On The Media

On the popular misconceptions surrounding the Greek debt crisis, women whose lives were mistold by the media, and humor, both robotic and Soviet. 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].

On this week’s episode of On the Media, we’re engaging in some chillingly informed speculation: what would happen if we, as a species, lost access to our electronic records? What if, either by the slow creep of  technological obsolescence or sudden cosmic disaster, we no longer could draw from the well of of knowledge accrued through the ages? What if we fell into...a digital dark age? One scenario we explore isn’t speculative: it’s real. In the 1990’s, NASA experienced its own version of a digital dark age, when more than a million reels of data -- including the 1969 Apollo Moonwalk video and Earthrise, the iconic picture of our planet floating above the surface of the moon -- were either destroyed or rendered unreadable. We hear from Keith Cowing, a former NASA employee and co-founder of an initiative to rescue images and readings from the Lunar Orbiter missions, including that 1966 Earthrise photo: the first view of Earth from the moon. Earth taken from Lunar Orbiter 1 in 1966. This is the poor-quality i

What if, either by the slow creep of technological obsolescence or sudden cosmic disaster, we were cut off from our electronic records?  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 the wake of another mass shooting tragedy, Brooke looks back at a history of racially-motivated hate crimes. Plus, the strength and responsibility of comedy in the face of extremism, misconceptions about the future of the Affordable Care Act, and the climate change deniers' "I'm not a scientist" defense. 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].

As videos of police violence continue to make headlines, a guide to filming the police as a bystander. Plus, making sense of data breaches, a lesson in coding, and a trip into the future of storytelling, where virtual reality makes journalism a bodily experience. 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].

Two newspapers' quests to count every person killed by police in 2015, how librarians shaped the original debate over the Patriot Act, and more. 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].

Congress is locked in a battle over the future of the Patriot Act. This special hour of OTM reveals the origins of the act in a post-9/11 climate of fear... and considers whether it really is at the heart of the nation's struggle between security and privacy. 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 surprisingly difficult -- and misleading -- question about the Iraq War, the police bombing that no one remembers, and the struggle of ownership in the age of the "Internet of Things." 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].

Seymour Hersh talks about his article claiming that the White House version of how Osama Bin Laden was killed is a lie. Plus, how a New York City nail salon expose went viral, and Liberia is finally declared Ebola-free.  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 legendary investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published an account of the killing of Osama bin Laden that directly contradicts the official narrative. Hersh’s use of anonymous sources have led many to cast doubt on the assertions in the article; CNN’s Peter Bergen called his story a “farrago of nonsense”. Bob talks with Hersh about the swirling controversy in this On the Media special podcast.  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].

What the media get wrong about earthquakes, surveillance the public loves and hates, and the creator of HBO's Veep. 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].

The deep historical roots of the Baltimore protests, shedding light on drone strikes, and combating sex worker stereotypes.  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].

Hundreds of refugees drowned recently when their boat capsized in the Mediterranean. We examine the dangers of false narratives of migration pushed by politicians and the media. Plus, Dr. Oz defends his credibility and a look at the Hubble space telescope’s lasting impact on popular culture. 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].

As the 2016 campaign season begins, we discuss the words used repeatedly to describe candidates, and how to cover those who are unlikely to win. Plus: the uncertain right to record police; a critical examination of Washington's "nerd prom"; and more. 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].

Climate change is arguably the most urgent story in human history, but journalism has struggled to address the threat. This week, an exploration of new efforts by the press to understand and explain the science – and to get you involved. Plus: what the report on Rolling Stone’s retracted story means for the UVA campus, and the anatomy of another story that’s hard to check.  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].

Today, the impact of cancer is not limited to patients and loved ones, not confined to hospital wards and research labs. It's a powerful symbol appropriated by Hollywood, the news media, and every realm of expression to signify what we most fear. In the second hour of "The Cancer Show," the stories we tell about cancer: on stage, on the big screen, and online. This week’s On The Media is part of WNYC’s Living Cancer Series, a radio companion to “Ken Burns Presents Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies, coming to PBS March 30th. Support for Living Cancer is provided by the Susan and Peter Solomon Family Foundation. Additional funding for WNYC’s medical science reporting is provided by the Iris and Junming Le Foundation. 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 his new book, So You've Been Publicly Shamed, Jon Ronson tackles the phenomenon of internet-fueled public shaming, which has ruined many a career and life in an era of the enormous, and un-erasable, digital footprint. Brooke talks with Ronson in this On the Media podcast extra.      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].

Over the last 2,500 years, cancer has shifted from a disease in the shadows to one at the center of scientific research and public discussion. In the first of two special episodes, On the Media dives deep into the way we talk about cancer: in the news, in the hospital, and in our private lives. This week’s On The Media is part of WNYC’s Living Cancer Series, a radio companion to “Ken Burns Presents Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies, coming to PBS March 30th. Support for Living Cancer is provided by the Susan and Peter Solomon Family Foundation. Additional funding for WNYC’s medical science reporting is provided by the Iris and Junming Le Foundation. 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].

Last week, suspected murderer Robert Durst was arrested the day before an HBO film aired his apparent confession. On the Media examines the line between making great documentary and staying on the right side of the law. Also, why you won't catch a Florida official using the term "climate change." Plus, Wikipedia takes on the NSA.  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].

What happens when you buy a magic spell on Etsy? Writer Jaya Saxena and her husband Matt Lubchansky recently tested one witch's wares, and they talk to TLDR about being careful what you wish for. Plus, TLDR hires our own spellcaster, a mystic named Melenia O'Breasal, to talk about how a person comes to cast spells, where all that incense comes from, and the difference between peddling magic online and off. To read Jaya's original Daily Dot piece, click here. To check out Melenia's Etsy store and personal website, click here and here, respectively. If you like our show, please subscribe and review us on iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow Meredith and TLDR on Twitter. 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].