Perlstein. As a historian of US politics he is often called upon to draw comparisons between today’s events and those of the past. This year in particular, the echoes with 1968 are unavoidable: the DNC is again in Chicago, there are protests outside (this time its about Gaza, then it was the Vietnam 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, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

New York City’s alternative weekly newspaper, The Village Voice, birthed a generation of legendary writers. On this week’s On the Media, how the Voice transformed journalism and what’s being lost as alt-weeklies across the country die off. Plus, a look at how AI sludge is flooding old news websites. 

[01:00] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Tricia Romano, author of The Freaks Came Out to Write, about the early days of The Village Voice, including one reporter’s mission to stop Robert Moses and its revolutionary music section. 

[16:02] Micah continues his conversation with Tricia Romano, getting into the Voice’s sale to Rupert Murdoch, the tensions within the paper, and how Craigslist led to its ultimate demise.

[34:41] Micah speaks with Wired tech reporter Kate Knibbs about how the site of publication The Hairpin mysteriously relaunched with a slate of bizarre, AI-generated articles. Knibbs managed to track down the new owner of the site, a Serbian entrepreneur known as DJ Vujo.

Portions of this episode originally aired on our April 12, 2024 program, The Rise and Fall of Alt-Weeklies, and Backpage.com vs The Feds, and our February 9, 2024 program, If You Can’t Beat ’Em… Join ’Em? Journalism in an AI World.

Further reading:

• The Freaks Came Out to Write: The Definitive History of the Village Voice, the Radical Paper That Changed American Culture
• “Zombie Alt-Weeklies Are Stuffed With AI Slop About OnlyFans,” by Kate Knibbs

“Confessions of an AI Clickbait Kingpin,”

 by Kate Knibbs

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 [email protected].

In 2011, a group of high school girls in the small town of Le Roy, New York started coming down with mysterious medical symptoms. When their parents took to the story to the press, it became a national news sensation, attracting the attention of everyone from the environmental activist Erin Brokovich to a former Bachelor contestant with a medical diagnosis tv show. Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Dan Taberski, the host and creator of a new podcast series called Hysterical, about what happened in Le Roy, New York and what this and other similar events can tell us about the relationship between the media and hysteria.

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 [email protected].

This week, Kamala Harris’ VP pick Tim Walz went viral for being a typical Midwestern dad. On this week’s On the Media, the narratives surrounding Walz, and the political appeal of the car-tinkering, grill-manning father figure. Plus, the news influencers covering the election, and what their work reveals about the future of legacy journalism.

[02:22] Host Brooke Gladstone examines the narratives swirling around Gov. Tim Walz, and chats with Charlie Warzel, staff writer at The Atlantic, about the many memes, videos, and tweets claiming the VP nominee is “dad-coded.” 

[14:50] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Nathan Grayson, reporter and co-founder of the gaming publication Aftermath. They discuss Donald Trump’s recent interview with live streamer Adin Ross and Trump’s courtship of edgelord influencers like Logan Paul. Plus, is there a place for politicians on platforms like Twitch and Kick?

[33:18] Host Micah Loewinger talks with Makena Kelly, who writes about politics and the internet for Wired, about how the Republican and Democratic national conventions are inviting influencers to watch. Then, Micah checks in with Taylor Lorenz, columnist at the Washington Post and host of the podcast Power User, about how the rise of short-form video is impacting the news industry. 

Further reading / listening:

• “Dad Is on the Ballot” by Charlie Warzel
• Stream Big: The Triumphs and Turmoils of Twitch and the Stars Behind the Screen (forthcoming in 2025) by Nathan Grayson
• The Influencers with as Much Presidential Access as the Press, by Makena Kelly
• Democratic convention will host hundreds of online influencers, by Taylor Lorenz

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 [email protected].

Brooke Gladstone interviews Kathryn Hughes, author of Catland, about the storied history of the cat lady trope, how cats became beloved by so many in our culture, and the many meanings ascribed to the animals.

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 [email protected].