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On the Media

On the Media

By: WNYC Studios
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 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.© WNYC Politics & Government Science Social Sciences World
Episodes
  • Trump Tries and (Mostly) Fails to Control the Narrative on Iran. Plus, RFK Jr. is Bad for Our Health

    Trump Tries and (Mostly) Fails to Control the Narrative on Iran. Plus, RFK Jr. is Bad for Our Health
    Jun 27 2025

    Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s revamped CDC vaccine advisory board stopped recommending certain flu vaccines this week. On this week’s On the Media, a scientist debunks the claims that RFK, Jr.’s appointees are making. Plus, how the media covered the U.S. bombing of Iran.

    [00:00] Host Micah Loewinger unspools the Trump administration’s attempts to control the narrative around the war in Iran, including the president’s insistence on the “total obliteration” of Iran’s nuclear sites, conflicting reports over whether or not Iran had a nuclear weapons program in the works, and how the media is missing the mark.

    [00:00] Host Brooke Gladstone speaks with Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center and a physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, about how the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., purged the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee members, the controversial figures Kennedy replaced them with, and what impact this will have on the future of vaccines and immunology in the US.

    [00:00] Brooke continues her conversation with Paul Offit about the new controversial figures appointed to the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee, and how science communication could improve in the next public health crisis.

    Further reading:

    • “Lawmakers and Pundits Speed Run Iraq WMDs-Level Lies About Iran,” by Sarah Lazare and Adam Johnson
    • “Donald Trump and Sean Hannity Set Off a Wave of Disinformation After Iran Bombing,” by David Gilbert

    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.
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    52 mins
  • The Final Unravelling of Bob Menendez

    The Final Unravelling of Bob Menendez
    Jun 25 2025

    This week, On the Media shares the final episode of Dead End: The Rise and Fall of Gold Bar Bob Menendez. For WNYC, reporter and host Nancy Solomon describes how the FBI watched Menendez have a dinner with Egyptian spies, the moment they found gold bars in a closet, and more. As Menendez faces the trial of his life, Nancy asks: why would a man at the top of the political world risk everything? And is our political system partly to blame? Can a senator who is not wealthy succeed in a political system that is infused with gifts, luxury trips and money?

    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.
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    22 mins
  • MAGA Divides Over Iran. Plus, Inside the Crackdown on Student Journalists

    MAGA Divides Over Iran. Plus, Inside the Crackdown on Student Journalists
    Jun 20 2025
    President Donald Trump says he’ll decide whether or not to attack Iran within the next two weeks. On this week’s On the Media, hear why the right is split on what the president should do. Plus, scrutiny on student journalists has intensified.[01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone on the recent narratives forming around the ‘No Kings’ protest and President Trump’s military parade. Plus, a look at the lie that the left is more politically violent than the right – a falsehood that has emerged in rightwing narratives about ICE being victimized.[14:03] Brooke speaks with Andrew Prokop, senior politics correspondent at Vox, about the bitter divide growing within the MAGA ranks – between the “America First” faction, who advocate against war with Iran and helping Ukraine, and GOP hawks who want Trump to attack. [30:44] Host Micah Loewinger sits down with Gregorio Olivares Gutierrez, a rising junior at the University of Texas Dallas and editor-in-chief of The Retrograde, to discuss his brief tenure as editor-in-chief of his school’s official paper, The Mercury. They examine how The Mercury’s coverage of a pro-Palestine encampment last spring ignited a chain of events that led to the university firing him and the entire staff, and the de facto shuttering of the paper. Mike Hiestand, Senior Legal Counsel at the Student Press Law Center, on the chilling effect experienced by student journalists across the country after ICE arrested Tufts grad student Rümeysa Öztürk.Statement from Barnard College: "Barnard respects and supports a robust student press. As students present in Butler Library during the disruption have been confirmed to be working as journalists, we have notified them that their interim suspensions have been lifted. As our review continues, we will issue additional notifications as appropriate." Statement from Columbia University: “The interim suspension on the Columbia student journalist was lifted within hours after it was issued once it was determined that the individual was a member of the student press who was covering the protest as a reporter, not a participant in the disruptions to academic activities that were in violation of University policies and Rules. Columbia University continues to strongly believe in the value of a vibrant and independent student press."Statement from University of Texas Dallas: “UT Dallas has always supported student journalists’ editorial control and wants to create an environment where they can learn best journalistic practices and follow professional standards and guidelines. For clarification, the former editor was not removed for editorial content, but because he violated student media bylaws. Over the past few months, a group of university faculty, students, and staff has worked together to establish a new advisory committee for student media. Its goals included reviving the campus newspaper and ensuring the staff has necessary resources to operate with the editorial independence critical for student journalists.”UT Dallas Student Media Memo: “Removal of The Mercury Editor-in-Chief” by Lydia LumGregorio Olivares Gutierrez’s Appeal to the UT Dallas Student Media Memo regarding his removal Further reading:“Parsing ICE’s mixed-up, hard-to-believe assault claims,” by Philip Bump“‘They’re Taking Shirly’: An Army Sergeant Thought His Family Was Safe. Then ICE Deported His Wife,” by Sonner Kehrt“The surprising right-wing push to keep us out of war,” by Andrew ProkopQuestion Everything with Brian Reed: “Rümeysa Öztürk is Locked Up for an Op-ed: An Urgent Summit with the Student Newspaper that Published It”The Eagle: A Times Union Podcast, “The Future of Journalism”The Mercury’s May 20, 2025 Edition: “Welcome to UTD” 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.
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    50 mins
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Love the in depth analysis of topics. Brooke is the best! Wouldn't miss an episode.

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Outstanding! Enlightening! Wish everyone would do it this way. Between OTM and Glenn Kirchner staying informed of current events is fun and easy!

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