On the Media

The victories of Donald Trump and Senator Bernie Sanders in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary are being hailed as a coup for "outsiders." But throughout this presidential election season nearly every candidate has presented him or herself as an "outsider." As it turns out, running for president as an "outsider" is a long held American tradition. Brooke revisits our history of political outsider-ness with the National Education Association's Erica Seifert and the Washington Post's Paul Waldman. 

Want to see and hear the campaign posters and songs described in this segment? Check out our "Brief History of the Political Outsider" page for all of this and more!

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A former reporter turned opposition researcher offers an insider’s perspective on the work of unearthing political dirty secrets. Also, the real story of the Dean Scream-- the unforgettable, unscripted moment blamed for ending Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential bid. And, a new documentary chronicles the life of the late conflict correspondent James Foley. 

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, Bluesky, TikTok and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

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The late David Foster Wallace's magnum opus, Infinite Jest, was published 20 years ago this week and left an indelible mark on the literary world. To mark the occasion, we're revisiting a conversation that Brooke had with writer David Lipsky, whose interviews with Wallace were dramatized in the 2015 film The End of The Tour. He and Brooke listen to the original tapes, made over five days on the last leg of Wallace's 1996 Infinite Jest book tour, which Lipsky later turned into a book, Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace. Brooke and Lipsky discuss the delicate bond the writers formed and what it's like to hear his tapes acted out by Jesse Eisenberg (Lipsky) and Jason Segal (Wallace).

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A certain candidate was conspicuously absent from this week's Republican debate. But Donald Trump's presence on conservative talk radio has never flagged. We look at the influence of Rush Limbaugh and his cohorts on this election season. Plus, why the government's plan to build an algorithm to spot terrorists is doomed to fail, and a deep dive into the legal controversies surrounding Planned Parenthood. 

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, Bluesky, TikTok and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

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Our friends at Note to Self have just launched a new project called Infomagical, which hopes to be an antidote to "infomania" and a "collective FOMO course correction". It’s not about your gadgets per se, it’s about all the stuff on them, and all the stuff coming out of them, and getting a grip on the constant stream of information. Through Infomagical, Note to Self hopes to turn your anxiety-inducing information portals into overload-fighting machines.

We're bringing you the introductory episode (listen above). You can visit Note to Self's page to stay tuned and find out more about Infomagical.

Sign up to participate at wnyc.org/infomagical. Challenge week starts February 1 and runs through February 5.

"This week, On the Media -- in its current incarnation -- turns ten years old." That was five years ago, meaning... you guessed it: On the Media is 15 years old! Join us in celebrating our quinceañera by listening to this 2011 segment that revisits our first mad decade of existence. From the rise of "blogs" to the increasing power of "cell phones," OTM was there all along.

For more On the Media, follow us on Twitter @OnTheMedia, and subscribe to our newsletter on our website, www.onthemedia.org/newsletter.

Why did it take so long for Flint's water crisis to be acknowledged by local officials, let alone the national media? Plus: how '13 Hours' frames partisan discussion about Benghazi; and how the political press has struggled to understand the Bernie Sanders' campaign. 

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, Bluesky, TikTok and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

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American Governor: Chris Christie’s Bridge to Redemption was not the story that Matt Katz thought he was going to write when he accepted the biography book deal back in 2013. The New Jersey Governor had just won a landslide election in a blue state and seemed destined for a 2016 Republican Presidential nomination. Then, the notorious lane-closure scandal happened, and Matt became the first reporter to publicly confront the Governor on it. From that point on, Christie's path to the nomination became decidedly choppier, and his relationship with Matt quickly soured.

Matt Katz has covered Christie for the last five years, first for The Philadelphia Inquirer and now for WNYC, New Jersey Public Radio, and the weekly Christie Tracker Podcast from WNYC Studios. He sat down with Brooke to talk about his new book and what it's like to cover a master of media manipulation. Turns out, there’s much more, and less, to the guy last seen insult mongering from the stage of the GOP candidate debates.

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A Mexican journalist reacts to Sean Penn's interview with the drug kingpin El Chapo; Bob offers his own thoughts, too. Plus: We check back in with the Pentagon on rules concerning journalists in wartime. And the history of copyright, from dictionary pioneer Noah Webster to digital crusader Aaron Swartz.

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, Bluesky, TikTok and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

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Max Linsky, co-host of the Longform Podcast, paid Brooke a visit this week. They discuss why she's a "tough" editor, how she resists boredom, and her unconventional introduction to journalism (a man, a bar, and missiles).

Sign up for OTM's weekly newsletter at onthemedia.org. And subscribe to the Longform Podcast wherever you get your podcasts, it's fantastic!