The U.S. has waged war on Iran for more than a month now. On this week’s On the Media, what Defense Secretary Hegseth’s monthly Pentagon prayer meetings reveal about his war strategy. Plus, hear how trans rights are being curtailed across the country. 
[01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with <a href="https://substack.com/@briankaylor" rel="noopener noreferrer">Brian Kaylor</a>, president and editor-in-chief of Word&Way and author of <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-bible-according-to-christian-nationalists-exploiting-scripture-for-political-power-brian-kaylor/6181f5a7c1f36fc2?ean=9780827203501&next=t&next=t&affiliate=110819&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=dsa_nonbrand&utm_content=%7Badgroupname%7D&utm_term=aud-1721779758455:dsa-19959388920&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=12440232635&gbraid=0AAAAACfld43yMGLuQJJv2tdnpcstsUt8j&gclid=Cj0KCQjwp7jOBhDGARIsABe7C4epFDx-wg5pzDBO96Dpx17VWufwAZWJKktVx4aovQctvOgZqL5GedwaApKJEALw_wcB" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Bible According to Christian Nationalists</a>, to talk about Defense Secretary Hegseth’s monthly prayer meetings at the Pentagon. They discuss what the violent rhetoric reveals about Hegseth’s approach to war and why these meetings signal a troubling fusion of church and state. 
[18:46] Brooke talks with <a href="https://marlene-laruelle.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Marlene Laruelle</a>, professor at Luiss University in Rome and director of the Illiberalism Studies Program at George Washington University, about Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel’s series of lectures on religion, tech, politics, and society, which he took to the doorstep of the Vatican last month. They discuss his controversial beliefs about the antichrist, and what Thiel’s theology reveals about his desire to reorder politics.
[33:04] Brooke speaks with <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/esqueer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer">Alejandra Caraballo</a>, civil rights attorney and a clinical instructor at Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic, about the torrent of legal attacks against trans people, and why she's been looking toward a legal framework invented in the wake of Nazi Germany, called "the dual state," to better understand this moment.
 Further reading / watching:
<ul>
 <li>“<a href="https://publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/at-pentagon-worship-service-hegseth" rel="noopener noreferrer">At Pentagon Worship Service, Hegseth Casts Iran Conflict as Violent Holy War A

Plus, Peter Thiel’s theory of the antichrist.

Pete Hegseth is Praying for a Holy War

Last Friday, the Washington state Attorney General sued Kalshi, the prediction market platform where users can place bets on real world events, such as the number of deportations this year or the winner of Survivor 50. Washington’s civil lawsuit is now one of twenty waged against Kalshi, and follows on the heels of Arizona’s Attorney General filing criminal charges against the platform earlier this month. Prediction markets generated almost $64 billion in trading volume last year, up 400% from 2024. And when the US and Israel initiated strikes on Iran in early February, Kalshi users took to the platform in droves, spending $54 million on “Ali Khamenei out as Supreme Leader?” during the first week of the war. 
Prediction markets are just an intensification of a process that’s been slowly transforming our relationship to our bodies, our careers, our hobbies, our lives – everything is now saturated with numbers, and we can’t stop counting them and tracking them and comparing them. But what do we lose out on when we become obsessed with numbers or lines moving up or down on a graph, when we turn aspects of real life into games? Philosopher C. Thi Nguyen turned to actual games, like Twister and The Mind, to root out the answer in his latest book, <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/735252/the-score-by-c-thi-nguyen/" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else's Game</a>. For the midweek pod, host Micah Loewinger speaks to him about the dangers of scoring systems and metrics in the context of real life, why those same scoring systems are so freeing in games, and what the philosophy of games can reveal about the meaning of life.
 
On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (<a href="https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm">https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm</a>). Follow our show on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/onthemedia/?hl=en">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/onthemedia">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia">Facebook</a> @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

And why games, like Twister and Dungeons and Dragons, can point us in the right direction...

The Danger of Keeping Score

A judge ruled that the Pentagon’s recent restrictions on the press are unconstitutional. On this week’s On the Media, hear how Pete Hegseth’s ever-changing media policies have made it harder to cover military actions abroad. Plus, how a tenacious journalist used access to the Pentagon building to expose war crimes during the Vietnam War. 
[01:00] Host Micah Loewinger sits down with <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/dan-lamothe/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dan Lamothe</a>, who covers the US military and Pentagon for the Washington Post, to talk about leaving the Pentagon press corps alongside reporters from major news outlets in October of last year, after refusing to sign onto stringent new rules on how they could do their reporting.  
[09:45] Micah talks with <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/author/anna-merlan/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Anna Merlan</a>, senior reporter at Mother Jones, on the cast of right wing influencers and conspiracists now staffing the Pentagon press corps. Plus, Micah interviews content creator Cam Higby, a member of the new press corps, about why he agreed to the Pentagon’s restrictions on access.
[33:23] Micah speaks with Laura Poitras, a journalist and filmmaker whose past works include CitizenFour, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, and Risk, to discuss her latest documentary, Cover-Up, which chronicles the life of investigative journalist Seymour Hersh and his ferocious drive to uncover government wrongdoing, and what today’s press corps can learn from him.
 Further reading / watching:
<ul>
 <li>“<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/11/28/hegseth-kill-them-all-survivors-boat-strike/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all</a>,” by Alex Horton and Ellen Nakashima</li>
 <li>“<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/12/04/signal-pete-hegseth-inspector-general/" rel="noopener noreferrer">‘Signalgate’ report contradicts Hegseth’s claim of ‘total exoneration’</a>,”by Dan Lamothe</li>
 <li>“<a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/10/pete-hegseth-pentagon-press-corps/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Meet the New Pentagon Press Corps,</a>” by Anna Merlan</li>
 <li>Cover-Up, directed and produced by Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus</li>
</ul>
On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (<a href="http

Plus, meet the new Pentagon press corps.

The Pentagon Kicks the Press Out … Again

This week, the Idaho Senate is considering a bill that would block transgender people from using public bathrooms that conform with their gender identity, escalating the state’s preexisting trans bathroom ban in public schools. A first offense could land someone in prison for a year. This bill is just the latest in a devastating cascade of legal actions stripping away trans rights. For the midweek pod, host Brooke Gladstone speaks with <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/esqueer.net" rel="noopener noreferrer">Alejandra Caraballo</a>, a civil rights attorney and a Clinical Instructor at Harvard Law School Cyberlaw Clinic, about why she's been looking toward a legal framework invented in the wake of Nazi Germany called "the dual state" to better understand this moment. 
 
On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (<a href="https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm">https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm</a>). Follow our show on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/onthemedia/?hl=en">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/onthemedia">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia">Facebook</a> @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

How to make sense of the deluge of attacks on trans rights.

Trans People are Facing a 'Dual State' in Trump's America

President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are demanding “more patriotic” coverage of the widening war in Iran. On this week’s On the Media, hear how the Pentagon is cracking down on its publication, Stars and Stripes. Plus, fake AI images of the Iran war are proliferating, and they're getting more convincing.
[01:00] Host Micah Loewinger breaks down the calls from the Trump administration for the media to produce “patriotic” coverage of the war in Iran. Plus, a closer look at the reporting by legacy outlets with journalist<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:mceaj3dcniophnhvxgviwrzi" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Minnah Arshad</a>.  Arshad analyzed The New York Times’ early coverage of the war, and found that Iranian victims were underrepresented. Next, Micah sits down with scholar<a href="https://www.witness.org/portfolio_page/mahsa-alimardani/" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Mahsa Alimardani</a> to discuss fake AI images of the Iran conflict, and how AI detection tools are being used to discredit authentic footage.
[22:30] Micah speaks with <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/people/samantha-gross/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Samantha Gross</a>, the director of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at the Brookings Institution, to dissect the developing energy crisis being caused by the disruption of oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz.
[37:54] Host Brooke Gladstone talks to Erik Slavin, Editor-in-Chief of Stars and Stripes, the independent, award-winning newspaper that has served the military for roughly a century, about the Pentagon’s plan to crack down on their reporting and refocus their content away from “woke distractions.”
 Further reading / watching:
<ul>
 <li>“<a href="https://zeteo.com/p/how-media-manufactures-war-consent-iran-new-york-times-first-draft" rel="noopener noreferrer">First Draft: How the Media Manufactures Consent for War</a>,” by Minnah Arshad and Andrew Perez</li>
 <li>“<a href="https://www.techpolicy.press/how-ai-content-detection-is-being-weaponized-in-the-iran-war/" rel="noopener noreferrer">How AI Content Detection is Being Weaponized in the Iran War</a>,” by Shirin Anlen and Mahsa Alimardani</li>
 <li>“<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/03/ai-imagery-iran-war/686347/" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Fake Images of a Real Strike on a School</a>,” by Mahsa Alimardani</li>
 <li>“<a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/why-irans-disruption-of-the-strait-of-hormuz-m

Plus, AI war fakery is getting trickier than ever.

Trump Demands Patriotic Coverage of the War in Iran. Or Else….

Brooke Gladstone talks with Pasha Talankin, star and co-creator of the new documentary Mr. Nobody Against Putin. Pasha is a high school teacher who made an incredibly vivid and detailed account of Putin’s efforts to indoctrinate schoolchildren in Russia. 
On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (<a href="https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm">https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm</a>). Follow our show on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/onthemedia/?hl=en">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/onthemedia">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia">Facebook</a> @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

Mr. Nobody Against Putin Wins An Oscar!

A Win For Mr. Nobody!

The US and Israel have continued a large-scale bombing campaign in Iran, killing over 1,300 civilians. On this week’s On the Media, the far-reaching implications of the Department of Defense’s scrapping of an initiative to protect civilians. Plus, how different corners of the MAGA-verse are metabolizing the Epstein files.
[01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone interviews <a href="https://www.wesjbryant.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wes J. Bryant</a>, a former senior policy advisor at the Pentagon and retired Air Force Master Sergeant, about the civilian protection initiative he was working on for the Department of Defense and the deadly consequences of Secretary Hegseth’s decisions to close it down.
[31:28] Host Micah Loewinger sits down with <a href="https://www.wired.com/author/david-gilbert/" rel="noopener noreferrer">David Gilbert</a>, a reporter at WIRED covering disinformation and online extremism, to explore how different segments of the right are reacting to the Epstein files, from far-right commentators like Nick Fuentes to Fox News to Qanon conspiracists. 
 Further reading / watching:
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-defense-department-iran-hegseth-civilian-casualties" rel="noopener noreferrer">“The U.S. Built a Blueprint to Avoid Civilian War Casualties. Trump Officials Scrapped It,”</a> by Hannah Allam</li>
 <li><a href="https://www.wired.com/story/maga-is-still-very-angry-about-epstein-but-they-wont-blame-trump/" rel="noopener noreferrer">“MAGA Is Raging Over the Epstein Files. But They’re Not Mad at Donald Trump,”</a> by David Gilbert</li>
</ul>
On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (<a href="https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm">https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm</a>). Follow our show on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/onthemedia/?hl=en">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/onthemedia">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia">Facebook</a> @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

Then the bombing started in Iran

Hegseth’s Pentagon Axed a Program Meant to Save Civilian Lives

Recently a surprising ruling came down from U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth. The Reagan-appointed judge found that Kari Lake - (formerly best known as the loser of two state-wide races in Arizona), had acted unlawfully in running the United States Agency for Global Media, the body that oversees Voice of America and the handful of other government-assisted media outlets. 
Kari Lake, wrote the judge "satisfies the requirements of neither the statute nor the Constitution," potentially making all of her actions this past year null and void. Lake, who once described herself to a gaggle of reporters as "your worst fricking nightmare" told NPR that she would appeal the ruling. 
Last spring February when Lake started slashing and burning the 80-year old service, Micah spoke to Nicole Hemmer, a historian at Vanderbilt University to learn about the history the VOA.
On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (<a href="https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm">https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm</a>). Follow our show on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/onthemedia/?hl=en">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/onthemedia">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia">Facebook</a> @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

A new district court ruling may be a good sign for the future of Voice of America.

A Good Sign For the VOA?

The US military used AI tools for real-time targeting in its strikes on Iran. On this week’s On the Media, what recent conflicts can tell us about AI-powered weapons and the dangerous future of warfare. Plus, lessons on democratic resilience from around the world.
[01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone interviews  <a href="https://mediastudies.as.virginia.edu/people/siva-vaidhyanathan" rel="noopener noreferrer">Siva Vaidhyanathan</a> about how the U.S. military is using artificial intelligence in its strikes on Iran, and what can be gleaned from recent conflicts about the state of AI-powered warfare. Plus, what does accountability for war mean when AI is involved? Brooke also hears from <a href="https://www.lawfaremedia.org/contributors/arozenshtein" rel="noopener noreferrer">Alan Rozenshtein</a>, Senior Editor at Lawfare, about the Trump administration’s pressure campaign on AI company Anthropic. 
[33:45] Brooke sits down with <a href="https://www.vox.com/authors/zack-beauchamp" rel="noopener noreferrer">Zack Beauchamp</a>, senior correspondent at Vox, to talk about why he got fed up reporting on “democratic backsliding,” and decided to instead investigate “democratic resilience”— and what lessons exist for Americans around the world. 
 Further reading / watching:
<ul>
 <li>“<a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/207189/iran-war-ai-deciding-bombs-drop" rel="noopener noreferrer">Who’s Deciding Where the Bombs Drop in Iran? Maybe Not Even Humans.</a>” by Siva Vaidyanathan</li>
 <li>“<a href="https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/congress-not-the-pentagon-or-anthropic-should-set-military-ai-rules" rel="noopener noreferrer">Congress—Not the Pentagon or Anthropic—Should Set Military AI Rules</a>,” by Alan Z. Rozenshtein</li>
 <li>“<a href="https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/what-the-defense-production-act-can-and-can't-do-to-anthropic" rel="noopener noreferrer">What the Defense Production Act Can and Can’t Do to Anthropic</a>,” by Alan Z. Rozenshtein</li>
 <li><a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/zack-beauchamp/the-reactionary-spirit/9781668641651/?lens=publicaffairs" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Reactionary Spirit: How America's Most Insidious Political Tradition Swept the World, </a>by Zack Beauchamp</li>
</ul>
On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (<a href="https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm">https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm</a>). Follow our sh

AI warfare in Iran; and standing up for democracy

The AI-Powered War Machines Are Here

“To Catch a Predator” aired on television as a segment of NBC’s Dateline in the early 2000's. Men would be lured into talking online to a decoy posing as a child then would show up at a so-called 'sting house' fitted with hidden cameras where the truth of their situation would be revealed.
The show eventually became one of the biggest and most influential true crime shows ever, drawing seven million viewers per episode by its final season in 2007. The main draw? Watching the humiliation of the would-be child predators play out in front of your eyes. 
David Osit, is a filmmaker whose recent documentary “Predators,” probes the ugly legacy of the show -- how it blurred the lines between justice and entertainment and what it says about us that we watched it. 
On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (<a href="https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm">https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm</a>). Follow our show on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/onthemedia/?hl=en">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/onthemedia">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia">Facebook</a> @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

The beginning of our true crime era.

A New Doc Questions The Legacy of "To Catch A Predator"

Netflix is backing out of a bid to acquire Warner Brothers Discovery, clearing the way for Paramount to take over. On this week’s On the Media, what happens to journalism and democracy when a tiny group of billionaires are calling the shots. Plus, four years since Russia’s war on Ukraine began, a look at the legacy of the first American reporter who was killed there.
[01:00] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with  <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/victorpickard.bsky.social" rel="noopener noreferrer">Victor Pickard</a>, professor of media policy and political economy at the University of Pennsylvania, to discuss why what’s happening at CBS, The Washington Post, and Paramount is simply the latest stage of a phenomena called "media capture," and what we can do to free ourselves from its binds.
[17:58] Micah first sits down with Miriam Berger, a Pulitzer-finalist who spent two years reporting from Israel on the war in Gaza for The Washington Post, to talk about what we’ve lost with the termination of the paper’s Middle East bureau, and then <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/jodieginsberg.bsky.social" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jodie Ginsberg</a>, CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists, on why her organization labeled 2025 the most deadly year for the press since it began collecting data–largely due to Israeli forces in Gaza. 
[35:49] Micah talks to filmmaker Craig Renaud about his Oscar-nominated documentary, “Armed Only With a Camera,” which is part tribute to his brother, Brent Renaud, the first American journalist to be killed by Russian soldiers while covering the war in Ukraine, and part salute to war journalists who are still reporting and risking their lives. 
 Further reading / watching:
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://lpeproject.org/blog/the-american-media-polycrisis-cascading-layers-of-capture/" rel="noopener noreferrer">“The American Media Polycrisis: Cascading Layers of Capture,”</a> by Victor Pickard</li>
 <li><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/11/25/gaza-aid-blocks-winter-crisis/" rel="noopener noreferrer">“Lack of tents, food and warm clothes leaves Gazans exposed ahead of winter,”</a> by Miriam Berger</li>
 <li><a href="https://cpj.org/special-reports/record-129-press-members-killed-in-2025-israel-responsible-for-2-of-3-of-deaths/" rel="noopener noreferrer">“Record 129 press members killed in 2025; Israel responsible for 2/3 of deaths,”</a> by CPJ Staff</li>
 <li><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt

Media capture, media danger, and media power

The Ellisons Prepare to Expand Their Media Empire

As media empires, from The Washington Post to CBS News, continue to be dealt significant blows, uncertainties abound about the remaining strength of a once robust American press landscape—but media scholars have long questioned how strong our system was to begin with. For this week's podcast extra, Micah sits down with Victor Pickard, professor of media policy and political economy at the University of Pennsylvania, to discuss why what we're seeing now is simply the latest stage of a phenomena called, "media capture," and what we can do to free ourselves from the downward slide. 
On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (<a href="https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm">https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm</a>). Follow our show on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/onthemedia/?hl=en">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/onthemedia">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia">Facebook</a> @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

Capitalists, oligarchs, and authoritarians, oh my!

The Century-Long Capture of U.S. Media

Late night host Stephen Colbert has accused CBS of spiking an interview for fear of backlash 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  <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/jim-rutenberg" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jim Rutenberg</a>, 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. 
[25:44] Brooke sits down with <a href="https://www.americanrights.org/about" rel="noopener noreferrer">Daniel Suhr</a>, 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 / watching:
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/19/business/media/colbert-equal-time-fcc-brendan-carr.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">“How a Century-Old Rule Is Scrambling Late-Night TV,”</a> by Jim Rutenberg</li>
 <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/magazine/fcc-tv-networks.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">“The MAGA Plan to Take Over TV Is Just Beginning,”</a> by Jim Rutenberg</li>
 <li><a href="https://www.yalejreg.com/nc/the-fccs-public-notice-on-bona-fide-news-by-daniel-r-suhr/" rel="noopener noreferrer">“The FCC’s Public Notice on ‘Bona Fide News,’”</a> by Daniel Suhr</li>
 <li><a href="https://wng.org/opinions/the-end-of-an-agency-1768866975" rel="noopener noreferrer">“The end of an agency,”</a> by Daniel Suhr</li>
 <li><a href="https://broadbandbreakfast.com/daniel-suhr-straight-talk-on-fcc-jawboning/" rel="noopener noreferrer">“Straight Talk on FCC 'Jawboning'”</a> by Daniel Suhr</li>
 <li><a href="https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/episodes/divided-dial-episode-3-" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Divided Dial: Episode 3 - The Liberal Bias Boogeyman</a></li>
</ul>
On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (<a href="https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm">https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm</a>). Follow our show on <a href="https://www.inst

(by making it more conservative)

The Man With a Plan to Reshape Broadcast TV

In 1946, Orson Welles, the actor and director behind Citizen Kane, was at the pinnacle of his career. At the time, he had a national radio show called Orson Welles Commentaries on ABC. After a year on the radio, discussing politics and Hollywood, Welles heard of a shocking crime. It was the end of World War Two. A Black soldier, heading home, was brutally beaten by a white police officer in South Carolina. No one knew the identity of the officer. No one even knew the town where it happened.Welles pledged to solve the mystery… on the air...In this midweek podcast we're bringing you episode one of a new series from our friends at Radio Diaries called Orson Welles and the Blind Soldier. It’s the story of a crime in a small, southern town…that became a spark for the budding civil rights movement. For the rest of the series, go to the <a href="https://www.radiodiaries.org/">radio diaries website</a>.
On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (<a href="https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm">https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm</a>). Follow our show on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/onthemedia/?hl=en">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/onthemedia">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia">Facebook</a> @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

The story of a crime in a small, southern town…that became a spark for the budding civil rights movement.

Orson Welles and the Blind Soldier

In a landmark trial in California, Meta and Google are being accused of addicting children to social media. On this week’s On the Media, hear how the dramatic proceedings are playing out, and how measures to protect kids online can backfire. Plus, why are betting companies showing up in newsrooms?[01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone speaks with  <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/authors/AV9QgKt8IJQ/madlin-mekelburg">Madlin Mekelburg</a>, a legal reporter at Bloomberg, about the landmark lawsuit against Google and Meta that went to trial this week. The social media giants are being accused of deliberately designing their platforms in a way that is addictive and harmful to children’s brains, and the verdict of this case will influence the outcomes of thousands of similar cases across the country. Plus, neuroscience researcher <a href="https://ianaxelanderson.squarespace.com/about">Ian Anderson</a> explains why the ‘addiction’ framework  misses the complexity of what social media does to our brains. [20:00] Brooke interviews <a href="https://juliaangwin.com/">Julia Angwin</a>, investigative journalist and founder of <a href="https://www.proofnews.org/">Proof News,</a> a nonprofit journalism studio. They discuss the tools that users can employ to protect themselves against doomscrolling, and how social media bans across the world can sometimes do more harm than good. [34:41] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with <a href="https://popular.info/?utm_campaign=profile_chips">Judd Legum</a>, the author of the accountability newsletter Popular Information, about the explosive rise of prediction markets, and the implications of their growing partnerships with newsrooms.   Further reading / watching:<ul><li><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-09/social-networks-face-big-tobacco-moment-over-addiction-claims?srnd=undefined">“Social Networks Face Big Tobacco Moment Over Addiction Cases,”</a> by Madlin Mekelburg</li><li><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-27053-2">“Overestimates of social media addiction are common but costly,”</a> by Ian Anderson and Wendy Wood</li><li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/opinion/smartphone-color-grayscale-addiction.html">“I Killed Color on My Phone. The Result Shocked Me,”</a> by Julia Angwin</li><li><a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2843720">“Social Media Use and Well-Being Across Adolescent Development,”</a> by Ben Singh, Mason Z

Meta and Google go on trial for ‘addicting’ kids. Plus, betting infiltrates cable TV.

The Social Media Addiction Trials Begin

At the end of December, familiar scenes of protest in Tehran were being documented and shared across the world. But on January 8th, the images stopped coming after the Iranian regime cut off the internet in an attempt by the authorities to prevent protestors from organizing and posting videos online for the outside world to see. Under the cover of darkness the regime is reported to have killed up to 30,000 people.Brooke spoke to Mahsa Alimardani, the Associate Director of the Technology Threats & Opportunities program at WITNESS, where she works on distinguishing visual truths in the AI age. She says that the internet has started flickering back on after a nearly three-week-long national blackout–the longest the country has ever seen–but that a thick fog of disinformation still covers Iran.
On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (<a href="https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm">https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm</a>). Follow our show on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/onthemedia/?hl=en">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/onthemedia">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia">Facebook</a> @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

During an internet blackout, thousands of protestors are killed in Iran by armed government forces.

An Internet Blackout Hides A Regime's Excesses

In the latest batch of Epstein files, hundreds of pages are redacted, shielding the names of prosecutors and possible co-conspirators. On this week’s On the Media, what the files say about how the criminal justice system failed Epstein’s victims. Plus, the toppling of a statue raises questions about who represents Puerto Rican culture. [01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone speaks with <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/jkbjournalist.bsky.social">Julie K. Brown</a>, investigative journalist for The Miami Herald, whose reporting back in 2018 led to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s arrest. Brown is pouring through the Epstein files and finding new information about how prosecutors failed to bring Epstein to justice for so many years. She is documenting what she finds in her substack newsletter, <a href="https://jkbjournalist.substack.com/">The Epstein Files by Julie K. Brown</a>. [19:24]  We’re celebrating the launch of <a href="https://www.npr.org/podcasts/974836637/la-brega">Season 3 of La Brega</a> from Alana Casanova-Burgess and Futuro Media by featuring episode one: about the toppling of the statue of a Spanish colonizer in San Juan a few years ago, what that reveals about Puerto Rico’s champions, and who deserves that pedestal. Further reading / watching:<ul><li><a href="https://jkbjournalist.substack.com/p/what-i-found-today-in-the-epstein">“What I found today in The Epstein Files,”</a> by Julie K. Brown</li><li><a href="https://jkbjournalist.substack.com/p/did-the-fbi-investigate-trump-and">“Did the FBI investigate Trump and Epstein?”</a> by Julie K. Brown</li><li><a href="https://www.npr.org/podcasts/974836637/la-brega">Season 3 of La Brega</a></li></ul>
On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (<a href="https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm">https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm</a>). Follow our show on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/onthemedia/?hl=en">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/onthemedia">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia">Facebook</a> @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

A failure of justice and champions of Puerto Rican culture.

How the Justice Department Failed Epstein’s Victims

In 2022 Brent Renaud became the first American journalist to be killed by Russian soldiers while covering the war in Ukraine. Brent’s collaborator for many years was his brother Craig. When word got back to Craig that Brent had been shot, he did what he and his brother had always done. He kept filming. Craig and his producer Juan Arredondo used that footage along with material from their archive to make the Oscar nominated short documentary “Armed Only With a Camera.”The film is part tribute to his brother, part salute to war journalists who are still out there, risking their lives. Micah spoke to Craig about how the brothers got started in the journalism business. 
On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (<a href="https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm">https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm</a>). Follow our show on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/onthemedia/?hl=en">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/onthemedia">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia">Facebook</a> @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

Oscar-nominated documentary pays tribute to the work of the first American journalist killed by Russians while covering the war in Ukraine.

"Armed Only With A Camera"

The Trump administration called Alex Pretti, who was shot and killed by federal officers, a “domestic terrorist.” And then bystander footage flooded the internet. On this week’s On the Media, how the real-time verification of video evidence is transforming public discourse. Plus, what the anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis have in common with the Boston Massacre.[01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone speaks with <a href="https://www.ms.now/author/brandy-zadrozny">Brandy Zadrozny</a>, senior enterprise reporter at MS Now, about the informal network of far-right content creators traveling to anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis, and why the right-wing narrative is losing power in the face of an outpouring of bystander footage. [17:45] Host Micah Loewinger talks with <a href="https://substack.com/@radleybalko">Radley Balko</a>, author of The Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces, about similarities between the conditions that led to the Boston Massacre in 1770 and what we’re seeing today in Minneapolis and other cities targeted by ICE operations today.[31:43] Brooke sits down with <a href="https://www.bellingcat.com/author/eliothiggins/">Eliot Higgins</a>, the founder of Bellingcat, to discuss his framework for the essential functions of democracy— verification, deliberation, and accountability—which have broken down into hollow performances or simulations in the United States today.  Further reading / watching:<ul><li><a href="https://www.ms.now/news/minneapolis-influencers-ice-resistance-terrorism-narrative">“In Minneapolis, far-right influencers frame ICE resistance as terrorism,”</a> by Brandy Zadrozny</li><li><a href="https://radleybalko.substack.com/p/two-cities-under-siege?r=cgi7&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true">“Two cities under siege,”</a> by Radley Balko</li><li><a href="https://demos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/VDA_Epistemic-Security_paper_October.pdf">“Verification, Deliberation, Accountability: A new framework for tackling epistemic collapse and renewing democracy,”</a> by Eliot Higgins and Natalie Martin</li></ul>
On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (<a href="https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm">https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm</a>). Follow our show on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/onthemedia/?hl=en">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/onthemedia">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/O

Plus, what the Boston Massacre can teach us about Minneapolis.

Videos of ICE Violence Are Plentiful. Accountability.… Not So Much.

Stars and Stripes, the venerated, independent award-winning newspaper that has served the armed services for roughly a century, may be getting an uninvited makeover, courtesy of Pete Hegseth’s Defense Department. 
In a <a href="https://x.com/seanparnellasw/status/2011802849903009991?s=46" rel="noopener noreferrer">statement posted on </a>X earlier this month, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said that Stars and Stripes would no longer be carrying wire reports from  the Associated Press, and that it would steer away from all that is woke or might sap morale. Parnell said the defense department would be bringing the newspaper “into the 21st century.” 
Brooke spoke to Erik Slavin, Editor-in-Chief of Stars and Stripes.
On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (<a href="https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm">https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm</a>). Follow our show on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/onthemedia/?hl=en">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/onthemedia">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia">Facebook</a> @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

Stars and Stripes gets an uninvited makeover courtesy of the DOD

Stars and Stripes in Peril

WNYC Studios

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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