On The Media

Revisiting the Elián González story as the US embassy reopens in Havana. Plus: Paul Ford examines the various issues raised by the Ashley Madison hack, and Jon Ronson on public shaming. 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].

Each week through Labor Day, we'll be pulling an OTM gem from our vast archives for you to enjoy on the beach, in a park... or on a sticky subway, while imagining you're on a beach. For the third episode of our summer listening series, Brooke shadows a former New York Post reporter with a singular beat. If you've seen the movie Nightcrawler, this one's for you.  To hear more of our summer listening, don't forget to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review while you're there! And as always, follow us on twitter @OnTheMedia. 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].

Listening in on the national conversation about race, two years after the launch of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Plus, the LA Times hires a reporter to cover #BlackTwitter, and the re-release of a satirical novel about bi-racial identity. 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].

Welcome to our new summer series! Each week through Labor Day, we'll be pulling an OTM gem from our vast archives for you to enjoy on the beach, in a park... or on a sticky subway, while imagining you're on a beach.  For our second installment of our summer listening series, the story of an actor who's appeared in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, and Toy Story, to name a few. Well, not quite an actor, but a star nonetheless.  To hear more of our summer listening, don't forget to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review while you're there! And as always, follow us on twitter @OnTheMedia.  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].

Bob dissects the media's sloppy and disingenuous use of polls to fill air time and manufacture conflict. Plus: how the Dominican press is covering a a looming humanitarian crisis there; blocking ad-blockers; DuckDuckGo; 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].

Welcome to our new summer series! Each week through Labor Day, we'll be pulling an OTM gem from our vast archives for you to enjoy on the beach, in a park... or on a sticky subway, while imagining you're on a beach.  For our first installation, a very classic and very special piece from one of our favorite contributors, John Solomon. If you've ever wondered about the inner workings of On the Media, you'll be sure to enjoy this one.  In 2010, John passed away from complications with leukemia, but his witty, incisive voice can be heard in many of his OTM pieces, like this one called "Playing One on TV" and many more.  To hear more of our summer listening, don't forget to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review while you're there! And as always, follow us on twitter @OnTheMedia.    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, an

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].