The Supreme Court appears ready to let Donald Trump fire Federal Trade Commission members at will. On this week’s On the Media, why the court’s expansion of presidential powers would impact the entire government. Plus, how two Hollywood giants are squaring off over a massive merger. [02:47] Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with <a href="https://its.law.nyu.edu/facultyprofiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=profile.overview&personid=51122">Noah Rosenblum</a>, associate professor of law at New York University, to discuss how the Supreme Court’s pending decision in Trump v. Slaughter could radically expand the president’s power, and the history behind the case. [23:02] Host Micah Loewinger talks with Oliver Darcy, lead author of the newsletter <a href="https://www.status.news/">Status</a> and co-host of the podcast <a href="https://www.status.news/power-lines">Power Lines</a>, about the moguls at Netflix and Paramount Skydance battling over Warner Brothers Discovery, and what this means for the future of CNN, which is owned by Warner Brothers Discovery, and Hollywood. [37:41] Micah speaks with <a href="https://www.journalism.cuny.edu/faculty/joel-simon/">Joel Simon</a>, founding director of the Journalism Protection Initiative at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, about what happened with Blake Lively’s legal team subpoenaed Perez Hilton, the gossip blogger, and why expanding the legal framework of journalistic protections is essential.  Further reading / watching:<ul><li><a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/12/paramount-netflix-fight-supreme-court-trump.html">The Supreme Court Is About to Hand Trump a Cudgel in the Paramount-Netflix Fight</a>, by Mark Joseph Stern</li><li><a href="https://www.status.news/p/cnn-paramount-david-ellison-warner-bros-discovery">The CNN Sacrifice</a>, by Oliver Darcy</li><li><a href="https://www.cjr.org/feature/perez-hilton-og-original-news-influencer-blake-lively-shield-law-subpoena.php">The O.G. News Influencer</a>, by Joel Simon</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 though

The Supreme Court debates presidential power; Hollywood in existential crisis.

Trump Guns for the FTC. Plus, Are We the Losers in the Paramount v Netflix Battle?

Last summer, Perez Hilton, the gossip blogger who rose to fame for his scoopy and sometimes vicious takes in the early 2000s, was served a subpoena by Blake Lively's legal team. Perez Hilton decided to resist the subpoena under the argument that he is a journalist who is entitled to protect his sources. Micah speaks with Joel Simon, the longtime former head of the Committee to Protect Journalist and founding director of the Newmark School's Journalism Protection Initiative, about who gets included under the umbrella of journalism and why expanding the legal framework of journalistic protections is so important in today's media landscape. Further reading: <a href="https://www.cjr.org/feature/perez-hilton-og-original-news-influencer-blake-lively-shield-law-subpoena.php">"The O.G. News Influencer</a>," by Joel Simon 
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.

Perez Hilton at the edge of journalism

How a Gossip Blogger (almost) Became the Poster Child for First Amendment Rights

The New York Times has sued the Pentagon for restricting access to journalists. On this week’s On the Media, meet the new cast of right wing influencers and conspiracy theorists replacing the press corps in the Pentagon. Plus, a new documentary examines the life and work of investigative journalist Seymour Hersh. [01:00] Host Micah Loewinger sits down with <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/dan-lamothe/">Dan Lamothe</a>, who covers the US military and Pentagon for the Washington Post, to talk about the Trump administration’s shifting narrative around a second strike that killed two survivors on a boat in the Caribbean. Lamothe used to have a desk in the Pentagon as part of the press corps, but left alongside reporters from major news outlets after they refused to sign onto stringent new rules on how they could do their reporting. [16:58] Micah talks with <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/author/anna-merlan/">Anna Merlan</a>, senior reporter at Mother Jones,  about the cast of right wing influencers and conspiracists now staffing the Pentagon press corps. Plus, Micah interviews Cam Higby, a member of the new press corps, about why he agreed to the Pentagon’s restrictions on access.[30:15] Micah spoke to another of the new Pentagon press corps; Cam Higby, who reports for his independent online outlet Fearless Media. He has over 750,000 followers on TikTok and over 400,000 on Instagram.[43:18] 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 newest documentary. Poitras shares the process of making Cover-Up, coming soon to Netflix, which chronicles the life of investigative journalist Seymour Hersh. Poitras describes Hersh's 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/">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/">‘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-pentago

Meet the new Pentagon press corps

Covering the Pentagon, from Sy Hersh to Laura Loomer

Late last month, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/doge-doesnt-exist-with-eight-months-left-its-charter-2025-11-23/">Reuters reported that DOGE</a> had “disbanded,” that the group was no longer a centralized government entity. But according to Wired Reporter <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/what-is-doge-doing-now/">Vittoria Elliott</a>, while DOGE is no longer moving across the government "in a move-fast-and-break-things blitz,” it is far from dead and gone. One source, at the USDA, told Wired that DOGE operatives had “burrowed into the agencies like ticks.” Elliott tells Brooke about how DOGE is continuing to shape the government, and what she's learned from talking to federal workers.
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.

One source said DOGE operatives had “burrowed into the agencies like ticks.”

No, DOGE Isn't Dead

A new feature on X, formerly known as Twitter, has revealed that some prominent MAGA accounts are based in South Asia and Eastern Europe. On this week’s On the Media, how foreign actors funnel political rage-bait into social media feeds. Plus, a school librarian in Louisiana shares how she’s been targeted by book-banning activists.[01:00] Host Micah Loewinger sits down with <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/author/charlie-warzel/">Charlie Warzel</a>, staff writer at The Atlantic and author of its newsletter Galaxy Brain, to discuss the recent X update that revealed many high profile, pro-MAGA accounts might be based in foreign countries.[16:37] Host Brooke Gladstone talks with <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/thatlibrarian/home">Amanda Jones</a>, school librarian in Livingston Parish, Louisiana and former School Librarian of the Year, to discuss her experience as a target of book-banning activists. Plus, why protecting libraries is as crucial as ever. [32:44] Brooke Gladstone talks to Elyse Graham, professor of sociology at Stony Brook University and author of <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/book-and-dagger-elyse-graham?variant=41324874104866">Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II</a>. They discuss the role that academics, archivists, and librarians played in WWII intelligence gathering activities, and why the CIA invested in storytelling as a result. Further reading / watching:<ul><li><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2025/11/x-about-this-account/685042/">Elon Musk’s Worthless, Poisoned Hall of Mirrors</a>, by Charlie Warzel</li><li><a href="https://thelibrariansfilm.com/">The Librarians</a> film</li><li><a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/that-librarian-9781639733545/">That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America</a>, by Amanda Jones</li><li><a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/book-and-dagger-elyse-graham?variant=41324874104866">Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II</a>, by Elyse Graham</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.

X is full of overseas bots, and a documentary about librarians

Tell Your Uncle He's Fighting Twitter Bots in Bangladesh

This month marks 25 years of Bullseye, a public radio show and podcast founded, hosted, and produced by Jesse Thorn. The show began as an offbeat college radio show at UC Santa Cruz, as a way for Thorn and his friends to hone their comedian sensibilities over the airwaves during their daily 7:30am slot. Today, it’s a show where artists open up about how and why they pursue their art. And it goes out on NPR. Earlier this month, host Brooke Gladstone called Jesse up to ask him how his show survived every new iteration of podcasting, and how it all began.
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This month marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of Bullseye.

Bullseye's Jesse Thorn on Surviving in the Podcasting Industry

Progressive and centrist Democratic candidates had big wins in the 2025 elections. On this week’s On the Media, a data scientist fact-checks the claim that Democrats need moderate voters to win. Plus, an Arizona state senator shares how she’s reaching her constituents on TikTok and on the ground.[01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/gelliottmorris.com">G. Elliot Morris</a>, a journalist, statistician, and author of the data-driven news website Strength in Numbers, to hash out what the data says about whether becoming more moderate is really the key to Democratic candidates winning more elections.[20:09] Brooke chats with <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/thirdwaymattb.bsky.social">Matt Bennett</a>, co-founder of Third Way, a center-left think tank<a href="http://democrats.he">, about his view that</a> Zohran Mamdani’s win in New York City poses a “serious political problem” for the Democrats.[36:06] Finally, Brooke calls up <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/senanaliseortiz.bsky.social">Analise Ortiz</a>, state senator for Arizona’s 24th district, to discuss how TikTok, old-fashioned door-knocking, and making tangible differences in peoples’ lives is the way for the Democrats to start winning again. Further reading:<ul><li><a href="https://www.gelliottmorris.com/p/moderation-is-overrated">Moderation is not a silver bullet</a>, by G. Elliott Morris</li><li><a href="https://www.gelliottmorris.com/p/seven-data-driven-takeaways-from">Seven data-driven lessons from the 2025 elections</a>, by G. Elliott Morris</li><li><a href="https://www.thirdway.org/memo/was-it-something-i-said">Was It Something I Said?</a> by Third Way</li><li><a href="https://www.thirdway.org/memo/debunking-myths-about-the-democratic-party">Debunking Myths About the Democratic Party, </a>by Third Way</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.

The Democrats’ identity crisis, explained.

The Battle for the Future of the Democratic Party

If you’ve ever donated to a Democratic candidate, you’ve probably been rewarded with a never-ending stream of pleas for more money in your inbox. And we’re not talking about polite reminders. Demands are often in ALL CAPS. Attached to names of celebrities like GEORGE CLOONEY or TAYLOR SWIFT. And warnings that something awful is about to happen.Adam Bonica is a political scientist at Stanford University who writes a Substack newsletter called <a href="https://data4democracy.substack.com/">On Data and Democracy</a>. He reached his breaking point with Democratic Party spam last year, and decided to investigate why they landed on this strategy, and how effective it really is.
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.

If you’ve ever donated to a Democratic candidate, you’ve probably been rewarded with a never-ending stream of pleas for more money in your inbox.

The Democratic Party's Spam Machine

The Trump administration is asking universities to sign an agreement in exchange for preferential access to federal funding. On this week’s On the Media, how the arrangement would radically alter the relationship between the government and higher education. Plus, how university leaders are navigating the fight over academic freedom.[00:00] Universities were not always so vulnerable to the whims of politics. The whole system of taxpayer-funded, university-led scientific research came about at the end of World War II, and was the brainchild of a man named Vannevar Bush. He felt the partnership of government and academics had to be equal in order to yield breakthroughs. Today, the Trump administration is proposing a new “compact” that would make the President the dominant partner. We speak with one of the authors of the Trump compact, May Mailman.  
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.

Inside the fight over the future of academic freedom.

S2 - Episode 3: The Harvard Plan

Back in October, Nick Fuentes, the Gen Z white nationalist influencer, was trending in the news after a leaked Young Republicans chat revealed how his ideas were taking hold in some conservative circles. Then, just a week or so later, Fuentes sat down for an interview with Tucker Carlson. That 2-hour interview triggered a crisis amongst the GOP’s top brass that pitted major conservative influencers against each other, and garnered headlines declaring the start of a Republican “civil war.” For this midweek podcast extra, host Micah Loewinger called up Zack Beauchamp, senior correspondent for Vox, to wade through the fallout around Fuentes and Carlson, and break down what this tells us about antisemitism in American politics. 
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 fight over anti-semitism has rocked the GOP

The Republican Party's 'Civil War'

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 (<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.

This week, it gets personal…

S2 - Episode 2: The Harvard Plan

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 <a href="https://www.gelliottmorris.com/">Strength in Numbers,</a> about what the numbers say around moderation and why it might not be the silver bullet Democratic strategists seemed to crave.Further reading:<ul><li><a href="https://www.gelliottmorris.com/p/moderation-is-overrated">Moderation is not a silver bullet</a>, by Elliott Morris</li><li><a href="https://www.gelliottmorris.com/p/the-strategists-fallacy">The Strategist’s Fallacy in American politics</a>, by Elliott Morris</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.

The discourse around 'moderate vs. progressive' Democrats has gotten out of hand.

Do Moderates Win More Elections?

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 (<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 brand new season.

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

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 (<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 so it begins...

S2 - Episode 1: The Harvard Plan

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 <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:2z4w5el7yhpdbzgzd2qp6bma">Andy Kroll</a>, 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 <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/benlorber8.bsky.social">Ben Lorber</a>, 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:<ul><li>“<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/russ-vought-trump-shadow-president-omb">The Shadow President</a>,” by Andy Kroll</li><li><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/741043/safety-through-solidarity-by-shane-burley/">Safety through Solidarity: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism</a>, by Shane Burley and Ben Lorber</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.

The “shadow president”; a white nationalist influencer; and the kids are alright?

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

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 (<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 federal cuts are changing public media, and how our station is facing this critical moment.

How Funding Cuts Are Changing Public Radio

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 <a href="https://www.404media.co/author/joseph-cox/">Joseph Cox</a>, 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 <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:z5odoegehoyd2sxszhnej5mi">Mark Bray</a>, 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 <a href="https://johnjlennon.net/">John J. Lennon</a>, 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 (<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.

Surveilling ICE; a historian forced to flee; and true-crime’s impact on real life.

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

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, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tomorrow-Yesterday-Pursuit-Israel-Palestine/dp/0374617120">Tomorrow Is Yesterday</a>,” 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 <a href="https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/tnyradiohour">The New Yorker Radio Hour's</a> 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 (<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.

Hussein Agha and Robert Malley spent decades trying to negotiate peace in the Middle East, and they know why it failed.

David Remnick: How The Two State Solution Ended in Disaster

The Supreme Court has returned to the bench and is poised to hear major cases on tariffs and federal firings. On this week’s On the Media, how a century-old legal theory may help us understand how the highest court handles Trump’s second administration. Plus, meet the Ellisons, who are buying up American media like the Vanderbilts collected railroads.[02:26]  Host Brooke Gladstone speaks with <a href="https://newrepublic.com/authors/greg-sargent">Greg Sargent</a>, a staff writer at The New Republic and the host of the podcast “The Daily Blast,” on Stephen Miller’s plan to normalize President Trump’s authoritarian moves.[13:37]  Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:akgwqiravrshkwi5rodos2ck?ref_src=embed">Pema Levy</a>, a reporter at Mother Jones, to discuss a theory on the two-track justice system in Nazi Germany, and why one justice is warning that the U.S. Supreme Court could recreate it.[34:54] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/jakelahut.writes.news">Jake Lahut</a>, a reporter for Wired covering the White House, about the Ellison family–America’s newest media magnates–and what their reign might mean for all of us.Further reading / listening:<ul><li>“<a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/201453/inside-stephen-miller-secret-plan-normalize-trump-dictator-rule">Inside Stephen Miller’s Secret Plan to Normalize Trump’s Dictator Rule,</a>” by Greg Sargent</li><li>“<a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/10/dual-state-supreme-court/">The ‘Dual State’ Theory Was Invented to Describe Nazis. The Supreme Court Could Take Us There</a>,” by Pema Levy</li><li>“<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/larry-ellison-is-a-shadow-president-in-donald-trumps-america/">Larry Ellison Is a ‘Shadow President’ in Donald Trump’s America</a>,” by Jake Lahut</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.

The “Dual State;” and a new media empire.

Authoritarianism, but Make It Look Normal. Plus, the Family Taking Over American Media.

This week, “Monster: The Ed Gein Story” is the most watched show on Netflix. It’s a dramatized retelling of the life of the serial killer who inspired “Psycho” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” The “Monster” franchise, which includes two earlier seasons about Jeffrey Dahmer and Lyle and Erik Menendez, is one of Netflix’s splashiest hits – the Dahmer season is still the fourth-most viewed English language show in the history of the platform. And the true crime obsession only grows each year. On Netflix last year, 15 of the top 20 documentaries were true crime docs, compared to just six in 2020. But what does it mean for the subjects of these documentaries, that Americans endlessly crave stories about murder and bloodshed and terror? <a href="https://johnjlennon.net/">John J. Lennon</a> is a contributing editor for Esquire and writes frequently for New York Review of Books and the New York Times. This week, he spoke to host Brooke Gladstone from Sing Sing Correctional Facility, where he’s serving his 24th year of his 28-year-to-life sentence for murder, drug sales, and gun possession. They spoke about his new book, <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250858245/thetragedyoftruecrime/">The Tragedy of True Crime</a>, what it was like to watch himself get featured in a true crime documentary, and why he wants to upend the typical 'true crime' narratives of good vs. evil. 
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 journalist writing from prison upends the typical 'true crime' narrative.

What's Wrong with True Crime?

WNYC Studios

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.

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